Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
I stared at him. “I didn’t ask you anything.”
“No.” He held my gaze. “Cows do not belong in the house. I said you could hand-rear her as long as you let her back outside when she was big enough, which you agreed to, and she’s big enough now.”
“She’s only three months old.”
“She’s big enough to socialise with other young cows.”
“The vet said they usually stay with their mother until they’re six months old. Potentially a year.”
“To learn how to be a cow,” Fred replied dryly. “All Spice is learning is how to look at me with puppy dog eyes and sleep on a sofa. Look at her—she’s begging me right now.”
I glanced over at her. He was right. She was standing in front of him, staring helplessly up at him with her big, dark eyes, and I pouted. “How can you turn that face away?”
“Easily. She’s a cow.”
“A house cow.”
“Still a cow.”
“Freddieeeeee.” I leant dramatically against the side of the sofa, collapsing onto the cushions.
“Don’t ‘Freddie’ me like that.” He lightly flicked my forehead. “It’s time for her to start adjusting to the outside.”
“Nooo.” I grabbed his leg and hugged it, resting my chin on his knee. I peered up at him, giving him my best doe eyes. “Please don’t take Spice away from me. She’s my emotional support cow.”
“Your emotional support cow? Good grief.”
“Moo,” Spice said, sauntering up. She bumped his shin with her little head and let out another sad ‘moo.’
Fred glanced at her, then looked back at me. Both me and Spice stared at him, and his gaze flitted between us again and again until he shook his head and covered his eyes with his hand.
“Does that bloody cow understand English or something?” he grumbled.
“Pleaseee.”
“Deli…”
I pouted, blinking slowly at him.
“No, don’t look at me like that.”
I leant against his leg a little more.
“Get off the floor.” He turned his head to the side, but I caught him looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “I’m not giving in to you.”
I pulled myself up onto the sofa and sat next to him, plastering myself against his side. My hands snaked around his arm, and I hugged it tightly. He tried to get away from me by leaning to the side, but I kept myself stuck to him, and we kept moving until we were lying on the sofa with me practically on top of him.
“Delilah,” he said, a warning tinting his tone. “Don’t push it.”
Spice leapt up, putting her front hooves on the sofa, and nudged the side of Fred’s head with her nose. That cute little humming noise came from her again, and her body shook side to side as she tried to scramble up onto the sofa.
“No,” Fred said, looking at her. “No cows on the sofa.”
She mooed.
With one arm, Fred scooped her up next to him and sighed. “Fine. Just this once.”
It would not be ‘just this once.’
I knew it. He knew it. Everyone knew it.
“So, she can be a sofa cow but not a house cow?” I asked as Spice curled up next to him.
“Deli…” He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around me. He shifted slightly so I was lying on top of him, and I moved so my hands were flat against his chest instead of my elbows. “Can’t you get a cat instead?”
“With Granny’s little demon around? Absolutely not,” I replied. “Spice is already house-trained. Plus, she’s practically a cat. Listen: she’s purring.”
He cocked his head to the side, listened, then sagged back. “She’s a cow,” he said weakly.
“A house cow,” I replied brightly, resting my head on his chest. “A house-trained house cow.”
“A cow,” he continued murmuring.
“Are you really going to not let me keep her inside?” I lowered my voice, tilting my head back to look up at him. “She makes me happy, babykins.”
His chest rose and fell with his sigh. “You little shit.”
“Is that a yes?”
“No!”
I scooted up his body until our faces were close and grinned. “That’s a yes, isn’t it?”
His face was so close to mine, and as our eyes met, butterflies sparked to life in my tummy. “It’s not. I’m simply not saying no.”
A giggle escaped me, and I kicked my feet against the sofa cushion, drawing a disgruntled rumble from Spice.
“But the same rules still stand,” he said, linking his fingers at the base of my spine. “She’s not allowed in the bedroom. She’s your pet, so you’re looking after her. And she does need access outside, no matter what you say.”
I nodded hurriedly. “Harry suggested we could get a door flap custom made for her to come and go in her own private section of garden.”
“My butler is a traitor,” he muttered.
I beamed.
“Don’t smile at me like that.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll get in trouble.” He brought one hand up and tapped my nose. “I suppose it’s not the end of the world to keep Spice as a house cow if it really makes you that happy.”