It was a direct hit to her most sensitive area. Both of them knew her anger was a defense. “What if I am? I’ve worked hard for my position at Celebrity. Everything I’ve done there, and every benefit I’ve received, I’ve earned on my own. I’ve already taken enough risks.”

“By not marrying Jonathan Willoby?”

The fury leaped into her eyes quickly, interesting him. So, it was still a sore point, Hunter realized. A very sore point.

“Do you find that amusing?” Lee demanded. “Does the fact that I reneged on an unspoken agreement appeal to your sense of humor?”

“Not particularly. But it intrigues me that you’d consider it possible to renege on something unspoken.”

From the meticulous way she recapped the canteen, he gauged just how angry she was. Her voice was cool and detached, as he hadn’t heard it for days. “My family and the Willobys have been personally and professionally involved for years. The marriage was expected of me and I knew it from the time I was sixteen.”

Hunter leaned back against the trunk of a tree until he was comfortable. “And at sixteen you didn’t consider that sort of expectation antiquated?”

“How could you possibly understand?” Fuming, she rose. The nerves that had been dormant for days began to jump again. Hunter could almost see them spring to life. “You said your father was a dreamer who made his living as a salesman. My father was a realist who made his living socializing and delegating. He socialized with the Willobys. He delegated me to complete the social and professional merger with them by marrying Jonathan.” Even now, the tidy, unemotional plans gave her a twinge of distaste. “Jonathan was attractive, intelligent, already successful. My father never considered that I’d object.”

“But you did,” Hunter pointed out. “Why do you continue to insist on paying for something that was your right?”

Lee whirled to him. It was no longer possible for her to answer coolly, to rebuff with aloofness. “Do you know what it cost me not to do what was expected of me? Everything I did, all my life, was ultimately for their approval.”

“Then you did something for yourself.” Without hurry, he rose to face her. “Is your career for yourself, Lenore, or are you still trying to win their approval?”

He had no right to ask, no right to make her search for the answer. Pale, she turned away from him. “I don’t want to discuss this with you. It’s none of your concern.”

“Isn’t it?” Abruptly as angry as she, Hunter spun her around again. “Isn’t it?” he repeated.