Page 26 of M!lking Mina

He was standing only a few feet away, arms crossed over his broad chest, one eyebrow raised at the three miscreants. Mina was glad she wasn’t the one in trouble. How a man that big could move so quietly and sneak up on them so easily, she had no idea, but she made a mental note not to forget that in the future.

“We’re just visiting the petting zoo,” Sadie said breezily. “Chef managed to make some grass he was happy with, so Hayleigh brought it down for Mina to try.”

“And I work here, remember?” Wren said, straightening up and smiling sunnily, looking like the very picture of innocence.

“Uh huh. And are you working here right now? And did Chef tell Hayleigh to bring the grass down for Mina to try? And none of that explains what you’re doing here, Sadie.”

“Oh look at that,” Sadie said, twisting her bare wrist toward her face as if there was a watch on it. “We’ve gotta get back or we’ll be late… we’ll see you later, Mina!”

All three of them dashed off, leaving Patrick shaking his head at them. Mina shot him a worried look.

“Moo?” she asked plaintively, hoping to make him smile or even laugh.

The ends of his lips curved up and he came over to the edge of the pen, reaching in to run his hand over her head and cup the back of her neck.

“Don’t worry, little hucow, I won’t get your new friends in trouble. Though whether or not they manage to sneak back to where they’resupposedto be is their problem.”

Fair enough. Mina beamed up at him.

“The grass really is good,” she whispered, and now he did chuckle.

“Chef will be happy to hear that.”

Patrick

Watching Mina in the petting zoo was a joy. He could have watched her all day long, but after lunch she was tired so he lefther in the barn for a nap while he ran home to get his things. Since he hadn’t been planning on spending last night at the Ranch, he hadn’t had anything but his change of clothes and the toiletries he always kept in his truck for just in case.

That wasn’t going to cut it for spending the next few nights. Thankfully, he already had his bag packed since he’d known she was going to be moving to the cabin tonight. He’d planned on sleeping there with her, since she was going to be his “house hucow” after the move. Only staying with her last night in the barn had been unplanned.

Even knowing everyone anywhere near or in the barn was keeping an eye out for Mina waking up in case she needed anything, Patrick found himself rushing to get back to the Ranch.Hewanted to be there when she woke up. Or even before.

Curling up in a blanket in the hay with her for a bit sounded like a perfect way to spend the afternoon. He just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

Before she has to leave.

Patrick shoved the thought away. It was her first full day at the Ranch. He didn’t need to get maudlin over her leaving already. Or at all, really, considering that they’d just met.

But he already knew he was going to miss her when she was gone.

Maybe she’d want to come back.

Maybe he needed to get his head out of his ass and focus on the here and now instead of future possibilities that he wasn’t sure Mina would even be interested in.

When he returned to the Ranch, Mina was still sleeping peacefully, which allowed him to relax. He’d made it. And she looked so damn sweet and little like that, nestled into the much larger space that they’d made to accommodate him as well.

Rather than risk waking her up by sliding in with her, he and Arlo took her stuff and everything Patrick would need to keepmilking her and got it all moved to the cabin while she slept. She’d still be spending time in the petting zoo tomorrow, but he planned on taking her to Rawhide Ridge the day after that, and then the day after that… she’d be leaving.

Patrick refocused himself again as he strode back into her stall. He really had to stop thinking about that.

Since she was still asleep, Patrick decided to slide in beside her. He’d removed the plug again before her nap and when she woke up she’d be able to take care of her needs before he reinserted it.

He wasn’t entirely surprised when she woke up to him settling in next to her.

“Mmmm… how long did I sleep?” she asked sleepily, turning and opening her eyes, yawning.

“A couple of hours,” he answered, running his hand up and down her side. “You can keep sleeping if you want.”

She stretched, thrusting her breasts up, and Patrick took the opportunity to slide his hand under the fabric of her triangle top, making her squeak. He did like the little noises she made while he played with her.

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