Chapter 16
JULIAN
“Now look what you’ve done.” I gesture at the broken fence Butler doesn’t seem the least bit sorry about. He bleats and lowers his head, clearly trying to decide whether he wants to ram me or not for daring to scold him. “It’s fine.” I hold my hands up defensively. “I can fix it. No harm, no foul.”
I hate fixing fences. I can do it in a pinch, but I always get blisters and lose a whole day working on it, plus it makes me crabby. I sigh. Is it worth it to call in someone else to fix it, or should I suck it up and do it myself?
First things first. I need to move Doc and Butler into the horse pasture until I can get this fence repaired. Doc isn’t particularly fond of the horses, but I also don’t want to leave him bored in the barn all day, so I don’t have many other options.
“Come on, guys.” I attempt to herd them toward the gate that connects the two pastures. Butler leaps onto the wooden jungle gym instead, and Doc continues munching on grass, completely oblivious to the fact that I want him to go anywhere else. I’m a good animal trainer, I swear.
The silly goat has been rather attached to Doc lately, so if I can get the donkey to move, I have a feeling Butler will follow.
“I’m going to get your halter. Don’t go anywhere while I’m gone,” I tell Doc sternly, not bothering to sign it. He’s not looking at me anyway.
Hurrying into the barn, I try to remember where I hung his halter and lead.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and a smile jumps instantly to my face.
I have no reason to think it’ll be Ranger other than that we’ve continued texting regularly since he came over a few nights ago.
Except this isn’t a text; it’s a call. It might be a potential client or maybe Rick calling to let me know about a new batch of puppies, since all of Benny’s littermates have gone to needy vets now.
I pull it out and answer without looking.
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
Ranger’s voice on the other end sends a little thrill through me. It’s strange he calls instead of texting, though. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just finished up my morning yoga. I was lying here petting Benny and thinking about you.”
He was thinking about me? That doesn’t sound like something a casual hookup would say. Then again, all this is new to him, so maybe I need to take anything he says with a grain of salt.
“Lucky you. I’m not doing anything quite that relaxing.”
“Oh? What are you up to?”
“Trying to remember where I put Doc’s halter so I can move his stubborn caboose over to the horse pasture until I can fix his fence.” I spot the pink-and-blue-striped lead hanging off one of the stalls and cheer internally.
“What happened to the fence?”
“Butler,” I grumble. “You know, maybe he’s lonely, and that’s why he’s acting out. I could get him a girlfriend…or a boyfriend. I suppose I should get both so he can choose for himself. I wouldn’t want to make any assumptions on his behalf.”
Ranger chuckles, the sound warm and inviting. “You want to get more goats?”
“Not particularly. But I don’t want Butler to be unhappy. He deserves to live his best life.”
He’s quiet for a minute, and I wonder what he’s thinking. “I could fix the fence,” he offers, surprising me.
“What? You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. It was actually kind of fun building the fence here, even if it took me a lot longer than I planned. I bet I could fix yours easily.”
I weigh his offer while I head back out into the field, relieved to see both the boys are where I left them. “Give me a minute,” I say, sticking my phone into my pocket without waiting for his response.
Doc finally lifts his head, and as soon as he sees the halter, his ears go back.
He lets out a noisy bray and immediately starts walking in the opposite direction, which is fortunate because it’s exactly the direction I want him moving in.
I keep walking toward him, staying out of kicking and biting range while holding out the halter as a way of motivating him to keep going.
As predicted, once Butler sees what’s happening, he jumps down off his jungle gym and trots over to join the fun.
“That’s right. Go play with the horses,” I coo, unlatching the gate and shooing them through.
With that done, I drape the halter and lead around my neck and bring my phone back to my ear.
“Sorry about that. If you’re sure you want to come over and fix the fence, it would certainly help me out a ton.”
“Great.” Ranger sounds genuinely excited at the prospect. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay, thanks again.”
While I wait for Ranger to arrive, I finish up with my morning chores, cleaning out the chicken coop and feeding the girls. When I step inside, I notice they’re not as active as usual, all perched in the back of the coop instead of running around like they normally do this time of day.
I sniff the air. The Segura wildfire has been burning for two days now. Is it already affecting the air quality here? Chickens, well, birds in general, have much more sensitive respiratory tracts than humans, so even a little bit of smoke or ash in the air can cause them distress.
I don’t smell anything, but I’ll have to keep a close eye on them. The news said it was a small fire at the moment, and it’s far enough away that I’m not too worried, but one thing I’ve learned since moving out here is that wildfires can go from minor to holy shnikes in a very short amount of time.
I anticipated that having Ranger fix the fence would mean I’d have time to work with Bella, my tan mare, who has a commercial spot coming up next week. What I didn’t anticipate was that the man would be shirtless…again.
On my signal, Bella rears up, whinnying and tossing her head majestically. It’s going to look fantastic on film, but I’m barely paying attention to her because Ranger. Is. Shirtless. Again.
“Do you think he’s doing this on purpose?” I give her a carrot and pat her nose. “If he came over here to seduce me, all he had to do was say so.”
She snorts and nuzzles my palm, looking for more treats.
“Take a break,” I tell her, giving the side of her neck a little push.
She bumps me with her nose one more time, then trots off.
I climb over the fence, definitely not trying to look like a cool cowboy or anything in case he’s watching, and saunter through the pasture to where Ranger is working with Benny resting in the shade a few feet away.
He doesn’t seem quite as skinny as he did when we first met. His skin has a little bit more color to it too, which I’m willing to bet is the result of him spending time outside with Benny.
The beads of sweat on his back beckon me to lick them off, and that’s not where my fantasies end. By the time I reach him, I’m fully hard, a prominent bulge in my jeans.
“How’s it going?”
He glances over his shoulder and grins at me.
“Almost finished.”
I crane to peer past him. The fence does indeed look just about back in tip-top shape.
“That was fast. This would’ve taken me most of the day.”
He furrows his brow. “It’s just cutting wood and nailing it together.”
“Yes, but you have to factor in time for splinters, losing the hammer, a trip to urgent care when I smash my thumb. It’s a whole production,” I explain, and he laughs.
“Well, I’m happy to help out if you need it.” He finishes hammering the last nail into place and then stands up. I drool shamelessly over the flex and stretch of the muscles in his back as he uses his arm to wipe sweat from his face.
“Will you be shirtless the whole time?” I let my voice dip low, along with my eyes, which linger on the perky curve of his butt.
“If you want.”
“Mmm, in that case, something in the barn just broke.” I manage to tear my eyes off his bouncy behind and back up to his face. He arches an eyebrow.
“Is that so? What exactly is this new broken item?”
“I’ll have to show you. It’s very technical and…hard.” I lick my lips. “Hard to fix, I mean.”
“By all means, then, we’d better go check it out.”
Ranger gives Benny the signal to stay, and then the two of us dart off to the barn like the farmhand and the heiress in a tawdry historical romance.
Once we’re inside, I lead him to the feed room, where bales of hay and alfalfa are stacked high against the walls. I’ve always wanted to fool around with someone in here, and I’m about to carpe the cluck out of this diem.
“The broken thing is over there.” I point vaguely, biting back the wicked smile threatening to give me away. Not that I think for one second that Ranger isn’t onto me, but pretending is half the fun.
“Over here?” He wanders in the direction I indicated.
“Mmhmm.” I close the door behind us and follow him deeper into the room.
“Where exactly?” he asks, turning back toward me when he reaches the smaller stack of hay bales.
“Right here.” I grab the back of his neck and crash my mouth into his.