His lips thinned. “If we brawl, you will lose.”
“Ah. So you went for arrogance. A way better performance than when you tried charm.”
He let out a sharp breath of annoyance. “Spending so much time with Evie has sharpened your tongue.”
I laughed. “Other way around, though I have to give you Lords credit. Your shenanigans helped her hone her devastating sarcasm into an art.” I smiled. “Her magic, too. She’s way better at things than she used to be.”
His eyes flickered with annoyance. “Why is she in the ground?”
I gestured. “Have you not seen what your precious Lord allowed to happen to his land?”
Ethan stared at me with those flat eyes. I wondered what would happen if I touched him?
He would kill you.
That voice in my head that never steered me wrong whispered through my mind. The few times I’d failed to listen to that voice, I’d come close to dying. Sometimes I thought the voice was mine alone, but there were times in the deep ofnight when I wondered if something else lived inside my head, something separate from me.
Those nights I got little sleep.
To my surprise, Ethan grunted. “Fool.” He sighed and came closer. “Got any more of those nuts left?”
I blinked at him. “Err. Yes. I have fruit and cookies, too.”
Ethan had not noticed the other mound yet. When he did, I expected our truce to be shattered in a flurry of tooth and claws.
“Cookies?” he questioned.
Did the handsome Lord have a sweet tooth? “Scottish shortbread. I’ve been out here for twenty-four hours and needed something that would hold up.”
“Any preservatives?”
I studied Ethan, biting down a smile. Interesting. “No. I made it. Grass-fed butter, Italian sourced flour, and raw sugar.”
He blinked in surprise. “Then yes, I would be honored if you shared your sustenance with me.”
Good gods. He spoke like an old-timey gentleman sometimes. I fucking knew he’d hold the door open for me if we went on a date.
Shaking my thoughts free of that ridiculous thought—Ethan would never take me out on a date—I opened the cooler and pulled out the vintage metal tin filled with the homemade shortbread and passed it over.
A flash of something burned in Ethan’s eyes as he took the container and opened it. The sweet, buttery smell of shortbread filled the air. A faint tug at the side of Ethan’s mouth made my breath catch.
Note to self. Carry shortbread and homemade, no-preservative cookies everywhere you went, just in case you ran into Ethan.
Be still my beating heart. This dude was a stone-cold fox.
He didn’t even complete the smile, and my lady parts were standing up singing God Bless America at the top of their tiny lungs.
Snap out of it, you stupid bitch, the voice said.Ethan is not the type of man to settle down.
I should know. I’d stalked him relentlessly after returning to Joy Springs. The handsome bastard had no record of ever having a girlfriend, never been seen on a date, was rarely spotted out anywhere, not even for dinner, had never been married or linked to anyone and was, essentially, a social media and internet ghost.
Maddening, I tell you. It made me itchy and far more curious than I should be.
Ethan reached in and hesitated.
“Take as many as you want,” I said, my voice a little huskier than it should be.
Ethan, even with my permission, showed great restraint, and took three cookies out, carefully replacing the lid after he did. “Thank you.”
