The look Eli gave her was definitely a look of lust. Sarah swallowed, her stomach dropping and sending tingles even lower. Her breathing picked up as she stared into Eli’s eyes, trying to figure out what the hell to say in response. Nothing could hide the fact that Eli’s look was beyond one of friendship or of patronship. That was pure desire.
“Who’s Carmen?” Sarah asked, trying to break up the moment.
“What?” Eli had confusion flash across her face. “Oh! Carmen’s the mom. My cow.”
“You name your cows?” Sarah let out a giggle.
Eli raised a single bushy eyebrow in Sarah’s direction. “Of course I do. Don’t you name your animals?”
“Yeah, but mine are pets.”
“You think I don’t love my cattle?”
Sarah lifted one shoulder then dropped it. “Guess I never thought about it. I’m used to just cow farms.”
“Feed lots.”
“Yeah, those.”
Eli clenched her jaw. “They’re a pro and a con. But I like my cattle. I don’t want to wish them harm.”
“Okay.” Sarah let out a breath. “So what are you naming the calf?”
“Not a clue. Don’t know him yet.”
“Can I see him?”
“Sure.” Eli moved around Sarah, giving her a wide berth, before she stepped down the long row of stalls. Sarah followed, her boots on the dirt inside making a scuffing sound as she went.
When they reached the low wood of the calf’s stall, her heart melted. She leaned against it and grinned broadly at the small creature inside. He was so much smaller than Sarah thought he’d be.
“It’s a bull,” Eli commented as she hung her elbows over the edge of the wood and stared down at the black calf.
“Oh.” Sarah swallowed and bit her lip again as her gaze was locked on Eli’s thick forearms and biceps, which were stretching the fabric of her shirt. She couldn’t quite figure Eli out, if she was butch or femme or what. Her own chest rose and fell, and she skittered her gaze back to the calf when Eli turned to look at her. “So it’s a he.”
“Yes. I’ll keep him until he’s weaned and then take him to auction.”
“You don’t keep them?”
“I keep a couple, but usually I auction the males off.”
“Why?”
Eli raised a brow at her again, and Sarah’s heart gave a patter of excitement. “It’s how I make my money.”
“What do you do with the cows?”
“Breed them for bulls.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Eli swallowed, and Sarah had to erase the thought of wanting to lick up the line of Eli’s neck. But it didn’t work. “Carmen is one of my first-year cows. I thought she’d do better than this. I might try her again next year, but if she does the same, I won’t breed her again.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t be wasting my time taking care of her calves if she’s not going to do it. I don’t breed to take care of them. I breed to sell. If all my time is spent here bottle feeding her calves every year, I lose out elsewhere and potentially miss other babies with complications.”
“I...I didn’t realize how complicated farming is.”