MacKenzie Fire(65)

WALKING OUT INTO THE MAIN room again, I’m conscious of several pairs of eyes on me. The female ones look suspicious, the male ones look interested. I stop near an armchair and wait to see who might approach me first. I’m not surprised when it’s one of the guys.

“Hey there,” he says, sporting a big smile. He has nice teeth and a big cowboy hat that’s the color of straw but made of much finer stuff, I think. The sleeves of his navy blue button down shirt are rolled up a couple times, and his belt buckle is big but not as big as some I’ve seen around here, meaning I could probably fit a few carrot sticks on it instead of a full meal. Tall and broad shouldered, he has very tanned forearms for winter. The scars on his knuckles tell me he likes to fight.

I sigh. He’s way too handsome for his own good, and he knows it. I can tell by the way he walks, like he knows every girl in the room is looking at him and getting all revved up over what she sees. What a disappointment. I so prefer guys who are oblivious to their powers.

I know his type well; I call them roosters. They like to strut around and show off their feathers, and after they scratch out their territory, they have no problem fighting for it. The fact that Ian was playing around with me earlier has me considering a conversation with this guy, someone I normally would avoid.

“Hey there, yourself,” I say back.

“You the new girl in town?”

“I guess I am. Just here temporarily, though.”

“Mack’s sister-in-law or something, right?” He takes a drink of his beer and grimaces after he swallows.

“Kind of. Who are you?”

“Sorry, I should have told you sooner.” He lifts the front brim of his hat and dips his head a little. “Tate Montgomery, at your service.”

I don’t know what it is about getting a cowboy hat salute, but it does something funny to me inside. I think I like it. I can’t stop smiling in response, even though I had decided just a couple seconds ago that he wouldn’t be worth my time. When he winks, I smile even harder. Yes, I definitely like the cowboy salute thing. And the cowboy who’s doing the saluting. He’s not as roostery as I first thought.

“Can I ask you a question, Tate?” Since my plan to get in Ian’s Wranglers is all but busted, I decide to move on to my next order of business.

“Sure can. Ask me anything.” He takes a small step closer to me and I don’t back up. He smells nice, like man-soap.

“How hooked into the gossip grapevine are you?”

He shrugs. “I don’t do too much of it personally, but I suppose I know what’s on the wind. Kind of hard not to, living here.”

“I’ve only been here a couple days, but I was just wondering … how come Mack’s wife Andie doesn’t have any friends here?”

His face twists up a little and then he casually looks around the room before answering. He seems uncomfortable, but it’s difficult to tell whether it’s because he doesn’t like gossip in general or he doesn’t like the answer he’s about to give.

“Could be there’s stuff being said about her. Don’t know as I believe any of it, though.”

My heart starts hammering in my chest. People are saying crap about Andie? My Andie? I force myself to remain calm. He probably won’t tell me anything if I go all nuts on him. That kind of thing makes guys nervous.

“What kind of stuff and who’s saying it?” I ask.

He shrugs. “It’s really no big deal. She should just ignore it. It doesn’t matter now.”

I’m afraid he’s going to back off and tell me nothing if I act too eager, so I take his beer from his hand and help myself to a swig of it.

He smiles and moves in even closer, the heat from his body coming off him like he’s a human radiator. It’s nice on a cold winter’s night like tonight, and with a room full of strangers around us, I have nothing to fear, so I stay right where I am.

“I was just worried about her,” I say, trying to be cool. “She’s my best friend, and she’s all alone out here in Baker City. I’d love to know she has some friends she can count on.”

“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine,” he says. He reaches up and takes his beer back, placing the top of it at his mouth. He hesitates with it like that for a couple seconds looking at me. Just before he pushes it harder against his mouth for another sip, the tip of his tongue comes out and hits the glass rim.

I know he didn’t mean it to be sexy, but whoa. Now my brain is going a little haywire. I look around the room to see if anyone else noticed. Several girls are giving me looks that make me think they want to harm me physically.

I back away a half-step, not because I’m afraid of anyone but because this feels wrong. I know Ian’s not really interested in me, but I did come here with him and I’m not in the mood to complicate things more than they already are, even though it’s a little tempting with this guy Tate.

If I hadn’t met Ian, I’d definitely be all over this opportunity, but now that Ian’s gotten into my brain, Baker City is ruined for me as far as men are concerned. If I can’t do Ian, I won’t do anyone. Decision made. Sorry, Tate.

“You worried about something?” he asks me, following my gaze.

“Oh, no, not really. Just some of the girls here look like they want to scratch my eyes out.”