MacKenzie Fire(76)

Chapter Thirty-Four





I’M STARING OVER THE STALL door at my cow baby when I sense I’m no longer alone in the barn. It’s not too difficult to do, seeing as how this person lets in a huge gust of chilled air with him that turns my nipples into stone.

I put my arms around myself to try and stay warm. My breath comes out in big white puffs, making it look like I’m smoking.

“I already fed her,” Ian says. He sounds grouchy.

I turn around to respond, but I’m too shocked by his face to say anything.

“Oh my god. Does that hurt?” I reach out and touch the blue spot under his eye.

He jerks back. “Yes, it hurts! Jesus, don’t touch it.”

I reach out again, but stop with my finger a couple inches away.

He doesn’t flinch this time. “You better not.”

My finger moves forward a little more. I’m not in control of it. I’m being possessed right now by some woman who wants to get under Ian’s skin. He’s so damn teaseable it’s not even funny.

“I’m not kidding, Candice. Don’t touch me.”

I frown. He doesn’t want me touching his eye or him in general? My finger moves lower. Now it’s aimed at his throat.

“You’ll be sorry,” he warns.

“I highly doubt that,” I say, moving even closer.

We’re both staring down at my finger that’s centered on his chest.

“Trust me,” he says. “You’ll be very sorry if that finger makes contact with any part of me.”

Without warning, I quickly flick my hand up, boinking him on the nose. “Made ya look!”

Without warning, he grabs me and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

“Whooop!” A scream leaves my lungs along with the rest of my air.

He smacks me hard on the butt. “I warned you, woman!”

“Ian!” I screech. “Put me down right this minute!”

“Oh, I’ll put you down, alright!”

For the next few seconds all I can feel is his solid shoulder digging into my gut. Then I’m flying through the air.

“Aaaaaack!” I yell, just before I land on my back in a big poof of something crunchy.

A bunch of dust and bits of hay fly up over me as Ian stands spread-legged at my feet.

“What the hell …?” It takes me a few seconds to figure out where I am. My arms go out to test my theory. “Did you just throw me into a pile of hay?”

“No. I just threw you into a pile of straw, City.”

“Same thing. Now help me out of here. My hair’s going to be ruined.” I hold up both hands for him to take.

He scowls. “Worried your new boyfriend won’t like it?”

I pause my struggling and let my arms fall to my sides. “My new boyfriend?”

“Tate. I heard you had breakfast with him today.”

A slow smile breaks across my face. If this isn’t jealousy in his expression and tone, then I’m a talentless hack in the beauty department. The question is, do I tease Ian about this or soothe his hurt feelings? Hmmm … what to do, what to do …

“Don’t try to deny it. Everyone in town saw you.”

I lift an eyebrow. “You didn’t.”

“No, but other people did.”

“How’d you find out about it?”

“Never mind about that. Point is I did. And you should be careful around that guy. He’s got a bad reputation in town.”

“Awww, isn’t that sweet? You really care about me, don’t you, Ian?”

He scowls some more. “You’re my sister-in-law’s friend. I suppose I feel obligated to make sure you don’t get talked bad about while you’re visiting.”

“So that’s what this is? Friendly concern? An obligation?” Now I’m mad. Why can’t he just be a grown up and admit his feelings? He obviously wants to get in my Diesels. I’d have to be blind not to see that.

“Yeah. Exactly. And now I’ve met my obligations.” He turns around and starts to leave.

I scoff. “So you’re just going to leave me here in this hay?”

His voice sounds muffled as he gets farther away. “I told you it ain’t hay. It’s straw.”

I’m infuriated on two levels. First, he actually is leaving me here, and second, he’s using that word I know for a fact he uses just to piss his mother off.

“Ain’t isn’t a word!” I yell, but he ignores me.

I climb out of the hay or straw or whatever the hell it is with two fists full of the stuff. Running up behind him, I wait until I’m practically on top of him before I let loose.

I fling that hay stuff as hard as I can at the back of his head. As it surrounds him in a giant mushroom cloud of yellow, I stop, admiring the view.

Wow. I had a lot more of it in my hands than I realized.

He slowly turns around, and I back away. His head and shoulders are covered in crud and he looks very confused.

“Did you just throw straw at me?” he asks, incredulous.

I cross my arms. “I’m pretty sure it’s hay.”

He takes a step towards me. “That was a bad move, girl.”

I take another step backwards to keep some distance between us. My heart is racing now, and not from the exertion. It’s more from the danger I see in his eyes. But I can’t let him know he intimidates me. “Not from my point of view it wasn’t.”