Page 45 of This Baby Business
“Stall.”
“Good idea. I’ll tell her I’m too busy with work. You’re too busy with work. We’re both just way too busy.”
“So long as you don’t make it sound like we’re so busy we can’t take care of Grace.”
“Right.”
“I’m not worried.” He grinned. “You’ve got this.”
“Yes. Yes, I do. Okay. I should get Petunia back to her owner. Wait. Where’s Petunia?” I turned in a circle. No Petunia.
Levi stared in the direction of the airstrip, which of course was fenced off to the general public.
Petunia was headed for the fence where there was a strip of grass and dirt. Mostly dirt. I ran for the pig, but Levi, with his long legs, quickly outpaced me. Petunia squealed as if she’d finally tasted the sweet freedom of her ancestors. Dirt, straight ahead. Could paradise be far behind?
I heard a woman screech, “My pig! Petunia, come back to me. Come back!”
“I’ve got this!” Levi yelled.
“I’ve got this!” I waved to the woman.
Levi reached the pig first, of course, but I was right behind him. He put his hands on Petunia but she snorted and, being wet, slipped out of his grip.
I tried to block her between us and got a hand on her once, but Petunia got away. Now she was slippery, wet and muddy thanks to the dirt. When she tried to make a run for it again, I threw myself on top of her. But it seemed that the harder I clung, the more Petunia wriggled. She squealed and snorted in a most unladylike way. And dear God in heaven, was I actually wrestling with apig? Wearing my favorite Forever 21 summer dress?
“Aren’t you going to help me? Put the leash on her! Levi. Hurry! I’ve got her.”
But he simply stood over me, hands on hips, grinning ear to ear. He’d been joined by the pig owner on one side, and Mr. and Mrs. Lane on the other. Mrs. Lane had a worried look on her face, but the amusement in Levi’s eyes was impossible to miss. The owner bent to leash Petunia.
Levi grinned and held out his hand. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you never to wrestle with a pig?”
CHAPTER19
Levi
Afew minuteslater, Levi tried his damnedest to school his expression into something resembling concern.Do. Not. Laugh.His grandfather had not laughed at him the time he’d tried to milk a cow and been rewarded with a spray of milk that had covered his eyes. His mouth. His ears. Pop hadn’t laughed. He’d coughed, turned, and excused himself to get a towel. Probably had a good long chuckle on the way to the kitchen.
She sat on a chair in Stone’s office, streaks of mud on her chin, cheeks and nose. Blond hair wild and unruly. Short dress muddy. Even her sandals had been through the wringer. She looked like she’d been in a fight with a…well, a pig. Which told him two new things about this woman: she did not give up easily, or mind getting a little dirty in the process.
Good to know.
He wiped mud off her chin with the wet towel Emily had given her and bit his lower lip. “There’s an old saying. If you wrestle with a pig, you’ll get dirty. And the pig will only—”
She held up her index finger. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
He grinned.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” She grabbed his hand from where it was busy cleaning off her nose and brought it down.
He took control back, and went back to wiping at her cheeks. “Enjoyis probably not a strong enough word.”
“This is so embarrassing. Petunia was supposed to be trained, like a dog. That’s what her owner said.”
“You can take the pig off the ranch, but you can’t… I forgot how that one goes.”
“Thank God.”
“You’re pretty sexy when you’re mud wrestling, you know?”
