Page 176 of Bride of Choice

“Can I help you, sir?” I chirped, all sass and beg your pardon.

Kooky pulled back too fast as my head shot up to catch him in the act, if that was in fact what he’d been doing.

“Yes,” he said simply.

Wait. “I can?” I blurted, gaping up at him.

Kooky’s smile refused to dim. I basked in that shit like a flower soaking up the sun.

“What, uhm. What did you need me to do?” Please say kiss you. Be mine.

Down, girl! Heel!

Someone tell my pounding heart that.

His head cocked as he eyed me. I’d swear his eyes were smiling along with the rest of them. “Jo say she take care of Baby, out on hunt…”

Damn. Okay. I mean, yeah, I could so do that, no problem, but my poor little heart fell at his answer.

“Of course.” My smile felt as brittle as the disappointment slipping into my voice, giving me away.

“Jo… miss… anything else? ‘Sides Baby?” he asked lightly, clearing his throat several times, going for casual.

Glancing his way curiously, wondering if he was playing with me, I shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe… who’s asking?”

He took such a long assed time answering that one, I felt it only right to torment him a little.

Grabbing another treat for Baby as my other hand curled around the treat loosely wrapped in cloth in my pocket, sliding the people treat up my sleeve, I held out the bug ball to him. “You know, these aren’t as bad as they look. Salty, a bit bitter, crunchy, it’s an acquired taste,” I murmured as he took the bug treat to give it to Baby.

Eyeing me, treat in hand, he put it up to his nose, got a good whiff of it, and made an ew face that had me cracking up, shaking his head at the idea of putting that nasty thing into his gob.

Backing up as I watched him hand the treat over to our sweet tato-corn, I murmured, lifting the treat from Dorothy up, I turned my hand just so to block what it really was, “Suit yourself. You’re really missing out, man.”

Kooky gaped at me as I popped the treat into my mouth and began to chew. A shocked, gurgling noise left him.

I was going to hell, penthouse suite, the works, as I kept a serious face and he slowly lost it.

“No eat that!” he burst out finally.

Fingering another treat in my pocket, I held it up, once more angling my hand to hide what it was. All he saw was a similarly shaped treat ball. “Why not?”

“Make sick!” he spluttered. It was kinda fun seeing this big, serious hunter dude poop himself over lil ol’ me. It wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined him going crazy over me but I’d take it.

“Haven’t gotten sick yet,” I chirped, popping the second treat into my mouth.

“NO!” Kooky bellowed.

He moved awfully fucking fast when he wanted to.

Nabbing me up and slapping me down on a bale of what constituted for the Yeti version of hay for the critters they kept, he was on top of me, hovering right over me, pushing me down into the pile of pink straw, demanding I open my mouth and spit it out, before I could blink.

Lips pursing tight, I defiantly chewed. My lips quirked, slight choking noises leaving me from chewing like my life depended on it so I could explain my ruse before he literally crapped himself, and not choke on my own laughter while chewing.

With a growl that gave my ass the shivers, he leaned in, wriggling a finger to try and get it between my lips.

My nostrils flared as I squirmed, chewing that gooey gob even faster, shaking my head at him.

He was freaking the feck out.

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