“I hear... do I hear chickens?” she said suddenly. That muffled, contented littlebock bocksound was almost as good as a cat’s purr.
“Those would be my chickens.”
“You havechickens,too?”
“Yep.”
She was silent, and he studied her face as if she herself were the results of a Google search. “You want to pet them, don’t you? You want to pet them and give them names.”
“No,” she lied, swiftly.
This made the corner of his mouth dent.
Though she did wonder why they didn’t have names. Maybe because he ate them.
She was suffused with a million questions, but equally determined to continue proving she did not give a crap about him. Butwhyhad he joined the national guard? She was pretty sure that was at least an eight-year commitment, including active and reserve duty.
Her stomach reflexively contracted at the notion that someone might have shot at him, the same way she’d been panicked at the idea of someone taking away his P-29. She couldn’t help it.
“So how’s your brother? Is he a ‘farmer,’ too?” She air-quotedfarmer.
It seemed safer to ask about somebody else first, to go at it obliquely. He might slip up and reveal more about himself. He and Ty had been so close.
“I don’t know,” he said shortly.
“What?” She hadn’t meant to sound surprised.
“I. Don’t. Know,” he repeated evenly, slowly, patiently.
But a chilliness had crept into the words.
“But...”
He waited.
He didn’t issue the usual “but what?” as a prompt.
She had a feeling they’d be standing here like this until California broke off into the sea if she didn’t speak. The man was nothing if not stubborn.
So she spoke.
“I’ll give you a hundred thousand for your Devil’s Leap land.”
His eyes flared in surprise. And then something very like bald admiration flickered and heated them. They locked gazes. His became a trifle lazy.
“Silly girl,” he said fondly, finally.
WOW.
It was theperfectresponse. Because it made her want to deck him, and he knew it.
And he knewsheknew why he’d said it.
Which is why his smile got a shade more wicked. Daring her to react. Inviting a response he could parry.
Damn, but he was a competitor, in ways both subtle and overt. He always had been, of course. Perversely, it was as invigorating as walking into a blast of cold air whipping off the sea.
It made her doubly determined to win.I’m no hick from the sticks, Mac. I beat you before and I’ll do it again.
