Poked

by Naomi Niles

  He smirked. “That's what you say now,” he said, “but if you can really resist me – really resist yourself and your own desires – then I'm a damn—”

  “Monkey's uncle. Yeah, I’ve heard,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Don't you know it!”

  “Well, that's it, I'm telling you,” I retorted. “And if you're gonna try to force something to happen, I'm gonna tell you now, you can go off and find someone else to drink with.”

  He smiled, and the atmosphere seemed to lighten up a bit.

  “All right, fair enough,” he said, holding up his hands. “Let's just make good use of these drinks, shall we? No pressure. Like you said, we'll just drink 'em and have fun. That's it, nothing else.”

  “All right, since we've agreed on it, that's what we'll do. Shake on it?”

  He extended a hand to me, and I took it and shook it. We held hands for a little longer than we should have, though, and again a quick, sharp stab of guilt pulsed through me. Still, I managed to pull my hand away – but he maintained eye contact, staring intensely at me with his strikingly handsome eyes until I had to look away.

  “Come on now, Mackenzie,” he said, “it's time to pick a color.”

  With the warmth of the alcohol now heating up my whole body, I prepared to keep on drinking.

  “All right, all right... let's go with... red!”

  “Excellent choice!” he said, and once more, we tossed back another shot each, and I began sinking quickly into a state of tipsiness.

  ***

  A few hours later, I was pretty drunk. In fact, I don't think I could remember the last time I'd been so drunk. It had to have been years. Jake and I had long since left the Buzz Bar and taken to the age old weekend tradition of bar hopping, having shots and beers at each one we stopped in.

  I kept hoping the alcohol would kill the flashbacks that kept running through my head, from Brad and his betrayal all those years ago to the picture of Chance and Tina. Mostly, I thought about that last one.

  How the hell was he planning on explaining that away? Pretty damn sure there was no dashboard camera to prove his innocence. What was done was done, and whatever had happened between him and Tina, no matter who had started it, had happened. I would just have to accept what came next – and he would have to live with the consequences of it. He had to know exactly what those consequences would be: the end of everything between him and me.

  I was done. Chance and me . . . we were done. There was no way in hell I was gonna allow what had happened once between Brad and me to happen again. This was my heart we were talking about.

  And I was gonna tell him. I was gonna let him have it, I was gonna tell him right this minute exactly what I felt about him and Tina, and whatever disgusting thing had happened between them that had ended up with her sitting on his lap naked like that.

  I reached into my handbag to get my phone – and after digging around in there for a while, I realized that it was gone.

  I also remembered that I hadn't been able to get hold of Chance before anyway... And now there was definitely no chance at all of getting hold of him, or anyone else for that matter. Ugh, my head was starting to spin; this night had gone far enough. I stumbled over to where Jake was at the bar, ordering yet another round of drinks, and grabbed his shoulder.

  “Jake, I need to go, and I've lost my phone. What am I gonna do?”

  He smiled cockily. “I have a very comfy bed at my place. Oh, and did I mention that it's a penthouse, with a pool and a hot tub, and—”

  “I'm not going back to your place. I want to go to Judd's ranch, where I'm supposed to be staying. Take me back to the Buzz Bar, please, so I can get the manager to call me a car.”

  “Pssh, the Buzz Bar is boring! Let's stay at this bar and keep drinking!”

  I'd done a very good job of resisting Jake's charms up to that point, even though I was both drunk and in a really terrible mood. I wasn't about to give in now. In fact, as handsome and charming and sexy as he was, I didn't want to have anything more to do with him.

  “Come on, Jake! Just please take me back to Buzz so that I can go to the ranch! I've lost my flippin’ phone, and I don't know this city, and I don't know anyone here except you and the manager at the Buzz Bar, and I'm drunk, and—”

  He stepped up to me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a close, tight hug. I tried to resist at first, tried to push him away – but then I simply gave in and collapsed into his arms, and started crying on his ridiculously muscular shoulder.

