As he sauntered off, Elyse froze there with her empty palms out, then turned and went back for another load. And when the tools were all in the barn and she’d settled the ax blade into the chopping block, she rushed inside to do a speed clean while Ian was still busy in the barn. At least she’d found the energy to wash the dishes this morning, but she hadn’t set foot in the guest bedroom in months. She dusted the dresser, swept the rustic wooden floors, and then replaced the bedding with fresh linens. After angling and re-angling the rocking chair in the corner just so, she turned and let off a yelp as Ian stood right behind her with a quirk to his lips.
Her heart threatened to leap from behind her breastbone. How was a man so big and powerful so silent when he wanted to be? He stepped around her, so close she could smell his piney, masculine scent and feel warmth radiating off his skin.
Ian set his trash bag luggage on the bed. “This’ll do. I’ll unpack later, but I think you should eat.”
She thought about her now empty freezer, and shame, not shyness, heated her cheeks.
Ian narrowed his eyes and cocked his head suspiciously at her hesitation, then turned and strode out of the house, his heavy boots echoing against the floors. The creaking of the freezer sounded a moment later, and a muttered curse directly followed. And now Ian was back in the mouth of the room, his lips pursed in a thin, angry line. “Woman, what did you plan on eating today if I hadn’t a shown up?”
She ran her tongue over her teeth, stalling and debating whether to lie or not.
“The truth,” he demanded, as if he could read her mind.
“I picked some carrots.”
“Carrots?” The volume of his voice made her hunch her shoulders to her ears. “Why haven’t you been hunting and fishing?”
Anger snapped through her like a rubber band popped against her skin. “If you must know, I have been hunting and fishing, but I’m pretty shitty at it, so I haven’t got anything. Yet. And when I’m not out in the woods failing epically at hunting, I’m racing daylight running this place. None of this has been easy on me, you judgmental beast.”
“Judgmental beast, am I?” His animated eyebrows quirked up. “Fine. Since you have me so pegged, you’re too damned skinny.”
Elyse let off an offended sound. “Well, you’re too muscular and probably require eighteen thousand calories a day. I do not. I’m not skinny. I’m efficient.”
“Horseshit. I can see your bones poking out through your shirt, and your stomach’s been growling since I got here.”
She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest like a shield. His words hurt. There. There it was. Him calling her skinny burned her pride. Oh, she knew she’d lost weight. She was the one who saw herself withering away in the mirror, but Cole had taken all of her damned seed potatoes, bartered them for God knows what, and left her so low on everything she was struggling to get ahead. And she hadn’t lied. She was shit at hunting. That was one lesson Uncle Jim failed to teach her before he passed, and Josiah had never offered to show her how to track animals. She had more pride than to beg people to teach her something a good Alaskan woman ought to know by instinct.
Furious at Ian for being harsh, and even angrier with herself for caring, she brushed past him, knocking against his irritatingly firm arm, and strode for the living room. The rifles were hung on wall pets in the front corner beside the door, and she picked the one that recoiled the least, then stomped out of the house.
She made it deep into the woods before Ian’s voice called out from behind her. “Where are you going?”
She bit back a curse that he followed her. “Hunting. Obviously.”
“No, not obviously. What the fuck are you planning on taking with that pea shooter? It’s good for muskrat and ptarmigan. Rabbits maybe. And you’re rushing off pissed with no supplies and no pistol.”
“Why would I need a pistol, Ian? I have a rifle.”
“If you can call it that. And as to why you would need a pistol…slow down. Elyse Abram!”
“Stop calling me that!” she fumed, rounding on him. He backed up from her, step for step. Wise man.
“It’s your name.”
She shoved her ring finger in the air like she was flipping him off. “We’re engaged. You can drop my last name.”
A low rumble emanated from his chest.
“Did you just growl at me?”
“No.”
“Yes you did!”
“Give me the gun, and let’s go back to the house before you find a pack of wolves.”
“Piss off. I’m going to bring home dinner, honey.”
“I brought food with me. We don’t need to do this tonight and, anyway, it’ll be dark before you find any game. Just…” Ian grabbed the barrel of the gun over her shoulder and yanked. Only she wasn’t ready. He startled her, and she jerked the trigger.
A deafening boom echoed through the woods.
Ian’s bright eyes looked downright terrifying as he yanked the gun from her grasp. “Are you fucking kidding me? You had it loaded with the safety off? You could’ve killed yourself or somebody else.”
“I wasn’t pointing it anywhere near you or me. It was up in the air.”
“Gun safety basics, Elyse Abram. Safety on until you’re ready to pull that trigger, and furthermore, your finger shouldn’t even be on that trigger unless you have your intended target in the crosshairs. Now get your ass back to the cabin before I carry you my damned self. I’m mad enough to do it right now.”