A couple of times in the past half hour she’d glanced up and caught him watching her.She wondered if he could soothe other parts of her, too.
The thought filled her with trepidation, because of how Dick had made her feel about herself sexually.Dick’s method of intimidation was to subtly belittle a woman until she began to doubt her worth.She’d divorced him before he could do a thorough job on her, but she still felt insecure about a few things.Like whether she was any good in bed.
Clarise snorted and shifted her hindquarters.
“Here it comes!”Benny said.
“Yep.”Jo’s heart pounded with excitement as the mucus-covered nose and forelegs of the foal poked out between Clarise’s haunches.“Good girl, Clarise.Keep pushing.”
The mare groaned and sank to her knees as more of the shimmery foal emerged.
Fred groaned, too, as he knelt beside her.“You and me both, Clarise.After this I’m having a shot of whiskey.”
Jo watched anxiously as the process seemed to stall.She clutched Benny’s arm.“Do you think she needs us to pull?”
“I think she’s doin’ fine.Just fine.”Benny’s eyes shone.
Jo loved Benny like the little brother she never had, even though he was a few years older than she was.His mental slowness made him seem forever young, but when it came to ranch duties, Benny knew his stuff.
Sure enough, Clarise gave another mighty heave, and the foal slipped out.
Benny leaned forward to clean its nose so it could breathe.“It’s a colt,” he announced proudly.
“Wow,” Quinn murmured.
“Wow is right.”Jo couldn’t take her gaze away from the new baby.
“What do you do about the glop it came in?”Quinn asked.
“Watch,” Jo said.“Do your thing, Clarise.”
The mare turned and began to lick her baby clean.
“Ugh,” Quinn said.“I’ll never eat oysters Rockefeller again.”
Jo laughed.“Yeah, I know.If human mothers had to do this, I’d probably opt out of having kids.”
Benny gazed at her with worship in his gray eyes.“You’d make a real good mommy, Jo.”
“Thanks, Benny.”She gave him a smile.
“So when are you gonna be one?”
Fred snorted as he got slowly to his feet.“Benny, you ask too many questions.”
Benny looked troubled.“I don’t mean to.But it’d be fun to have some little kids around.”
“Yeah, it would.”Jo stretched her stiff muscles.Too many hours on a plane and not enough sleep had taken their toll.“But a mother needs a daddy.”
Benny grinned and jerked a thumb at Quinn.“How about the movie star?I’ll bet he’d do it.”
ChapterTen
Quinn had joined in the laughter following Benny’s remark, but under cover of the joking that followed, he’d checked out Jo’s pink cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes.He decided she didn’t hate the idea, no matter how embarrassed she was.
He didn’t hate the idea, either, which was amazing.As the child of divorced parents, he was wary of the whole marriage and fatherhood thing.He’d promised himself he’d live with a woman for a long time before he even proposed, and as for kids, he hadn’t thought he wanted any.
Yet watching Jo serve as one of the midwives for her mare, he’d had some very unfamiliar yearnings.Murray had two kids, and he’d raved about the delivery room scene.Quinn hadn’t been able to relate...until now.Maybe it was the sugar in the apple pie still affecting his brain, but he’d found himself wondering what it would be like to be a proud father at the moment of birth.He’d probably imagined Jo in the role of the mother because she was handy.
