Page 16 of Crossed Wires: The Complete Series

“Get me straw, Annie,” Hunter said as he reached for a towel. Annie grabbed a handful of hay.

Hunter took a single piece. “Just one will work.” He tickled the calf’s nostrils as it started to breathe on its own.

Annie gasped when the tiny creature began to move. He was okay. The calf was alive. She’d never seen anything so incredible in her life. “It’s a cow!”

Hunter glanced at her and grinned. “A male cow.”

“A boy,” Annie said with wonder. “We’ll have to go out and buy blue.”

The other hand gave her a funny look. “Where are you from, love?”

Hunter chuckled at the man’s question. “Marc Thompson, this is Annie Prince, from America. New York.”

“New York?” Marc asked. “Isn’t that where Dylan went?”

Annie nodded but didn’t add more. She wasn’t sure how much the hands on Farpoint knew about her and Dylan, didn’t know how much Hunter wanted to share with them.

Marc chuckled, his blue eyes shining with a light Annie recognized as mischief. “There’s no bloody way I’d take off halfway ’round the world for a woman. Even if shewasas pretty as Dylan reckoned.”

Annie’s belly knotted a little at the hand’s words.

Hunter let out a low sound, and to Annie’s ears it sounded like a growl. “That’s enough, Thomo.”

Marc grinned, dropping Annie a cheeky wink. “Although I gotta admit, the accent’s bloody sexy. Say something else for me, Annie Prince.”

Annie blinked, unsure how to react. Australian men unsettled her at times, their sense of humor hard to get a handle on. She suspected Marc was teasing her in a friendly way—at least the easy way he smiled at her indicated such—but she wasn’t sure. The hands on Farpoint really didn’t know who she was. Maybe he was flirting with her?

She cleared her throat, flicked Hunter a quick look and then gave the waiting cowboy a smile. “Wanna get some cawfee from Starrbucks, Marc?” she asked, turning on her most New York accent.

Marc threw back his head and laughed, a relaxed sound that echoed around the shed. Annie noticed the hint of ink peeking from under the open collar of his shirt, but what the tat was, she couldn’t tell.

“Oh, that does it for me, baby.” He grinned at her. “Any chance you wanna crawl into my bed tonight and talk in that sexy accent some more?”

“Settle down, Thompson,” Hunter said. “You’ll give us Aussie blokes a bad name.”

Marc flashed another grin at Annie. “Me? Nah. Besides, I’m not the typical Aussie bloke.”

Hunter snorted. “That’s for certain.” He shook his head. “Do you carry on like this when Dylan’s around?”

Marc burst out laughing again. “Hell no.”

Hunter groaned. “Then shut the hell up now and pretend I’m the boss out here for a while, will you? I’m the one who had my hands elbow-deep in cow, you know.”

Marc tapped the brim of his hat with a finger, dropping Annie another wink. “Can do, boss.”

Annie found herself smiling. She couldn’t help it. The whole tête-à-tête was so bizarrely unexpected and fun.

Marc pointed to the calf. “You ever seen a calf born?”

Annie shook her head. “Not a lot of cows in Manhattan.”

“Well, we appreciate your help, even if you are a Yank,” Marc teased. “In fact, I think maybe we should mark the occasion somehow, since it’s your first time.” Marc looked at Hunter. “How about we call this little fella Prince in honor of our assistant?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Annie insisted.

Hunter winked at her. “You did plenty. And I think that’s a great idea, Marc.” Hunter bent over and placed his hand on the newborn calf’s nose. “I hereby dub you, Prince.”

Annie felt her throat tighten, touched by the sweet gesture.