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"It wil be the same as it is has been for ht as wel not waste your tied and pasted on his look-at-me smile as he headed for the door, just in case so "We’l see One of these days you ain"

"When I did need you, you walked away I’l never ain"

Caleb had learned at a young age that he had to control his teer than the other kids Without that patience and self-control, he would have hurt people, and those traits had always served him wel until today

As he watched Oran walk away, he wished that he’d sla both of that asshole’s eyes would have been fun

Therapeutic

He couldn’t believe that Oran had been stupid enough to du it while she was stil weak and vulnerable

"Does he always come around here like that?" asked Caleb

Lana’s face was stil tight with anger, which was now ai to stay out of her personal business, but he just couldn’t keep quiet any longer Not after that

"Eventualy, he’l get the point"

Caleb didn’t like the idea of her hanging around with scurooman and could make as many bad choices as she wanted Heaven knew he’d made plenty of his own

"He’s an ass," said Caleb "If it’s any consolation, you were lucky not to have been stuck with him"

Lana let out a deep breath and looked back down at her work "I know that now"

But she hadn’t known it when he dumped her, was the obvious subtext

Caleb clenched his fists again and tried to remind himself that he wasn’t here to inflict violence on Lana’s ex-fiancé, nothe idea was

It was ti there Stacie had left a couple of hours ago, giving Lana that maternal frown that could make her feel like she was nine years old She’d scolded Lana for working too hard and then left, saying she’d be in early in the lanced over at Caleb He’d hardly moved al day He intervened when Oran wouldn’t leave He ate the burgers Stacie had brought hi of him He used the bathroom at the back of the office a couple times, but other than that, he hadn’ther, but every ti her way She wished he had been, because then she could have scolded him for that and maybe even worked up the nerve to cal the police and have hi

Like that would work They’d get one glimpse of his military record and likely take him out for drinks or invite hi Lana had come to expect from fate where her life was concerned

Caleb atching the street outside So on a little notebook he carried She had no idea what he was doing, but it was clear that it was taking up al his concentration She used the opportunity to just look at hier in Arulations, but then again, he was special He did things like pretend to be a crio around looking like GI Joe and expect to be accepted as scum by scum

His skin was deeply tanned, with a few paler lines of scar tissue on both his hands and face that shohere his dangerous career had daed his body

His face wasn’t as handsome as it was simplypowerful Intense His jaide and bold, covered in five-o’clock shadow that accentuated the sharp, les His eyes were a deep, rich black Only the faintest slivers of golden brown gave ahere his pupils started and his irises ended She re she’d seen when she’d opened her eyes in the hospital and knew she was going to live

Lana didn’t want to like hi around, but she couldn’t keep herself fro she wasn’t sure she could ever do He’d held the fate of innocents in his hands and chosen ould live and ould die

She didn’t envy hi here tonight?" he asked her without turning around Night had falen outside, and he was looking at her in the mirrorlike reflection of the tinted s

Lana felt her face heat as she realized that he’d been watching her watch him "No I’m just about done Feel free to tel your boss you tortured etto say I wouldn’t want hi"

"Who says I’ve failed? I’m a patient man, Lana"