Page 63 of Toxic

“Much better to be out in a saddle. Even in the hundred plus degree heat.”

“You think you could take a break?” She looked like she needed it. The under part of her eyes were smudged with a little blue. She’d been in here, straining her eyes as she stared at the computer for days.

That was why I was a cranky fucker. I’d barely seen her. She only popped out of her room long enough to eat, then she disappeared back into her hole.

Despite the short amount of time I’d known her, I now missed her when she wasn’t nearby. That was the way of it for the Sutton men, apparently. When we fell, we hit hard.

“Definitely,” she said, standing. “What do you need help with?”

“Come on,” I told her. “I’ll show you.”

“Oh, did you break the auger?”

I paused and looked over at her. “What’s wrong with it?” The auger was basically a big pipe with a screw in it that pumped grain into or out of the grain bins. She had a nice set up here, but everything was just a little run down and in need of repair.

“I meant to tell you that it bound up last winter and I haven’t been able to get it running smoothly. Half the time it works, the other half it doesn’t. It’s not usually a problem until winter since I don’t feed grain to the cattle until I’m ready to finish them and send them to auction.”

“That wasn’t on Robert’s list.” We continued walking outside as we spoke.

“I probably forgot to mention it to him,” she admitted. There was a guilty note in her voice.

I had a feeling she forgot to mention a lot of things to her grandfather. I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t want him trying to take on fixing things around here. “You willing to make me your own list now?”

She gave me a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I’ll make it tonight.” She hesitated, then sighed. “Thanks, Toxic.”

“No problem. I’m here, may as well make use of me. If I get bored, you’re going to regret it.” I’d meant that I’d find something around here to keep me busy.

The way her beautiful eyes flashed to mine, and the heat simmering in them, told me she’d taken my threat in a sexual way. Fuck if I wouldn’t mind that either. My dick was constantly hard these days, even with her barricading herself in her room to work. Didn’t keep my brain from replaying some of those moments when she’d been half dressed, or soaked to the bone and I got a good look at all those curves of hers.

Butcher was often now muttering about how both Lock and I needed to get laid, and he wasn’t wrong.

Billie let out a gasp of happiness and hurried forward as soon as she saw the girls.

I’d never really allowed myself to think about having my own kids. Now that I’d met this woman it was different. Watching her run over and start introducing her animals to my brother’s kids just confirmed what’d hit me the other night. I wanted children.With her.I wanted to raise a brood of kids on a ranch where they could get into all kinds of trouble on a daily basis, just like my brother and I had.

I stopped at the fence and leaned against it, next to Butcher, and watched Billie handle the girls with an inherent skill. She was kind and eager, just like she was with the animals. She was born to be a mother. Strong, dependable, capable, with an innate sweetness that every being gravitated toward. No wonder I was drowning over here.

Billie was down on one knee, transferring some treats from her hand to Caitlyn’s. I learned quickly, during that first week, to check pockets before doing any laundry. I’d ended up having to clean out the washing machine because it’d been filled with oats from those damn apple treats disintegrating in the wash. She always had them in her pockets so that she could feed one animal or another.

Caitlyn let out a loud giggle as one of the llamas dropped her head and snuffled around her face.

“It’s okay,” Billie said with a smile. “Louella is my sweetest llama. She’s curious about you.”

“Do we avoid eye contact?” Gabby asked.

“No,” Billie responded. “They rub their heads together to show affection.”

Another giggle from Caitlyn as Louella rubbed her head against her face made me grin. It wasn’t that long ago when the poor girl would barely crack a smile. Being taken in by Priest and Jenny had changed her and she was more open now. Shewas safe, and loved, and was finally thriving. The first time she’d laughed around us there’d been a lot of misty eyes. Not that any of the men would admit to it.

Butcher and I followed along quietly as Billie and the children moved on from the llamas and sheep to the pigs.

“Look at the babies!” Cassie squealed. “Can I touch one?” She eyed the mama pig with a wary gaze.

“Sure. Here, come sit over on this box,” Billie told her. Then she went and darted forward, grabbing a piglet by the back leg. Squealing and chaos ensued, but the piglet calmed down once it was resting on Cassie’s lap.

Billie had Idaho Pasture Pigs. They weren’t much of a rooting pig, instead they ate a lot of grass and weeds and chomped anything on the ground for their forage. They still got all the house scraps, sharing with the chickens of course, but it meant that the pig area didn’t stink to high heaven the way it would with some of the other breeds of pigs. The Idahos didn’t wallow as much so the area was cleaner as well.

Cassie petted the wiry haired pig, looking up at Butcher and I with hearts in her eyes. The piglets were cute, but pigs were pigs and didn’t make great pets. Priest was going to kill me if his daughter asked for a piglet for her upcoming birthday.

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