by Raeann Blake
“That must have been some night,” she said as she laughed quietly. She looked around her again and then shook her head. She thought it might be better to just leave everything alone. She glanced around quickly and caught sight of the glass they had left on the porch railing. She frowned at it then looked back at the clothes again. The slight worry that they might not want her to know or that one or both of them might be embarrassed caused her to leave it where it was. That way they would never know she’d even seen anything.
Clay’s eyes opened slowly then blinked a few times as the smile spread across his face when he found her watching him steadily.
“Good morning,” he whispered.
“Good morning. I like watching you sleep. You look like a little boy,” Hailey said softly as she smiled up at him.
“Huh. Is that good?”
“That’s very good. Clay, how did we wind up turned the wrong way on the bed?”
Clay frowned and lifted his head to look around them then laughed. “Damned if I know. I don’t care which way we’re turned as long as you’re against me,” he said then pulled her tighter to him.
“Hmmm. You know…we haven’t tried the shower,” Hailey said coyly.
“No, ma’am. We should, don’t you think? By the way…what exactly are you planning on wearing today?”
Hailey leaned her head back and looked up at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
He couldn’t help the smile spreading but he did manage to keep from laughing. “Well…sugar, you don’t have any clothes except your jeans. The rest are out there somewhere,” he said as he motioned to the door.
“Oh, damn. How am I gonna…how do I get from here to…oh, damn,” she muttered.
Clay finally had to laugh and then nuzzled his lips against her neck. “Don’t worry, sugar. I think your bra is just outside the door somewhere. And you can wear one of my shirts. Now if I could just remember exactly where we left my belt we’d be in business.”
Hailey suddenly sat straight up in the bed and frowned at the door. “It’s Friday. Payroll. I have to go get the checks and call in the orders.”
Clay pulled her back down against him then let his hand slide behind her neck. “They don’t get their checks until lunch time. And you’ve got all day to take care of the supplies. Come on. Let’s check out that shower.”
Hailey couldn’t help smiling back at the wide smile on his face. Everything between them had settled into a place she could only describe as perfect. And she wasn’t about to let anything spoil it. After a shower that turned out to be long enough for the water to turn cold, Clay went out to find his belt and the rest of their clothes while she was drying her hair. When he came back through the door, she already had on one of his shirts and his steps slowed as he let his eyes drift down then back up to meet hers.
“Damn that’s sexy. Sugar, wear that today. Don’t change. Okay?” he asked quietly as he reached her and let his hands settle around her waist then grinned at the way that showed just how much too big the shirt was for her.
They were laughing as they went down the stairs together. Hailey went to change jeans and get the payroll checks and Clay started to the kitchen.
“Well, it’s about damn time. I thought I was gonna have to come up there and roll you out of that bed,” Laine said lowly. The amusement in his eyes didn’t go with the tone of his voice.
In a quick role reversal, Clay smiled broadly at him and said, “I’m fine, thank you. It’s nice of you to ask. And how are you this fine morning?”
Isobell and Laine both burst out laughing and Clay stopped long enough to give Isobell a kiss on the cheek then poured two cups of coffee.
“And where is our favorite business manager?”
“Getting the payroll checks. She’ll be right here,” Clay answered and carried both cups to the bar and settled on a stool right beside Laine.
“Made up your mind yet?”
“About?”
“Moving in.”
Laine pursed his lips for a couple of seconds then turned to him with a wicked grin. “And exactly where would your clothes have been this morning if we had already moved in here?”
Clay nearly strangled on the sip of coffee then had to clear his throat. “Ummm…probably right where they were. And that’s okay. You would have been asleep by then anyway.”
When Laine and Isobell both laughed again Clay couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath when just thinking about the way they had undressed each other on their way upstairs aroused him.
“Uh-huh…oh, hey. Good morning….” Laine stopped in mid-sentence as he did a double-take on the shirt she was wearing and bit his lip to keep from letting out the grunt that was rattling around in his chest. He didn’t care whose shirt it was, there was absolutely nothing on earth sexier than a woman in a man’s shirt.
“Hailey,” Clay prompted.
“Oh, shut the hell up. Good morning, Hailey,” Laine said then had to grin sheepishly. Hailey might not know what had gone through his mind, but he had absolutely no doubt that Clay did. Especially not after he saw him cut a glance over to him with a slick smile and open his mouth before Laine cut him off.
“Don’t you dare,” he muttered under his breath but then had to laugh when Clay burst out laughing at the confused frown on both women’s faces.
“Ah, payroll checks,” Laine said quickly. “Now aren’t you glad we got your information in the computer yesterday?”
“Absolutely. And good morning to you. Isobell, that smells fabulous and I’m starving,” Hailey said as she slid onto a stool.
