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buying the thing.  It
looked close to death and would probably cost him an arm and a leg in vet
bills.

Chapter 4
     
    The next morning he found her on the front porch of the
carriage house.  She was drinking a cup of coffee and looked tired and out of
sorts.
    “Morning Morgan.”
    “Hey Gabe.”  She gave him a distracted smile as he climbed
the stairs and sat down gingerly in the wicker chair next to hers.
    “How was your date with Andy last night?”  He wasn’t used to
making small talk and it felt awkward and strange.
    “Fine.  I guess.”
    He frowned.  “Did something happen?”
    She didn’t answer and he frowned again.  “Morgan?”
    “Hmm?  No, it was good – mostly.”  She took another sip of
coffee and stared moodily into the garden.
    He cleared his throat.  He wondered if he was supposed to ask
her again if something had happened.  He decided not to.  “Do you have a
minute?  I have something I want to show you in the barn.”  He had risen early
and taken the trailer to pick up the cow.
    “What is it?”  She asked curiously.
    “It’s uh, it’s kind of a surprise.”
    “I like surprises.”  She gave him a more natural smile and,
setting her coffee cup down on the small table next to her chair, followed him
to the barn.
    She stopped at the door and grinned up at him.  “Should I
close my eyes?”
    “Um, yeah okay.”
    She closed her eyes and held out her hand.  He stared at it
for a moment before realizing what she wanted.  His hands were suddenly sweaty
and he wiped them on his jeans before taking her small hand in his large one. 
She gripped it firmly and a tingle went through his entire body.
    He opened the door to the barn and led her inside to the
stall he had put the cow in.  It was staring silently at him and he sighed
inwardly.  He would get the vet to stop by tomorrow and there was a good chance
that he would tell him the cow should be put out of its misery.  He should have
waited until hearing what the vet had to say before showing her the cow.  It
was too late now.  She was standing next to him, a small smile on her mouth and
her hand still holding his tightly.
    “Open your eyes.”  He said gruffly.
    She opened them and gasped in surprise.  “The cow!”
    She stared up at him, her face filled with sweet delight,
and he was suddenly very glad he had bought the poor beast.
    “You bought her?”  She squeezed his hand and he nodded.
    “Yeah.”
    “I had no idea!”  She surprised him by giving him a brief,
hard hug.  “Thank you so much for buying her!”
    He nodded and turned away from her.  She frowned a little
but didn’t say anything.  She probably shouldn’t have hugged him, he had made
it perfectly clear that he didn’t like people in his personal space, but she
was a hugger.  Hugging him had been a natural reaction for her.
    Gabe stared at the cow and willed his erection to go away. 
She had only hugged him for a few seconds but it had been enough to make his
dick stand up and take notice.  Christ, he was a pervert.
    Morgan had moved away and was studying the cow closely. 
“Poor girl.”  She paused and eyed the blood-streaked udder.  “It is a girl
right?”
    He laughed.  “Yeah, it’s a girl.”
    She blushed.  “Sorry, I’m such a city girl.”
    “It’s fine.”  He stood next to her as she leaned against the
stall door.
    “Do you think she’s friendly?”
    He shrugged.  “She seemed friendly enough when I loaded her
into the trailer this morning.”
    He scooped out a handful of grain from a nearby container. 
“Here, try giving her some of this.”
    She held out her hand and he poured the grain into the palm
of it.  “Hold your hand straight and keep your fingers out of the way.”
    She nodded a bit nervously as he opened the door of the
stall.  She slipped in and whispered, “Good cow.  Good girl.  Here, try some
grain.”
    She held her hand out and the cow sniffed delicately at the
grain before beginning