Must-Have Husband

guess.”
    “Huh!” she said, acting slightly indignant.
    “He’s right, Connie,” Linda said. She turned her gaze on Mac’s. “The truth is we’ve never gone hiking before. It was kind of my idea, a girls’ getaway to help Connie forget—”

    Connie reached out a hand to cover her sister’s blabbermouth. What was it about Linda sometimes? The girl couldn’t keep herself from talking! Connie didn’t know why she particularly cared if Mac knew she’d come up here on the run from heartache, but she did. Besides, it wasn’t her sister’s business sharing the news. “She means we came up here to escape the city. Forget about those everyday pressures. Unwind in the fresh air, you know? Only we didn’t expect the air to turn windy or rainy…or for it to get dark. Um. Yeah. That.”
    Mac studied her in a curious way, and she dropped her hand away from Linda’s pursed lips. There was an awkward beat during which Connie felt her skin warm from her head down to her toes. His eyes were hazel, a heady mixture of green and brown, changing subtly in the dim light. He was one fine specimen of a man, if she’d ever seen one. A real he-man, with that well-trimmed beard and mustache that made him look like a Scottish lord or highland mountaineer. Connie envisioned him wearing a kilt and sweeping her into his arms. He was clearly strong enough to do it.
    He gave her a tilted smile, and her pulse fluttered. “In that case, it’s a good thing we all ran into each other.”
    “Uh-huh,” Connie answered weakly.
    Linda elbowed her, then whispered in her ear, “What’s wrong with you? You look faint.”
    “I’m fine, just fine,” she spouted back in low tones.
    “I mean,” he continued, “I didn’t drop breadcrumbs, but I certainly know the way home.”
    “That’s great!” Linda said.
    “Should we head back tonight?” Connie asked.
    “Now, even I’m too smart to do that,” Mac said with a wink. He glanced heavenward as the tiny pings of rain began to fade. “Sounds like it’s letting up out there. Once the rain passes, I’ll go and stoke that fire again. I’ll bet you two are pretty hungry.”
    Connie’s stomach rumbled in spite of herself. “Just a little.” The truth was she was ravenous. Neither she nor Linda had eaten since morning.
    “A little? I’m starved!” Linda looked eagerly at Mac. “Got any steaks in your pack?”
    “How about some gruel and hardtack?” He laughed out loud at their stunned expressions. “You girls don’t go camping much, do you?”

    “I think we were wrong about him,” Connie whispered to Linda.
    “What do you mean?”
    They were in the tent where Mac had insisted they bed down while he took the bedroll next to the fire. He’d prepared them a delicious dinner from dehydrated veggies and pasta that had tasted as good to Connie as a meal at Fellini’s. It was just a shame they hadn’t had a nice Chianti to go with it. Connie could have used a glass or two. But the truth was she didn’t really need any alcohol. She was so exhausted from the day she’d likely sleep like a log.
    “About that…” She made a gagging motion around her throat. “You know.”
    “I wouldn’t be so sure, Connie. He still could be troubled.”
    “He seems fine to me.”
    “So, maybe we brightened his day?”
    They lay face-to-face under Mac’s warm sleeping bag, while he roughed it in his layered clothing outdoors.
    “Do you think he’s all right out there?” Connie asked.
    “He’s used to it.”
    “Well, I’m not.” She struggled to get comfortable atop the rock-hard ground. “This certainly isn’t the Ritz.”
    “Don’t be such a spoily, and be glad we found him. Or he found us.”
    “Nearly killed us.”
    “You in particular.”
    “Dropped right out of the sky.”
    The girls giggled.
    “He is pretty hot, Connie. You can’t say you didn’t notice the color of his eyes.”
    “They were…unusual.”
    “He’s dishy. If I weren’t so happily married, I’d make a meal of him my—”
    Connie swatted her arm. “Shut up!”
    They giggled again like two kids at a campout.
    “It’s not too late to ask him…”
    “We are not inviting him to Napa,” Connie said firmly. “Okay?”
    Linda shrugged, turning away. “Suit yourself.”
    After a prolonged moment, Connie tapped Linda on the shoulder and whispered, “What do you think it’s like?”
    “What?”
    “Kissing a man with a beard?”
    “I wouldn’t know.” She turned back toward her