Page 34 of Merry Mended Hearts

No wonder I’d struggled to write him as the love interest before. He was no woman’s knight in shining armor. No elvish hero pitting his life against the enemy to rescue damsels and restore freedom to his people.

This man was all bitter and callous and sour taste. First, he snapped at me over a necklace. Now, he was angry with me for helping his cousin?

I was so writing him as the villain.

I lifted my chin, sniffed, and scowled at him. Boone’s expression softened with the briefest streak of realization as his eyes trapped mine. Even now, the sizzling, so-noticeable-you-could-stroke-it heat between us hummed.

Was I attracted to this man?

Sure. The cells in my body went wild every time he was near.

But no longer was his windswept, brooding, heartbreaker appearance going to make me swoon. No, sir.

I’d alreadyliterallyfallen at the sound of his voice, and that fall hadn’t boded well. Sure, he’d helped me up, but anyone who was any shade of decent would have set the box aside and shown concern that I’d fallen. Or gratitude for my help at the very least!

I wasn’t about to wait for an apology. Clearly, he wasn’t going to give me one.

With a sniff, I whipped around and stormed back the way I’d come, beneath the wooden posts and down the snow-trodden path toward the inn.

At this rate, I no longer needed the spa for inspiration.

Junie wasn’t behind the desk once I made it back into the inn, and for that, I was grateful. I didn’t want to replay the horrible interaction with her.

Every one of my spiteful thoughts was about to get poured into my novel, into creating the most dastardly, selfish, cowardly antihero my mind could create with the fodder Boone had just handed to me.

Take that.

BOONE

My anger seethed asI watched Grace storm away. Every step she took cooled the fire in my chest, though, and I could have sworn steam emitted from the coals.

I hung my head. Once again, my emotions had gotten the better of me. I wasn’t even entirely sure what I’d said to her.

Troy’s father wasn’t doing well. We still hadn’t found anyone to stand in as the other sleigh driver on Christmas Eve—and it was coming faster than I wanted it to. And I still needed to go into town to get a few things to see me through the holiday.

You know, food.

Normally, by this time, I had Hazelnut prepared in the barn by the cottage. My fridge was stocked. And I was bunkered down, ready to shut out the rest of the world for a few days.

But tensions were high. Junie was doing more than her usual share—and she wasn’t the only one.

Adding a beautiful woman into the mix wasn’t helping.

I didn’t know what it was about Grace, but she was awakening something inside of me, something I wasn’t ready to face yet. Every time she was around, it was like a new part of me came to life. She was dynamite, strategically placed around my carefully crafted borders so that every time our eyes caught, another explosion went off, tearing those defenses down.

And I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way she made me feel. The way she made my heart pound in ways it hadn’t done in years. She was the Dorothy to my Tin Man, squirting her little oil can against all my stiff joints and forcing movement there again.

Movement I wasn’t ready for.

The shipment of veterinary supplies, a part for the sleigh, and the new tack I’d ordered was vital…but not enough for me to bring out my inner snapping turtle.

I’d reacted. Plain and simple. My mind was in a thousand places at once. The sight of Christmas being shoved in my face at every turn didn’t help. Junie had insisted on placing decorations near the barn. Anyone coming here would think the candy canes the profusion of lights were my idea.

“We’re known for being Christmassy. The customers need a treat from every angle,” Junie had insisted.

Like always, I grumbled and went along with it. Because that was my job.

Gripping the box, I headed toward the open barn door, veered through past the bins of hay and feed, and set the package on the wooden table that also hosted various jars of remedies for the horses’ ailments.

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