“You should have known better than to bring up a subject like that on a first date, for heaven’s sake.”

He ignored that. “All five talked about extended vacations in the south of France and second homes on Maui. I don’t take monthlong vacations.”

“Do you takeany vacations?”

“I’ve got a company to run, damn it.”

“Uh-huh.” No vacations. A real fun guy. But she refrained from voicing that observation aloud.

“And another thing.” He turned back around to face her. “All five of those women looked very high-maintenance to me.”

“And you’re not high-maintenance?”

He appeared genuinely startled that she would even suggest such a possibility. His expression darkened. “Of course not. I just told you, I’m a very flexible man.”

She sat forward abruptly. “Pay attention here, Gabe. According to the feedback I got from the five women I sent you out with, you showed distinct signs of being bored and impatient within half an hour after each date began.”

He shrugged. “That was approximately how long it took each time before I realized that you had picked another bad match.”

“Did you have to start sneaking glances at your watch before the entrées arrived?”

“I wasn’tsneaking glances. So I checked my watch occasionally. So what? Time is money.”

“There was also a general consensus among all five women that you do not have a romantic bone in your body.”

“Those dates weren’t about romance.” He sliced one hand through the air in a quick, thoroughly disgusted arc. “They were business meetings as far as I was concerned.”

“Business meetings,” she replied, keeping her tone very neutral. “Oddly enough, the women I matched you with did not view the dates in quite the same light.”

“I’m looking for a wife, damn it. Not a girlfriend.”

“I see.” She cleared her throat delicately. “All five of the women reported that when they did manage to get a conversation going with you, it went nowhere because you are clearly paranoid about being married for your money.”

“You’d be paranoid, too, if every person you dated wanted to know how much you had invested in high-tech stocks and how much in bonds and real estate.” He broke off, looking thoughtful. “Maybe I should have adopted an alias for the dates.”

“Oh, sure. Lying about your identity is a great way to start a long-term relationship. And for your information, I have had more than one date with men who took what I considered an unpleasant interest in my finances. I’m a Harte, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Harte Investments.”

“Exactly. Anyone who knows me well understands that my brother and sister and I will each inherit a large chunk of my family’s company. In addition, I haven’t done badly with Private Arrangements.”

He surveyed the well-appointed office. “I’ve heard that your client list is very high-end. And you sure do charge high-end fees for your services.”

She gave him a cool smile. “In short, my balance sheets look very appetizing to a certain type of man. But I don’t allow that fact to color my view of the entire male population. I’m not totally paranoid that every guy who asks me out is hoping to marry into money.”

“Nice for you,” he muttered. “But a little naïve, don’t you think?”

She could feel her teeth starting to clench together. “I am not naïve.”

He shrugged and went to stand at the window that looked out across the rain-swept city toward the Willamette River. She followed his gaze and saw that lights were coming on all over town. The late winter day was ending swiftly. Here in the Northwest there was a price to be paid for the long, long days of summer. That fee came in the form of very short days at this time of year.

“Okay, maybe I am a little paranoid about being married because of Madison Commercial,” Gabe said quietly. “I’ve had a couple of close calls.”

“Give me a break. Are you telling me that the reason you’ve never married is because you’re afraid that every woman you meet is after your money?” She did not bother to keep the skepticism out of her voice. “I find that a little tough to swallow. You haven’t always been wealthy and successful. Far from it. I know exactly where you came from, remember?”

He contemplated the mist that shrouded the darkening city. “During the time when I didn’t have any money I was too busy with Madison Commercial to get seriously involved with anyone.”

“Now that I do believe.”

There was a short silence.

“It isn’t just caution that kept me from getting married.”

“No?”

“I wasn’t in any hurry to follow the Madison tradition.”

She watched him narrowly. “Which tradition, exactly, would that be?”

“Messy relationships and divorce run in my family. We’re not real good at marriage.”

