her shoulders went back. She had to blink hard a couple of times. ‘I’m glad I came to stay too.’
‘Does that mean you’re willing to risk life and limb to try out a new form of exercise?’
She gave in. The siren call of the rowing machine just wasn’t loud enough. It couldn’t compete with Cade’s grin...or her own curiosity.
Without another word, she nodded and followed him.
A few moments later they stood in a cleared space in the barn. When Cade held out a pair of boxing gloves to her, she frowned, blinked and then put her hands behind her back. ‘No way.’
‘These are boxing gloves, Nicola,’ he started patiently.
‘I know what they are. And I repeat, no way.’
He stared at her with pursed lips.
‘I’ve seen Rocky.’ She hitched up her chin. ‘I saw what happened to some of those guys in the ring, and they were fit! There’s no way on God’s green I’m going to let you hit me, regardless of what tripe you give me about how soft those gloves are. So I repeat, no way.’
He grinned so suddenly the impact was nearly physical. She planted her feet in an effort to counter it.
‘I won’t be hitting you, Nicola. You’ll be hitting me.’ He smirked. ‘Or at least trying to.’
Her eyes narrowed at that. She hauled her hands from behind her back and took the gloves. He smirked again, insufferably superior, as she pulled them on. ‘It’s just possible that I may grow to enjoy this as much as riding Scarlett,’ she warned him.
‘I’m counting on it,’ he said, sliding his hands into thick square mitts that had even more padding than her gloves.
‘Ah, so you won’t be wholly unprotected, then?’
‘Nope, which is just as well when the woman I’m about to face has such a martial light in her eye.’
That made her laugh. When he squared up to her and ordered her to show him what she had, though, she found it curiously difficult to do as he asked.
He lowered his protective mitts. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It just seems wrong to hit you. Terribly impolite and...well, violent.’
‘Pretend I’m that rowing machine.’ He squared up again. ‘Hit me in the middle of my left mitt.’
She did.
He lowered his hands and glared. ‘Put some oomph into it!’
‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
‘Honey, that’ll be the day.’
That patronising ‘honey’ set her teeth on edge.
‘Boxing, when it’s done right, is an excellent cardiovascular workout. And it’s a good way of getting rid of pent-up tension.’
‘I don’t have any pent-up tension,’ she managed between gritted teeth.
‘Really?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘What did your mother say when you told her you were coming out here for Christmas?’
Run away, Nicola Ann, with your tail between your legs, but the mess will still be here when you come back.
She let fly with a punch that thwacked satisfyingly into Cade’s left mitt.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘And I’ve been wanting to know...’
‘Yes?’ she ground out.
‘If you’ve come up with a strategy for the cruel remarks that’ll be headed your way at the wedding?’
Thwack! Thwack! ‘What comments?’
He assumed a mocking high-pitched voice. ‘You’re putting on a very brave face, dear, but I can imagine how you’re really feeling.’
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
‘Put some feeling into it,’ he ordered. ‘Put your whole body behind it.’
Her whole body, huh?
He lifted his chin and assumed that voice again. ‘This wedding must be a nightmare for you, I know, but even you have to admit that the bride is glowing. They look so happy together, don’t you think?’
Thwack!
‘I bet you fifty bucks that Diane throws the bouquet to you.’
She paled at that one. Thwack!
‘Don’t worry,’ he simpered in that high-pitched voice again, ‘I expect Brad will two-time her too.’
‘Stop it!’ she croaked. ‘Stop saying such cruel things.’
‘It’s what people will say.’ He lowered his mitts.
‘And you think I’m so pathetic that I won’t be able to cope with it or defend myself?’
‘I think you ought to be prepared, that’s all.’ His eyes suddenly flashed and his hands came back up. ‘But while we’re on the subject, I think your ex is a two-timing, cheating scumbag and your best friend a back-stabbing witch!’
Nicola wasn’t even aware that she’d thrown the punch until it connected with Cade’s jaw and sent him sprawling to the ground.
NICOLA stared at Cade, sprawled at her feet and with a little cry she shook off her boxing gloves and knelt in the dirt beside him, wrung her hands before touching his face. ‘Oh, my God! Did I hurt you? Cade?’
Those blue eyes, normally so piercing, stared up at her, slightly dazed.
She’d meant to throw that punch, but she’d thought... Well, she’d thought he’d block it!
She swallowed. Who’d have thought she had such lightning reflexes? That punch had been fast...and...um...hard. Put your whole body behind it. Oh, she’d done that.
Nausea swirled through her. She’d thought he’d block her punch, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d lashed out in anger.
‘Cade?’
He didn’t speak. Guilt, regret and remorse pounded through her and, before she could think better of it, she pressed her lips to his in an effort to take away the pain, to communicate her remorse and apologise.
He smelled of dust and sweat and horses, which should have turned her off, only it didn’t. His lips were an intriguing combination of firmness and softness and they parted slightly as if he meant to deepen the kiss. Then he froze and his hands came up, gripped her arms and pushed her back as he sat up. ‘What do you think you’re doing? Kissing me better?’
His scorn almost scorched the flesh from her bones. ‘I...’
‘I’m not a child, Nicola.’
It was too much. His anger... Her guilt and remorse. That final punch had torn the lid off the emotions she’d bottled up for the last three months. She tugged herself out of his grip and stumbled blindly across to a wooden crate and collapsed on top of it, her back to Cade as she tried to tamp down on the pain and numbing sense of loss that cut deep inside her, but now that it was freed it seemed to grow in both volume and intensity.
She’d punched Cade in anger!
And then she’d kissed him. What on earth had she been thinking? The expression on his face...
I think your ex is a two-timing cheating scumbag and your best friend is a back-stabbing witch.
The words ripped off the poorly formed scab she’d tried to place over her heart and, try as she might, she couldn’t control the sudden shaking of her shoulders or the silent sobs that clawed free from her chest or the tears that