“At least here we are. This place is ruled by my little sister and brother and their friends. It wasn’t always that way, mind you. When I was a kid, I loved spending my summers up here. I’ve hiked every inch of this place in a twenty-five mile radius. And fished most of the streams. But as my siblings grew up . . .”
Shrugging, he leaned back on his arms, and Madison looked at him. He had a beat-up old canvas hat on and it shaded his eyes, but she could swear that as he looked at the water, the frown lines between his eyes were less deep.
“Anyway, they prefer parties to the great outdoors. In fact, there’s a party planned for tonight.”
At that Madison sighed. To her parties meant drunken men trying to put their hands on her body parts.
“Yeah, me too,” Thomas said. “I can’t stand parties. Look, I was wondering if maybe . . . I mean, I know that you said that all you want to do is lie around the house and read, but I thought maybe you’d like to go hiking with me.”
Part of Madison wanted to yell, “Yes!” but there was another part that kept her silent. How many times had tourists passing through Montana asked her to go “hiking” with them?
“On one condition,” Thomas said. “Nothing romantic.”
“I beg your pardon?” Madison said, coming out of her reverie about her hometown.
Turning his head, he looked up at her. “Women keep wanting to marry me.”
“Really?” Madison said. “How awful that must be for you.”
With a grimace, he looked back at the water. “I thought maybe you’d understand. What is it that Jane Austen said, ‘that a man with a fortune must need a wife’? Something like that. Well, I’m rich and the minute women find that out, they start planning the wedding. And from what I’ve seen about you, whenever a man sees you, he starts planning—”
“The honeymoon?” Madison said.
“Exactl
y.”
She, too, looked at the water. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I guess you’re right, we are misfits. So what do you propose? Or is that a bad choice of words?”
“Freedom for both of us. In my entire life I’ve never had what I’d call a ‘good time’ with a female. It’s all been so calculated. You can’t imagine how many women have told me they love to fish, but later I find out that they’ve ‘researched’ me and found out that I like fishing, so they . . .” He trailed off, then shrugged. “One woman I met had taken fishing lessons.”
“So freedom would mean that we . . . ?” Madison asked, looking down at him.
“Have a good time. No strings attached. You seem to dislike the same things that I do, so I thought that maybe you like some of the same things too. I can see that you like to fish, so I thought that maybe we could walk and fish and, well, just be people. You forget that I’m rich and I’ll not pay any attention to the fact that you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life.”
In spite of herself, a little thrill at his words ran through her. She wanted to say, “Really? The most beautiful? Or just one of the most beautiful?” But Madison didn’t say anything.
“How does that sound to you?” he asked.
Madison cleared her throat for fear that she’d squeak. “Fine,” she said. “It sounds fine.”
“Unless you’d rather stay at the cabin for the rest of your stay and read and go to parties with your husband. Or you could sit on the porch at night with Mom and Dad and—”
“No,” Madison said quickly. “I’d rather spend time with—” She stopped herself from saying, “with you.” She wasn’t going to let him think that she was one of the many women who was chasing him. “With the outdoors,” she said at last. “What exactly did you have in mind that we’d do?”
“Hiking. Unless you’re one of those city women who’s afraid of the wilderness.”
At that Madison laughed. “I’m from Montana. What could you possibly have in these little New York mountains to rival my home state?”
Thomas smiled at her, and when he did, his face softened. “Good. I need a break from studies and school. We could do a little white water-rafting. Nothing dangerous, so we wouldn’t need a guide, just the two of us. We could float down the river and camp out if you . . . Well, if you wouldn’t be afraid to be alone with me, that is. And if your husband gave his permission.”
After what I’ve done for Roger! was the first thought that entered Madison’s mind, but she didn’t say it. “I’m sure it will be all right. Roger and I have a very adult relationship.” She almost choked on that lie.
“That’s wonderful,” Thomas said, then got up to stand over her and stretch.
Madison, still sitting on the rock, looked up at him, the early morning sun behind him, outlining his big, strong body, showing the way the muscles moved under his clothes. How long had it been since she’d touched a body that wasn’t in need of doctoring? How long—
When he looked back down at her, Madison put her empty cup to her lips and looked down at the ground. She’d better hide what she’d just been thinking and feeling.