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Now, it seemed that he had just traded one pain in the ass woman for another one.
Valentina stood outside the door of the guest room where Hal was staying and paced quickly back and forth across the thick Persian carpet. Several times she lifted her hand to knock, and then put it down again.
This thing between them bothered her and it had to be settled. It was not like Valentina to act like a petulant child, and she didn’t like herself for it. If only she could make Hal understand how she felt, how crucial her independence was to her recovery. She had spent the last hour or so making an extensive list of all the ways she could sway him into her way of thinking. She had done her share of watching Hal these last few days, just as she knew he had done the same. And even though he did his best to maintain a show of relaxed demeanor, Valentina knew all thewaiting and watchingmust be killing an active, man-machine like Hal. He was so full of raw energy that it spilled out repeatedly without him even taking notice of it. Try as he might to maintain that staunch, still, military bearing, there always seemed to be something moving on Hal: a constant shifting of his body, the light drumming of his fingers on the table, or a flex of his bicep. Valentina’s favoritetellof Hal’s though, was the muscle that leapt near his hardened jaw whenever he was holding himself back from being provoked into saying something to her. Valentina felt like fist pumping the air whenever she saw that tell-tale muscle of irritation leap in his cheek. But that winning feeling didn’t last long because aside from those non-verbal cues that showed his restless irritation, Hal was really good at staying the course. Valentina’s fervent hope and heartfelt prayer was that Hal would have gotten sick of her well-executed plan of making his life painfully monotonous. She fully expected that he would have given in or gotten out by now.
But nope.
Still here.
It seems that she had met her match. Because, although Valentina’s experience with tough guys was pretty extensive, she had never had to deal with a guy like Hal. The men in Valentina’s life all had a decidedly old-world charm. They liked to indulge and pamper the women in their lives, whether it be an elderly matriarch, a small child, a loving wife, or a difficult mistress. They all had a clannish sort of weakness for the female gender.
But Hal? Not so much.
He didn’t try to cajole or sweet talk or otherwise bribe Valentina out of her moods or stubbornness like her uncles or father would have. He simply waited it out. And if possible, he was even worse than she was in the stubborn department.
Valentina had also learned that Hal was capable of committing acts that terrified her.
She hadn’t known if she was going to pee her pants or blow her lunch when he had sped like a bat out of hell down the highway this morning. Valentina had purposely dragged her nail file out of her purse to stop her hands from clawing their way over the seat and clutching at the steering wheel.
The insides of her cheek were still sore and raw from where she had bitten down to keep herself from calling out and begging Hal to slow the car down. By the end of the ride and by some miracle, Valentina had somehow managed to produce enough saliva in her cotton mouth to give him what she hoped sounded like a good dressing down. It had taken every ounce of courage Valentina had to keep the quiver out of her voice, but Big Blue had once been her mom’s car, and the thought of Hal damaging it in some adolescent stunt had filled her with anger.
Now, thinking back on how aggressive and retaliatory that act had been, Valentina suddenly lost her nerve and thought better of her little peace mission, especially this late at night.
She had just spun on her heels to beat a hasty retreat when the door flew open. Valentina jumped a mile as the heavy paneled oak swung hard on its hinges. A deep growl came from the immense shadow that suddenly filled the doorway.
“You gonna stand out here pacing back and forth all night, or you gonna tell me what you want?”
“Why do you always have to do that?” Valentina’s heart was beating hard in her chest.
“Do what?”
“Really?I have to explain?”
Hal’s mouth lifted at the corner. “Yeah,reallyyou do.”
“You obviously knew that I was out here pacing up and down like an idiot trying to gather my thoughts.” She sputtered out as a lump of humiliation joined in with the anger and her own sense of vulnerability. “You couldn’t have maybe opened the door in a … in a …” Valentina struggled for the words.
“In a …?” Hal prompted her.
“You couldn’t have opened it in agentlerway?”
The eyes that met hers were so ice blue and penetrating that for a moment the floor seemed to come out from under her feet.
“I don’t dogentle.” Hal rumbled.
No, I don’t suppose you do,Valentina couldn’t help but think that the tee shirt and jeans he wore were as dark as his temperament. Even though the hour was late, Hal had come to the door fully dressed. The only concession to comfort seemed to be that his feet were bare and the jeans he wore now were looser and sat lower on his hips than the ones he wore during the day. The burn scars that roped around his neck and the length of his left arm stood out against the shadows. Beyond him on the night stand, Valentina could see parts of a large, lethal weapon set out on a cleaning cloth. The distinctive, manly scent of gun oil, tobacco, and beer wafted to her through the open door.
I don’t do gentle.
His words blasted through her mind and shook her body like a hand grenade.
“Tia?” He cocked his head at her.
“That’s not my name,” she managed in a thick voice.
“I know it’s not.” Hal scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “ButValentina’sa mouthful, ain’t it? Especially when I try not to use any words longer than three syllables.”
Did he just make a joke? Valentina looked at him in astonishment.
