Flash Fic Friday-Saturday Edition

**Another Saturday edition! Because there was….stuff this week. I’ll talk about it soon! In the meantime, let’s check in with Jace and Ian and see what’s going on with the goats. And what Mack found out. Enjoy!**

“Stoat.” Mack was shoveling pancakes in as fast as he could chew and swallow. I indeed didn’t have any fish or berries, but I figured that the carb load of pancakes, plus sugar from the maple syrup, would go a long way to restoring Mack’s calories. He seemed appreciative at least.

“Stoat?” Ian’s tone was all confusion, his brow creasing.

“Stoat?” On the other hand, I broke out in a cold sweat. To hide my reaction, I turned back to the griddle and ladled out more batter. I was pretty sure Mack could eat more, and even if he couldn’t, perhaps Ian would want some. I’d been intending to eat some as well but I’d suddenly lost my appetite.

Mack slurped some coffee and gave a single nod. “Stoat. Definitely. But not near the fence, which was weird. All around the house though.”

I cleared my throat. “But that could have probably been there for a while, right? If it wasn’t by the fence and just—”

“Nope.” Mack didn’t seem to think anything of his casual dismissal as he swiped his last bite of pancake through the dregs of syrup on his plate. “Scent trail was less than a day old.”

My knees buckled. I would have sagged right to the floor if Ian hadn’t moved as quickly as he did, catching me around the waist and holding me up. He gently took the spatula from my hand and set it on the counter, then got a better grip on me and helped me to stand. Once I had my feet under me, he didn’t let go though. Instead he tilted my chin with a gentle hand and peered into my eyes.

“Jace?” It was a question, but at the same time not. Something in his tone spoke of command, and there was no denying that he wanted me to tell him exactly what was going on. The question was should I?

I’d only met the man this morning, but we’d been thrown together because of the goats. And there was no denying there was something between us already, though I wouldn’t even begin to label it. He was attractive, sure. And he’d definitely been flirting. There’d been a vague promise of talking about things. But would that really go anywhere?

“Did you, uh, I mean, was there any scent by the fence?”

Mack squinted at me, then glanced at Ian. When Ian gave a nod, Mack answered. “No. But it was strange because it was almost as if there was an absence of scent. I can’t even explain it but when I was sniffing around, it was like something was missing.”

“That’s good information,” Ian murmured, not taking his gaze off me. “And we’ll puzzle out what that means in a moment. Thank you, Mack.”

“Sure. But what’s all this?” Mack gestured with is fork, and a stray bit of syrup flew off and landed on the floor. Mack huffed and rolled his eyes, grabbing a napkin to wipe it off.

My laugh was a little unhinged. Ian narrowed his eyes.

“Tell me.”

“It’s n-nothing.” I stopped and took a breath, in and out. “Just…an ex-boyfriend. Or one of his caravan. No big deal.”

I didn’t know what it was about Ian, what exactly changed, but suddenly it did. He straightened and pulled his shoulders back, maybe. A light changed in his eyes or his micro expression changed. I couldn’t put my finger on it but from one moment to the next he changed from concerned to protective.

“You have a stalker?”

I gently pulled away and turned back to the griddle. I flipped the pancakes just in time—they were a little too dark but they hadn’t burned—and gave them all a pat just so I would have something to do.

“No, of course not.”

Ian crowded my space, getting almost too close. “That’s what it sounds like. Looks like. You panicked when you heard it, like you didn’t even know it was going on. And if someone is skulking around and hiding themselves, that’s stalker behavior.”

I tried for a smile, pretty sure it didn’t work, and patted his chest with the hand not holding a spatula. “You don’t have to worry about it.”

I scooped the pancakes into a stack then balanced them on the spatula to carry them the three feet to the table and deposited them on Mack’s plate. He gave me a quick smile of thanks and then focused completely on his breakfast, very studiously ignoring Ian and me.

Ian caught my arm when I turned back around, drawing me to the other side of the room. It wasn’t far enough for Mack not to hear, but I didn’t think that’s what Ian intended. He clearly trusted Mack completely. It was just a semblance of privacy.

“I’m a protection dog. That’s what I do. And now I have to worry about this. So tell me what’s going on.”

I studied him for a long moment, weighing my options. The thing was, I really did want to have that promised conversation with him. See if there was anything more to the attraction than a little flirting. I might never have expected this—because who expected goats and their handsome as sin owner who also happened to shift into a Great Pyrenees—but I wasn’t one to ignore who fate put in my path.

“It didn’t end well. Davy, that’s my ex, he just didn’t want to let things go. We weren’t compatible and I ended things before it got serious. He kept trying to ‘win’ me back. But I thought he got over it. I haven’t heard from him in months.”

Ian’s gaze went dark. “Because he’s been slithering his weaselly little body around your house instead.”

“I’m sure that’s not—”

“Let me help you.”

I looked up into those deep brown eyes, saw the sincerity and the concern and the protectiveness. It was all the things I wanted, rolled into a pretty package. Could I trust him? I felt like I could. And unless the whole thing with the fence, goats, and Mack was an elaborate ruse, he’d been honest from the start. My gut was telling me he didn’t have that in him.

I blew out a breath. “Okay. Thanks.”

Ian’s brilliant smile was almost worth the inner turmoil.