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her, she grew horrified. This was no way to conduct a business venture! She had worked before on projects in which she had to get along with men who didn’t particularly care for her being a woman in a man’s world. Admittedly there weren’t many times when that had occurred, and certainly no man had blatantly attacked her like Wagner.
    “Okay, second question. Are you divorced? Do you have children?’’
    “That’s two!” She flared, incensed at his audacity.
    “That will amount to my three questions, then, Doctor.”
    Libby wanted to curse. Her jaw hardened as she considered the ramifications of answering his intimate questions about her private life. If she didn’t, she would lose the chance to find out what made him operate the way he did. Sighing in resignation, she responded.
    “Yes, I am divorced, and no, I don’t have any children. Satisfied?”
    Dan gave her a lazy smile. “Care to elaborate?”
    “That’s four. I don’t owe you another one!” she shot back.
    The smile reached his eyes. “What’s the matter, Doctor, is the game getting too serious for you? Or did you figure that a logger having nothing more than a high school diploma wouldn’t understand your games? Never mind, you don’t have to answer that one. I think I’ve made my point.”
    Libby gave him a brittle, fixed smile. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. “The point, Mr. Wagner, is that you hate me and my kind. You’ve brought that home very succinctly. And no, I don’t want to play our little game anymore, because you have no concept of what fair play is all about. It has nothing to do with the degree of education at all. I never implied that loggers were stupid.” Her voice shook with anger. Or was it suppressed tears?
    Dan frowned, feeling guilty about his tactics. He saw the hurt clearly written on her face and wanted to apologize. Damn, what was he doing? She was simply trying to create a more friendly atmosphere between them. Why was he so ready to be defensive? Libby Stapleton had done nothing to deserve his acid comments. Maybe he was threatened by her credentials and intelligence. In his experience beautiful faces meant no brains. But that wasn’t the case this time. Cursing himself, Dan wanted to reach out and touch Libby’s arm in apology. He wasn’t much on words. But he knew he could convey his feeling through touch. Glancing over at her, Dan felt his body tighten with desire and he hesitated. Libby reminded him of a child in many ways, but she also had the inbred strength of a one-of-a-kind woman, and that attracted him tremendously.
    He drove the Jeep off the last foothill and they entered a small grassy valley. It was warmer there, and the sun-dappled meadow waved with patches of blue lupine, foxglove and larkspur. Desperately Libby concentrated on keeping back her tears. She couldn’t cry! Not there and especially not in front of him! She compressed her lips and waged an internal battle with her feelings. Why couldn’t she hate him? It would be so much easier that way. But she didn’t hate him. She liked him, dammit!
    Libby was in such turmoil that at first she did not hear him speak. The instant his fingers touched the cotton fabric over her shoulder, she whirled, gasping. His brows drew down in displeasure at her reaction and he removed his hand. “You don’t have to act like you can’t stand my touch,” he growled. “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated a woman in my life and I’m certainly not going to start now.” And then he smiled slightly. “Besides, you’re too beautiful and vulnerable to hate, Doctor. Let’s get one thing straight, shall we? Above everything else, I admire honesty. The people who live in the mountains come by it naturally. We don’t play games. Sometimes we say things that hurt others, but basically our intent cannot be misconstrued. You were born in the city and grew up where games are played to give and take what you want Out here you’ll get nowhere with that