instead, he concentrated on eating his own breakfast.
“Would you like to see around the farm this morning?” Lachlan asked her.
“Yes, I would, please. What animals do you have? Do you grow any crops or your own fruit and vegetables? Is there a lake? Can we walk or is the farm too big? Oh, do you have horses we can ride? Or a tractor I can ride on? Oh, oh, do you have dirt bikes or those four-wheeled things. Um, quad bikes?”
Callum started laughing. He’d already forgotten her first couple of questions and wouldn’t be surprised if she had as well. Lachlan was just sitting there looking stunned, but Callum loved the way she was so interested in everything. Even if she did talk a lot.
“What’s so funny?” Phoenix stared at him.
“You didn’t give anyone a chance to answer you.”
“I can see I need to buy that ball gag right away,” added Lachlan.
“Are you going to answer my questions or not?”
“I can’t even remember what half of them were.” Callum was still struggling not to laugh. Then his jaw opened in amazement as she repeated the questions in exactly the same order as she’d asked them. He turned to look at Lachlan, who appeared to be stunned by her questions.
Lachlan recovered faster than Callum. “We only have cattle so no horses to ride. No tractor, dirt bike, or quad bike either. We have an orchard of fruit trees, but don’t have a vegetable garden or other crops. There’s water in each of the large fields but that’s for the cattle to drink. There isn’t a lake to swim in or go canoeing on.”
Callum noticed Lachlan hadn’t mentioned about their running track so he didn’t refer to it either. “We have favorite places we like to walk to. We don’t usually walk the fence line or anything like that.”
“I’d like to see your favorite places, please. I’ll have a shower first, though. Thank you for breakfast, Callum. It was delicious.”
Callum loaded the used dishes into the dishwasher, but once he heard the shower water running he said softly, “Showing her our running track might be a way to gently introduce her to that other matter we urgently need to discuss.”
“It’s very much a case of playing it by ear. We need to judge her responses as we progress. We can’t risk alienating her. But I agree. It has to happen soon, and having her here is the perfect opportunity.”
* * * *
Phoenix happily put on her jeans and athletic shoes. She was quite content to dress nicely for work, and to wear anything other than good clothing to visit her parents would have greatly upset them. They’d have been horrified if she’d arrived wearing jeans. But to relax and go walking on a farm, casual clothes were needed. She was also pleased she’d thought to throw some clothing into her little carry-on bag. She’d thought maybe she was overstepping the mark. That if her meeting with her parents took too long, Callum and Lachlan wouldn’t be interested in having her visit the farm. But she’d hoped they could spend today together and was really excited that’s what was happening.
Even if she had fallen asleep in her clothes last night. She must have been even more tired than she thought. Certainly not knowing what the problem was with her mom and dad had been emotionally draining as well as worrying. But now that was all sorted out. They’d be at the airport ready to start their vacation while she was looking forward to this day with her men. Well, she assumed it was all day. They hadn’t said. But they also hadn’t hinted the look around the farm needed to be quick.
She’d just take what was offered. It was nice to relax and talk with them. And some hot sex later might be good, too.
She bounced back into the kitchen. “I’m ready. Where are we going first?”
Both Lachlan and Callum stared at her, looking so totally delicious she was ready to forget about sightseeing and move straight back to the bedroom. This time with both of them in the bed with her.
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
John O'Riley
Brenda Sinclair
Christopher George
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Jill Gregory
Aria Cunningham