Page 15 of What I Should Have Known

“Then you’d be six feet. Besides, the inches that matter aren’t the ones concerning my height,” I unabashedly flirted.

Her cheeks flushed bright red. “Well—That is—He may—Just, quit apologizing to them or I’ll castrate you myself. You’re taking too long.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a smile and stepped back, keeping my gaze steady on her.

With a squelch, my foot landed directly in something warm, mucky, and slick. My eyes widened.

“Bernie!” Kat shrieked.

Right as my ass and back slammed against the ground.

Chapter 6

KAT

As I slapped a hand over my mouth to hide my smile, Bernie groaned, splayed out like a sticky hand splatted against a ceiling. His intense green eyes met mine.

“Please tell me that wasn’t shit,” he muttered.

A snort slipped out of my nose.

“Ah fuck,” he said and splayed his arms out wide.

“I’m so sorry,” I replied, muffled behind my hand, stifling the giggle pressing against the wall.

“Whoever is lying on the ground like a lazy shithead, get your ass up! We’ve still got more cattle,” my dad shouted from across the pen.

Bernie closed his eyes, sweat glistening thick on his tanned skin. Skin I hadn’t expected to be quite as golden as it was, considering he was a redhead. The freckles littering his cheeks and nose were rather… intriguing.

He raised a thick hand into the air and offered a thumbs up to my dad but still remained flat on his back. “I don’t have another fuckingshirt,” he grumbled. “And now I’ve got cow shit covering my ass and back. Thank you, Kat.”

I raked my teeth over my bottom lip. “Better get up before the grumpy old ass chews you out again.”

“Then you better cover your eyes. I need some privacy while I take my shirt off,” he replied with a wicked grin on his face. An expression I wasn’t quite sure how to take. I wasn’t really sure what it meant. I’d seen looks like that before but never directed at me—always directed toward my best friend, Emma.

“I’ll take the calf you just ripped its manhood from back to its mama,” I replied, keeping my voice steady and professional despite the word choice that surprised even myself.

He pushed himself up to a seated position and raised a brow. “Be kind. The pain that poor thing is going through right now is enough to make a grown man queasy. Besides, he’ll never get to know what it feels like to fuck. Such a shame.”

A hiccup rose in my throat as I patted my cheek and looked away. Why was it suddenly so hot?

“I have a question,” he continued.

Cautiously, I glanced back at him as he rose from the pile of manure he’d landed in. Covering the back of his forest green, long-sleeved T-shirt that was now soaked in sweat and crap.

“What’s that?” I asked, unable to peel my eyes away as he lifted the hem. My stomach flipped. With my heart racing in my throat, he raised it over his head. I wasn’t even sure what words encapsulated this stranger who’d flown into my life in a flurry of alcohol and smirks. The man knew work.Knew how to push himself physically to the brink, and his body showed that. He had veins across broad shoulders, with a smidge of pudge, just enough to create a little bit of softness on top of every visible, well-defined muscle, and the deep V on his hips had me sweating more profusely than if it were just the sun beating down on me.

Tattoos, not a full sleeve, more like random designs, were inked into his right arm, starting below his bicep and ending about halfway down his forearm. More ink swirled along his left pec and down his ribcage, a stark contrast to the shiny dog tags hanging around his neck. I couldn’t tear my gaze away, and his words came through a haze of heat.

“How do you pick which cow gets to keep his balls?” Bernie asked.

I remained fixed on a man who I was certain wasn’t some dude working in an office in the Navy.

“Kat?”

My lips parted slightly as he looped the shirt around his belt, carefully making sure the side covered in manure faced out and away from him.

He sucked some air between his teeth. “All right, well, that answered that.”

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