I remember. I paid for the trade school courses and got you the damned job, he said tersely.
You sure did, Calhoun, she agreed, her mischievous gaze darting up at him as he opened the passenger door of the vehicle and put her on the smooth leather seat, slamming the door once she was settled. He went around the gleaming hood and got in under the steering wheel. There was muted violence in the way he started the powerful white car, shot away from the curb and drove down the main towns street.
Abby, I cant believe you really wanted to pay money to watch a bunch of boys take their clothes off, he muttered.
It beats having boys try to take mine off, she returned humorously. You must think so, too, because you go nuts if I try to date anybody with any experience.
He frowned. That was true. It upset him to think of any man taking advantage of Abby. He didnt want other men touching her.
Id beat a man to his knees for trying to undress you, and thats a fact, he said.
My poor future husband, she sighed. I can see him
now, calling the police on our wedding night
Youre years too young to talk about getting married, he said.
Ill be twenty-one in three months. My mother was twenty-one when she had me, she reminded him.
Im thirty-two, and Ive never been married, he replied. Theres plenty of time. You dont need to rush into marriage before youve had time to see something of the world, he said firmly.
How can I? she asked reasonably. You wont let me.
He glared at her. Its the part of life that youre trying to see that bothers me. Male strip shows. My God.
They werent going to take all their clothes off, she assured him. Just most of them.
Why did you decide to go tonight?
I didnt have anything else to do, she sighed. And Misty had been to see this show.
Misty Davies, he muttered. Ive told you I dont approve of your friendship with that flighty heiress. Shes years older than you and much more sophisticated.
No wonder, she replied. She doesnt have an overbearing guardian whos determined to save her from herself.
She could have used one. A woman who treats her body cheaply doesnt invite a wedding ring.
So you keep saying. At least Misty wont faint of shock on her wedding night when her husband takes his clothes off. Ive never seen a man without a stitch on. Except in this magazine that Misty had she began, warming to her subject.
For Gods sake, you shouldnt be reading that kind of magazine! He looked outraged.
Her eyebrows went up suddenly, and her eyes were as round as saucers. Why not?
He searched for words. Wellbecause!
Men ogle women in those kind of magazines, she said reasonably. If we can be exploited, why cant men?
He finally gave in to ill temper. Why cant you just shut up, Abby?
Okay, Calhoun, Ill do that very thing, she agreed. She studied his hard, angry profile, and almost smiled at the way shed gotten him ruffled. He might not be in love with her, but she certainly did have a knack for getting his attention.
All this sudden fascination with male nudity, he grumbled, glaring at her. I dont know whats gotten into you.
Frustration, she replied. It comes from too many nights sitting home alone.
Ive never tried to stop you from dating, he said defensively.
Oh, no, of course you havent. You just sit with my prospective dates and make a big deal of cleaning your gun collection while you air your archaic views on premarital sex!
Theyre not archaic, he said curtly. A lot of men feel the way I do about it.
Do tell? She lifted her eyebrow. And I suppose that means that youre a virgin, too, Calhoun?
His dark eyes cut sideways at her. Do you think so, Abby? he asked, in a tone shed never heard him use.
She suddenly felt very young. The huskiness in his deep voice, added to the faint arrogance in his dark eyes, made her feel foolish for even having asked. Of course he wasnt a virgin.
She averted her eyes. Foolish question, she murmured softly.
Wasnt it, though? He pressed on the accelerator. For some reason, it bothered him to have Abby know what his private life was like. She probably knew more than hed given her credit for, especially if she was hanging around with Misty Davies. Misty frequented the same kind of city hot spots that Calhoun did, and shed seen him with one or two of his occasional companions. He hoped Misty hadnt talked to Abby about what shed seen, but he couldnt count on it.
His sudden withdrawal puzzled Abby. She didnt like the cold silence that was growing between them any more than she liked thinking about his women. How did you know where I was? she asked to break the rigid silence.
I didnt, honey, he confessed. The endearment sounded so natural coming from him that shed never minded him using it, though she disliked its artificiality when other men did. I happened to come home through Jacobsville. And who should I see in linein front of all the lurid postersbut you?
She sighed. Fate. Fate is out to get me.
Fate may not be the only one, he returned, but his voice was so low that she couldnt hear.
He turned onto the road that led past the feedlot to the big Spanish house where the Ballengers lived. On the way they passed the Jacobss colonial-style house, far off the road at the end of a paved driveway, with purebred Arabian horses grazing in sprawling pastures dotted with oak trees. There wasnt much grassthe weather was still cold, and a few snow flurries had caused excitement the day before. Big bales of hay were placed around the property to give the horses adequate feed, supplemented with blocks of