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that way,” her sister admitted.
    “I have.” Annette started walking again. She was wearing backless sandals so she wouldn't aggravate the blistered sore on her right heel. “And that's the reason I don't mind being seventeen for a while longer.” She paused, then said, “Since I failed to ask you earlier, will you play tennis with me tomorrow?"
    Marsha glanced at her and smiled ruefully. “I don't know why you bothered to ask. You know I will—although I probably need my head examined for agreeing."
    THE HOURS Annette had spent at the swimming pool had tanned her skin a rich golden color and added a few platinum streaks to her hair. The result was a perfect foil for her short white tennis outfit with its black trim. Annette had deliberately booked the adjacent court a half hour earlier than Josh, so she would be there playing when he arrived. Her side of the net allowed her to face the direction that he would come.
    As the time grew closer for Josh to arrive, she started getting nervous, wondering if he'd canceled or changed the hour. She nearly missed the easy lob from Marsha and tried to bring her attention back to the uneven game. They were in the middle of a set when Annette saw Josh approaching the court, accompanied by one of the hotel's tennis pros. Her heart did a little tumble at the sight of him in white tennis shorts and a knit shirt stretched tautly across his chest. The sun glinted copper bright on his dark hair.
    A faintly bemused smile played at the corners of his hard mouth when Josh recognized her. Annette smashed Marsha's lob to the opposite corner, scoring an easy point.
    “That's game!” she declared, even though it wasn't, and trotted around the net to take a break and change sides.
    “Are you sure?” Marsha frowned, standing flat-footed at the baseline. “I thought it—"
    “That's game,” Annette repeated, and quelled her sister's protest with a silencing look. Marsha glanced around, noting Josh's arrival for the first time.
    “I guess you're right.” She understood the reason for Annette's unusual scoring and didn't dispute the claim.
    Annette walked to the corner near the high fence of green mesh and picked up the towel she'd left with her things. She pretended to wipe away nonexistent perspiration from her face and neck as Josh, in the next court, unzipped the case protecting his racket. Tension licked along her nerve ends while she waited for him to glance her way. When he did turn his dark gaze toward her, the chiseled planes of his face seemed to fill her vision to the exclusion of anything else.
    “Fancy meeting you here.” She feigned a mild surprise to see him.
    “I have the strange feeling that you're following me,” Josh remarked with an astutely sweeping glance. “I wonder why that is?"
    “I was just going to accuse you of following me,” Annette countered with a husky laugh. “I was here first."
    “Appearances can be deceiving.” He wasn't convinced.
    Annette decided that the best way to allay his suspicions was to confront them. “I'm not about to deny that I think you're a very attractive man.” The way he was affecting her practically made it an understatement. Her stomach was all tied in knots and it felt as if her heart were in her throat. “But I guess I'm a little old-fashioned."
    “Oh?” The raised eyebrow asked for an explanation of that comment.
    “Yes. You see, I prefer a man to do the chasing.” Annette's smoke-colored eyes looked at him with absolute innocence as she turned away while she was still in possession of the last word. She walked back to her court and called across the net to Marsha. “Are you ready?” At the affirmative nod from her sister, she batted the ball to her. “It's your service."
    Annette had a difficult time concentrating on her game. She was more interested in the tennis match being played on the adjacent court. Marsha was an adequate player, but she wasn't a challenging opponent. And Josh was a powerful