Read What a Woman Wants (A Manley Maids Novel) for Free Online

the chorus of squeaks, honks, and brays.
    Livvy flipped a swath of curls out of her face when she peeked over the back of the llama she was pushing and relief shone in her smile. “Good idea.”
    One by one, she shooed, hustled, or carried the animals through the French doors. Sean then closed them and barricaded them with his body to keep the hellions from running back in.
    It took a good ten minutes, and more of the Aubusson rug than could ever be repaired, but all of the creatures were soon ensconced in the improvised pen.
    Livvy leaned against the door next to him, her curves heaving way too much for his liking.
    Well, no, that wasn’t exactly true. He definitely liked. But he definitely didn’t
need
to be liking.
    “Thanks,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “I don’t know what came over them. They’re normally fine in the house.”
    “You
let
them in your house?”
    “Well, not as a general rule. But when my barn was leaking during a hurricane, I didn’t really have a choice. Other than the necessary, um, calls of nature, they behaved quite well.”
    “Yeah, well, looks like they forgot their manners today. And what gives with the menagerie?”
    “They’re my pets.”
    “They’re barnyard animals, not pets.”
    “Why can’t barnyard animals be pets?”
    “You want me to agree that having a pig is like having a dog?”
    “Actually, Reggie’s more like a cat than a dog.”
    Sean gritted his teeth. “Same difference.”
    “Not a cat lover, I see.”
    “I’m more of a dog person.”
    “Good. The dogs will be here soon.”
    More insanity? “Lucky me.”
    “Look, Pool Boy.” She poked him in his side and it hurt, dammit. “It’s my house and they’re my animals. Live with it.”
    “Did you see what they did to that room? Is that how you want to live? Your ancestors didn’t build a barn out there for nothing, you know.”
    “Leave my ancestors out of this. I don’t care what they did, or what they want. It’s my place now and if I want the goats to have a playground in the reception room, it’s no business of yours.”
    “You can’t honestly say that you’re going to allow those animals to destroy all that antique furniture.”
    “Why do you care?”
    “I care because . . .” Uh, yeah, good question. What was his answer going to be? “Because it’s my job to take care of this place. I just finished cleaning that room, you know. Now it’s a disaster.”
    She closed her eyes, shaking her head. When she opened them, Sean saw a hint of laughter sparkling in those amber eyes. “Sean, Sean, Sean. You really need to lighten up. It’s just
stuff.
They’ve been cooped up in a truck for hours. If the barn were empty, they could’ve unwound out there, but someone stuck a load of boxes and furniture in there. I didn’t have any other place for them to go without them eating all the grass.”
    “And tell me again why heirloom rugs are better for their digestion than grass? I thought grass was organic?”
    “It would be if it wasn’t soaked in enough chemicals to make the lawn golf course–worthy.”
    Exactly. That lawn was gorgeous. It wouldn’t take much to turn it into an ideal fairway.
    “So what are you going to do with them now?”
    She twisted those pretty heart-shaped lips to one side and Sean wondered what they’d feel like against his. What they’d taste like—
    Yeah, yeah, mind off the pretty and heart-shaped thing
. And he could forget about kissing her. She was the enemy.
    As was the pig that was trying to nuzzle between the two of them, the jingle bells on his collar sounding like a drunken Santa.
    “I have to empty the barn before I can put them there. Any chance barn cleaning is in your job description?” She nudged him with her shoulder and looked up at him from under her lashes.
    Not fair. That look had probably been created by Aphrodite to make men’s knees and wills weaken. And Livvy had it down pat. Dammit.
    Looked like he’d just added more work