“Nope, this was all the teacher’s fault.” He refused to admit he was wrong.
“Oh? Please explain.” A little wrinkle formed between her eyebrows.
“You can’t put a guy right into the ring without teaching him how to throw a punch.”
“Let me get this straight. You are the helpless, nay, pathetic guy in this analogy, right?”
Okay, she had him. It was too early to be a smart aleck.
“Yes, now help me up.”
Maizie rolled her eyes and held out her hands to him.
He looked at her slender fingers. “You’re not going to drop me again are you?”
“Beggars can’t be choosers, man. Besides, there’s nothing to drop you in here, so I won’t.”
“Why do I not believe you?” He put his hands in hers but didn’t move.
“You’ll just have to trust me.” She gave him a tug, and he pulled himself up next to her.
He kept his fingers twisted around hers, and she sucked in a breath. Her green eyes didn’t leave his, and she stared at him almost expectantly, or maybe he imagined it.
“Okay, I’ll take you back.” She dropped her hands and darted around the room, gathering up her stuff.
Christian limped to his shoes, then to the truck.
“Thanks for teaching me the art of dance. I have been sufficiently humbled,” Christian said as Maizie pulled to a stop in front of the farmhouse.
“Well feel free to come back anytime you’re feeling particularly cocky, and I’ll put an end to it.” Maizie smiled.
Christian liked that smile. The one she rarely gave him.
“Better put some ice on that,” she snickered.
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, sliding slowly out of the truck. If only there was enough ice to mend his bruised ego.
* * *
“Come on, drink,”Maizie begged the baby calf she was straddling.
“I wouldn’t drink either if you were trying to kill me,” Jayce said.
Maizie rolled her eyes. “You aren’t doing much better over there.” The baby Jayce was working with was too weak to stand, so Jayce was trying to feed it laying down. The sick calves needed this medicine, or they wouldn’t survive the next couple of days.
“I’m doing great.” Jayce held up the nearly empty bottle as proof. “I’ve got the girl of my dreams and this beautiful place. Life is good.” He headed back to the truck and dropped down on the tailgate, a blissful smile on his face.
“Yeah, how is that? With Lindsay, I mean?” Maizie was still dumbfounded by Lindsay’s one-eighty on her cousin. Every time she asked about it, Lindsay just grinned and changed the subject. But they were always together.
“She’s amazing,” he drawled.
Maizie rolled her eyes again.
“She is gorgeous and funny and perfect.”
“And what’s her middle name?” Maizie cocked her chin up at him.
Jayce pulled his head up from the tailgate. “Louisa?”
