Lunges again.
Grabs him by the collar.
And just as he gets a grip—George twists, jerks, and drags Dean three feet across the grass like a man-shaped sled.
Dean digs in his heels.
“Poppy,” he says through gritted teeth, “call off your goat.”
“He’s not my goat!”
“You manifested him!”
“That’s not legally binding!”
Muffin circles back, clearly confused, then decides she’s had enough and flops down in the shade.
Dean is holding George by the collar, breathing hard.
His white shirt is smeared with mud across one shoulder, his tie hangs loose, he’s missing one shoe, and there’s a chunkof grass stuck to his sock. He’s breathing through his nose like someone counting to ten, and he hasdefinitelyreached eight.
I wipe tears from the corner of my eyes, still chuckling. “You… you okay over there?”
His glare could melt titanium. “Do I look okay?”
“Honestly?” I bite back another laugh. “You look like a Calvin Klein ad shot in rural hell.”
George sneezes. Again.
Dean exhales like it physically hurts. “I have three hours of work to do. Two meetings. One urgent client request. And this”—he gestures to George, to the grass stains, toeverything—”was not on the agenda.”
“Well, neither was the goat,” I say, bristling a little. “I didn’t ask for this.”
“You didn’tnotask for it.”
I stiffen. “Excuse me?”
“You emailed a farm and sent them a Pinterest board titled ‘Rustic Dreams.’”
“First of all, it wasRustic-Chic Reception Inspiration,and second of all, I never heard back! This isn’t my fault.”
George tugs at the collar and lets out a loud, goat-y sigh.
Dean looks like he might combust.
“I came home to find my dog traumatized, my lawn destroyed, andmyselfbeing used as a human sled by a very angry farm animal.”
“Okay, that partwaskind of funny—”
“It washumiliating.”
“If it helps, you looked very professional doing it!”
His jaw tightens. “It doesn’t. I don’t have time for this,” he says. “I have a career. A motion due by midnight. A senior partner breathing down my neck.”
“So maybe don’t pick now to wrestle livestock?” I snap, then immediately regret it.
His eyes narrow. “This is not what I signed up for.”
