“I see that, honey. Remember that pet mouse you had in 5thgrade? Walter? Or was it Roy...”
“Dad!”
First raccoons, now mice. All she could imagine were the creatures plopping down onto MB’s cupcakes and ruining the entire batch.
“We’ve got to get these cupcakes boxed up. I’ll finish them a box at a time, but they have to stay covered.” Becks was already grabbing large white bakery boxes.
This was a prolonged nightmare. All the things consistently going wrong was more than any sane person could handle. She’d never been to the anecdotal breaking point, but she figured she was close right now if the urge to simultaneously throw up and scream were any indication.
What else could go wrong? It was a knee-jerk reaction to think it, but she’d be damned if she was going to jinx herself and say it out loud.
“Oh my God, he’s suicidal!” Becks cried out as she jumped back.
The first mouse divebombed onto the workstation, landing on Beck’s single cupcake and tipping it over. It fell on the floor in a pile of crumbs where it lay in a lifeless, furry blop. Becks jumped back, bumping into Allie before she hid behind her like a human shield.
The other mice must have decided death by cupcake wasn’t as awesome as it sounded and turned away from the opening.
“Is it dead?” Ben pulled off his oven mitts and nudged the rodent with his foot.
“Step on it!” Becks wailed.
“No,don’tstep on it!” Allie nudged Becks in the ribs with her elbow.
Ben gave it a gentle push and the mouse hopped up with crazy fast mouse superpowers, skittered over Ben’s shoe and made a mad dash for Allie. She tried to move out of the way, but Becks had her in a death-grip and turned her to prevent the mouse from chewing her ever loving leg off.
“Becks!” Allie struggled to get free, but it was too late. The mouse ran over Allie’s foot and dug its tiny claws into the leg of her jeans. It hauled itself halfway up her leg before she could react. Becks screamed and ran away. Ben tried to slap the mouse with a wooden spoon... missed and cracked hard against Allie’s thigh.
She cried out and grabbed the spoon on reaction and whipped it across the room. Everything seemed to spin around her. Pressure in her head made her want to explode. Tipping point, tipping point, mother-loving tipping point!
“Enough!” Allie cried out. She grabbed the mouse as it raced wildly for the waist of her pants. Its soft, furry body struggled in her palm as she marched to the back door.
“Rabies! Rabies, Allie!” Becks hollered from somewhere inside.
Rabies was the least of her problems right now. She loosened her grip and gave the mouse a gentle toss...
Right into Dax.
The rodent bounced off his thigh, squeaked, and ran into the night.
“Um, thanks?” Dax gave a one-sided grin, but all Allie was seeing was red. The pressure in her head got worse and she was so tense, she was trembling. Beneath her anger, another frustration started to awaken. The one between her legs.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” His playful demeanor turned serious.
Dax moved to take her hand, but Allie pulled away. She couldn’t let him touch her or she’d tackle him to the ground and ride him right here. For the second time, the raw, deep need unfurled in her body with a demand that was impossible to ignore. There was so much inside her head right now, she didn’t know where or how to start. But she knew what hurt and bothered her the most. She hadn’t had time, really, to think anything through. Not Marybeth’s stupid threat; not Jett’s admissions. And certainly not her feelings for Dax aside from how much she hurt right now.
“When were you going to tell me that you’re under a deadline to get hitched?”
He blinked. “Who told you that?”
She started to seethe. Of all the things he could have responded with, he was worried about who ratted him out?
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know. I suppose I didn’t want to scare you off.”
“So, you came onto me hard and heavy, making a big thing out of simple, sexual attraction, to try and get me to, what? Agree to be your mate so you can meet a deadline?”
His face fell just enough that he looked hurt by her words. A little voice in her head said she needed to cool her shit down, but she couldn’t.
