“So he got to all of them?” Zac asked.
“Let’s just say he didn’t overlook any who were willing. I’m very disappointed with the low moral caliber of my cows.”
“Given that breeding is what you bought them for, you should be happy how eagerly they embraced the job,” Zac replied with a twitch of his fascinating mouth.
“But they aren’t supposed to breed indiscriminately. I had the studs all picked out before your cow-seducing Casanova came along.”
Zac cocked a brow. “Maybe they wanted to know the baby daddy instead of some anonymous stranger. Maybe they thought they’d be happier humping than taking a semen injection by syringe.”
“Point taken,” she said softly. “The idea of a syringe isn’t very appealing. Neither is a battery-operated vibrator.”
He cocked a brow. “That’s mighty illuminating.”
Her gaze locked with his, she licked her lips. Would he take it as an invitation?
“Did you get your testing done today?” she asked.
His gaze focused on her mouth and then darted over her left shoulder. “Mostly.”
“Mostly? What do you mean? Is something wrong?”
“I was at the clinic when you called. I had the full physical, the DNA, and the blood work. I even paid extra to get the results expedited.”
“Great,” she said. “When will they have the semen analysis back?”
His color deepened. He shut his eyes and blew out a breath. “I couldn’t give it to them.”
“What do you mean, ‘couldn’t’?”
“Shit, Delaney. The whole thing embarrassed the hell out of me. They gave me a little container and sent me into a private room to jack off. It was really hard to do that knowing they all knew what I was doing in there. It was damned distracting and then your call came at the worst possible time.”
“Really?”
Zac’s cheekbones went deep bronze as she burst into a full paroxysm of giggles. “What’s so damned funny?”
“You, Zac. I’m just surprised. It never would have occurred to be that you’d have any trouble with that part.”
“Do you think all men can just perform on command like trained animals?”
“I never really thought about it that way. Didn’t they give you anything to . . . er . . . help you out?”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “They had soft porn.”
“And that didn’t . . .”
He glared. “No. It didn’t.”
She gazed up at him, wide-eyed. “Zac, I don’t see how we’re ever going to be able to do this if you’re unable to . . .”
“Told you I was distracted.” He stepped into her space. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you’re treadin’ on real dangerous ground right now.”
“What do you mean?” she asked with feigned innocence.
“I’ll tell ya. There’s two things in this world you should never do. The first is pissing on an electric fence and the second is taunting a man about his manhood.”
“It was just a simple question, Zac. No need to get your”—she let her gaze drop to his crotch—“hackles . . . up. I just wonder how we’re going to solve your little problem.”
“It isn’t a problem,” Zac ground through his teeth. “You really wanna know how we’re gonna do this?” Before she understood what he was about, he spun her back to the door, muffling her gasp with his hot, hungry mouth. Bracing his arms on either side of her head, he ravaged her mouth with a deep and demanding kiss. She didn’t know if it was the wine or the kiss, but Delaney suddenly experienced the panicky sensation of a freefall.
She opened her eyes to look into his as Zac brought her hand down between them. He was hot and hard even through the thick layer of denim. “See? I got no problem now. There’s a real simple solution to doing this,” he growled into her ear. “You’re going back with me.”
“Me? Are you saying you expect me to . . .”
“Help collect it?” he supplied. “Since you’re the one who’s insisting on all this, I think it’s only right you should help. And given that I need to get to Vegas by tomorrow, I’d say we’d better go now.”
“Now?” She gaped at him.
“Yep. There’s no time like the present.”
“B-but my cows.”
“Your cows are fine, Delaney.” He checked his watch. “We only have a couple hours until the place closes so we’d better get a move on.”
“But . . . but . . .”
Zac took her by the shoulders. “It’s decision time, darlin.’ I’m not playing around anymore. Do you want to do this or not?”
She swallowed hard. “Yes, Zac. I do. I’m just a little nervous about this.”
“That’s somethin’ you’re just gonna have to get over. C’mon. Let’s just go and get it done.”
Zac and Delaney got to the clinic in record time, arriving twenty minutes before closing. Zac approached the desk, where a different nurse was typing into her computer. This one was a lot older and wore a sour expression that made him wonder if ol’ Bart had a twin sister.