by Marla Monroe
While that was music to her ears, Billy needed to get up. She pushed against his arms without success. Groaning, she gave up and relaxed. It wouldn’t hurt to lie there for another few minutes as long as she didn’t fall asleep again.
“I love the smell of your skin, Billy.” He buried his nose against her neck. “It’s intoxicating.”
She shivered at the touch of his nose there. How could any woman resist when a man talked to her like that? No one had ever said they loved how she smelled. Then again, they’d never taken naps with her before either.
He groaned in her ear. “I guess we better get up before I do something to make you mad,” he said.
She frowned. “Like what?”
“Like ravish you again and again. I could keep you here until Laramie got home to take over while I rested,” he teased.
“Oh.” She couldn’t breathe with that idea in her head.
“Time to get up, sleepyhead. I’m sure there’s something I should be doing right now.” He released her and rolled to the other side of the bed and sat up.
Billy drew in a deep breath to calm her overactive hormones. She had to get hold of herself and think about the meal ahead.
I’ll just pretend he isn’t here. That way I can get dressed without making a mess of myself.
She pushed to her feet and headed for the bathroom. Once the door was firmly closed behind her, Billy blew out a breath and stared at her disheveled appearance in the mirror. Funny, she’d never noticed that she looked all that different after taking a nap in the past. It had to be the fault of the man in the other room. He’d mussed her hair when he’d stuck his face up to her neck.
That thought brought shivers to her body once again. She had to stop thinking about it. Billy Jean had a job to do. With that thought firmly in her head, she washed her face and freshened up before dragging on her uniform once again. When she emerged from the bathroom, Laredo was nowhere to be found. Fighting a pang of disappointment, Billy left her apartment with a smile firmly in place. She hurried down the stairs and walked silently across the hall to the kitchen.
Once again in her domain, Billy Jean relaxed and allowed the familiarity of the kitchen to soothe her as she lost herself in the meal prep for dinner. Everything fell into place perfectly so that when the waitresses appeared she was ready for them with a relaxed smile.
“Evening, ladies.” She nodded as they each picked up dishes and headed toward the dining room door.
By the time the dining room was empty once again, she had everything ready for the next morning’s meal. The waitstaff filled the dishwasher and made sure the tables were all clean and set up again. Many of the guests were sitting in the bar or out on the deck enjoying music and a relaxing drink. Billy figured Laredo and Laramie would be out there mingling with them. It gave her time to slip upstairs before they snagged her. It was all happening much too fast and there was still the issue that she was their employee and her determination to start therapy for her PTSD. Billy Jean needed to think.
* * * *
Laredo almost hit his nose on the door to the kitchen when it didn’t budge under his hand.
“What the?” He fished out his keys and unlocked the door only to find all of the lights off and the room silent as a mausoleum.
Panic bubbled up into his throat that she’d left them. Then reality kneed him in the balls that he was being ridiculous. When had he ever panicked over anything? Hell. He hadn’t even lost it when they’d been under fire out in the open without any cover in sight. He’d just calmly yelled for his men to dig their cover and proceeded to bury himself beneath the sand until backup arrived.
No, Laredo had let Billy, or more accurately, his feelings for Billy overwhelm him. He had to regain control or he would not only scare her off, but lose his self-respect. He did not freak out over anything.
Yeah. I’m one cool cucumber right now. My fucking hands are shaking.
“Where are you going?” Laramie frowned as he walked toward him.
“Evidently Billy has already closed the kitchen down and gone up to her apartment,” was all he said. He wasn’t about to admit that he’d been struggling with the need to chase her down.
Laramie grinned. “Good. We don’t have to finagle our way into her place if she’s already there. We can just show up.”
Laredo reached out and snagged his brother’s arm when he turned and started to walk toward the stairs. They needed to think about this before they barged in on her.
“We need to talk first.”
His brother’s look of disgust actually amused him. Laredo knew his let’s talk speeches had never been anyone’s favorite thing to hear. It didn’t matter though. He realized they were pushing Billy too fast. He was just as much at fault as his brother since he’d invited himself to take a nap with her that morning. Losing valuable work time had been the least of his worries. Losing her because they were being overeager in courting her wasn’t an option.
