“That’s fantastic.”
Of course that was the moment when Josh came out of the house. When Mia was covered in fresh goat pee.
Of course it was.
He lifted his hand in greeting as he came toward them, stopping outside the fence that surrounded the yoga pen. “How’d it go?” The corner of his mouth twitched as he took in Mia and her wet shirt.
“I got peed on.” She tried to hold the damp fabric away from her skin. “Other than that, it was really fun.”
All the kids had gone over to greet Josh, clamoring for his attention and trying to jump up on the fence to get at him. He leaned over to pet them. “Pee happens when you handle animals.”
“Do you think you could take Mia inside to clean up?” Birdie suggested. “And maybe loan her a clean shirt.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Josh straightened and inclined his head toward the house. “Come on, I’ll get you squared away.” He didn’t seem unwilling, but neither did he betray any sense that he was especially happy to see her. He didn’t betray anything at all, as per frustrating usual. The man was like a sentient android without an emotion chip sometimes.
Which possibly went a long way to explaining Mia’s fixation on him, given her longstanding crush on Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Apparently she was doomed to fall for emotionally unavailable men.
Mia let herself out of the goat pen and fell into step beside Josh as he headed back to the house.
“I’m sure she’d love a tour of the farm while you’re at it,” Birdie called after them.
Josh glanced over at Mia, his expression dry as ever. “Is she right? Would you love a tour of the farm?”
“I wouldn’t want to be an imposition,” she said, feeling like Birdie had put him on the spot. “But if you’ve got time, then yes, I’d love to see the farm.”
“I can probably squeeze you in.” As he held the screen door open, gesturing for her to precede him inside the house, he allowed the faintest hint of a smile to curve his lips. “But first, let’s get you out of those clothes.”
Chapter Twelve
Mia did her best to wash all the pee off in Josh’s downstairs half bathroom. He’d provided her with a clean washcloth, towel, and a bar of what smelled like Zest soap, as well as one of his T-shirts to change into. She scrubbed her chest and stomach until the skin turned pink, then washed her pits for good measure. An hour of yoga in the Texas heat had left her sweaty and a little stinky, even before the eau de goat urine.
She peeked inside the medicine cabinet, hoping to find some deodorant, but it was empty except for a bottle of aspirin and a box of tampons.
Who were the tampons for? Could Josh have a girlfriend? It seemed unlikely that Andie wouldn’t have mentioned it before now.
Possibly an ex had left them behind. Or even Andie herself. She did used to live here, and probably still visited sometimes.
It doesn’t matter. Mia shut the medicine cabinet. Whoever the tampons belonged to was no business of hers. She had more pressing problems…like the state of her hair.
Not only was it sweat-soaked and disheveled from exercising in the sun, but there were sticky patches of what could only be goat spit.
Super attractive.
Scrunching her nose, she tried to run her fingers through her gunky hair. Gross. It was a miracle Josh had even admitted her to his house in her current disgusting state. No wonder he hadn’t seemed thrilled about it.
Dunking her head under the faucet, Mia did her best to rinse most of the goat saliva out. After toweling off her head, she combed her hair back into place with her fingers. That was the beauty of short hair at least—easy wash-and-go style. She wouldn’t be winning any beauty contests, but at least she was no longer actively repulsive.
The T-shirt Josh had left was a soft charcoal gray with the farm’s logo on it. She slipped it on, feeling better as soon as the fresh detergent scent enveloped her.
Once she’d made herself as presentable as possible she slipped out of the bathroom, carrying her wet yoga top, which she’d done her best to clean in the sink. She found Josh in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of iced tea.
“Is there somewhere I can hang this to dry?” she asked, holding up the wad of damp fabric in her hands.
His gaze lingered on