“How could I distract you?”
The question bubbled out even though I couldn’t deny he’d been distracted. I’d seen his reaction, his look of shock at seeing me on his ranch. The tiny flash of pleasure right before Bullet kicked him.
That hint of a smile stuck in my brain, like the afterimage of a bright light, flashing in my head every time I blinked.
He shifted slightly, groaning in the back of his throat. He’d balked over the heavy-duty pain medication the doctor had suggested to see him through the first few days. I’d guessed he would as soon as the wordsedativewas uttered in the Medical Center pharmacy. He’d condescended to let them fill a prescription for Percocet, but he hadn’t bothered to take one. Instead, he seemed determined to get by purely on anger and bitterness. Any little movement he tried to make ended in an array of groans, grunts, and muttered curses. He had a rather larger repertoire of favorite swears than I did, even if he mostly kept them under his breath.
“I wasn’t expecting visitors,” he finally said.
Regret pricked at me for the spur of the moment social call. I hadn’t made the horse kick, but Ihadsnuck up on him. Horses didn’t like surprises, even I knew that.
Still, I wasn’t ready to take all the credit for his current condition.
“You haven’t been answering my texts.”
“I’ve been answering them.”
I forced a laugh. “‘Got it’ is no better than a ‘k’.”
He tried to turn to face me but didn’t get very far before he stopped, stifling a tortured sound in his throat. “I haven’t been answering your texts adequately, so you drove out here to check up on me?”
The ruffle of amusement in his voice annoyed me enough—the fact he was right just piled on the irritation.
“Saying it like that makes me sound like a stalker.”
“You’re the one who followed up on a text with a visit to my house.”
I stared straight ahead, grinding my teeth. “Maybe you should put up aNo Trespassingsign if you’re so opposed to visitors.”
“I’m not opposed. I just like to have a little warning when a woman’s going to show up at my place unannounced.”
Did that happen often? He was certainly attractive enough to warrant female visitors. His bedroom eyes and chiseled jaw probably brought the ladies running. Ugh, not the point.
“That makes no sense.”
“You still haven’t explained the visit.”
“I want to be sure you’re actually doing all the Best Man stuff you’re supposed to be doing. Blowing me off all the time isn’t very reassuring.”
A sound between a laugh and a groan escaped him. “How am I blowing you off? I told you I’m handling it, and it’s handled.”
My eyebrows probably shot straight up to my hairline. “Really?”
He gave a stout nod. “Really.”
“The suit rentals, the groom gifts, the—”
He shifted his hand as if flicking away my questions. “June. It’s handled.”
The verbal equivalent of ‘k’. I released a throaty exhale and rolled my eyes.
It didn’t take long to drive back through town and into the countryside. With a population just over ten thousand, Magnolia Ridge’s downtown boasted brick storefronts along Center Street, gradually giving way to the farms and ranches that surrounded it. A strange sort of longing tugged at me every time I visited, my home but not my home. I’d lived in Austin eleven years, ever since I’d packed up my boxes and moved down for college, and it still didn’t hit me with that same sense of comfort as Magnolia Ridge did.
I passed the turnout to my pop’s with a twinge of regret for ever leaving his place this morning. I’d driven up from Austin, dropped off my bags, and headed straight to Ty’s. I should have stayed away from his ranch and left well enough alone.
I side-eyed him again. He was probably thinking the same thing.
“You’re in town early,” he said. “Wedding’s two weeks away.”
