Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“Call them?” he repeated.
“Yeah, just go, here Chew Bok-Bok, here Jabba the Cluck.”
“Why don’t you call them from there?” he asked.
“Because then they will go to me and not to you,” she told him. “Unless you want me to come over there and help?”
“No. You stay where you are.” He sent her a stern look. “Right. Come here, Jabba the Cluck.”
The darn chicken didn’t even look at him. It just kept pecking the grass.
“Um, that’s not Jabba the Cluck,” Maya said in a hesitant voice. “That’s Chew Bok-Bok. Jabba the Cluck is the one sitting under the hedge.” She pointed over behind him and he turned to see a chicken glaring out at him from under the hedge.
All right. Maybe glaring was an exaggeration. But it certainly felt like she was glaring.
“Fine. Come here, Chew Bok-Bok.”
“I don’t want to be . . . I mean I should say . . . um . . . well . . .”
“Just tell me, Maya,” he said with a sigh. He wasn’t impatient with her. It was these darn chickens.
“I think you have to say it in a nicer voice. High-pitched and kinder. Here, Chew Bok-Bok. Come here, baby.”
The darn chicken seriously turned around and headed toward Maya.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked. “Isn’t that just what I said?”
She bit her lip and if he didn’t know any better, he would swear she was trying not to laugh.
“Not exactly. Like I said. Nicer and higher. You can do it.”
He shot her a look and she glanced away. Again, she bit at her lip.
Yeah, she was trying not to laugh at him.
The brat.
Matthieu cleared his throat. “If you tell anyone about this . . . I’ll spank you.”
Not exactly professional.
But he didn’t care.
He heard her gasp, but didn’t look at her. He wasn’t sure whether he didn’t want to see if she was looking horrified or excited.
Well. Here went nothing.
“Here, Chew Bok-Bok. Come here. That’s it. In you get.”
“Tell her that she’s a good girl,” Maya said. “They like when you do that.”
They liked it? Or Maya liked it?
Because he thought she definitely liked it when he called her a good girl.
“Good girl, Chew Bok-Bok,” he said. “You’re a good girl.”
He snuck a glance at Maya whose cheeks were flushed.
Yeah, she definitely liked that.
Who knew it would be so sexy watching a man get chickens into a coop?
But she was about to expire from heat. If she could fan herself without him seeing, she would.
He had three chickens in the coop. And it had only taken him about fifteen minutes. The pizza would arrive any moment and he still had one to go.
Unfortunately, it was the hardest one of them all.
Jabba the Cluck.
She was stubborn as a goat and twice as ornery. And she really didn’t want to leave the hedge.
“Come here, Jabba,” he said.
So far, she hadn’t heard him get angry or even frustrated. Which was kind of amazing. Because she was used to receiving both emotions from people.
Frequently.
And he had to be feeling frustrated. Jabba the Cluck would try the patience of a saint. She knew that.
Maya was certainly no saint and she’d definitely lost it a few times when that darn chicken just would not listen.
Matthieu had tried coaxing her, saying her name in a high-pitched voice that was just too funny. He had tried words.
Everything that had worked with the other three. But Jabba wasn’t buying it.
“Right, guess I’m going to have to pick you up.”
“No, don’t!” Maya cried, getting up. But it was too late. He had the chicken in his hands.
Jabba the Cluck let out an ungodly noise. A high-pitched scream that sounded like she was being murdered.
Crap. Maya turned toward the house. But she wasn’t quick enough to shut the door.
Gummy raced out, barking rapidly as she ran over to where Matthieu was attempting to carry a distressed Jabba the Cluck to the chicken coop.
“Gummy, no!” Maya cried as Gummy tried to attack Matthieu’s feet. Thankfully, he had shoes on. And Gummy had very few teeth left.
Still, it made it extra hard for Matthieu to get Jabba the Cluck into the coop without standing on Gummy.
Maya moved over to grab the small dog.
“Maya, you’re supposed to be sitting,” Matthieu told her in a firm voice. “Not moving around.”
“I’m trying to get Gummy!” she replied. “Gummy, come here! Come on, baby. Come to Mama. Matthieu isn’t hurting your friend.”
She was an idiot. She should have shut the door to keep Gummy out. She knew how the small dog felt about her friends.
Finally, she managed to grab the dog, holding her tight even though she wiggled in Maya’s arms and continued her growling and barking.
Matthieu got Jabba the Cluck into the chicken coop and shut the door behind her.
He glanced over at Maya and for a moment she stared back at him, struck by his beauty.