“They’ll miss me too much.” He chuckled out and she shook her head in denial as she smiled out.
“We’ll start with lunch today.” She pointed out as she leaned onto the fence, facing him while he faced the herd. “We’ll get ingredients on the way back. I’ll just instruct you on what to do. Shouldn’t be so hard.”
“Don’t you have something better to do?” he rolled his eyes at her and she grinned out.
“You’re not running away from this one.” She said as she got closer enough to him, getting him to cringe at her nasty smirk. “You will learn how to cook whether you like it or not.”
“Fine.” He smiled as he turned his gaze back to the herd. “I would love to have some beef in the lunch though.”
“I’ve noticed you are a fan of meat.” She nodded as she turned to face the herd as well.
“A man needs protein to get things done.” He sighed out as she glanced up at him with a suppressed laugh. “What?”
“What on earth have you been doing so far?” she asked with a small laugh. “You don’t need so much protein when you aren’t doing anything. Idiot.”
“Well I help out. I carried the wheelbarrow, didn’t I?”
“That’s just a small hustle.” She rolled her eyes and he smirked at her.
“Fine, I’ll go help feed the cows then, is that better?” he asked as she glanced at the man already feeding the cows.
“No, you just toss the food into the feeder and you’re done.” She shrugged her shoulders as she clicked her tongue.
“Fine, give me something hard. Anything and I’ll do it easy.” He challenged her and she grinned at him.
“Nicolas!” she called, waving at him and instantly grabbing his attention. “We’re helping out in the field, anything we can do!?”
Nicolas stared at them, completely taken aback at how much help be was being given that day, almost as though it was a miracle that Penelope decided to actually help out in the field. She helped out in small tasks, since she wasn’t strong enough for the bigger tasks like hoeing and chasing an entire herd of cattle back into the barn.
“Uh… we harvested a while back so we need to weed and loosen the ground to use later.” He said and Penelope nodded before turning to Ace.
“That’s your task.” She said as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the shed by the barn. “Weed and loosen the ground, that’s it.”
“Fine. Easy.” He smirked back at her as they stepped into the shed. He reached over to the hoe and shovel while Penelope grabbed the rake before stepping out and towards the barn gate.
“We’ll be back soon!” Penelope yelled for Nicolas to hear.
“Keys are just on the lock!” he yelled back as he waved at her, getting her to wave back.
“He seems glad.” Ace rolled his eyes as Penelope unlocked the gate and opened it.
“He just has to be. His son used to help him out but he left the pack for his mate.” She said as she closed the gate once they stepped out. “He’s getting old too, I’ll have to tell Hope to find someone who can help him in the barn.”
“He does the planting and feeding alone?” Ace asked in shock and she shook her head in denial.
“He only does the feeding and the loosening ground stuff. The women plant the crops and they both look after it. The women also help take care of the animals if they are sick, pregnant or need to go out grazing. The men butcher the animals if they had to die…”
“Oh.” Was all he said as he nodded and stared at the field that wasn’t too far from the barn. “You have to be kidding me….” He sighed at the size of the field and heavily covered with weeds.
“I thought you ate enough protein the other days?” she asked with w devilish smirk as she stared at him.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to do it.” He rolled his eyes and dropped the tools to the ground before pulling his shirt off and exposing his tight body underneath.
Penelope’s eyes slowly traced over his pressed tight chest and down to his visible abs. there was no doubt in mind as to what he was using the protein for. He had been exercising.
“Oh, so that’s where the protein went.” Penelope nodded as he glanced down at her and smirked when he noticed her staring in shock.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he smirked as he wiggled his brows at her, getting her to laugh out.
“Actually no. when you’re wearing a shirt your muscles aren’t that defined. Of course your arms are a bit bulky, but not the kind that that look like you’re having trouble putting your hands down.”
“That’s not what I’m planning on getting anyway.” He rolled his eyes as she laughed a bit before he grabbed the hoe. “Now let me show you what a man looks like. Not your sorry excuse of a beta.”
“Oh, then let me grab a seat in in the shade under the tree over there, while you sizzle and tan from the Sun.” she winked as she dropped the rake and skipped to the spot she mentioned. He rolled his eyes with a smirk and charged to the field with all his energy.
She sighed out as she sat onto the grass beneath the tree, watching as he began to forcefully dig the hoe right into the ground, taking the weeds right out with their roots still intact. A small laugh escaped her lips as she leaned back into the tree, admiring his enthusiasm to prove her wrong.
“Be careful not to break a neck, okay?” she chuckled out as he grinned at her with a challenging glance.
“Be careful not to burn your eyes.” He said, getting her to furrow her brows in confusion.
“Why would my eyes burn out from relaxing?” She asked with a chuckle to which he shook his head to in denial.
“Not from relaxing.” He smirked. “From how attractive I look without a shirt on and sweat smeared all over my body.”
“Why would I think that’s attractive?” she laughed out, getting him to roll his eyes as he continued his work. “Keep working hotshot.” She said sarcastically as she leaned further down the tree to find the perfect position to doze off.