Silver Linings

of myself a second time!” she shouted.
    In the deep silence that followed her words seemed to echo endlessly off the cavern walls. But all Mattie heard was fool, fool, fool .
    She was appalled. “Oh, God. There. Does that satisfy you, Hugh?” she whispered. “Please. Just let it alone, all right?”
    He studied her in silence for a moment. “I can't let it alone, Mattie. I want you.”
    She shuddered and averted her eyes. “You don't want me.”
    “Come here and I'll show you.” His voice was coaxing now, like velvet.
    Mattie rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You wanted Ariel, first, remember? What is it with you? Now that you've gotten over your irritation with her, you're willing to consider another Sharpe sister? If you can't have one of Charlotte Vailcourt's nieces, you'll take the other?”
    “Oh, hell.”
    Mattie hugged her knees more tightly to her chest. “I know Aunt Charlotte wants you in the family. She makes no secret of it. Thinks you have good genes. Says you're a throwback. Says you're not a soft, neurotic wimp like so many modern men.”
    “Nice to be appreciated for one's finer qualities,” Hugh growled.
    “She asked you to look up Ariel in Italy because she figured my sister was her best shot at getting you into her little breeding program. Men have always been attracted to Ariel. They can't help themselves. And you were no different, were you? Aunt Charlotte was thrilled when the two of you came back engaged. But since that didn't work out, she's trying to pair you off with me. I told her you'd turned me down flat last year, but she says it was just bad timing.”
    “It was. I told you that.”
    “Well, I've got news for both of you. One chance is all you get, Hugh Abbott, and you've used up yours. I don't care what kind of high-level promotion or how big a cash bonus Aunt Charlotte is offering you to marry me.”
    The second the words were out of her mouth, Mattie knew she had gone too far. One look at the expression in Hugh's icy eyes told her that. There was an instant of shocking silence, and then she prudently leapt to her feet. She did not know where she intended to run, but she knew she had better get going.
    She never stood a chance. Moving with the fluid strength that characterized all his actions, Hugh came to his feet and reached for her. A year of aerobic training was no match for that kind of masculine power. Mattie was helpless. Hugh's hands clamped around her upper arms and he held her motionless in front of him.
    “You will apologize for that crack,” he said, his tone verging on the lethal. “You will tell me you are very, very sorry you said that. You will say you know it's not true. And you will say it now.”
    Mattie looked pointedly down at his hands on her arms. “Sure, Hugh. I'll say anything you want me to say. You're a lot bigger and stronger than I am and I'm trapped here with you, so you just tell me what you want to hear and I'll say it.”
    He stared down at her in a kind of awed wonder. “You're really determined to push your luck, aren't you?”
    “What luck? I've had nothing but bad luck since I hit Purgatory. Please let me go, Hugh.”
    “Not until you apologize, by God. We'll stand here like this all day if that's what it takes.”
    She believed him. “All right, I'm sorry I implied Aunt Charlotte was trying to buy you. There. Satisfied?”
    For a few seconds it did not look as if he was satisfied in the least. Then, with a short, explicit oath, Hugh released her abruptly. He jammed his fingers through his hair. “You really know how to get to me, don't you? You know all the right buttons to push.”
    Mattie stood tensely, watching him. “Hugh, this is crazy. We have got to stop arguing. Who knows how long we're going to be together in this mess?”
    He slid her a long glance. “Doesn't it mean a damn thing to you that I've spent the last eight months trying to make up for the stupid mistake I made a year ago?”
    She clasped her hands together. “That's just it. You didn't make a mistake last year. You were right to reject my utterly ridiculous offer. We're all wrong for each other, Hugh. I realize that now. What I can't figure out is why you've changed your mind.”
    “Well, it sure as hell isn't because Charlotte Vailcourt promised to promote me or give me a fat bonus if I marry you,” he retorted.
    Mattie chewed her lower lip. “I know. I'm sorry. It's just that I was so angry. Dear heaven. I never lose my temper. I don't know