MacKenzie Fire(13)

“Henry, you feeling okay?” Ian asks.

Henry’s smile disappears in a flash. “Hush up now, Ian, I’m having a conversation with the little lady here.”

I smile again, completely ignoring Ian. “Aren’t you sweet? Henry is it?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m Henry. Henry Dawkins at your service. Did you have a particular gun in mind?” He moves behind the counter.

“Hey! I was here first!” Ian protests. “What about that bow?”

Ian is behind me, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of turning around. I resist the urge to elbow him in the gut.

Henry frowns at him. “Just keep your pants on, Ian. Ladies first.”

I look over my shoulder now that my triumph is complete. “Yeah, Ian. Ladies first.”

His lips thin and then his gaze drops to my feet. “Nice boots.”

I put my hands on my waist and stick out a hip, twisting left and right a little to show off my footwear. “You like? I call this country chic.”

Henry leans over to see what I have and looks hopeful. “You like Sorel boots, ma’am? Cuz I got a new shipment in of all the latest styles, prettier than the ones you got on now.”

“Aw, come on, Henry, don’t show her your boots! I’ll be here all day waiting!”

“So wait,” he says, coming around the corner to lead me over to another part of the store.

I follow along with a huge grin, knowing this is making Ian nuts. I’m going to buy some boots just to tick him off.

“See, right here,” Henry says, stopping in front of a small display that looks like an afterthought in the corner of the store. “I got purple if you like colors or you could just go with a more leather look.”

I check out his selection, surprised to see it doesn’t suck. I was going to buy a pair just to piss Ian off, but now I’m going to buy a pair because they’re going to look fabulous with my new jeans. “Do you have these in an eight?” I ask, holding up a pair with the cutest fur rim on the top. These babies’ll go all the way up to my knees, ensuring my legs will never be wet again in this godforsaken place.

“I sure do. Just have a seat right there and I’ll get ‘em for ya so you can try ‘em on.”

I sit down on a little wood stool and take one of Andie’s fugly boots off. Ian walks around the corner as I’m pulling up my sock.

“You know, I have things to do here.” He crosses his arms over his chest.

“I’m not stopping you.” I turn my attention to my cuticles. I can’t look at him. He’s too cute when he’s all fired up, and I need to stay strong.

“Yes, you are. You got Henry all worked up and now he’s never going to get my bow while you’re in here.”

“What do you need a bow for anyway?” I ask, looking up at him. “Going to run around town playing Robin Hood?”

“No, for your information, I’m going to shoot with it.”

“Shoot what?” I start to frown as I realize what we’re talking about. He’d better not say animals.

“What do you think, city girl?”

“Targets?” I know it’s not the right answer the minute it comes out of my mouth. That makes me sad.

“Wrong again.” He walks away and leaves me there.

I stand up and follow him, my one booted foot clomping, the other two inches shorter without the clodhopper on. “Shooting animals is murder.”

“Not around here it’s not,” he says, still walking. “Here it’s called feeding the family.”

“You have a whole ranch full of beef. You don’t need to shoot anything.”

“I like to shoot things.”

I stop following him at that. His sexiness just went right out the window for me. Instead of continuing the conversation, I return to my seat and wait for Henry.

Ian’s back in less than a minute. “What’s the matter? All upset now because some fuzzy animals are going to die?”

“Go away, Ian. You’re not funny.” Supremely disappointed, I refuse to look at him. Instead, I busy myself with the laces of my other fugly boot.

“It’s a fact of life out here, City, better get used to it. People have to eat.”

He makes me so mad, it’s impossible to keep ignoring him. “I don’t have to get used to killing animals, Ian. You can eat what you find in the grocery store.”

He laughs. “Do you even listen to yourself when you talk? Where do you think that meat comes from?”

“Not from the wild!” I say a lot louder than I probably should have.

He actually has the nerve to keep laughing. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. Because animals raised on farms and ranches are somehow different.”

I open my mouth to agree, but then stop. He’s twisting around what I mean to say and making it sound stupid. “I’m not going to play this game with you anymore, Ian. I’m done. Go away.”

“What’re you talking about? What game?” He’s not laughing anymore.

I sigh heavily before looking at him, blinking a few times. “Listen… I get that we had some chemistry before and I thought running around with you while I was here might be fun, but you can just cancel that plan because I don’t find murderers attractive in the least. You can be on your way now.” I wave him off with my fingers. “Go on. Scat. Go shoot a bunny or Bambi or something. I’ve got nothing left to say to you.”