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unaffected by the proceedings, and obviously not suffering the torment of the damned that he
was, wanting her desperately and hating himself for it.
Not that he wouldn't take her up on it if the unthinkable happened and she threw herself
at him - he'd be hard pressed - uh, very hard pressed, if his current condition was any indicator -
not to take her up on it. After teaching her a lesson that would be as unpleasant for her as it was
pleasant for him . . .
What could the Cro-magnon be thinking of now? Kelsey wondered uncharitably. It
wasn't enough for him to be ungentlemanly and insist that he have the master bedroom -
although what else had she expected from him? she thought nastily. And what flimsy excuse did
he give for his need of it? The fact that he was most definitely going to have overnight visitors
of the female persuasion, and that that would dictate the necessity of having the larger room.
Of course, from there the discussion had descended into a shouting match about who was
going to be staying over in the house that they shared and when. Clint had taken every possible
opportunity to impugn her relationship with Randy, calling into question his abilities in the
bedroom, and, because she couldn't defend that which she didn't know, his attack had left her
uncharacteristically speechless.
"What's the matter, Princess? No comeback?" he'd taunted after wondering aloud
something to the affect that Randy probably hadn't the slightest idea how to satisfy a woman,
because he certainly didn't know how to control his.
"I am not something to be owned and controlled, Mr. Duncan," Kelsey said stiffly, and
Clint realized that he had really hit a nerve. She looked about ready to cry, and despite his
needling, like most men on Earth, he wanted to avoid a woman's tears at almost any cost. Of
course, if the cause of them was a good, sound spanking, then he would know how to deal with
them. But their appearance at almost any other time threw him entirely. Diffidently, Kelsey spat
out as she rose and shrugged into her jacket, "You can have the master bedroom."
Clint sighed heavily. Now he felt like the bad guy, and he hadn't done anything but fight
for his right to use the bigger room, since he was the more likely of the two to have overnight
visitors. "Why don't we split the difference? You take it for the first nine months, and I'll take it
for the last."
Her answer was crisp and succinct, and she didn't meet his eyes. "Because I don't want to
have to move all my things out of my bedroom again."
He shifted uncomfortably, not liking how she was acting. He and Kelsey had always
sparred back and forth. It was how they communicated, if one could call it that. And she'd
always met him toe to toe, never backing down even when he was doing his best to intimidate
her with his considerable size and an wholly unwelcoming demeanor. But now she was acting
defeated - cowed, even - and he didn't like it. Not one bit.
"I'll move you. I'll do everything when the time comes for us to switch. You won't have
to lift a finger." Not wanting to, but unable to stop himself, he sat forward in his chair for the
first time, trying to catch her eye. He swore if he saw but one teardrop fall onto her beige coat,
he'd . . .
But there were no tears. Only a tired, perfunctory response, delivered in a soft voice he
barely recognized as hers. "No, that's okay."
She did turn to Thom. "I think we've ironed out the major stuff. If there's anything else,
send me a letter or an email. I'm going home."
Both Thom and Clint rose as she headed for the door. "Barring any other problems, you
can both move in this weekend," Thom called after her.
"Thank you," so quietly both men had to strain to hear it, and then there was just the tap-
tap-tapping of her heels on the hardwood floor.
Thom threw his pen onto the yellow legal pad he'd been writing notes on. "Well, I
wonder what happened to change her mind."
Clint snorted. "Who can tell with a woman? They all get their pantyhose in a twist in the
blink of an eye and leave us poor slobs wondering what the hell we did to cause the sudden sea
change."
When he looked up, Thom was eyeing him a little too closely for comfort. "Tell me
something, Clint."
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you just give it up and ask her out?"
Clint's big fists clenched on the wooden conference table in front of him as he rounded on
his friend. "Excuse me? Are you out of your mind? Why would I want to date the biggest
spoiled brat in the state?"
Thom remained entirely unintimidated, leaning as far back in his chair as he could and
locking his fingers behind his head. "Because you want her - and you're just itching to take her
in hand. You protest waaaaay too much, buddy. You've got a bad case for that woman. I just
wish you'd do something about it."
The big man's frown was truly fierce. "Who's side are you on, anyway? You sound just
like Callie, butting her nose in where it doesn't belong, trying to play matchmaker between me
and that Shrewish American Princess. Did Callie put you up to this, somehow?"
Thom shook his head. "Nope. Anyone with eyes can see how . . . interested you are in
her. Go get her, man! I happen to agree with you about Randy -although I might not have gone
so far as to wonder out loud which one of the Wizard of Oz munchkins he was, and whether or
not he was anatomically correct."
"He's a nerd! A wimpy nerd at that."
"No argument here. He is. He makes quite a bit of money being nerdy, though."
Clint hissed through tightly clenched teeth. "Kelsey needs a strong man, not someone
who bows to her every whim and lets her run wild."
Thom's eyebrow rose. Clint had obviously put a certain amount of thought into just
exactly what kind of man he felt Kelsey needed. He wasn't surprised that the description bore a
striking resemblance to Clint himself. "I agree, however chauvinistic it sounds. Some women
need a firm, caring, guiding hand, and Kelsey is definitely one of them."
"Damn straight!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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