“Look. It’s obvious since she’s not down here when she normally would be that she went to a lot of trouble to finish up quickly so she could avoid us. That means she’s having second thoughts. If we go up there now, Billy is liable to call a halt to everything right off the bat. I think we need to slow down and think this through. We need a plan of attack,” Laredo said.
“You mean a plan of seduction. We’re not going to war with her. We’re proving to her that we mean business and that she’s worth the extra effort. She’s been against us seeing each other all along because we’re her bosses. The fact that both of us are ganging up on her has to make it even worse. I’m just afraid that if we give her too much time, she’ll build up her defenses again and we’ll be right back where we started.” Laramie crossed his arms, his expression serious.
“I agree, but a few more minutes won’t make that much difference. Come on. I might have figured out what to do. Plus, I want to tell you what Doc told me.” Laredo turned and headed for his office.
As soon as Laramie closed the door, Laredo started talking. His brother was frustrated with him. He could always tell by the way his twin walked. Laramie tended to stiffen all over, and his steps sounded that way on the wooden floor of the hall. Smothering a smile, Laredo outlined what Doc had relayed to him.
“He said hers sounds like chronic PTSD and wondered if she’d ever had any treatment at all for it. I told him I didn’t think she had, but we should ask her,” Laredo said.
“Yeah, I don’t think so either. It sounds like her parents just argued back and forth over what to do. I can’t imagine how she coped all alone with no one to turn to. She probably needed to talk about it,” his brother agreed.
“That’s one of the treatments—talking through it. She could join a support group or see a councilor about her fear. Another treatment has something to do with eye movement. He called it EMDR, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. It sounded like a bunch of crap to me, but he said it works sometimes. Anyway, the one thing he did say was that in some cases, exposure therapy where you expose the person to the memories and events of the trauma over and over helps to reduce the fear response they have over a period of time, but it has to be done in the presence of a trained therapist for safety reasons. He isn’t sure if that is a good choice for her right off the bat though.” Laredo leaned back against the front of the desk as his brother leaned against the closed door.
“I think she needs to talk more about it first. You saw how she was when I brought her back from the barn the other day. I can’t do that again.”
Laredo nodded. “I agree. It was too much, too fast. Doc suggested we get her to agree to go to a counselor and let them handle the progression of her therapy. He said sometimes they need medications to help control the episodes. I’m not sure I like that idea. She seems to do fine as long as she isn’t exposed to horses.”
“No drugs. I’ve seen guys on them and they aren’t themselves.”
“Well, it’s really up to her and the counselor. We’ll just h
ave to see what they suggest.”
Laramie seemed to accept that and relaxed a little more. “What is your plan for wooing our Billy Jean? I don’t want to give her too much time alone up there.”
“First of all, I need to tell you that I took a nap with her this morning,” Laredo admitted.
“And you’re telling me we need to slow down? What the fuck?” Laramie pushed off the door and took a step toward him.
“That’s precisely why I think we need to slow down. I shouldn’t have wheedled myself into intruding on her nap. Nothing happened, but I’m sure that’s part of the reason she’s slipped out ahead of us.”
“No shit.”
Laredo sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve never felt out of control before, but she does that to me. I’m having to take a step back as well. Right now all I want to do is run up those stairs, break down the door if I have to, and drag her back to our house. In my head, she’s already our wife. I love her and every protective and possessive instinct in me says to get her under our roof.”
Laramie cocked his head and seemed to study him for a few seconds. Then he grinned and punched him hard in the shoulder.
“Welcome to the rest of the world, brother. Not used to losing control, are you?” he asked.
Laredo glared at him and rubbed his shoulder. “Fuck you, Stud. At least I know when to pull back and regroup.”
“Yeah, well, what are we going to do?”
“We court her and seduce her into doing what we want, moving in with us, and eventually marrying us.”
Laramie took a step back. Shock was apparent on his face. Laredo frowned. What had his brother thought they were working toward? He’d made it plain to him and Billy that he wasn’t looking for a little sheet dancing and that was all.
“What?” he asked his brother.
“N–nothing. I guess I just hadn’t thought that far ahead. I mean, I’m serious about her, but isn’t talking about marriage right now a little soon?”
