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Still not having been noticed, Beth cleared her throat. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, attempting the most defiant expression she could muster while her palms grew clammy and her throat dry.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Eli crooned, his infectious smile audible in the words. “Am I late? Jenna… The chicks and the coop belong to her. She dropped the chicks off yesterday afternoon. They were part of some library egg-hatching experiment, and she’d offered to take the females. Came out to check on them and…well…” He gave her a one-shoulder shrug, careful not to jostle the chick on his other one. “Got a little carried away.”
Beth opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind about being inconsiderate and making her think he’d pulled a disappearing act again, but then she realized Eli had done nothing of the sort. He’d simply been distracted by unexpected happiness, which looked really good on him.
“Squawk!”
Beth startled, taking a couple of steps back. Her gaze darted left and right, looking for her assailant.
“Lucy’s inside the coop,” Eli assured her. “She likes to boss the younger hens around early in the morning. I just wanted to give these little ladies some time in the sun.” He gently picked up the chick that was on his shoulder and cupped her in his palms. “You want to hold one before I put them back into their brooder?”
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “I’ll admit I’ve been getting better with the animals in the clinic. You know…the ones that are already domesticated? But these are brand-new wild creatures. They are living on pure instinct right now, and most of that instinct says that I am the enemy.”
Eli narrowed his eyes. “And Midnight? She’s about as wild as they come, yet you want to hop on her back and let her decide whether she thinks it’s a good idea after the fact.”
“That four-legged beast is an anomaly.” Beth nodded in the direction of the barn. “I can’t explain why, but I trust her, and I’m pretty sure she trusts me.”
Eli nuzzled the chick on the top of its head, then deposited it onto his lap with the others. He patted an empty swath of grass beside him. “Come on. I promise it’s safe.” He held out his hand to help her if she needed.
She fisted her hands at her sides. “Do you promise to sacrifice yourself if they turn into baby chick zombies that want to devour my internal organs?”
To his credit, Eli didn’t miss a beat. He crossed his heart and said, “If it buys you a few minutes of safety before they finish me off and come for you, it would be my honor.”
Beth groaned. No man had the right to be this charming this early in the morning.
She took his hand and clumsily lowered herself to the grass, scooting up beside him until her hip knocked into his. Oops.
“This is purely for protection,” she lied, explaining the lack of space between them.
“That’s too bad,” Eli said, twisting to face her. “Because I was going to do this.”
He slid his fingers into her hair and urged her close enough to sweep his lips over hers. For the first time, Beth was grateful she couldn’t find a hair tie before heading to the barn. His touch sent tingles down her spine and butterflies dancing in her belly.
“Oh,” she whispered, definitely not feeling stood-up anymore.
“Oh,” Eli repeated, then kissed her again to the soundtrack of tiny chirps and cheeps.
Beth’s head swam with thoughts that had little to do with hopping on the back of a horse, until a loud squawk interrupted her fantasy.
“Ah!” she cried. Then she flinched and glanced over her shoulder to find a large white hen staring back at her from behind the chicken coop screen.
“Luuuucyy,” Eli warned, brows raised.
Beth’s heart hammered against her rib cage, but she wasn’t sure if it was a result of Eli’s kiss or another near-death experience with her poultry assailant.
“Maybe she is psychic,” Eli continued. “And she wants to warn you about taking a chance on Midnight.”
This was enough to bring Beth back to herself and her goal for the morning.
“And here I took you for a man of science.” Beth stared at him, unblinking.
He sighed. “It was worth a shot at trying one last time to dissuade you.” He picked up a fuzzy brown chick from his lap and held his cupped hands out to her.
Beth leaned back, holding her hands up as if to block him.
“You really want me to hold it? What if—”
Eli gently plopped the small creature into her lap, and the tiny chicken claws barely registered on her skin through her jeans.
