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Ford grabbed the cage and lowered it to the ground. Jolie squatted down to study the birds.

“Hey girls, welcome to your new home. You’re on an apple farm and we’re going to figure out how to get you to the snail buffet another day. For now, you’ve got a safe coop for the night and some food Brandon gave us. Tomorrow, you can explore the area and get used to your new home. I hope you’ll be happy here.”

Her voice wobbled a little, betraying her nerves. He squeezed her shoulder and then took some of the straw Brandon had sent with them and layered it in the bottom of the coop.

They left the ducks in the cage for a few minutes, letting them acclimate to the new surroundings.

When Jolie was ready, he moved the cage, so the opening was facing the coop’s opening. “Ready?”

She nodded, but continued to worry her lip, making him want to kiss it better. They stood on either side of the opening, ready to guide the birds into the coop if necessary.

It wasn’t. The ducks fluffed their feathers and strutted straight into the coop.

Jolie laughed. “That was great. Anticlimactic, but great.” She closed up the door and flipped the wood that would serve as a lock. For a long moment, they stared at it.

No sounds of stress.

The air vents weren’t big enough to see through, but there were no sounds that caused them alarm.

Ford moved behind Jolie and wrapped his arms around her as they watched and waited.

And waited some more.

She turned in his arms and set her hands on his chest. “We should probably wait a few minutes to make sure they’re fine. Any ideas of what we could do to fill the time?”

Even the drizzle and the deepening dark couldn’t hide the twinkle in her eyes. He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his. “I might have an idea or two.”

“Perfect.”

And then he was kissing her again. Perfect was the right word.

Excitement pulled Jolie from a sexy dream starring Ford. Not only was she looking forward to seeing—and kissing—him again, she wanted to see how the ducks had fared through the night.

Her dreams had been a weird combination of Ford and ducks. Hot and steamy kisses with Ford. Heating up the sheets with the strong and sexy man.

Dreams about ducks escaping. More ducks than she could count swimming in her pond and ending up with slime coating their feathers.

And one truly bizarre dream that started with a naked Ford with her in the shower and ended with ducks chasing the two of them out so they could use the shower themselves.

Weird.

Although she’d put up with them if it meant she also got the sexy Ford dreams. One day, she wanted to make those dreams a reality. One day in the not-too-distant future.

The rain continued to drizzle as Fox bounded through the trees toward her. She crouched to hug the dog and rub him all over the way he loved. “Have you scented out the ducks yet? Are you okay with having new friends here?”

She pulled out her phone to check the time. Amber had an early shift so she’d be up but not at work yet. Her sister adored dogs and would love Fox. She put in a video chat and angled the phone to include the dog, glad that her sister had got a new phone with a working camera.

Amber answered on the third ring. Her sister’s smile was wide, but her eyes were tired. “Hi, Joles. Is this the famous Fox I’ve heard so much about?” Her smile widened when Fox tilted his head as he studied her.

“Fox, this is my sister, Amber. She’s a friend, and she loves dogs. You’re going to be good friends when she comes here.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Using the dog to sweeten the deal?”

“Absolutely. Anything that’ll work. I think you’d love this place, Amber. It’s even brighter and has more potential than I thought.”

That earned her a laugh. “I’m not sure if that’s possible. You saw a lot of potential from the beginning.”

“I did. And I’m loving it.”