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“I need you to go over the stock. I have the new batch ready for tasting,” Lacy says as I walk through the distillery door. She follows behind me quickly, notepad in hand, no doubt a list a mile long for me to start ticking off since I have been away for most of the working week. I usually hit the ground running when I get home. There are always things to do, paperwork to sign, staff issues to deal with.
“I’ll be back in a minute. I just need to check on something,” I tell her, walking straight past her, through the distillery, and out the front door to my waiting truck.
“But—” She looks at me, mouth agape. She is clearly surprised because I normally don’t land and then leave again. But I won’t be long. I’ll just check if Victoria is okay with the animals and then come back and get straight into it.
“Five minutes!” I say, jumping into my truck and then driving down the road. In less than one, I am pulling up to my neighbor’s house and start walking around the back to where I saw her last.
“Victoria?” I call out but hear nothing. I just saw herout of the helicopter window and her truck is sitting in the drive, so I know she is here.
“Hello?” I shout as I turn the corner of the house, admiring the paint job. I only make it a few more steps before I stop short as I see her on the ground in the backyard. Her arms are tucked by her sides and she is rolling toward the house like a pencil or something. But it is the fact that she is wearing next to nothing, her long legs bare all the way up to what looks like black lace underwear, that has me swaying on my feet.
What the hell is she doing?I watch her, confused. Her eyes are closed, and she is talking to herself or the goat or something. Walking toward her, I stand, waiting for her approach, but she doesn’t notice me and she rolls right into my feet. Her eyes flick open, and she screams.
“Ahhhhh!” Her voice is high-pitched as her body freezes across my feet.
“You alright down there?” I ask her with a frown, though I’m a bit amused. She is disheveled, grass tangled in her hair. I am not sure why she’s only wearing a pink robe, considering it is the middle of the afternoon, but as it gapes a little at the chest, I swallow roughly. Her eyes are wide and my nostrils flare as I take a breath and immediately wish I hadn’t.
She smells like shit. Literally.
“I fell and hurt my ankle. Don’t you knock?” she says, looking at me accusingly but making no attempt to get up as she lies at my feet like a fucking offering that is becoming increasingly hard to deny. Her hair is splayed around her on the bright-green grass, her chest risingand falling in quick breaths, and I need to clear my throat to get my head back in the game.
“How did you fall?” I ask, looking around. There is nothing high around here for her to fall off. I can’t see any ladders.
“I was trying to get Garry away from my herbs—”
“Garry?” I ask, totally confused.
“Garry the goat?” I look at her like she is crazy.Why the hell is she calling a female goat Garry?AndI can’t believe she has already hurt herself. She will kill herself out here if she isn’t careful, and while I want her property, I don’t need her death on my conscience.
“Yes, Garry and I still haven’t become firm friends, but I am hopeful,” she says on a breath, starting to calm down, but then I see her wince.
I spot the measuring tape and things on the back porch when I glance back at the house. There are boxes galore from various shops on the porch. Clearly, she has been ordering a lot online, the deliveries arriving today.
“You’ve started renovating, I see.”
“Yep, it needs some more work, but it has good bones.” She looks up at me suspiciously.
“So you’re definitely staying, then?” I need to hear her say it.
“That’s the plan.”
I can’t hold back my sigh.
“Can you walk?” I ask, shoving away my frustration. Looking down her body to her ankle, I see it is already purple and the size of a large potato, with blood also trickling. My jaw clenches, hating that she is hurt.
“Yes. I mean… I think. I don’t really know. I tripped over a stake that I didn’t see in the long grass. Marie must have been planning on building something.” Her words stumble over each other, and I immediately feel like shit. They must be the stakes that Griffin put into the ground months ago before we knew anything about her. I didn’t bother removing them, because at the time, we thought the property was as good as mine. Since then, I totally forgot.Probably because all I have been thinking about is her.
“Better get you inside,” I murmur before I lean over and put my arms underneath her knees and shoulders.
“Ahh, what are you doing!” She gasps, her hands gripping on to my neck.
“This alright?” I ask as I lift her, sealing her to my chest. She feels way too good in my arms. My voice seems to have lowered an octave on its own, and again, I clear my throat, trying to get a handle on myself. I am never flustered with women.
“Are you planning on taking me out back and putting me out of my misery or getting me medical attention?” She says it with a little humor, and my mouth quirks. Her hands wrap in my shirt, her head resting on my shoulder, making her lips too fucking close to mine. I grit my teeth.
“You need medical attention.” I confirm the latter as I start walking with her in my arms back to the house.
“I am sure I will be fine. I just need ice.”
