"Hey, how was the ride?" Clay asked, smiling at Misty as she pulled her horse, Midnight, to a stop in front of his barn.

      "It was fine. Jace and I made up; we are friends again, so that's good." Misty gave Clay the short version of the story, kicking her feet out of the stirrups. Lifting her right foot over the saddle horn, Misty sat sideways atop Midnight.

      Without Misty having to ask him, Clay walked over to stand in front of her, reaching his hands up to her hips, carefully sliding her off her horse. Instead of pulling back when both of her feet where safely on the ground, Clay pulled Misty's hips closer against him. "I'm glad y'all made up." Clay smiled, reaching a hand up to take Misty's cowboy hat off her head, setting it on her saddle horn.

      "Ugh. Why did you do that? I have hat hair." Misty groaned, reaching up to try to tame her crazy locks.

      "Because I wanted to be able to fully see your beautiful face." Clay grinned down at his girlfriend.

      Misty leaned back slightly, her sore back resting on her stirrup fender and horse. Reaching up, Misty draped her arms over Clay's shoulders, toying with the edge of his hair at the neckline. Slowly, she reached up and took off Clay's cowboy hat, slipping away from him, knowing he would try to steal it back.

      Laughing hard, Clay ran after Misty, "Hey, give that back!" He chuckled out as Misty ran down the barn aisle.

      "You gotta catch me first!" Misty played back. Making her way outside of the small barn, she hid beside the far side of the lean-to, peaking around the corner to see if Clay was still following her. Not seeing him, Misty slipped out of her hiding spot to creep around the other side of the barn.

      Just as she left the safety of her hiding spot, Misty felt one hand slip around her waist, and the other grab the cowboy hat out of her hand. "Gotcha!" Clay cheered proudly, wrapping both arms around his hostage.

      Putting both hands up in surrender, Misty smiled. "Okay, you got me."

      Clay's chuckles silenced as he buried his face into Misty's neck, placing a soft kiss behind her ear. Loving the feeling of being so close to him, Misty rested her hands on Clay's arms, leaning back slightly, into his hold on her.

      Lifting his lips off her neck, Clay bent down enough so he could press his cheek against Misty's, breathing in her smell. "Mmm, I missed you today." He said into her hair, landing a soft kiss on her blushing, red cheeks.

      "I missed you, too." Misty replied, reaching a hand up to his cheek, softly rubbing his scruffy jaw line.

      Pulling back from their cuddle fest, Clay grabbed Misty's hand, interlacing their fingers as they walked back into the barn. Plopping his hat back on his head he asked, "How's your ribs feel after the long ride?" Clay asked, glancing down at her waist momentarily.

      "Sore, honestly. And so is my back. I don't know if it's because I haven't rode in about 3 weeks, or if it's because I've been lifting a lot more at work, or just because of the nature of the injury."

        "Mmm, I'm goin' to D, all of the above. You're never gonna recover if you keep straining yourself, Mist." Clay said, caring, looking at Misty just in time to see her roll her eyes. "What?" There was a grin tugging on his lips, already knowing what she was going to say. 

        "You know that I'm not the 'sit back and rest, wait it out, take it slow,' type of girl. It is so hard for me to just sit in the house and do nothing." Stopping beside Midnight, Misty grabbed her cowboy hat off her saddle horn. "Even if me goin' out and doin' stuff doesn't seem like the smart thing to do, it's better than doing nothing, and I think it really does help me." Turning around to start unsaddling her horse, Misty added, "But, I really appreciate you caring, though."

        "Misty..." Clay groaned out, facing her, standing with one hand on the saddle and the other on his hip.

       "What?" She asked innocently, looking at Clay. 

       "You're doin' it again. Please, let me help you." Clay didn't even wait for a response; instead, he just wedged himself beside Misty, grabbing the cinch from her hands. 

        Swatting him away, Misty told Clay, "Clay, now I saddled Midnight up just fine all by myself. unsaddling him is easier, so if you wouldn't mind, please step to the side so I can finish up here." 

       "Nope, not gonna happen. You might have saddled him up fine, but that was before you were in the saddle for four hours straight. Now, I'm not goin' to argue with you, Misty. Let your boyfriend help you. Please, go relax. You've already worked hard enough today; I don't want you to get hurt again for any reason. Now please, just listen to me and go sit down." By the end of his order, Clay's voice was sounding irritated, leaning towards frustration, something Misty had never heard in his voice before. 

       Taken aback that their teasing had turned to Clay getting upset, Misty surrendered the cinch, letting it fall as she turned. "Okay, I'll just go relax in the apartment, then." She said, defeated. Turning and walking away from Clay and Midnight, Misty thought about her conversation with her sister this morning. More and more signs were being revealed that told Misty that her sister was right when she said that she thinks Clay takes blame for Misty's accident. 

      Since it was around noon, Misty figured it was a good time for a light lunch before Clay drove her to the main barn to get more of their work done. Taking off her hat and boots at the door, Misty threw her hair into a pony tail as she walked into the kitchen. 