“Sit right down. It’s ready. Oh, I added a few things to the supply list this morning. I’m craving some cinnamon coffee cake. I thought I’d make one this afternoon,” Isobell said as she started setting food on the bar.
“Coffee cake?” Hailey whispered.
“Yeah. Haven’t you ever had any coffee cake?”
“Once. It was soooo good. You know how to make a coffee cake?” she breathed. Her voice was so reverent that every one of them burst out laughing.
“Who would have guessed that you would like something with the word ‘coffee’ in the name?” Laine teased.
“Oh, but it was the best thing….” She stopped and cut one glance at Clay then looked down with a little smile and went on. “…food I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
There was complete silence for about five seconds until Clay ran a hand down his face to try to hide the embarrassed smile and muttered, “Good God, Hailey. Isobell, where are the biscuits? Give her one.”
Laine couldn’t stand it anymore and slapped his hand on the bar as he threw his head back and roared. Clay had a steady gaze locked on her with a wide smile that she would have seen if she’d lifted her eyes and the blush on her face was priceless. Even Isobell was laughing even though you could tell she was trying not to.
Hailey finally lifted her head. Her face was innocent, but her eyes were alive with laughter. “What? What’d I say?” she asked innocently then started laughing herself when Clay rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Eat your breakfast. Laine, I’m goin’ into town with her today. Wanna come with us?”
Laine grinned broadly at Hailey when he changed the subject so quickly but nodded. “Sure, I’ll go. I don’t need anything, but I’ll go with you.”
“Neither do I. I’m just going for the hell of it,” Clay said easily. He wouldn’t tell her that he was going because he didn’t want her going alone. That voice was back now. He didn’t believe it anymore, but it was back. Whether they were planned or not, he didn’t like that every time she went into town she seemed to run into Yates. If it was planned, his witnessing a confrontation between them might be just what they had in mind. If it wasn’t, he didn’t want her there alone.
“Hey, two strong backs. That’ll work,” Hailey said then smiled at them both. “Are you sure you both have time? I’ve got three of those bills you signed this week to deliver, five to mail, two supply sto
ps and I’m taking a complete list of everything that’s been ordered for the past year to each one to go over it with them and see what they can do for us. Oh, and I need to go to the bank to cash my check and open an account.”
Clay shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t have anything else pressing. Laine?”
“Neither do I. Now that you mention it, a stop at the bank would keep me from having to go back in later. Clay, I meant to ask you after we finished the payroll yesterday but I forgot. Did you want me to keep signing the payroll checks or do you want Charlie to take over that?”
Clay shook his head immediately. “No. I want you to sign them. While we’re at the bank, we’ll go ahead and get Hailey set up to sign checks, but I don’t want anybody else signing checks.”
Hailey’s head lifted slowly in surprise as she looked at him then to Laine and back to Clay again. “Clay, I didn’t mean…I mean I wasn’t suggesting…just because we’re going by the bank…”
“Stop talking, Hailey. I’ve already decided. You can sign them but I still want to go over the bills with you. Besides, you never know when I’ll be able to talk Laine and Shack into going out to spend those few nights with the herd. Who would sign checks if an emergency came up? It’s time. Eat your breakfast,” he said as he held her gaze steadily. He hoped his face conveyed a confidence in her even though he still had a few twinges of doubt inside of him. He would keep an eye on it this time. He wouldn’t let it rock on for so long the way he did with Pepper.
She hesitated for a few seconds then said, “Okay. Your bank has online access. We should get you set up with that while we’re there. Then you should sit down with me this afternoon and learn how to get in there and monitor what’s going through the account.”
Clay leaned back in his chair and studied her for several seconds. “Are you saying I shouldn’t be trusting you to sign checks, Hailey?”
“What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t just hand the keys to the kingdom to anybody without a spare set…not even me.”
Clay thought for a few seconds then nodded slightly. “Okay. You can show me when we get back.”
“That sounds smart. Did you know they had online access?” Laine asked. That slight euphoria that had floated around the two of them had dimmed a little and that worried him.
Clay shook his head. “No. I guess I should have. Damn shame I didn’t know that when Pepper was here.”
“I seriously doubt that Pepper knew it. Judging by some of the chat room logs, she’d never paid a bill…” She trailed off and dropped her eyes down to her plate. The silence in the room was deafening.
“She never paid a bill…what? What chat room logs?” Clay asked quietly.
“Just…um…she, uh…she just used to the computer to chat with some of her friends, that’s all,” Hailey tried.
“Clay, let’s talk about that trip out to the herd,” Laine jumped in.
“Later. What is it you don’t want to tell me, Hailey?” Clay snapped.