She straightened in her chair. “Sorry, you can’t use that excuse anymore. Your brother put an end to that famous Madison tradition when he married my sister. Rafe and Hannah’s marriage is going to work out brilliantly.”

“You sound very sure of that.”

“Iam sure of it.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder, intent curiosity gleaming in his eyes. “Why? You didn’t run them through your computer program to see if they were a good match. How can you be so certain that their marriage will work?”

“You can feel it when you’re with them,” she said quietly. “There’s a bond. I don’t think either of them will ever look at anyone else as long as they have each other.”

“You canfeel it, huh?”

“Call it female intuition.”

“Intuition is a funny word coming from a woman who uses a computer to match people. Wouldn’t have thought you would be real big on intuition.”

She stiffened. “Every woman likes to think she has good intuition.” This was getting into dangerous territory. “Don’t you believe their marriage will work?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said with stunning casualness. “It’ll work.”

The absolute conviction in his words took her back for a second or two. “I beg your pardon? You just accused me of relying on intuition. What makes you so sure their marriage will hold up?”

“It sure as hell isn’t my intuition.”

“What is it?”

“Simple logic. For starters, it’s obvious that Hannah is Rafe’s passion. You know what they say about us Madisons.”

“Nothing gets between a Madison and his passion,” she recited evenly.

“Right. In addition, your family has a reputation for being good at marriage. I’ve never heard of a Harte getting a divorce. I figure that makes for a winning combination for Rafe and Hannah.”

“I see.” Time to change the topic. “Well, we seem to be in agreement on that point. Why are we arguing about it?”

Gabe turned away from the window and resumed prowling the room. “We’re not arguing. I just wondered how you could be so sure of your conclusions when you hadn’t run Rafe and Hannah through your computer, that’s all.”

She glanced uneasily at the laptop on her desk. She was not about to explain that in the past few months she had been forced to admit to herself that her computer program was not the sole secret of her success as a matchmaker. But the truth was too disturbing to discuss with anyone else, let alone a Madison. She was having a hard enough time dealing with it herself.

The realization that she was relying on her intuition and a hefty dose of common sense combined with the computer’s analysis to get successful matches was fraught with disturbing implications. She was, after all, assuming a huge responsibility with each client. She guided and assisted them in making one of the most important decisions of their lives. The possibility of making a mistake weighed more heavily on her with each passing day. Although nothing awful had happened yet, lately she’d had the uneasy sensation that she was on extremely thin ice.

The time to get out was now, before disaster struck.

She was ready to switch careers, anyway. While her rapidly accumulating qualms about the risks of the matchmaking field were not the main reason she had decided to close down her business, they definitely constituted an added incentive to shut her doors. Fast.

She was not looking forward to announcing her intentions to her family. She knew only too well that the news would not be greeted with wild enthusiasm in the Harte clan. But she had made her plans. The only thing standing between her and her new profession was Gabe Madison. He was the last client left on her active list.

Unfortunately, getting rid of him was proving more difficult than she had anticipated.

Gabe came to a halt in front of her desk, shoved aside one edge of his sleekly cut jacket and hooked his thumb in his belt.

“Let’s get to the bottom line here,” he said. “You want to ditch me because I’m a Madison and you’re a Harte.”

She raised her eyes to the ceiling, seeking patience and forbearance. When she got no help from that direction, she took a deep breath instead.

“That’s got nothing to do with this,” she said. “I don’t give a darn about the family feud. Even if I did, I could hardly use it as a reason to drop you from my list now that your brother and my sister are married.”

“Just because Rafe and Hannah got together doesn’t mean that you’ve changed your opinion about the rest of us Madisons.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Gabe, it was our grandfathers who started the feud. I couldn’t care less about that old nonsense.”

“Yeah?” He gave her a razor-sharp smile. “You mean that you really believe that I’m capable of making a long-term commitment?”

The sarcasm was too much. She had been through a lot since the day Gabe had shown up here in her office, demanding to sign on as a client. The way he had demolished her private fantasies was the least of it.