       Opening up the fridge, Misty pulled out some lunch meat and cheese, and grabbed a loaf of bread off the counter, deciding to make them sandwiches for lunch, since that was really the only food Clay had in his apartment. Just as she had spread some spicy brown mustard on Clay's sandwich, Misty heard the apartment door open, then the sound of hard soled boots clicking against the floor. Before she could turn around to greet Clay, his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, squeezing her into a hug. "I'm really sorry for snappin' at you, Mist." Clay pressed his cheek against the side of her head, taking in a deep breath. "I just really care about you and worry about you is all." 

        Turning to face Clay, Misty replied, "I know that you do, but I promise I'm okay. I've gotten injured before and I've always healed just fine." 

       "I know, but that was before we started datin'. Now, you're my problem." Clay placed his hands on the counter on either side of Misty, leaning down slightly.

       "Oh, I'm a problem for you now, am I?" Misty smiled, teasing Clay. 

        "You're causing me problems right now because you keep over doing it!" Clay responded, smiling down at Misty. 

        "Oh, really? Hey, I let you help me when I got thrown on the roundup and hurt my wrist and knee, and I healed just fine, and I did everything I am doin' now, maybe even more, and you didn't have a problem with it." 

       "I know, but we are dating now, so it's my responsibility to take care of you, and keep your best interest in mind." 

       "I know, babe. Thank you." Misty smiled, shutting down the argument, knowing this conversation would just keep going around in a circle if she didn't. "Really? Do you actually consider me a problem?" She teased him.

        Clay tilted his head side to side as if weighing out which response would be better. "Eh, I think I would consider you more of a ball and chain than a problem, but you're my ball and chain and more than that, you're the most beautiful ball and chain that I have ever seen in my whole life." Clay said teasingly, leaning forward slightly towards Misty who looked like she was about to slap him. 

       Misty scoffed, placing both hands on Clay's chest, giving him a shove backwards. "Get out of here, you goof." 

       "You asked." Clay teased, putting his hands up, but seeing Misty with the cutest pouty face he'd ever seen, he leaned forward to land a kiss on her cheek. "I'm just messin' with you, babe." He smiled, his face just inches from hers. This was the first time that he realized this, but they hadn't kissed on the lips once since they made it official. For some reason, Clay just felt like he wanted them to start over in that regard; he felt like they kissed so much before they dated that it no longer felt special. 

         "You better be." Misty replied, knocking Clay out of his trance of deciding how, and when, would be a good time to tell Misty about how he wanted their first official kiss to be special. "Here, eat your lunch I made you." Reaching behind her, Misty grabbed Clay's plate, shoving it to him. 

         "Yes, ma'am." Clay smiled, taking the sandwich off the plate. Grabbing two paper towels, Clay wiped off the plate with one, putting the plate back in the cupboard. With the other paper towel, Clay wrapped up the sandwich, walking to his door to slip on his boots. 

        "Where are you goin'? Don't we have some time before work?" Misty looked at the clock in Clay's kitchen. They had at least a half hour before they had to be back at the ranch to get back to work. 

        "Yeah, but I wanted to get a head start. The sooner we get done, the better chance that I will get to take you on a date tonight. I'd say that we are about due for one, huh?" Clay lifted his head from his seat on the bench to cock a grin at Misty.

         "Yeah, but..." Misty sauntered over to Clay, sitting down on his lap and wrapping both her arms around his neck. "Wouldn't you rather spend some time with me now? We have at least a half hour before we have to leave. That gives us enough time to eat lunch and talk some." Misty smiled a persuasive smile, but Clay didn't allow it. 

      Taping Misty's leg, he stood up, making Misty get off his lap. "Sorry, babe, I wanna get back to work now so we can be done sooner. A half hour of work makes a big difference." 

        "Just a few minutes ago, you were beggin' me to come inside and relax because I work too hard, but now you're draggin' me back to work?" Misty chuckled, slipping her feet into her boots. "You are one confusing creature, Clay Montgomery." She smiled over at him, grabbing her sandwich and hat, following him out the door. 

        "Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe," Clay stopped halfway down the steps to turn and look at Misty. "Your boyfriend planned a really nice date for his girlfriend and him tonight?" 

       "Wait, for real?" Misty asked, not believing him.

       Shrugging his shoulders, Clay continued down the steps. "Reckon you'll just have to wait and see." Looking over his shoulder, he shot Misty a wink.

       "Clay, you little..." Misty smiled; there was no way that she could be mad at him for being such a goofball. 

      Opening the passenger side door of his truck for Misty, he gave her a bow followed by, "My lady." Taking her hand, Clay placed a kiss on it, helping her into the truck, closing the door once she was fully in the cab.

       Clay walked around the front of his truck to his side. Hopping inside, he had the biggest smile that Misty had ever seen. "What is your problem today? You're so smiley and flirty. It's kinda creepy." She teased him, loving the rise he always got out of it. 

       "Nothing, I just can't help but smile every time I look at you. I swear you get more beautiful every time." Clay replied, his smile only growing. 

       "Oh my gosh. Just shut up and drive. And eat your sandwich. I worked hard on it, after all." Misty ordered, lifting Clay's sandwich to his lips. Turning her head, Misty smiled out the open window, mumbling, "You freak." As of that moment, Misty knew for a fact that there would never be another guy who would make her smile the way that Clay Montgomery does.