Hailey sighed and finally lifted her eyes to his. “She’d never had a job like this. She never intended to pay the bills. The ones she paid were ones that she thought you might catch right away if she didn’t, like the electric and the phone. She’d never paid a bill before in her life. She was only here to get you in bed, she didn’t care what happened to you or this ranch before or after that as long as she got what she wanted. That’s all. I can show you the files if you want.”
Clay clenched and unclenched his jaw several times. “And you’ve known this how long? Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
“Since the first day I was here. I didn’t tell you because…I knew it would upset you. And there was really no point.”
The silence dragged on for several minutes until Clay finally spoke quietly. “And because you knew if I found out that I’d think twice about giving you the checkbook. You thought I’d wonder if I was making the same mistake twice.”
Hailey shrugged her shoulders slightly without looking up at him.
“He knows you’re not like her, Hailey. Right, Clay?” Laine asked as he turned a steady gaze to Clay then let out just the slightest breath of relief when Clay didn’t hesitate to answer him softly.
“I do know that. Pepper didn’t belong here, Hailey. You do. Please eat your breakfast. If there’s one thing I know about Isobell it’s that if you don’t eat your meals, she won’t give you any dessert. You’re not gonna miss coffee cake, are you?” He couldn’t help letting the smile pull up the corners of his mouth when he heard just the slightest surprised chuckle escape her lips and she lifted a steady gaze to him then over to Isobell.
“He’s right. If you don’t eat…no dessert. That’s the rules,” Isobell said sweetly then laughed with the men when Hailey immediately stuck a piece of bacon in her mouth.
Chapter Twenty-four
“Be right back,” Hailey said as she slid out of the truck and started for the post office after Clay had stepped out to let her out on his side.
“Damn that shirt,” Laine muttered under his breath just as Clay got back inside then grinned and shook his head when he started laughing.
“I wondered how long you were gonna hold that in. Is that not the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“I’ll say. I gotta tell you, that day that I came in with her she went to this little store to buy a new top. One of them that she tried on but didn’t buy was…son…it was this white thing with no back and not much front. But even that doesn’t compare to your shirt.”
Clay shot him a mock glare then started laughing again as he turned back to the front then swore softly.
“I’ll be goddamned. Let’s go,” he muttered then shoved out of the truck and started for the post office when they saw Yates walking down the sidewalk. Hailey came out the door just as the three men met right in front of it and she quickly stepped between them.
“Let’s go, guys. I’m all done,” she said quickly and grabbed both men’s arms and turned them around to start for the truck.
“Cardell. Could I have minute of your time?”
Clay’s steps slowed and then stopped as he set his jaw and turned back to face him.
“That depends on what you want, Yates. If it’s about our business purchases, you need to talk to Hailey,” he said coolly.
“Well, I would, but she doesn’t seem to be open to any suggestions that I make,” Yates said as he cut a glance to Hailey then looked right back to Clay.
“I’ve heard some of your suggestions. I can’t say that I blame her. You’ve got no right to talk to her that way,” Clay growled.
“She must have misunderstood what I was suggesting. I assure you I said nothing out of line. If she misunderstood them, then I apologize.”
“Do you have any idea how rude it is to pretend I’m not standing right here, Mr. Yates? What exactly is on your mind?” Hailey said evenly.
“I prefer to deal with Cardell.”
“Tough. If this is about business, you talk to me. Spit it out. I don’t have time to waste on you,” Hailey snapped.
“Cardell, you’re gonna let this…girl…run that ranch right into the ground just because she’s good in the sack. Your daddy would be rolling in his grave if he knew what she was doing. The day will come that you’re gonna wish that you had that credit line back, but I can’t hold open a credit line for a somebody who doesn’t give me their business. You’re making a big mistake trusting her. I’ve been carryin’ your account all these years. Clayton would be ashamed that you let some little tart come in and treat your friends this way.”
Clay flexed his jaw and cut his eyes at Hailey. He could see her biting her tongue as she looked up at him and he shrugged his shoulders and motioned with his hand for her to go ahead. She didn’t even take a breath first.
“In the first place, from what I’ve heard about Clayton Cardell, anything I do that would offend him is just bound to be a good thing. In the second place, with friends like you, he doesn’t need any enemies
. Friends don’t cheat their friends and then refuse to make it right. He paid you in cash. If you were an honorable man you’d repay him the same way. But since you don’t seem inclined to do that, it’s my job to make sure that you don’t get the opportunity to cheat him again. And if the day comes that we wish we had a credit line, then we’ll deal with that the best way we can. But you can be damn sure we won’t come to you. And by God, I hope he is rolling over in his grave because he’s the last person alive or dead that deserves any rest,” Hailey snapped angrily.