Shine Not Burn (4 page)

Ian gave his horse a light spurring, causing it to leap forward and cut his brother’s mount off.

Mack scowled.
 
“Cut it out, Ee.
 
You know I don’t have time to play with you right now.
 
Stop acting like a fool.”

Ian smiled, whirling his horse around so he could crowd his brother and get him to react.
 
This cold indifference wasn’t getting him anywhere.
 
A challenge was the only way to get his brother to wake up and get involved in his life while he was still living it in Baker City.
 
Ian saw this bachelor party in Vegas as Mack’s last chance to leave this town and see a little bit of the world before he turned into a hermit, just like their father.
 
Twenty-five years old and he acted like he was fifty.
 
Responsible.
 
Mature.
 
Serious almost all the time.
 
Ian felt the life draining out of him just watching his brother in the saddle.

“Bet I can beat you to the top of that hill over there.”
 
Ian lifted his chin once in challenge, knowing his brother wouldn’t be able to resist.
 
Mack always had to run the fastest, jump the highest, and whistle the loudest.
 
He was nothing if not competitive, and yet, he always managed to do it Cool Hand Luke style, with no one fully realizing how much it mattered to him to be on top.
 
Stealth ego.
 
Mack MacKenzie was all about the stealth ego.

“When are you going to give it up, Ian?
 
You know you’re as slow as Methusela on a damn horse.
 
All hat and no cattle.
 
That’s why you want to run away to the city so no one will know your shame.” He chuckled.
 
“There you can take the ankle express everywhere you need to go and forget about these pesky four-legged beasts.”

Ian rolled his eyes at the tired expressions that their father had been using since before they were born.
 
It was scary how easily they were rubbing off on Mack, now that he was taking on the mantle of ranch manager.
 
“No, I’m
not
as slow as Methusela, I’m faster than you, and I can prove it.
 
Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?
 
Race me to the top of the hill.”

Mack looked over at him out of the corner of his eye, his gaze dropping to take in the horse under Ian’s saddle.
 
Then he looked at the hill he’d have to climb, his eyes scanning the landscape between where his horse stood and there.

“What’s the bet?” Mack asked, shifting again in the saddle, getting a tighter grip on his reins, shortening them just the slightest bit.

Ian grinned, knowing triumph was nearly within his grasp.

“If I win, you go to Vegas.
 
No bitchin’, no whinin’, no excuses.
 
And you drink and you gamble and you womanize a little.
 
Not a lot, just a little.”

Mack’s jaw bounced out a few times as he gritted his teeth, but he didn’t say no.
 
Instead, he smirked.
 
“And if I win, you stay long enough to go to Mom’s birthday party.”

Ian’s smile disappeared.
 
“Aw, come on!
 
That’s not fair!
 
You know I have to start work in Portland before that!”

Mack shrugged, a genuine smile sliding out to greet the day for the first time.
 
“Not my problem, little bro.
 
You do what you gotta do.”
 
He shrugged, all nonchalant, not a care in the world.
 
“I don’t have to race today.
 
You know I’m going to beat your ass anyway.”

“Screw that,” said Ian, kicking his horse hard and snapping its hind end with the long end of his reins.
 
“Heeyah!”
 
The beast leaped into action, almost throwing him out of the saddle.
 
He blew a stirrup, but there was nothing he could do but hang on and hope for the best.

Chapter Four

MACK WASTED NO TIME, SENDING his horse off like a bullet.
 
His little brother had gotten the jump on him, but it wouldn’t matter.
 
Mack was something of a legend in the area for his horse riding and cutting skills.
 
People called him a
balance rider
, a guy so comfortable in his seat that no matter what the horse had a mind to do, Mack would go with it and not lose a beat.
 
He hadn’t fallen from a horse since he was five years old, and there wasn’t a cow or steer alive that could outrun or outmaneuver his horse and lasso.
 
Within seconds he’d drawn even with his little brother.

