she shut up for a minute. “I swear to God,” he continued with exasperation, “I can’t believe Dante could have raised such a stupid child!”
“Stupid child?”
Wrong choice of words—not because they weren’t true but because they got her started again.
“I’m not a child anymore, Mr. Hart. I’m an adult. Twenty-six years old—”
“You may be a chronological twenty-six, but I’m beginning to believe you’re a mental two!”
“You asinine muscle-bound ape! You—”
“Get your fingers off that door handle! Only a stupid two-year-old would do such a thing in a car going sixty miles an hour.”
“Stop the damned car!”
“I will not.”
Katie flung herself back into the seat, crossing her arms over her chest and locking them there. She wasn’t stupid, but she was so infuriated she felt almost insane, ready to do violence—and possibly kill them both.
Calm down, Katie! she pleaded with herself. She knew she was in what her father had termed a “flaming fury.” It was a state of mind so far gone with anger that reason flew away with the wind. She was fighting furiously with herself, but she couldn’t cool down. Never in her life had she been treated so—so barbarously! So totally without dignity or respect. So—
“All right!” she snapped out. Her voice was low but not controlled. Each word fell like a taut whipcrack. “I’m going for a coastal drive with an aging madman who thinks that primal tactics are in. I should report you to the NFL. To the police. What the hell is the matter with you? You’re crazy! You’ve been knocked down so many times that you have no mind left. You—”
“Shut up, will you?” Kent grated out. “Can you really be that stupid? Or are you blind?”
“What are you talking about?” Katie raged, struggling very hard to keep her hands from his neck.
“Idiot!” The word rumbled warningly in his throat. “Don’t you realize that you were about to be good-naturedly stripped by a dozen roaming hands and thrown naked into a pool?”
“Don’t you be an idiot!” Katie retorted. Calm yourself! she pleaded mentally. No good. She hadn’t even known she was capable of being this furious. “I would have said no—”
“You would have said ‘no’?” he yelled at her incredulously. “Just a simple ‘no’ from a catty little tease and a pack of half-smashed two hundred pounders would have been down on their knees—”
“I’m not a tease! And I don’t want anyone down on his knees! I would have—”
“They would have forced you!”
“Bull! They aren’t vicious brutes! You’re the only one who has forced me to do anything.”
“Dammit, they aren’t vicious brutes, but they are men. They’re loaded, and you were acting like a tease, sitting there all night gathering them around you as if you had something to give.”
“You bastard! You weren’t even there half the night. And don’t you dare presume to tell me anything about me—”
“I call it like I see it, lady.”
“Well, you call it however the hell you like! But stop this car and let me out of it—now!”
“Here? In the middle of the road?”
“I wouldn’t care if we were in the middle of a damn desert.”
“Bitch!” he muttered, the sports car jerking with the vehemence of his word. “I should have let them. I should have let every single one of them paw you to their heart’s content.”
Katie was shaking. Was it true? Would the laughter, drink, and spontaneity of the moment have been too much? No! She’d never met a man who was really a beast—except for this one!
She turned on him in the seat, her voice dripping scathingly. “That’s right. You should have just left me alone. What business is it of yours? Maybe I love to skinny-dip! Maybe I would have been the first one out there if Jean what’s-her-name hadn’t started the surge. Maybe I even like being pawed. Maybe I’m just crazy about hands all over me—” She broke off, amazed, when the car
“Stupid child?”
Wrong choice of words—not because they weren’t true but because they got her started again.
“I’m not a child anymore, Mr. Hart. I’m an adult. Twenty-six years old—”
“You may be a chronological twenty-six, but I’m beginning to believe you’re a mental two!”
“You asinine muscle-bound ape! You—”
“Get your fingers off that door handle! Only a stupid two-year-old would do such a thing in a car going sixty miles an hour.”
“Stop the damned car!”
“I will not.”
Katie flung herself back into the seat, crossing her arms over her chest and locking them there. She wasn’t stupid, but she was so infuriated she felt almost insane, ready to do violence—and possibly kill them both.
Calm down, Katie! she pleaded with herself. She knew she was in what her father had termed a “flaming fury.” It was a state of mind so far gone with anger that reason flew away with the wind. She was fighting furiously with herself, but she couldn’t cool down. Never in her life had she been treated so—so barbarously! So totally without dignity or respect. So—
“All right!” she snapped out. Her voice was low but not controlled. Each word fell like a taut whipcrack. “I’m going for a coastal drive with an aging madman who thinks that primal tactics are in. I should report you to the NFL. To the police. What the hell is the matter with you? You’re crazy! You’ve been knocked down so many times that you have no mind left. You—”
“Shut up, will you?” Kent grated out. “Can you really be that stupid? Or are you blind?”
“What are you talking about?” Katie raged, struggling very hard to keep her hands from his neck.
“Idiot!” The word rumbled warningly in his throat. “Don’t you realize that you were about to be good-naturedly stripped by a dozen roaming hands and thrown naked into a pool?”
“Don’t you be an idiot!” Katie retorted. Calm yourself! she pleaded mentally. No good. She hadn’t even known she was capable of being this furious. “I would have said no—”
“You would have said ‘no’?” he yelled at her incredulously. “Just a simple ‘no’ from a catty little tease and a pack of half-smashed two hundred pounders would have been down on their knees—”
“I’m not a tease! And I don’t want anyone down on his knees! I would have—”
“They would have forced you!”
“Bull! They aren’t vicious brutes! You’re the only one who has forced me to do anything.”
“Dammit, they aren’t vicious brutes, but they are men. They’re loaded, and you were acting like a tease, sitting there all night gathering them around you as if you had something to give.”
“You bastard! You weren’t even there half the night. And don’t you dare presume to tell me anything about me—”
“I call it like I see it, lady.”
“Well, you call it however the hell you like! But stop this car and let me out of it—now!”
“Here? In the middle of the road?”
“I wouldn’t care if we were in the middle of a damn desert.”
“Bitch!” he muttered, the sports car jerking with the vehemence of his word. “I should have let them. I should have let every single one of them paw you to their heart’s content.”
Katie was shaking. Was it true? Would the laughter, drink, and spontaneity of the moment have been too much? No! She’d never met a man who was really a beast—except for this one!
She turned on him in the seat, her voice dripping scathingly. “That’s right. You should have just left me alone. What business is it of yours? Maybe I love to skinny-dip! Maybe I would have been the first one out there if Jean what’s-her-name hadn’t started the surge. Maybe I even like being pawed. Maybe I’m just crazy about hands all over me—” She broke off, amazed, when the car
Similar Books
