Page 172 of Delicious

“Is it safe taking eggs back on that thing?”

He laughs. “I may have been going a little faster than I would normally on the way here.”

“I knew it.”

“You had fun, though.”

I can’t argue with that. There was something exhilarating about being on the back of the motorbike, arms wrapped around him, pressed up against his back, feeling the world fly past us. Suddenly, I can’t wait to do it all over again.

“Come, let’s find Dean.”

I follow Rémy into the barn, the smell hitting me the second we’re through the doors, grass, dirt and cows. Is cows a scent? If it isn’t, it should be. It isn’t terrible, not like you might think a room full of them would be, and it isn’t loud either, only the soft whirring of the milking machines they are hooked up to and a few random moos. Walking the rows are three guys, all shirtless, all stacked, and all of them smile wide when they spot Rémy. Can you blame them? He’s freaking gorgeous.

“Perfect timing, the girls are about to come off,” the tallest of the three says, reaching us and shaking Rémy’s hand.

Rémy gestures toward me.

“This is Nate Buxton,” he says, and the eyebrows rise on this guy as he takes my hand and squeezes it just a little too tight.

“Dean Beaker. So you’re the new Buxton, hey?”

“I’maBuxton,” I reply, and he releases my hand. “So this is your farm?”

“Yep, me and my brother took it over from our Gramps a few years back.”

“Do you just milk cows?” If they are a milking farm, it can’t be the same one Alan’s brothers run.

“Nope, we’ve got horses, too. Last year, we built a few new cabins around the back of the main house that we rent out, but you can’t see them from here. Oh, this is my brother, Nial,” he says, pointing toward the middle guy who’s disconnecting one of the cows. “And that’s Connor. He’s just giving us a hand today. Normally, you can’t get him to leave the mini moos, but we’re down a farmhand today.”

“Mini moos?”

Rémy lets out a soft giggle and explains.

“They have a section of the ranch set up with the calves of these lovely ladies and some mini Highlands people come to cuddle.”

“Oh, cool. Well, it’s nice to meet you both,” I say, and Nial and Connor nod as a way of greeting, then get back to doing what they were doing.

“Sorry, best get these girls off if we’re going to stay on schedule,” Dean says.

“I can help,” I say without thinking. Because if I did take a second to think, I would have told myself, I have no fucking clue how to milk a cow and should keep my mouth shut.

“That would be great. Jump over here. I’ll show you how to unhook them.”

I follow Dean over to the row of cows on our left, leaving Rémy to stand and watch.

“So are they on these all day?” I ask.

“Hells no. Our lovely ladies are milked three times a day, and it only takes about five minutes each time.”

“Wow, really? What are they doing the rest of the day?”

“Being cows.” He laughs, and I lean down to where he’s unhooking one of the milking machines. “Flick the valve to switch it off, then after you disconnect these, you take this cup here, and dip each teat in this solution. It will help stop any infections.”

“Okay,” I say, moving to the next cow on the row. She moos loudly beside me, and I pause.

“Don’t worry, she’s just saying hi.” Dean laughs, and I reach out and run my hand over her large head. It’s like patting a very big dog, and she tilts her head into my hand. “See, she likes you.”

“Hi, to you, too. I’ll just be unhooking you now,” I tell her, and I hear one of the guys behind me laugh, but I don’t care. I’m about to be touching her teats. I think she deserves me telling her I’m going to do it before I actually do.

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