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But Gunner did. And he thought it was wrong to invite a woman into his home without her being his wife.
It all made sense.
And it was the deal of the century.
She stepped to him and threw her arms around his waist. She gave him a squeeze so good it brought tears to her eyes. Then she let go and stepped back. “You are a good man, Gunner Bridge. And this is an amazing thing you’re offering, a miraculous thing. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I would like to take the night and think about it, and pray about it, but I’m pretty sure I am going to accept your proposal.” She felt a little scandalous using the wordproposal. “But will you do me a favor?”
He nodded.
“This is obviously a new idea to me, but it’s also obviously a new idea to you, right? Since you just met me today? So will you also take the night to think about it?Reallythink about it? You’re right that it would help me get the kids back, but this is no small thing for you. These aren’t your kids, this isn’t your problem, and you would be gettingmarried. It’s not easy to getunmarried.” She laughed. “It’s not easy to unring that bell.”
He frowned. “Do you have personal experience with that?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Would that disqualify me?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I just ... I have less than zero experience with women.” He shrugged, obviously embarrassed. “If you’d already been married before, I guess I would feel even more behind the curve, but no, it’s not a deal breaker.”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “No, never been married. Not even close. And I am overwhelmed by your generosity. Whatever happens next, thank you for the offer.”
He nodded. “I’m doing it for your family, but I will also benefit, assuming that you’re willing to help me keep this place afloat.”
Oh, yeah, she hadn’t agreed to that yet, had she? Whoops. She nodded. “I can run your house. I have absolutely noexperience with housekeeping or management or hospitality, but sure, I can do it!” She jokingly shot a fist into the air.
“And I should mention that I really like kids.” He glanced at the nursing goats. “Both the human and the goat kind.” He looked at her. “So it might sound like a big thing to take some kids into my home, but I think I would truly enjoy it.”
She couldn’t believe it. What an incredible man she was looking up at. It was too bad they didn’t have time to fall in love and get married like normal people. Did he like her like that? Did he find her attractive? Or was he just being a hero?
She had no idea, and she decided she didn’t need to know. She needed to worry about the kids.
“So, it’s time to milk a goat. Would you like a lesson?”
She put her hand to her chest and gasped theatrically. “Heavens to Betsy! Two awesome offers in a row.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Haven’t heard that one in a while.” He started walking.
“They were a punk band in the nineties. You should look them up.”
“Nah,” he said without looking back, “I’ll just take your word for it.”
Chapter 13
Gunner witnessed true disappointment on Nova’s face when she first saw the milking machine. He tried to keep the laugh out of his voice when he said, “Did you think I was going to hand milk her?”
“Why, is that not a thing people do anymore?”
He shrugged. “I’m guessing the Amish still do it that way.”
She playfully punched him in the arm. He pretended that it hurt—and then caught himself— what was this? He was being playful with a woman. Was this flirting? He wasn’t sure, but it felt weird. He had never flirted before, at least not on purpose, not that he knew of, so he didn’t know how flirting felt.
“Are you okay? Not regretting your question already, are you? Because we can pretend that it never happened.”
He chuckled. “I’m fine. Not regretting anything. I was just wondering if we should give it a shot the old-fashioned way.”
“Give what a shot?” She looked scared.
“The milking.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Oh, yeah, definitely. Do you know how?”
