Stephen was taken completely by surprise; astonished at her outburst, the intensity of it, and its cause. So he did not interrupt, but let her have her say, standing patiently with his arms folded across his broad chest.
God, but you're beautiful, Stephen thought. Even when you're angry. You've a fire in you, Barbara. A regular bonfire. I wonder how it blazes when you're making love, or being made love to? I'd sure like to find out. When he thought she was finished deriding boxing and him, but she had only stopped to take a breath, he tried to explain and defend himself.
"I had no idea how you felt about boxing. It's really a good sport, if properly conducted and supervised. It teaches boys..."
"To bash each other's brains in!" she put in angrily.
"... the manly art of self-defense. You wouldn't want Tim to grow up afraid of other boys or men, would you?"
"I think he'd know what to do to if anyone kicked sand in his face at the beach."
She did not want to hear any of his excuses or defense of a sport she thought was tantamount to legal murder.
"No boxing. That's it, period. Or I take Tim with me right now. And I know how much he loves it here."
Barbara paused a moment, distracted again by Stephen's male beauty and a magnetism she felt drawn to, while trying to put her next thought into the right words. Failing that, she simply spoke from her heart.
"Stephen, I hate to, but have to say this... You disappoint me. I didn't think you were the macho type." He almost cheered her directness and the passion behind her anguished words. Now he thought he understood. Boxing and men who were overly masculine were to her like red flags to a bull.
She was searching for love, he thought, but had been disappointed so far, perhaps bitterly. She wanted a man who was all man, yet not macho. A gentle man. Lover and brother at the same time. He had to admit, he didn't know many men who fit her description of a man. Did he know any? Was he what she was looking for? He believed he was.
But how to show her? How to prove it to her? He had never known a woman like her, and wanted to take her in his arms, to hold her close to him, to calm and love her. But he doubted that would comfort her as she stood before him so angry, so strong yet vulnerable.