She began slicing the bread, cheese, and apples. “You were in a fine mood this morning. But when I mentioned the consideration you showed by picking this spot for me, you exhibited sudden defensiveness and attacked me verbally. I believe your outburst stems from the fact that you did indeed choose this spot for me. You obviously realized that, and your own thoughtfulness toward me angered you. Such a reaction might have stemmed from the loss of a beloved sweetheart and your consequent refusal to be vulnerable to an amorous form of love again. However, when I asked you to tell me about romantic love, you demonstrated genuine ignorance of the subject. Therefore, I feel it safe to presume that you have not loved and lost a sweetheart. Sit down and eat your lunch.”
“You’re doing that psychology stuff again,” he bit out as he sat down beside her. “Well, I can tell you right now that—”
“Furthermore, you lied to me.” She handed him a piece of bread.
“Lied? But—”
“From what I understand, there is little you cannot do. Had you stayed in Oates’ Junction rather than following me, you would have found other work. However, you tried to make me believe that you followed me because of the money Dr. Wallaby would pay you. That was a lie. You came after me because you knew those gold thieves were planning to rob me and that they might very well have harmed me. Your worry over me more than likely bothered you immensely.”
“I needed the money, and that’s the end of it!”
She smiled sweetly into the dangerous glitter in his eyes. “You suffered a negative experience with a woman sometime in your past, and as we have just discussed, the woman was not your sweetheart. Said experience must have been truly painful because it has caused you to dislikeallwomen. You allow yourself to indulge in sexual activities with them, but beyond that you want nothing to do with them. That is why your consideration toward me annoys you. Open your mouth.”
So startled was he by what she told him, he didn’t think twice before opening his mouth and accepting the slice of apple she put into it. “How do you—”
“Know? Why, you hinted at it the first night we spent together.”
He didn’t remember hinting at anything of the sort. “I did not—”
“Yes, Mr. Montana, you did.” She ate a bit of bread and cheese and shared some apple with John the Baptist. “You said you did not want a family.”
“What’s that got to do with—”
“Your animosity toward women? Really, Mr. Montana, it’s quite elementary.”
“Nothing is ever elementary to you, Miss Worth! You don’t know whatsimpleis! Everything you do, say, and think has to be connected to some sort of academic junk that normal people don’t know a damned thing about!”
Calmly, she waited for him to finish raving. “To have a family, you must have a wife. You are not fond of women, so you do not want a wife. Therefore, you do not plan to raise a family on your horse ranch. That is what you told me the night we spent in the woods. Would you care for some cheese?”
“What? No, I don’t want any blasted cheese! I want you to stop—”
“My goodness, what a temper,” she remarked, casually examining an apple seed. “From whom did you inherit that volatile constitution? Your father or your mother?”
“I wouldn’t know, and that’s the last question you’re going to ask me!”
She laid her hand on his knee. “I’m sorry.”
“You damned sure should be. Digging into a person’s mind is—”
“No, Mr. Montana. You misunderstand. I am expressing sympathy over the deaths of your parents. They must have died when you were very young, or else you would have remembered if one of them had the same temper you do. Or perhaps you never knew them at all. Whatever the case, someone else raised you. And I don’t think I am wrong in believing that that someone was a woman. Whoever she was, she was uncaring toward you.”
Stunned into silence, Roman stared into her eyes, wishing he could see the astonishing brain behind them. He’d told her so little, and yet she’d discovered the truth.
But not all of it. There hadn’t beenanuncaring woman; there had beenthree.He didn’t like remembering them. And what he liked even less was beingforcedto remember them.
The memories made him recall his own stupidity.
Theodosia watched him squeeze his piece of bread into a dough ball. “It wasn’t my intention to make you angry,” she said softly. “I only wanted to know more about—”
“Angry?” He pitched the bread ball into the woods. “Are you kidding? I’m having the time of my life! Doesn’t everyone enjoy having their past guessed at, carved open, and discussed by people who don’t care that it’s none of their business? I know you’re afraid of lightning, but have I tried to find out why? No, because it’s none of my business. Personally, I think being afraid of lightning is stupid. I can see being nervous about it, but you fall completely apart! Still, it’s none of my business, and besides that, Miss Worth, I don’t really give a damn!”
She watched the fire of fury come into his eyes. But behind the flames there glowed another emotion.
Sorrow glimmered through his wrath. His buried grief unsettled her far more than she thought reasonable. How was it possible for her to feel such profound concern for a man like Roman Montana? Besides the fact that she’d known him for only days, he wasn’t at all the sort of man she ever imagined herself caring for. Not that she’d planned on involving herself with any man at all, she amended. The Brazilian research was all that mattered to her. But if shehadconsidered love and romance, surely she would have sought a man whose academic background equaled hers.
Disturbed by the intensity of her own emotions, she quickly gathered the remains of the lunch and packed them away. “I suppose our feelings are very similar, really,” she announced in the most normal voice she could muster. “I have not found a reason to cease fearing lightning, and you have found none to alter your dislike toward women. It occurs to me now that I have no right to question your feelings when mine parallel them. Therefore, please nurture your loathing for women, just as I will undoubtedly maintain my dread of lightning.”
She picked up the basket with one hand, her parrot with the other, and stood. “There is one point I shall add, though. My terror of lightning hurts no one but myself. However, your hostility toward women will be a source of great pain for any unsuspecting woman who might fall in love with you.”
