Page 7 of Finding Home

“Well, hello to you,” she cooed, approaching the animal.

With careful movements, she bent to rub her hands along the coarse fur of its neck. The goat-like purr in response was so sweet.

“You are adorable. Where’re your goat people? Are you alone?”

He answered with a lick. The startling effect of his rough tongue caused her to stumble backwards. She tripped and landed on her butt.

Laughter burst out. Brows furrowed, she rose and dusted dirt off her behind. Several goats in the distance captured her gaze. A man in a gray T-shirt that stretched over a muscular back was in the center of the goat cluster. He leaned over, examining a small, brown speckled goat’s hooves. Elle stepped closer, her breath hitching as she drank in the man’s defined physique.

The baby goat nuzzled her waist through the fence gap, but she was focused on the man. Straightening to his full height, he lifted his baseball cap and then pulled the hem of his T-shirt above his waist, wiping sweat from his face and revealing a taut stomach.

Hot farmer!Elle licked her lips then bit down on them. Those brief seconds of exposed tan skin elicited a flutter in her stomach, something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

The tall figure lowered his shirt and plopped back on his navy ball cap. His features were shadowed beneath the hat’s brim, but a boyish grin peeked out as he waved at her.

Dear god, I’ve been caught ogling.The breath whooshed out of her.

The man took two steps forward. Elle turned to leave but halted with a jerk. The traitorous goat had the hem of her top gripped in their teeth, grunting and yanking.

“Seriously?”she gritted, tugging her shirt.

With a final grunt, the goat let go. Elle crashed to her butt…again. The goat let out an annoyed bleat.

“Worst meet-cute ever,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Are you okay?” the man hollered. His long strides ate up the ground between them.

“Totally. No need to worry. Just go about your goating.” She tied the tank top’s tattered fabric into a knot at her navel.

“Goating?” He stopped with a huff of laughter.

“Yep.” She doubled down, popping the p.

Her vision pulled to a wisp of dark ink dotting his right forearm. What was it about masculine forearms that made her stomach clench? One of the sexiest thing a man could do to attract Elle was roll up his shirt sleeves.

“I do enjoy a good day of goating.” His mouth quirked.

“Yeah?” The question came out breathy.

Without thinking, she twirled a damp auburn strand around her finger. Cringing, she let go of her hair. Dirty and sweaty, she stood in front of the hot farmer come to life from one of Willa’s romance novels.

“Well, you’d best get on with your goating and I’d best get on with my?—”

“Running?” he laughed, finishing her sentence.

“It’s the new walking.”She grinned, walking backwards, praying she didn’t fall for a third time.

Waving to her mystery hot farmer, she pivoted. With a glance over her shoulder, she found him leaning against the fence, a smirk playing on his lips. Eyes forward, she ran away. His shouted, “see you soon” and something that may have been, “welcome back” or “watch the crack” followed her.

Hours later, she stood in front of the full-length mirror in the sleeping loft mentally preparing for Janet and Pete’s BBQ. Her sky-blue sundress’s flirty A-line skirt enveloped her in a sense of delicate confidence. Time spent washing, drying, and straightening her auburn waves further buoyed her.

Grabbing the bottle of Aunt Janet’s favorite wine she’d bought at the store after her run, she headed out. At the store, she’d also purchased a gift for her Airbnb host, a mug withMaking your own pathscrawled beneath tiny rainbow paw prints dancing across its ceramic surface. A red pickup parked in front of the blue farmhouse hadn’t been there earlier when she’d delivered the gift, leaving it in a gift bag on the porch.

On her way to the BBQ, Willa called to inquire how her Airbnb recommendation turned out. She also used her psychologist Jedi mind tricks to get Elle to let it slip about the encounter with the hot farmer.

“Make sure you ridethattractor,” Willa purred.

"You have a one-track mind.” Elle laughed.

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