He waves the chain saw, which is all noise and no moving parts. “You better run, Clifford,” he says, “because when I catch you you’re going to regret talking about my inability to commit.” He revs the chainsaw at me.
I turn, look outside to make sure the coast is clear, and then take off running, screaming for all I’m worth. “Help!” I run toward the curious onlookers who are waiting in line or just milling about. Grady runs behind me with the chain saw for a minute or two, and then I hear it shut off as he puts it down. I scream again, and I see people in line clutching their loved ones as I run toward them, still screaming for help.
Suddenly, Grady grabs the back of my shirt. He pulls me toward him with a solid jerk, and it’s much more real than I would have expected it to be. He takes my breath away when he pulls me back, wraps his arms around my waist, and lifts me off the ground. Mr. Jacobson had told us this was the perfect time for me to scream and kick my legs around, but he told me I wasn’t allowed to kick Grady.
“Don’t kick me,” Grady says close to my ear.
“Don’t tempt me,” I reply. He spins me around, and I struggle against his hold. Just like we were told to do, he lets me go and I get free. I run a few feet and then he grabs me again. This time he tosses me over his shoulder. I scream and flail as he runs back toward the maze with me over his shoulder pretending to beat on his back. Someone else has grabbed the chainsaw and returned it to the hay maze alcove.
Grady ducks back behind the little alcove of hay bales and stands there with me draped across his shoulder. I smack his butt. He laughs. “Something wrong, Clifford?” He spins in a circle, like he’s trying to see me, but he can’t so he keeps spinning.
“Stop! You’re going to make me puke,” I cry.
His breaths are heaving after carrying me back, but he’s not complaining. He slaps my ass, which makes me mad enough that I could spit fire.
“Grady Parker, put me down!”
“Yes, your highness,” he replies. He bounces me on his shoulder, and my breath whooshes out of me.
“Now, Grady,” I command.
He chuckles and lets me dangle there.
“Grady—”
“Oh, shut up, Clifford,” he says. He bounces me again, and I slip a little off his shoulder. Very slowly I slide down the front of his body. His shoulders are strong and firm and a little damp when I grab them for support. His breathing is still heavy. When my feet hit the ground, he doesn’t let me go. He holds me close with one arm wrapped around my waist.
I flatten my palms against his chest. “Let me go, Grady,” I growl low under my breath.
Suddenly he presses my stomach to push me very gently back from him. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he replies. He turns his body away from me. I look down toward his crotch.
“Grady Parker!” I cry. I cover my face with my hands and take a breath. “Are you…hard?” My heart, if it wasn’t already thundering in my chest, begins to thunder now in earnest.
“You’re the one who brought up my dick, Clifford,” he taunts. “Apparently, it works just fine.” He suddenly steps back from me, and he reaches down and adjusts himself, shoving his dick down a little. “This would have to happen with you, right now, at the worst possible moment,” he mutters.
“What is wrong with you?” I ask. “You were just supposed to bring me back, not get off on it. You’re gross, Grady.”
But deep down inside, it’s not gross at all. It’s amazing. I’ve never been quite as turned on as I am right now.
His eyes drag down my body slowly, and I feel like he’s very carefully undressing me. Heat creeps up my chest and neck and into my face.
“You don’t really think I’m gross,” he states. He says it like a light bulb just went off in his head. “In fact, I think you want me. In fact, I know you do. You don’t even want to be mad at me anymore. You’re only doing it because you don’t know how to gracefully bow out of your meanness.”
I sputter out a protest. “That’s not true!”
“You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.” He very gently grabs my chin and stares into my eyes. “I know you, Evie Allen. I know you better than anybody.”
I shove his hand from my face. “You don’t know anything about me, Grady. Stop pretending like you do.”
“I know everything about you, Evie,” he says.
I square my shoulders. “I hate you, Grady.”
He chuckles. “No, you don’t.”
Suddenly, a whistle blows, and it’s time to go again. I wait until Grady starts the chain saw, then I take a deep breath and dart from the back of the maze toward the people in line. Grady chases me, grabs me, and hauls me back to the maze, while I protest for all I’m worth. Again he lets me slide down his body, and again each time we reenact the scene, and each time he holds me close, kisses me there behind the bales, and each time his hands touch me in a different place. And by the time the maze closes, I am a quivering mix of lust, love, and a little bit of hatred, and it’s all aimed at this man.