Between Hope & the Highway (19 page)

When the meeting ended, Benny took off to find his youth class. While I waited for Mackay to discuss a service project with the pastor, a well-built brunette slid into the empty pew in front of us.

“Rawson Law? I haven’t seen you since high school,” she gushed.

“Well, well,” he drawled in that sexy bass he pulled off to perfection, “look at you.” He did just that, giving her a once over that would’ve made me blush. “Has it really been four years, darling? You haven’t aged.”

I noticed he didn’t say her name, making me wonder if he remembered it. He dropped pet names like sunflower seeds.

The woman, who I pegged for a cheerleader, beamed. “You haven’t either. I must say, you look hot. But of course, you always did.”

“Yeah.”

I snorted…the loud, obnoxious kind. Seriously. If I’d burped, I couldn’t have felt more humiliated.

As the flirting duo turned to stare, I covered my mouth and stood. “Let’s get to Sunday School.” I pushed Mackay down the aisle, desperate to escape.

As we worked our way into the flow of people, I heard the brunette say, “I just graduated from MSU in Communications. What about you?”

“Business. Stanford. Just returned last month.”

“Awesome. We should get together and catch up.”

“Let me get your number, darling.”

As Mackay led me out of eavesdropping range, I cast the Casanova from my mind. I didn’t need to be thinking about Rawson at church. It felt plain wrong.

When the bum caught up to us at our classroom, I felt as wicked as the children of Israel when they worshiped the golden calf. Only Rawson could wear a bolo tie and make it look sexy, not geriatric.

Averting my gaze, I followed Mackay into the room. As I took my seat next to him, Rawson sat on my other side. A deep frown creased Mackay’s face. I wished I knew the reason for the bad blood between them. They were like two feral dogs fighting for dominance.

Rawson snorted. When I stuck my tongue out at him, he snickered.

“You didn’t know that girl, did you?” I whispered.

“Not at all.” He leaned forward and turned to face me. Unfortunately, that gave Mackay a better view of him waggling his eyebrows.

He stiffened and pulled me closer, making me grit my teeth. Mackay was a great guy. He never complained about having to drive so far to pick me up, and he treated me well. He worked hard and had his life in order. So why did his affection annoy me?

As the teacher introduced the lesson, I leaned down to retrieve my Bible from my satchel. “Here.” I set it on Rawson’s lap. “We can share since you don’t have your own.”

He leaned closer, and I caught a whiff of cologne. He always smelled divine, but dang, whatever he’d put on today was positively sinful. If I named it, I’d call it something like
Temptation, Enticement,
or
Rapture
—it was all of those and more.

“Don’t give me my own either.”

His jab resurrected my earlier frustration. “Don’t worry. I don’t throw pearls to swine.”

When he shook with mirth, I elbowed him. The fool snorted again, drawing looks from those around us.

I sent him a sideways scowl. “Will you drop it already?”

“Let me hear you snort again,” he whispered. “Please.” His luscious scent wrapped around me, sapping me of much needed wisdom. Why couldn’t Mackay affect me this way?

I pinched his leg.

“Ow!”

Everyone in the room, including the teacher, turned to stare.

“She just pinched me.” Rawson sounded authentically shocked as he pointed at me. The man should work in Hollywood.

Unlike him, I couldn’t act to save my life. My mouth hung open and my IQ surrendered, leaving me speechless.

The elderly instructor chuckled. “She’s probably trying to shush you, Mr. Law. You haven’t stopped whispering since class began.”

Of course, he knew Rawson. Everyone did. The class enjoyed a good laugh at my expense, making Butthead’s grin grow. Mackay’s frown, in contrast, touched the floor and I felt his arm trembling on my shoulders.

The teacher chortled. “I recall you doing the same thing in history class your junior year…always flirting with the ladies.”

Mackay’s fingers dug into me as he pulled me closer. I wanted to stick my head in a hole. Being wedged between a basking peacock and a poor man stewing in angst was an uncomfortable spot to fill.

Mackay handed Rawson his large print Bible. “Use this. I’ll share with Liz.”

Disappointment washed over me at being cut off from Rawson. Oh, get thee behind me, Satan! I didn’t want to like anything about the cocky cowboy. He only wanted to embarrass me and upset Mackay, but my brain didn’t care. I wanted to smell his cologne one more time.

The teacher had us turn to a verse in the
Old Testament
. Rawson touched my arm, and I too quickly gave him my attention.

“Where’s Isaiah in this mess?” he asked irreverently.

I leaned over to flip to the right section.

“You spruced up real nice, Miss Ruthersford,” he whispered.

Goosebumps formed on my arms, making him smirk as he noticed.

I rubbed them as Mackay leaned into my other ear. I willed my body to react, but his breath tickling my skin did nothing. Dang!

“Is he bothering you?”

“He just needed help finding Isaiah.” And I needed help finding my good sense.

Rawson leaned forward and winked, making Mackay tense up like a coiled spring. I tried to ignore him. It seemed the safest option considering the state of my mind and power of his cologne.

“You’re adorable when you’re flustered, Miss Ruthersford.”

“Shush,” I practically hissed. “I don’t want to be called out again.”

“Ah, Mr. Larsen’s a softie. He never once gave me detention in high school, and I more than deserved it.”

I thought I heard Mackay’s teeth grinding as he pulled me back firmly. “Tell him to be quiet. He’s being very disruptive.”

“Sorry.”

“Are you?” The accusation in his eyes made me feel like a naughty child.

When class ended, Mackay’s eyes narrowed like a boxer as he took my hand.

“See you later, Benny.” He didn’t acknowledge Rawson as he marched me out the door.

