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A deep, sexy chuckle interrupted her thoughts of how she’d make the Cyril thrower-outer suffer. Her body tingled to life, especially in all her girly places.

“A sexy mermaid washed to shore, all ripe for the picking.”

She didn’t open her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the smile as Ford sat beside her and leaned down to kiss her lightly. That opened her eyes and made him chuckle again.

“Maybe I’m mixing my fairy tales, but hello, Sleeping Beauty. Although I like the sexy mermaid image better.”

She grinned. She couldn’t remember anyone else comparing her to a fairy-tale princess before.

Ford lounged beside her on the grass, resting on one elbow, so he was looking down at her.

“I like my view better. Sexy, gorgeous rescuer.”

He laughed. “I’ve never known a woman less in need of rescuing in my life. You’re no damsel in distress, Jolie.”

Well, that was an even better compliment thansexy mermaid. She crooked her finger at him until he leaned down for another kiss.

When her body hummed to life and she’d forgotten her aches, she smiled into the kiss. “Thanks. I think you brought me back to life.”

He ran a finger lightly over her cheekbones and down to her lips. “What wore you out?”

His eyes darkened, and she liked the way his thoughts turned. Sexy ideas of ways to wear each other out danced in his eyes. Much better than the reality of what had caused her current state. “Cyril tried to do me in.”

His eyebrows shot up, but she’d kept her tone light so he would know there was nothing to worry about. Still, his eyes tracked the area. “Cyril? Did we get a drake I don’t know about?”

She laughed, loving that he thought of adding to her duck troop. “Nope. Cyril the Cylinder.”

When she started to sit up, he offered her a hand, and then leaned in for another kiss. “I take it Cyril the Cylinder isn’t a rival I need to worry about.”

“Not a chance. No one could meet your very high, very sexy standards, anyway.”

His skin flushed, and the heat in his eyes flared, making her own skin respond. “Good to know. Tell me more about Cyril and why I want to kill him.”

She laughed and pointed at the water. “I took the canoe into the pond and explored a bit. There’s a lot of dead stuff in there which I’m starting to remove. I thought I might find some good amphibian habitats in the debris, but I didn’t find signs of a single frog or much else that’s alive.”

“You’re going to bring it back to life.”

His confidence always made her feel better. “I am, but it’s going to be a bigger job than I thought. There’s a cylinder at the bottom of the pond.”

“The evil Cyril.”

She nodded. “At first I thought it was a garbage can, but it’s much smaller and appears to be sealed. And heavy or stuck. I couldn’t budge it with my stick, no matter how hard I tried. And I tried. My muscles have jellified.”

He barked out a laugh. “Jellified. I like that. So, how are you planning to get Cyril out?”

“I’m not sure yet. If I was sure it wasn’t leaking, I could probably leave it alone. But if there’s something noxious in there, it has to go. And the only way to find out is to bring it up.”

“I’m sure we can rig up something so you don’t have to scuba dive in the pond before you’ve cleaned it.”

She nodded. “I really don’t want to go in there the way it is. Even wearing the equipment, some of my skin would be exposed. Until I get my samples back and get Cyril out of there, I don’t think we should go in. And I’m going to keep using water from the hose for the Quack Mobile at night.”

He nodded, and his gaze roved over their little flock. She loved that he was as concerned about their new friends as she was.

He frowned. “Why would anyone dump something in the pond? I’m going to assume it wasn’t Jay. Anyone who owns a farm should be conscious of the environment surrounding it. No sane farmer would toss something potentially hazardous in there.”

He sat up straighter and looked around. “I wonder if there are neighbors beyond the trees. Maybe they’ve been using this part of the farm as their personal garbage dump.”

“I wondered the same thing. We’ll have to ask Knox and Thea who the other neighbors are. And find out if there are roads leading through those woods to this property. If there are, we can block them to stop further dumping.”