“Heeyah!” he yelled, mostly for his brother’s benefit, but his own horse seemed inspired by it too.
 
He left Ian’s mare behind to eat his dust, leaping over the smaller rocks and the spring that ran across the property, landing smoothly on the other side and not even breaking stride as he surged up the hill.

Mack spun the horse so sharply at the summit that the gelding reared up and let out a whinny that echoed all over the valley.
 
All in a day’s work for Mack, he leaned forward casually, waiting for the horse to get back on all four feet and calm down.
 
He patted his horse’s neck, whispering his thank yous for the excellent work he’d done.

Ian came galloping up, sweat running down his beet-red face, his horse with white foam gathering at the sides of her bit.
 
“God
dammit,
Mack!
 
Why the hell’d you go and do that?
 
You know I have to get to Portland before the tenth!”
 
His horse had slowed to a trot and Ian bounced uncomfortably in the saddle, never one for the work of a rancher.

Mack smiled again, feeling sorry for the horse.
 
“Don’t be a sore loser.
 
You know Mom’ll be thrilled that her baby boy’s staying.
 
Just don’t tell her it’s cuz you lost a bet though or I’ll pound your ass.”

“I should, but I won’t.”
 
Ian scowled.
 
“You suck, you know that?
 
How am I supposed to have a good time at my bachelor party if my best man isn’t even there?”

“You’ll find a way, I’m sure.”
 
Mack wheeled his horse around and pointed it downhill.
 
“Listen, I gotta go find some strays.
 
You want to earn your keep around here and help me out?”

“No, I don’t want to help you out.
 
I’ve already earned my keep and I have to go take a shower now, my second one of the day, thank you very much.
 
I have a plane to catch.”

“See you when you get home,” said Mack, not even looking back.

“The ticket’s non-refundable!” Ian yelled at his brother’s back.

“Shouldn’t a-bought it in the first place!” Mack responded.

Mack pushed his horse into a trot, now in a hurry to get the job done.
 
If he was going to make that plane for his little brother’s bachelor party, he needed to hit the shower by no later than eleven-thirty.

He smiled, picturing the look Ian would have on his face as he watched Mack walk onto the plane.
 
He and Ian weren’t kids anymore, but that didn’t mean Mack didn’t still enjoy a good opportunity for teasing when it presented itself.
 
Vegas was definitely not his idea of a fun place to go for any reason, but he couldn’t very well abandon his kid brother on the last party night of his single life, now could he?
 
Besides, he’d be out there and home again in two days, back in the saddle without a hitch.
 
All he had to do was keep his headstrong little bro out of trouble and make sure he got back home in time to marry his childhood sweetheart.
 
And staying out of trouble should be easy enough.
 
He’d managed to do it his entire life.

Chapter Five

“OH MY GEE WHIZ, WOULD you take a look at this place,” said Kelly.
 
She spun around to face Candice, a barely controlled grin making its way to the surface.
 
“Did you do this?”

Candice grinned like the cheshire cat.
 
“Of course I did.
 
Who else would think to put you up in a gorgeous high roller suite during your bachlorette party, other than moi?”

I slapped her lightly on the arm.
 
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I dropped my bag just inside the door.

“Oh nothing … other than the fact that if the planning had been left up to you, we’d probably be eating dinner at the Olive Garden right now and going home by ten.”

I shook my head at her.
 
“You are so lucky you’re in heels right now.”

She put her fingers up in the shape of a cross.
 
“Stay back.
 
I don’t want you shaking my uterus around.
 
I have plans tonight.”

I barked out a laugh.
 
“Your what?”

She sniffed, lifting her chin a little.
 
“My uterus.
 
I’m due to start my period any day, but I want to try and hold it off for as long as I can.
 
I don’t like having one night stands when I’m on the rag.”

I grimaced, trying to make my way through the quagmire that is her mind so I could figure out what she was actually thinking.
 
“So your theory is that if I tackle you, I’ll … jiggle your uterus and start your period?”

