Page 27 of A Little Bit More

There was a moment of stunned silence before Flynn started laughing. The lamb, who had finished her bottle, stirred at the sound and scrambled off Flynn’s lap. He rubbed its head before the lamb wandered away with its mother.

“Why are you feeding a lamb that has a mother?” Matt watched them go.

“She isn’t producing enough milk, so I’m helping out.”

“So, she told you this? Just curious because it occurs to me that it’d be damn hard to figure out that a sheep wasn’t producing enough milk.”

“I’m a vet,” Flynn said in disgust. “I know stuff. You, on the other hand, know nothing.”

“I know that there are about a million council statutes you’re breaking by running an unofficial zoo in the middle of Invertary.”

“Ah, so that’s the way you’re going with this—blackmail. Have at it.” Flynn leaned back on his elbows, and the goat licked his jaw before snuggling back down. “I’m a national icon. I played for Scotland. I rescue animals. Nobody is going to shut down my mini zoo. There would be outrage. And if there wasn’t, I’d just ring upCosmoand offer to pose shirtless with all the poor animals you’re trying to get turfed out on their ears.” He lifted the bottom of his T-shirt and grinned at his abs. “I’ve still got it.”

“I think I’m going to puke,” Matt said. But part of him, the very immature part, wanted to compare abs. His cousin brought out his competitive streak. “You need to help me out here. You already have four million kids, so what’s a few more for a weekend? I, on the other hand, have only one. She’d be overrun. Or they’ll play cowboys and Indian again—where she’s the Indian. She was tied up for hours last time they stayed over.” Although, to be fair, they had spoon-fed her cake while she was captured.

“Nope,” Flynn said with a shake of his head. “I’m not doing it.”

“Come on,” Matt pestered. “Claire’s kids are better behaved than yours. They might have a positive influence.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But that isn’t what happens when they get together. Instead, they all regress to the lowest common denominator and act like they’ve been raised by wolves. It’s carnage. And I’m fed up with washing paint off animals after they visit. Took three days to get the pink out of Esmerelda’s coat last time.” He patted the goat as though he might have traumatized her by talking about it.

Matt heaved a sigh. It was clear Flynn wasn’t about to cave to blackmail or sound reasoning. Which left only one thing. “Okay, what will it take to make you babysit for the weekend?”

An evil glint appeared in Flynn’s eyes. One Matt had seen many times over the years. It almost made him regret his question, but then he remembered what Claire’s kids were like, and he decided that dealing with Flynn’s demands would be worth it.

“What are you willing to do?” Flynn asked.

“I’ll consider anything—except babysittingyourkids.”

“Fair enough.” Flynn shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to babysit them either.”

“Well?” Matt demanded when it became clear that Flynn planned on taking his time to think. “This is dragging on too long, and I want to go to bed. What do you want in exchange for babysitting Claire’s kids?”

Flynn’s smile was pure evil. “I need to find a new home for Esmerelda. She keeps headbutting the kids because she sees them as rivals for my affection.” He rubbed the goat between her horns. “Don’t you, baby?”

Matt could have sworn the damn goat grinned.

“No. No way.” Matt pointed at his leg. “I still have a bruise on my thigh from the last time she headbutted me.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to prepare yourself for a weekend with your nieces and nephews. Be sure to enjoy every minute of it.”

“Dickhead,” Matt growled.

The idiot just grinned. Well aware he had Matt over a barrel.

“She eats the laundry,” Matt pointed out. “And the outdoor furniture. And attacks anyone who isn’t you. What the hell am I supposed to do with her?”

“Put her in the paddock with your sheep and make sure she has plenty to eat. She’ll be fine. I’ll come over to visit her as often as I can, but I can’t have her around the kids. It’s dangerous.”

Damn it to hell, how was he supposed to argue with that? “You bastard,” Matt said. “This is just until your kids get big enough to deal with her on their own.”

“Done.” Flynn held out a hand, and they shook before he jumped to his feet. “I’ll get her collar and leash, and you can take her back with you now.”

“Nope.” Matt stood, keeping Flynn between him and the goat. “You’re walking it to our paddock. If I have to do it, I’ll end up black and blue.”

“Chicken,” Flynn said before heading to the house with Esmerelda at his side.

Leaving Matt alone in the night to wonder how he was going to tell his wife that they now owned a bad-tempered pet goat.