Page 36 of Dairy and Deadly

He flushed. “Please stop.”

“You started it.” She swapped out her bottle for a fresh one and carried it to Brie.

He picked up the fourth and last bottle and shook it at her, making her squeal and dodge milk drops. “If you want to get to know the real me, you’ll have to stick around.”

“I plan to.” Her voice was infused with affection as Brie nuzzled her hand before latching onto the bottle. “My heart is melting, Johnny.”

Yeah, he knew the feeling. Though he knew she was referring to Brie, his heart was puddling on the floor while watching the two of them together.

When Ashley brought the bottle back to the cabinet, he swapped it out for a mug of coffee.

“For me?” She sounded both awed and delighted.

He shrugged. “Unless you’ve been giving the calves coffee behind my back…”

She didn’t answer. Her gaze had fallen on the grilled ham and cheese sandwich that was sticking out of one of the paper towels. “You brought food, too?”

“Yep.” He handed her one, loving the way she bent her head in a silent prayer of thanksgiving over it before chowing down.

“You’re my hero, Johnny Cuba.” She took a bite and closed her eyes, sighing in appreciation.

“It’s just bread and ham,” he said hastily. “Nothing fancy.”

“It’s a feast,” she declared dramatically before taking another bite.

He snorted. “You really should’ve let me haul you to that Valentine shindig last night. Then you’d know the true meaning of a feast.”

She glanced curiously over at him. “It was that nice of an evening, huh?”

“I was going to turn down the invitation,” he muttered, feeling like she deserved a better explanation.

She looked like she was trying not to laugh. “And pass up all that free food?”

“Yep, but I was strong-armed into going.” He wished he was at liberty to tell her more.

“By who?” she prodded.

“My interfering boss. He means well, but…”

Her gaze sharpened, giving him the impression she was analyzing his every word and cataloguing it for future use.

There was definitely more going on with her than he’d yet to figure out. Whatever it was, it was more than her breakup with her ex. More than her wounded arm. More than leaving her family and career behind in Dallas.

There was more to her. He was certain of it. So much more, and he couldn’t wait to unravel the mystery one entrancing thread at a time.

Chapter 8: Exchange of Secrets

Johnny Cuba wants to date me!

Ashley’s head was reeling from the discovery as she went through the motions of helping Clint and Tucker hook the first round of dairy cattle up to the milking machines.

Clint eyed her curiously from the next station. “It’s awfully nice of you to help bottle feed the calves.”

She gave herself an inward shake as she forced her wandering thoughts back to the here and now. “It’s the favorite part of my job,” she confessed. “Little Brie has completely stolen my heart. So have the others.”

“Your job, eh?” Clint shot another curious sideways look at her. “Before you came along, Johnny was the only one who did the bottle feeding.”

“Really?” This surprised her. “Who wouldn’t want to feed those precious babies?”

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