Page 5 of Jewel in the Rough

Right, because Benny had never actually been anywhere close to a cow before.Not an agricultural science emphasis.

“No, I don’t need fucking ice.”

Benny glanced back at the man currently in the process of standing up, although Benny could tell it cost him and that he really wanted to grab his junk again. Shoot, Benny wanted to grab his own junk; sympathy pain was real.

“Who are you, and why are you on my property?”

Teagan Morrison fully metamorphosed into growly asshole man, but Benny was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his balls. Benny had a lot of compassion but somehow didn’t think Old MacDonald would appreciate it.

He drew himself up to his full height of five foot ten.

“Benny Brambilla. I’m your new assistant?” He couldn’t help the lilt at the end. Teagan didn’t look like he needed help with much of anything. Except maybe an ice pack for his family jewels.

“Fuck. I’d hoped Ciara was kidding.”

The cow mooed impatiently. Teagan limped back over to where she waited, fiddled with something, and patted her on the hind quarters, before hobbling to a gate at the far end of the barn and opening it. The cow, somehow looking pleased with herself, trundled through to the outside.

“What’s your name? I mean, normally when people introduce themselves, the other person reciprocates.” Benny was going to pretend he and Teagan Morrison never met before until his dying day.Technicallyhe never had been introduced to Ciara’s gorgeous older brother, who he’d crushed on for five seconds in college. Until The Naked Trespassing Incident, but Benny wasn’t bringing that up, or even thinking about it.

Benny received a look that made him appreciate that actual death glares only occurred in fiction and were not real.

“Teagan Morrison.” He limped back toward Benny, who was starting to suspect the gait was from something besides a hoof to the balls.

Damn. Benny had vaguely hoped Ciara had another, different, brother, maybe a nice, polite one he’d just never heard about—or hadn’t met years earlier in unfortunate circumstances. In Benny’s defense—and Ciara’s, for that matter—they’d been too under the influence at the time to know they were trespassing. Naked trespassing.

“Benny Brambilla, as I said before. Finally here, via plane, train and automobile, just like the movie. Except it was automobile and ferry, but that just doesn’t flow as well. Since you asked, the trip was pretty much hell. Except for the ferry, that was pretty.”

He was babbling while Teagan stared, a grim expression on his face, and ever so slowly shook his head. Did the man not know scowling would give him unpleasant lines?

“You have no clue about dairy farming, do you?”

His words were sadly true and spoken so matter-of-fact.

“Wha-”

Benny snapped his lips around the words. How could Teagan Morrison tell in less than two minutes that Benny’d never been on, near, or even adjacent to, a farm before? Small-town born and bred, but his sole experience with farm livestock had been the petting zoo at Woodland Park in Seattle. Once he’d been allowed to feed a baby goat a bottle of milk, still one of his favorite memories.

“I have plenty of experience,” he lied. “Plenty, and I love animals.”

Teagan nodded again. Regardless of the less-than-stellar circumstances, Benny was struck by Teagan’s presence. He was used to beautiful people. When you worked in Vegas everyone was beautiful, or at least glamorous. It got kind of tiring, actually. This man was not exactly beautiful, but he had potential.

His face was craggy, his dark blond hair needed a decent cut, his forehead sported a faded two-inch scar, and his nose had been broken at some point. Anywhere else, like in a dark alley in Vegas, Benny would find him scary. But here, in this pastoral setting with birds chirping and cows lowing, Teagan was not scary, he was rugged and oh-so-sexy—he was a damn prince. But Benny was not starring in a Disney movie, he was on the run. He crushed the budding desire to caress Teagan’s hard biceps, reminding himself the man was grouchy and probably should be wearing a warning sign around his neck:Bites.

To be fair, Benny would probably be pissy, too, if he’d just been kicked in the nuts.

“Ciara said I would be assisting with daily tasks. I can do that, I’m a hard worker. And frankly, I traveled a long way to be here so—why are you looking at me like that?”

CHAPTER5

Teagan

Not so fast, smart guy. Also, do you have to be so fucking charming?

Continuing to suppress the urge to vomit, Teagan limped over to Hedy and picked up the bucket, holding it out to Benny Brambilla. “Finish the milking. Hedy is the last one, and she isn’t any more patient than Betty White. When you’re done, she can go outside.”

Benny’s dark eyes widened comically, but he took the offered bucket with only a little hesitation and headed to the gate where Hedy waited. There was no way Benny Brambilla knew anything about milking cows.

“Hey gorgeous,” Benny crooned, “aren’t you pretty?”

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