  “There there, Mackenzie,” he said, stroking my back and shoulders gently. “It'll be all right. You'll be fine with me.”

  Then I felt his hand sliding lower down my back and his head moving across to my neck, and he started planting soft, delicate kisses on my neck as he reached down to softly caress my ass.

  I pushed him away immediately.

  “Hey! What are you doing?” I shouted. “I told you, Jake, nothing is gonna happen between us, nothing! And when I say no, I mean no! What part of that don't you understand?”

  His eyes grew cold, and the expression on his face hardened.

  “You're a tease, Mackenzie, a real tease... and I don't mean that in a good way.”

  “I am not! I told you from the beginning that nothing was going to happen. I told you, dammit!”

  “And what? What about the way you've been looking at me all night? What about that, huh? Those looks you were throwing me, the flirty conversation, the—”

  “Stop, just stop. I was not flirting with you. Maybe in your head I was, but I promise you, I was not. And nothing at is gonna happen, I'm serious about that.”

  He nodded, the expression on his face cold and pitiless.

  “So that's how it's gonna be then, huh?”

  “I told you from the beginning, Jake. Don't act so surprised now.”

  “Whatever, you bitch. You know what? I'm leaving. And you can come with me back to my place, or you can stay here. Your choice.”

  Red anger flashed before my eyes.

  “Fine. Leave, you jerk. I don't need your help anyway.”

  “You say that now, Mackenzie, but you'll be crying in a few minutes. You're gonna regret this. You're really gonna regret this.”

  With that, he took the beers he had ordered, slammed one down on the table in front of me, and then downed his in one go. He wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand and shot me one final glare.

  “Hope you enjoy your beer, Mackenzie,” he snarled, and then he stormed off, like a brat throwing a tantrum.

  I was initially glad to see him go, but then, it turned out that he was right. I was alone in a strange bar, and I didn't know where I was or where my phone was. I was lost and feeling worse and worse with every minute that passed.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chance

  I tried calling Mackenzie again after about five minutes, but her phone was still going straight to voicemail. I felt red anger bubbling furiously inside me as I thought again about what Tina had done. If she'd messed things up between Mackenzie and me with that stupid stunt she'd pulled, then God help her. She'd be out of a job the second I saw her.

  And if that wasn’t enough to make me crazy, it was driving me nuts not knowing; not knowing if Mackenzie had seen the photo, not knowing how she felt if she had seen it, and not knowing if she was okay regardless of whether she'd seen the picture or not. This was supposed to be a fun evening for both of us, even though we were in different cities. Instead, it was turning out to be a disaster of epic proportions.

  Andy walked into the house, interrupting me from my thoughts.

  “Hey there, kid, I think I'm gonna turn in for the night.”

  “All right, Andy. Thanks again for coming to get me.”

  “Can't have the last living male Lawson drivin' around these dark roads drunk, now can I?” he replied with a smile. “What would your pappy and grandpappy say about that?”

  I chuckled. “You're a true cowboy, Andy.
I'm proud to have you on this ranch.”

  “I'm—”

  A distant noise interrupted Andy, and for a few seconds, we both stood in silence, trying to figure out exactly what it was.

  “Was that what I think it was?” I asked.

  “Sure sounded like it...”

  “The cattle! They're lowing at this time of night? Sounds like they’re down by the damn creek!”

  “You're right,” Andy said. “We'll have to get on the bikes. The truck won't make it down there. You good to ride?”

  I was still feeling a little buzzed, but I'd definitely sobered up a fair bit since getting home.

  “Yeah. I can ride.”

  “C'mon! Hurry!”

  We rushed down to the barn where I kept my tools, ranch machinery, and a couple of off-road motorcycles. We each strapped on a helmet and hopped onto a bike.

  “You lead!” Andy said, and we each kicked the motors to life.

