Page 13 of Mother Clucker

“Good.” I tipped my head. After digging my cell out of my jean’s pocket, I handed it to her. “Put your number in there. I’ll text you the address.”

She took it and glanced up, and I was adrift in the ocean blue of her eyes. “Thank you. Seriously. I don’t know what I would have done.”

“My pleasure.” I watched her punch in her number. Yup. Truly all my pleasure.

I noticed the smirk on Charlie’s face. He sent me a look that said he knew exactly what I was doing. He hadn’t missed how craftily I’d gotten her number.

Hey, save a lady’s rooster, she’s bound to be grateful.

Did the goat have something to do with how Charlie had landed Anna? I had a feeling there was a story there. Meanwhile, I was anxious to see where my own story went with Heather.

A man and his cock walk into a shelter . . .

Hell of a beginning already, if you asked me.

5

Heather

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I asked, watching the rooster hunker down and hang on as the goat spun in circles, giving him a ride.

“No. Can’t say I have.” Anna laughed.

Charlie, Anna’s husband, lifted a shoulder. “Trixie’s friendly, so that she’s taken to Rowdy doesn’t surprise me. Can’t say I know much about chickens though. This usual?”

He glanced at David Strickland, the supposed chicken expert who was going to take my Rowdy home with him.

David lifted a brow. “I mean I’ve seen a loose chicken hop up and roost on a horse once, but we don’t see a whole lot of this interspecies mingling since the chickens are caged back home.”

“Caged.” I repeated the word with a humph and narrowed my eyes at him.

He turned his attention to me, one sandy brow cocked high. “Yes, caged. Ten thousand chickens loose would be—challenging.”

“Ten thousand.” My eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a lot of eggs.”

David pressed his lips together and let out a non-committal sound that neither agreed nor disagreed with my comment.

“I only buy organic free range eggs,” I added, just to let him know where I stood on the matter.

“I’m sure the chickens appreciate your support.” His lips bowed up in a small smile. When his gaze moved to Rowdy and Trixie again, he outright laughed.

I turned and saw that now Rowdy was sorting through Trixie’s fur. “What’s he doing?”

“Eating fleas if I had to guess.” David chuckled.

“Charlie, I told you Trixie was overdue for her flea treatment.”

Charlie tipped his head to one side. “Looks like Rowdy’s got it covered, so no worries. Eh?”

Anna shook her head. “Men.”

I smiled in commiseration at the single word muttered beneath her breath, even though I’d been without the burden of a man myself for a while. Burning out my vibrator and having to buy a new one last month was proof of that.

I shot David a glance and caught sight of his denim-covered butt. I had to begrudgingly admit he was handsome, though his backside was clearly the better side of the man since his obnoxious mouth was in the front.

Too bad I’d left my new vibrator back at my place in Burbank. I could use that tushy as inspiration.

“I hate to break up this little tryst, but my friend’s expecting me by noon and it’s getting late,” David said as Trixie got tired of being pecked at—fleas or not—and moved to bury her face between Charlie’s knees.

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