“Why a park in Prospect Valley?” he asked as he settled her on the bench and then stood across from her, leaning against the pier rail.

“Why not? It’s a beautiful valley with plenty of recreational features. We have the opportunity to offer four-season use—camping, hiking, kayaking, snowmobiling, fishing. You name the sport, and the public can come here to do it.”

“We? Who is this ‘we’ you speak of?”

“Right now it’s a group of businessmen from around the state who have formed a consortium. Eric Hellman hired me to help work up a proposal to present to our legislature.”

“These businessmen, what is their gain? Why have they come together with the hope of building a park here?”

Sadie frowned at his question. “Maybe because they want to see this vast wilderness preserved for future generations.”

“Or maybe they hope to profit?” he asked very quietly. “Will they donate all the land to this park, or are they intending to sell lots for vacation homes?”

“But that’s the point,” Sadie said, leaning forward to make her own point. “Not only will the park open a beautiful piece of land to the public, it will also help grow the economy of this area. Just as your ski resort has done. Look at all the shops and inns that have cropped up since you opened. The population of Pine Creek is nearly double in winter.

With a new park, that economic boom could be year-round.”

“And then what do you have, Mercedes? Another small city with hordes of people overrunning the wilderness, crowding the animals onto smaller and smaller tracts of land?”

Sadie stood up, pulling the lapels of Morgan’s coat tightly around her. Morgan stepped away from the rail and took hold of her shoulders.

“I know why the businessmen have come up with this plan, Mercedes. But I don’t understand your connection. What is it you hope to gain?”

“Nothing,” she said, torn between pulling away and wanting to lean into his broad chest.

The man was making her angry.

But he still smelled sexy.

“Since I learned to walk, I’ve been hiking that valley,” she continued, looking up into his serious, deep green eyes. “And I want to be part of preserving it.”

“Has the valley not been happily existing all these years without your intervention? Can a person not hike and fish and hunt there now? And will turning it into a park not ultimately destroy the valley, if more and more people come here?”

Dammit. She hated that his argument made a certain kind of sense. Hadn’t she had that very worry herself? Wasn’t it still a concern?

“Why are you so against the park?” she asked. “Your family will likely profit the most.

Your hotel will be full winter and summer. Your restaurant on the summit could be open year-round.”

“It’s already open year-round. And how much profit does one family need? Especially at the expense of the land.”

Morgan suddenly released her shoulders, took hold of her right hand again, and started walking them toward her house.

“My camera. I want it back,” she said, deciding it was time to change the subject and probably better to keep a line drawn between them.

He was too handsome and tall and masculine and… and too damned sexy to be attracted to her. She would bet that when Morgan MacKeage made love to a woman, they both got naked, sweaty, and completely consumed by each other. All the lights would be on.

The covers would be stripped from the bed, with no place to hide. Everything would be exposed.

Well, if she lived to be a hundred, she was never getting undressed in front of a man.

Especially a man who could give Adonis a run for his money.

“What camera?”

“What?” Sadie asked, completely lost in her train of thought. “Oh. The camera I had with me the other day, that you took the film out of. I want my pack, my GPS, and my camera back.”

“I don’t have your camera. I left it on the ground.”

“You must have come back later and gotten it, along with everything else.” She squeezed his hand which was holding hers. “I want my stuff back.”

“On my honor, lass. I didn’t return and take your belongings,” he said softly. “Did you go back and look for them?”

“Yes.” Sadie sighed into the night. “I’m never going to see my stuff again, am I?

Someone else must have come along and found it.”

“I’ll buy you a new camera, Mercedes. It’s my fault yours got lost.”

“It doesn’t matter. The camera can’t be replaced, anyway. It was my dad’s.”

He used his grip on her hand to stop them again. “I’m sorry,” he said simply, staring down at her with serious eyes.

Sadie straightened her shoulders. “It was my fault. I walked away without even thinking about my stuff.”

He raised a finger to her cheek and brushed a strand of hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear.

“We didn’t get off to a very good start, did we, lass?”

Sadie balled her left hand into a fist and shoved it into her pocket, determined not to run her own finger over his cheek.

Lord, she was attracted to this man, and it had nothing to do with having seen every naked inch of him four days ago.

Well, maybe that had a little bit to do with it. But it was more than this unfamiliar stirring of lust she was feeling right now as she stared up into his warm, mesmerizing forest-green eyes. It was the warmth of his touch, the way he held her gloved hand as if it were a perfectly normal act, the way he looked at her, smiled at her, and made her feel… well… special.

“The start of what?” she asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You said we didn’t get off to a very good start. The start of what?”

He tugged her forward, pulling her off balance toward him, and released her to wrap both of his arms around her. He hugged her to him tightly, and his chest heaved with another deep sigh.

“The start of a cautious but important friendship,” he whispered over her head, his arms tightening around her.

Sadie wanted to bury her face in his shirt and weep.

Friendship.

Dammit. She was lusting after his body, standing in his arms in the middle of the moonlit road, foolishly hoping that he had been talking about starting a flaming affair.

And he was offering her friendship.

Sadie pulled away with a jerk. She shot him a good glare to let him know what she thought of his offer, then turned and started walking toward home again.

Morgan quietly fell into step beside his obviously angry date, not knowing whether to be amused or angry himself.

He did know he was damned frustrated. He wanted the woman with a fierceness that was almost painful. There was nothing casual about his feelings for Mercedes. He didn’t just want to bed her, he wanted to possess her, to capture and hold on to that powerful energy he felt whenever she was close.

He rubbed the softly humming burl on his chest again as he walked along the dark road, keeping pace with the silent woman beside him. If he were a gentleman, he would not be starting anything with her tonight but ending things by taking her to her door, politely saying good night, and walking away and never seeing her again.

Aye, that is what he should do.

If he were a gentleman.

By the time they reached Sadie’s front porch,she was dreading the sympathy kiss on the cheek Morgan likely would give her and his wan smile and false declaration that he’d had a nice time tonight, that maybe they’d see each other around sometime soon.

Well, not this time. And not with this man.

Sadie had actually had a wonderful evening. Morgan MacKeage had been a nearly perfect date—attentive, considerate, amusing, and entertaining. He had danced like Fred Astaire and made her feel like Ginger Rogers. Heck, even the near brawl on the dance floor had been invigorating.

She didn’t want a peck. Not from a guy who could probably lay a kiss on a girl that would blow her socks off.