Silence settled between us on the drive to his house. Without Rawson’s irresistible scent blocking my brain, I realized how foolish I’d behaved. Rawson didn’t like me. He just liked to tease me. I hated how I loved the smell of his cologne; it irritated me how my whole body warmed whenever he smiled. The fact that I liked his outlandish clothes that enhanced his physique and had every female at church gawking at him irked me also, because everyone was drawn to Rawson Law. I didn’t want to be another of his groupies.

As I finished eating dinner with Mackay’s family, I reached over and squeezed his hand under the table. When he turned with hope in his eyes, my gut reaction was to cast up my walls, but I couldn’t continue being so cold. Mackay deserved more from me. Rawson was wrong. Vanilla was good and solid—a staple in the ice cream world.

“We’re heading over to visit Dad before I take Liz home,” he told his mom.

“Be home by nine.”

He leaned over to peck her cheek. “I’ll try, but it’s a long drive. It might be closer to ten.”

The woman threw me a scowl, as if it was my fault I lived in the boonies.

“Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Benson.” I used my sweetest voice.

When we reached the hospital, my mood plummeted. His dad was so heavily medicated he had a hard time speaking. Mackay put on a brave face, but I could tell his dad’s deteriorating health upset him. I felt even worse about my earlier games with Rawson, and determined to cheer Mackay up when he took me home. I owed him a kiss. Maybe I owed him my heart.

By the time he pulled up to the ranch house though, doubts tied my stomach into knots. As I endured another Dippy kiss and waited for gravity to pull him upright again, I wondered what was wrong with me. As kind as Mackay was, I only liked him as a friend. A good friend. But affection between us felt wrong…like kissing a brother. Not that I had a brother, but kissing Mackay felt like what I imagined that would be like. Yuck. Maybe I was so jaded from Justin’s death that I couldn’t feel anymore.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said as he straightened. “Uh, I better go in. I have an early day tomorrow.”

“Good night, Liz.” His look of adoration stirred up insta-guilt.

Slipping inside, I closed the door and let out a weary breath.

I’d never intended for Mackay and me to get this far and couldn’t stand the thought of our relationship progressing one step further. But what were my options? Rawson Law? Heaven forbid. Certainly he had mega-models lining up to date him. And as much as he teased me about Chance and Seth, they were just friends. It seemed the devil dangled Rawson on the side of a cliff to tease me, while God hoped I’d behave and choose Mackay on sturdy ground. So why did falling off a cliff suddenly seem so enticing?

Chapter 32

Rawson

As I rounded the corner of the tack room carrying two saddles, Lizzie collided with me.

“Oh!” she gasped. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I took in her work attire—dusty jeans, a button down flannel shirt that hid her assets, and an abominable bun that gave her ponytail a run for its money. I wanted to yank the pins out to free her curls. It seemed a criminal offense to hide them from the world and torture her cute face by pulling her cheeks and forehead back so severely. “I was looking for you.”

She frowned as my gaze lingered on her willowy form. “Are one of those mine?” She reached to take a saddle and blanket from me.

“I have it.” I swung out of reach and headed to the stalls. “Which horses are we working this morning?”

She followed behind me. “Millennial Eagle and Sidekick Shooter.”

I hissed. “I suppose you want me to work with Shooter.”

“Yeah, but stay off him.”

“Don’t worry. I learned my lesson.” I stopped, and she bumped into me. “Hey, I wanted to apologize for yesterday.”

Her cute face puckered; well, at least as much as it could pulled back by that infernal bun.

“I feel bad for embarrassing you in Sunday School.”

The way her lips twisted made me all hot and bothered, especially when she nervously licked them. I looked up at the rafters, knowing no good could come from crushing on my boss. She was too uptight and innocent…nothing like the women I was used to.

“No hard feelings?”

She shrugged. “As long as you stop harassing Mackay. You made him so angry.”

I set the saddles on a bale of hay. “He didn’t take it out on you, did he?” I’d rip his arms off if he had.

“Of course not. Mackay’s the ultimate gentleman.”

I began saddling Shooter. The last thing I wanted was to hear her gush about her tub of vanilla. “I still think you should give Chance a chance.”

She rolled her eyes before entering Eagle’s stall.

“His name demands it, and the guy thinks you walk on water.” I stifled a grin. “But we know from the lake incident that you don’t. Why you can’t even steer a kayak.”

Thankfully, she laughed instead of getting all huffy. I never knew quite which way she would swing when I teased her.

“I sink as much as the next fellow.”

“No, you’d kick and flail yourself to shore. You don’t need to walk on water with determination like yours.”

Pink blossomed in her cheeks. “Thanks…I think.”

As I followed her and Millennial Eagle into the arena, I admired her long legs. Unlike her upper body which she camouflaged in baggy shirts, her jeans fit like a glove.

I worked the idiot horse for about an hour before Liz told me to switch out for Yakama Yoda. As the two-year-old stallion nibbled at my chin, I patted him.

“Who’s the man? Yoda man.”

Lizzie let out a barking laugh as Yoda kept nosing me from behind. “You surprise me.”

I reached up to rub his neck. “Why’s that?” A rosy blush colored her cheeks, making me want to reach out and touch her instead.

“When your father put me in charge, I figured you must not know squat about horses. But the more I see you in action, I realize that’s not true.”

Her words picked at a festering scab. “Maybe I’ve just fooled you.”

“No.” She led the newest gelding past me. “You might fool me, but you can’t fool horses…and they all like you.”

“Except Shooter.”

“Shooter’s not right in the head. He doesn’t count.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say that. I thought you were the equine Mother Teresa.”

“Even Mother Teresa had to admit some days that there were crazy people in the world.”

I reached up to massage Yoda’s velvety ears. “This guy’s going to be fast.”

“He won’t be able to help it with the force behind his name.”