  I clicked the motorcycle into gear, flipped on the headlight, popped the clutch, and roared out of the barn with Andy tearing along behind me. We raced over the open ground, the beams of our headlights stabbing through the dark as the cool wind lashed around our bodies.

  We reached the ravine after a few minutes of frantic riding and sure enough the motorcycle headlights soon fell on the bodies of our cattle. They were all heading down to the ravine, and if they got in there, they'd fall and break their legs and would have to be shot.

  “Shit! How in the hell did these damn critters get down here?” Andy shouted.

  I rode over to the closest fence post, and anger flashed through me as I got to it. Someone had cut the barbed wire that kept the cattle out of the ravine.

  “That damn saboteur is back!” I roared through clenched teeth.

  “Damn it! Son of a bitch!” Andy cursed.

  “We have to keep the cattle out of the ravine. You got your revolver on you, Andy?” I asked.

  “Always do.”

  “Pass it here, then ride over to the edge and try to shine the bike's headlight down into the ravine to give me some light. I'm gonna climb down and go around to where the cattle are heading, then fire some shots there to scare 'em away from the edge.”

  “That’s a pretty crazy plan, Chance. But if anyone can pull it off. Here, take it!” he said, unholstering his revolver. “I'll call the ranch hands to get the paddock ready. Once we get these boys away from the edge, we can drive 'em up to the paddock with the bikes.”

  “We can, Andy, but first things first. The revolver, please.”

  Andy handed it over to me.

  “For God's sake, be careful climbing down those rocks,” he said, and I could see there was genuine worry and fear in his eyes. “One slip or wrong step... and it's a long way down.”

  “Don't worry, Andy, I don't plan on dying just yet.”

  I tucked the revolver into my belt and headed over to the edge. Andy drove up behind me on the motorcycle and positioned it so the headlight was brightening the way down. I gripped a thick tree root and used it to lower myself over the edge, into the ravine. The sides were steep and slippery with loose rocks. To say it was difficult to see where I was going would have been an understatement. The light from the bike's headlight threw long, dark shadows down past me. Shadows through which it was nearly impossible to see. But the herd was heading closer and closer to the edge, and time was running out. I had to push through, and not think about the sheer drop to the rock-strewn creek bed thirty feet below me.

  I crept along the side of the ravine as carefully as I could, trying to move quickly without losing my footing. All the while, Andy edged the bike on ahead of me, doing his best to keep it at an angle that the headlight would illuminate the ravine for me. I had to scramble for whatever handholds I could get a grip on — tree roots, vines, or just rocks sticking out of the dirt.

  “Hurry!” Andy shouted. “They're almost at the edge!”

  The bike's headlight now revealed the leader of the herd, a big, powerful bull, heading recklessly toward the edge of the cliff. He was becoming uncertain, as he couldn't see too well in the dark, and perhaps sensed the approaching chasm, but he was being pushed now by the weight of the numbers behind him. Even if he had changed his mind about heading in this direction, the push from the rear of the herd would have made it impossible for him to stop. Only something that would frighten all of them would be enough to turn them around, and the revolver, with its muzzle flash and loud bang, would do that just fine. The only question now, though, was whether I'd reach them in time.

  I gritted my teeth and pushed harder and faster, even though my muscles already felt like they were on fire with the exertion and effort of the climb.

  “Come on damn it, come on!” I shouted, spurring myself on.

  “He's on the edge, he's about to go over! The others are pushin' him too hard!” Andy yelled to me.

  I spotted a rocky outcrop just below where the bull was. It looked like I could make it with a jump from where I was – looked like. The darkness had a way of misrepresenting things. If I missed, I'd plummet thirty feet down into the rocky darkness.

  There was no time to think, no time to be afraid or debate with myself. There was only time to do. I took a deep breath, crouched down to ready my muscles, and then with a shout of effort, I jumped. For one terrifying moment I flew through the air, and it looked almost like I'd miss the rock – but then I landed, right on the edge, and threw myself forward onto it. In one motion I rolled forward onto my back, and then whipped out the revolver and fired three shots up into the air. The ground rumbled as the herd shifted around, backing away from the edge.

