Page 40 of Home Hearts Hooves

I have no idea what to do with my hands. With him so close, his chest an inch from mine, my hands want to grip his waist and pull him against me, but I can’t. We’re friends. We agreed to be friends. It’s what I wanted. It’s what I thought was right for Poppy. But fuck, with him right here, like this, all I want to do is run my tongue over every droplet of sweat on his body.

“Get ready to take him,” Dean says, his breath hot against my neck, and fuck me, but my cock twitches in response.

I try to focus. I bring up the hand on the goat’s side, and Dean leans in even more, the mini goat resting between us, then my hand finds Deans, and as I slide it under his, taking the weight of the goat, it wriggles a little. I hold my breath, and the thing settles, this time it’s head against my neck instead of Dean, and he steps back slowly.

“Well, look at that. Okay, you stay there. I’ll finish feeding and bedding. Hope you don’t have plans for supper either,” he says, grabbing four bottles from the stack at the side and dropping them into hutches. “It’s steak night and I’ll need both my hands.”

“I’m free,” I say softly, hoping that my voice doesn’t trigger the little guy to realize he’s been passed over to someone who is not Dean.

“Good. Okay, won’t be long.”

“Take your time,” I say, sitting on a bale of hay and resting against the barn wall. “I’m good.”

And I really am. I could sit there for hours watching Dean work shirtless. Fuck, I’ve fantasized about exactly that so many times I’ve lost count, and while we might be keeping things platonic, you can bet the sights I’m seeing right now will come back later when I’m all alone in my bed still surrounded by the scent of him.

Chapter thirteen

DEAN

CUDDLES CALVES AND CONNECTIONS

Atlasshovelsanotherhelpingof cherry pie onto his plate. “Loki still doesn’t like strangers and drops like a dead skunk the second he spots one, but Skye made it all the way up to him and even gave him a pet today before he stiffened up,” he beams.

Skye smiles widely from the other side of the table. “He loves me, I reckon I’ll be riding him in no time,” he says, and Atlas snorts and shakes his head.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but it is promising. How is Cuddles?” Atlas asks.

I roll my eyes at the name the guys voted for us to call the pygmy goat. Surely they could have come up with something better than Cuddles, but given the thing spent every waking moment snuggled up to me or thankfully now, someone else wearing my shirt, I guess it fits.

“Sleeping,” I say as the thing nuzzles against the crook of my neck. Preston had to get down to the barn with the birthing cows, so this little guy was handed back over. My shirt was, too, and the second it was on, I could smell Preston in it, all fresh soap and sunshine. Does sunshine have a smell? That scent you get when the sun is just popping its head over the horizon and the breeze kicks up, sending the morning perfume your way. That’s how he smells. If there is anything better, I haven’t found it. Before he rushed off, Preston slung a cloth around my neck like a sling to support Cuddles and allow me to eat. I offered to go down to the barn with him, but he insisted I eat first. I’m about halfway through my steak, already bouncing my knee under the table, just itching to get out of here.

“I checked the camera we set up in the Lama pen,” Nial says with a laugh, turning his phone around. “It’s about an hour or two of them just standing around then then this,” he says tapping the screen. We can see two lamas standing off. in the opposite corner, then out of nowhere, Chewie’s head is there, taking up the whole screen and then it tumbles to the ground and goes dark.

“That shit,” I laugh.

“Got any other bright ideas?” Nial asks and I shrug.

“Maybe get a heater for the pool? We’ve got bigger issues to consider. The Doc says we have three more birthing big calves; that’s seven total this season, and I’m pretty sure all of them are fathered by Brutus. We might have to limit the old fella to our seasoned breeders and give one of the new bulls a go at the younger ones.”

“Is that where Preston is now?” Nial asks, and I nod.

“Connor brought the wrench up to the mini barn just in case they needed a little more muscle getting one of them out. I’m glad we knew earlier so we can help the girls out. It’s so much worse when they’re birthing for hours and then we go in to help when they’ve got little to no energy left.”

“I can come down, too,” Skye offers, but I shake my head.

“We got it, but thanks. Maybe you can try holding this fella after supper?”

“Yeah, I can do that. Even if he cries, I don’t mind.”

“You say that now, but wait until he’s been at it for an hour.” Atlas chuckles.

My phone rings, and I answer as the table falls silent so I can hear.

“Beaker Brother’s Ranch, Dean speaking,” I say.

“I think it’s dead,” the woman screams down the line.

“What’s dead?”

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