“Exactly.”
 
She smiled with self-pride.

I shook my head in disbelief.
 
“You really should have gone to medical school.
 
With theories like that, you would have been something else.”

“Andie, don’t make me take my scissors out.”

“That’s not a very good threat,” I said, wandering through the room, checking it out.
 
“I’m due for a haircut.”

Candice may be a totally brainless twit sometimes, but she was a hell of a beautician.
 
Top of her class in coloring and styling.
 
After making her parents pay for a four-year fashion degree at UF, she’d blown off the job market to go to cosmetology school.
 
They’d loved that one, but no one can say no to Candice when she’s on a mission.
 
I really should visit her salon more, but I was always too busy.
 
Boring ponytails had been my go-to hairdo for the past three years since graduating law school.

She quickly grabbed her bag off a nearby chair.
 
“Go wet your hair.
 
I’ve been dying to get my hands on that mess of yours for weeks.
 
No, make that months.
 
Years.”

Kelly laughed.
 
“I just love how much she enjoys her job, don’t you?”

I shook my head as I walked to the bathroom.
 
“I’m not going to say a word.
 
I’ve seen how sharp her scissors are, and I like my ears the way they are.”
 
I was happy to let Candice have her way with my hair.
 
Why not enjoy a mini vacation and a mini spa treatment too while I’m at it?
 
I never pampered myself like that at home.
 
I was always too busy.

As I wet my hair, I realized this haircut wasn’t really about needing a trim.
 
It was more symbolic than anything else.
 
When I was finished and my hair was up in a towel, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and re-read the text from Luke, trying to give myself some inspiration.

Have a nice life.

I shut the phone down and put it on the counter, staring at it like it was a snake.
 
Deliverer of bad news.
 
Traitor.
 
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to center myself.
 
It was time to cut some of the dead wood out of my life.
 
Take control.
 
Do things a little more boldly and powerfully for a change.
 
I was a bulldog in the courtroom, never letting go until I had wrung every last argument out of an issue.
 
Attorneys feared going up against me, even when they had rock solid cases.
 
But when it came to my personal life, I was a mess.
 
A lamb to every man’s inner lion.
 
They chewed me up and spit me out, and like a total wienie, I just let them.
 
Luke was just the latest in a string of really bad relationship decisions.
 
Really, Kelly’s One-Ball would be a step up for me.

I took the towel off and ran a brush Kelly had brought through my wet hair, staring at my reflection as I considered this little impromptu vacation.
 
I was on a girls’ night out, very far away from home.
 
Maybe tonight with a new look I could walk out into the hot Las Vegas night and be a different girl.
 
Even though it would only be for one night and a day, the idea held an almost magnetizing appeal.
 
I was almost in a foreign land, where no one knew me.
 
I could do whatever I wanted, and as long as I didn’t get arrested, I’d be home free, back in the office being a kickass lawyer on Monday.

And single.
 
I’d be single, but that could change.
 
I smiled tentatively at myself.
 
I have options; I’m not some ugly spinster that has nothing but a life of solitude and loneliness to look forward to.
 
I leaned in closer to the mirror, evaluating my assets:
 
greenish-gray eyes, brown hair with natural highlights, high cheekbones, decent chin, perfect nose or so my grandmother had always told me - not too small and not too big.
 
My boobs aren’t as big as Candice’s but they’re all mine, home grown.
 
And I’d been told by most of my boyfriends that my best asset was behind me.
 
I turned around, trying to get a look at it.
 
My big, heart-shaped butt.
 
I looked at my naked body in profile.
 
Curvy is how I’d describe myself.
 
I’d spent a lot of years when I was a teenager wishing I could be shaped more like a model with long legs and a well-muscled tummy, but lately I’d come to admire my more feminine silhouette.
 
I nodded at my reflection and faced the mirror again.
 
If a guy can’t appreciate what I have to offer, he can just keep on walkin’.