She licked her bottom lip. “Sometimes thinking’s all I do.” He traced her mouth, and a delicious shiver moved through her. Damn it. “Yes. Yes.” No more thinking.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, his voice dropped an octave.
Jack claspedthe steering wheel of his Land Rover. Tension clung to him like sweat. Besides a couple of glances her way, he’d decided staring at the road while he drove as fast as possible was the best strategy.
His phone rang. He glanced at the device, blinking and buzzing on the console. Earl’s friendly face showed up. His foreman didn’t call late unless he had an emergency. Cussing under his breath, he flicked on the Bluetooth button. “Hello.”
“Hi, boss. Sorry to bother, but Tonya is in labor and the calf is too big. It’s stuck. I’d ask for help from the hands, but I gave the night off and they haven’t returnedyet.”
Usually the cows didn’t need help, unless the calf was positioned backwards or needed a C-section. “Did you contactMel?”
A sigh from the other end of the line. “Yep. Her cell phone is turnedoff.”
Jack massaged his temple. Crap. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem, but the pregnant cows were very valuable and he didn’t want to give Earl the burden of the birthing in case something would go wrong. Besides, he didn’t want Earl to bust his back trying to pull a heavycalf.
Jack had seen Mel enjoying herself at the Mayor’s dinner. He’d hired her because she was a consummate vet, and also available at all hours. If he got a hold of her, she’d be there in a heartbeat. Jack cleared his throat. Pulling Mel out of the party wasn’t right—especially with Lola by his side. “Okay I’m coming over rightaway.”
“Thanks, boss. See yousoon.”
Jack disconnected the call, and when he slanted Lola a glance, he caught a smile on her lips. “What?”
“I guess... I don’t hear this every day. You know… a cow in labor. I’m pretty sure the last time I heard those words in a sentence were when an acquaintance of mine was bad mouthing her pregnant sister.”
“Well, you wanted country life, didn’t you? So get ready because we’re helping pull acalf.”
She squealed, and shifted in her seat. “Sounds exciting. Why can’t Earl do it? I mean, I’m assuming this is business as usual forhim.”
“This cow is worth a lot of money. I asked him to keep an eye on her. If this were daylight, we’d call Mel, but—
“But you feel bad because she showed up at the party without a date. And you wanna fuckme.”
He kept his eyes on the road, but his cock twitched in his pants. Anticipation spiked his pulse. “Yeah. About sums itup.”
“She’ll be fine, Jack. Trustme.”
He ran his fingers into his hair with one hand, and navigated the steering wheel with the other. Something told him Mel would be the only one leaving this mess unscathed.
Jack strode into the barn.He didn’t need to toss a glance behind his shoulders to make sure Lola followed him, because her heels clicked on the cement pathway, the sharp sound reverberating through him. When they reached the hay-covered ground, he repeated the same thing he’d told her a few minutes prior, “Listen, you don’t have to do this. You can go back to the house and I’ll see you later.”
He had no time to fool around. Not yet, anyway. And this was as far from her scene as a bull in a porcelainshop.
“I want to.” She squeezed his shoulder. Maybe this would be a good story for her to tell her socialite friends in the future. Or maybe she wanted him and didn’t wanna have to wait until he returned to the house. Would they do it against the wall again? Nah. This time, he wanted more thanthat.
The light inside the larger pen was a telltale sign. Some grunting also got his attention, and they headed toward the pen. Earl bent over the cow, and with a nod, removed his hat to greet them. “Hi.”
Jack nodded. “How is she doing?”
“We need to pull out the calf as soon as possible,” Earl said, pointing at the water sac hanging down from the cow’s privates.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me or Mel, or try to look for another vet earlier?” he asked, and managed to do it casually. No cows entered labor just out of the blue, and especially where these hundred thousand dollar animals were concerned, whenever the hands spotted any signs they had to let the foremanknow.
Earl wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. “It’s the new hand, boss. He left me a note saying he saw something weird. When I checked my messages I came straightaway.”
“All right. Let’s see her.” Jack pointed at the large sink, and grabbed the antiseptic soap and turned on the water tap. He washed his hands and arms, then dried them and she followedsuit.
The cow was already lying on her back, restrained. He saw the calf’s feet. “We don’t have muchtime.”
He bent in front of the cow, knowing he was fitter to push the calf than Earl. In fact, just restraining the animal must have been a hell of a job for the man. Not like Earl would ever admit to it. In a blink, Lola leaned down next tohim.