  They were safe. I was safe. I let out a long sigh and then lay back on the cool rock, breathing hard from both exertion and adrenaline.

  “You did it!” Andy shouted down to me. “Damn it, you did it!”

  “Only just...” I replied. “I only just saved 'em.”

  “C'mon, let's get these puppies up to the paddock. The boys are already on their way to help out.” He looked down at me and picked out a spot to move closer. “Let's get you out of there,” he said. “Take my hand.”

  He knelt down by the edge and offered a hand to me, and I climbed up a couple of feet of the steep side until I could reach his hand. I gripped it tightly, and he helped pull me out.

  “Man you’re getting’ heavy,” he said with a smile. “Let's get those bikes fired up and get these damn critters into the paddock. Rev the engines nice and loud to scare some sense into these bastards.”

  I handed him his revolver, and then we climbed onto our bikes and began the business of herding the cattle to the upper paddock. The ranch hands soon came and assisted us, and we were finally able to get all the cattle in after about an hour.

  After the task was complete, I thanked everyone for getting out of bed at an ungodly hour and sent them back to their quarters, and then turned and spoke to Andy.

  “Andy, I think you and I deserve a cold beer after all of that,” I said. “You wanna come back up to the house with me and have a cold one on the porch? We can talk about the saboteur later... I just need to wind down after all of this.”

  “Sounds good, son,” he agreed.

  We rode up to the house, killed the motors, and climbed off. I made my way into the house and headed straight to the kitchen with Andy following behind me. I opened the fridge and grabbed two ice-cold beers. I turned around and almost dropped them in shock as I saw Andy standing with his revolver in his hand – pointed right at my face.

  “Don't move, kid,” he said as he cocked the hammer and took aim. “Don't make one move.”

  “Andy,” I gasped, paralyzed with shock. “What are you doing?”

  “Keep real still, son. Real still...”

  He squeezed the trigger, and the blast from the shot left my ears ringing. I stood frozen, the beers still held in my hands, my heart pounding. I reached up slowly, expecting to feel blood all over my face... but there was nothing.

  �
�You can move now,” he said. “Turn around.”

  I turned around slowly, and saw, perched on top of the fridge, with its head blown off by Andy's sharp shooting, a dead rattlesnake.

  “Holy shit!” I exclaimed. “It was hidden behind these cans of beans! How'd you see it in time?”

  “I saw it raising its head from behind the beans like it was gonna strike just as you was getting' them beers out,” Andy said. “I had to take the shot. If I’d told you to move, he still might have got ya. Sorry if your ears are ringing, son.”

  “Shit, that don't matter. You just saved my damn life!”

  I glanced across the kitchen and saw that the door that led outside was open. I walked over to it, and saw that the lock had been forced. Suddenly, it hit me – the saboteur hadn't come to just release the cattle. That had just been a diversion to get me away from the house. The main plan had been the rattlesnake – or was it... rattlesnakes?

  “Andy, there might be more of these things in here. And they might be—”

  Upstairs, I heard Cassie scream, and my blood ran cold.

  “No! No! No!” I shouted, my voice hoarse with panic. “Andy, the gun! Hurry!”

  He tossed the revolver over to me, and I raced up the stairs, fear pounding blood through my veins as I did. If anything happened to my Cassie, if anything happened to her, I didn't know what I could do. One bite from a rattlesnake and a child her size would be dead within minutes. I couldn't think about that, no...

  I burst into her room and found her crying and shaking with fear, cornered against her headboard as a rattlesnake poised itself, ready to strike at the end of her bed. I quickly flipped on the light switch next to me to get a better view of the situation.

  “Cover your ears and close your eyes, Cassie!” I shouted as I took aim.

  “Daddy, help!” she screamed.

  “Do as I say, child! Cover your ears and close your eyes! Now!”