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Page 146
''Playing the field, aren't you?" he snarled.
"Yes, I am," Linda snapped defiantly. "You don't own me. And I think maybe you did make this plane after all. The car is in the lot just across the way. We can leave right now, and you won't have to pretend a thing for your aunt."
"Hey, wait a minute," Peter exclaimed, catching at Linda's arm as she started to walk away. "God, what a spitfire. You don't have to blow your stack just because I'm a little jealous. Most women take that as a compliment."
But it hadn't sounded like jealousy to Linda. It had sounded far nastier, carrying an innuendo of hired companion trying to make a security deal with either one of her wealthy employer's nephews. Yet what right did she have to be angry, Linda thought, biting back a furious retort. Her behavior did rather look like that. She hadn't told Peter about her dates with Donald, and he couldn't know that financial security was the last thing about which she needed to worry. So all she said was, "Please let go of my arm."
"Linda," Peter said softly, "I'm sorry. At least have a drink with me. I'm tired andand maybe I did thinkor hope that I owned you. No, that'sthat isn't what I mean. Oh, damn it all, you know what I mean."
"Do I?" To her chagrin, Linda felt tears rising. She could feel them hanging in her lower lids and she struggled to prevent more from coming so they wouldn't spill over.
Linda was as shocked and surprised by her

 
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