with me immediately, but I don't believe that nonsense.'
'I'll wager it was lust at first sight.
' 'I don't think we should talk about this anymore. It seems to upset
you.'
'I'm not upset, ' he snapped. 'It just seems so barbaric of your
father.'
'Daniel, arranged marriages are customary in some societies.'
'And you're a dutiful daughter.' Her spine stiffened.
'As a matter of fact, I am. It was quite wonderful of my parents to
give me a year's . . . ' 'Reprieve? ' 'Sabbatical, ' she corrected.
'They wanted me to have the chance of fulfilling my dream. They have
tremendous faith in me.' His blue eyes bored into her. 'But you don't
have much faith in yourself, do you, Grace? ' 'Of course I do.
' 'Then why are you giving up so easily? ' 'Because I'm going to
Texas, ' she answered. 'I cannot be in two places at once. I've
already used up four months, and going to Texas might take as much as
two more. I won't have much of a life until you've caught all of the
members of that horrible gang, because you're going to insist on
protecting me and that might take you months and months.'
'You're giving up, ' he repeated.
He was hitting too close to the mark, and she didn't like that one
bit.
He was making her acknowledge what she had been trying to ignore. As
soon as the road became bumpy, she was ready to quit.
'I'm not a quitter.'
'It seems to me that you are.'
'Oh, what do you know? Things are different for you.'
'Because I live in the United States.'
'Because you're a man, ' she said. 'You don't ever have to get married
unless you want to, and I sincerely doubt that will ever happen. You
aren't the type to settle down and raise a family.' He shifted his
position on the bench so his legs could have more room to stretch
out.
