“I’m going to walk down and make sure the fence is good towards field eleven.” I nodded as Austin passed by me.
After a little bit, Madison hopped the fence and stood by some larger cows.
“He’s huge.”
“That’s what she said.” I flashed her a grin when she raised a brow in response to my cheesy joke.
“You’re disgusting.”
“You wish you thought I was disgusting.”
She turned away and slowly strolled along the fence line.
I walked back to Austin’s truck and dropped the tailgate. “Do you want to help fill the trough?”
“Yes!” She quickly pulled back her enthusiasm. “I mean, sure, that would be okay.”
She was a kick. I grabbed two buckets, and she followed me. I poured one into the trough and, when the other bucket was half empty, handed it to her. Our hands touched, and a giggle escaped her lips.What the hell? Giggling at my touch doesn’t do too much for a man’s ego. Laughing atme.Let’s see how much she likes this…
“There’s a cow rule you should know about,” I warned.
Her brow arched. “Cow rules? That sounds ridiculous.”
“Well, it’s all cool, but never make eye contact with a cow.”
“What? Why? I imagine ranching probably has its risks, but cows?”
“It’s not a big deal, just don’t look ‘em in the eye.” With a shrug, I turned and walked to the fence close by. I watched her dump her bucket into the trough as the cows slowly made their way toward her.
“I’m not making eye contact, Jax.” She sounded so proud.
“Good girl.” Her eyes were on the cows, but mine were traversing the length of her luscious body.
“I can see how great it would be to work with animals. You must love it.”
“I do.”
That’s when it happened. She turned, and froze, nearly face-to-face with a cow.
Her voice was monotone. “Jax, the cow’s looking at me.”
“Are you serious?” Without a doubt, I was going to hell for this little prank. “He’s looking you in the eye?”
“Oh, shit! He definitely is. He’s looking in my eyes. What should I do?”
“Run! Run like hell, Madison!”
She dropped the bucket, turned, and ran hard and fast; a nice sprinter she was. She bolted across the pasture, through the other cattle, reached the fence, and started to climb it. When shemade it to the top, she looked back to see me laughing my ass off.
“You’re a butt-head, Jax!” Within a few seconds, she was laughing as hard as I was. “I want to go to my happy place where there are unicorns and cotton candy everywhere, and I’m allowed to punch people in the throat!”
“Oh, I’m so scared, Madison!”
When she climbed over the top of the fence, her foot slipped, and before I knew it, she fell over, hitting the ground.
“Son of a bitch!” I sprinted and got there just as she was standing up. “Madison, I’m sorry. It was a joke,a really bad joke.
“I must give you credit; that was some funny shit right there.” She laughed, and I noticed her elbow was bleeding a little bit.