“Not to me it isn’t. If you’re not in this with the idea of it being permanent, you need to back out now, Laramie. She isn’t someone you can play with and walk away from. She matters.” Laredo couldn’t believe his brother didn’t feel the same way he did. Hell, Laramie had been ready to fight over her in the beginning.
“You’re right. She doesn’t deserve to be jerked around. I’m serious and want her as our wife. I was just shocked to hear you talking like that right off the bat.”
“Yeah, well, I told you that she’s different. I want her and plan to make sure she knows that she’s important to me, to us. That means being honest about our intentions right from the start. That should take the wind out of her sails concerning the boss-employee issue.” Laredo grinned at his brother.
“I hope you’re right because that seems to be the real sticking point with her.” Laramie rubbed his hands together. “Now can we go see her? I want a kiss.”
Laramie laughed. “You’re as excited as you were as a kid on Christmas morning.”
“Yeah, well, considering the present we’ve got waiting on us to unwrap, aren’t you?”
He nodded his head and reached for the door. That thought reminded him of their parents and a niggling worry about how they would react to their plans began to take root in his gut.
Chapter Fifteen
Saturday dawned with a final breakfast send off as everyone would be leaving for the airport by noon. The first week of having guests on the ranch had worked out well with very few surprises or problems. Billy Jean knew that Laramie and Laredo were relieved. The next group would arrive Sunday afternoon starting around three. She planned to use the time after lunch to plan the first breakfast outing for the next group. They’d decided to have it on Friday morning.
She’d managed to talk them into starting out with one outside meal and see what kinds of challenges they faced before they planned on a dinner outing. Breakfast would be simple really, bacon, breakfast wraps, and fresh fruit. It would take little extra work for her but relied heavily on the men getting things moved for her.
Now as she watched the inaugural guests eating and making plans to return or keep in touch with people they’d met while staying there, Billy realized how much she had enjoyed cooking for them at the ranch. She’d fully expected to hate it and be bored, but to her surprise, the challenge of coming up with authentic-tasting western food that showcased the local meats and vegetables had be fun and a great learning experience.
“I think everyone is really pleased with their stay,” Shakespeare said as he stepped up next to her. “I’ve heard nothing but compliments.”
“Me, too. The big test will be the surveys we get back and the reviews they post on Ranchweb.” Shelby spoke up from behind them.
Billy looked over her shoulder at the other woman. She looked as if she’d lost weight and wasn’t sleeping. What was going on with her?
“You’re right, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about,” Shakespeare said.
“I’ll see if any of them want to reserve another week when they come by the office to check out.” Shelby leaned against the wall next to the door. “I sure hope at least one of them wants to book another week. It will make everyone feel a lot better.”
“Are you feeling okay, Shelby?” She asked when Shakespeare walked off a few minutes later.
She looked startled and frowned. “I’m fine. Do I look bad?”
“No. I mean that you look tired. I just wondered if you were getting enough rest. That’s all.” Billy Jean really didn’t want the other woman to think it was that obvious.
“I’m fine. I just have a bit of a headache. I think I’ll go take something for it now.”
She watched Shelby walk back toward the hall where her office was. She hoped the woman was really okay. She hadn’t spent much time with her but liked her just the same.
“How are you doing?” Laramie walked up to stand next to her, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Great. I think your guest ranch is a success. Congratulations,” she said with a smile.
“You have a lot to do with it. They love your food. It’s mentioned a lot when we ask how they like everything,” he said.
“I’ve enjoyed it. Oh, lunch will be do-it-yourself sandwiches. I’ll put out all the fixings and everyone can build their own.”
“Sounds good. You deserve some time off. Did Laredo tell you he had a few résumés for you to look over?” Laramie asked.
“Résumés? For what?” Worry eased up her spine.
“We’re going to go ahead and find someone to help you. You need the help, and that way you can have some time off. We didn’t realize how much time it would take to prepare meals for the guests when we started out.”
“Oh. That will be nice, but I can handle it for a while longer.” She liked the idea of help and helping to choose them, but didn’t want them to take on another salary if they weren’t prepared for it yet.
“It will probably be a few weeks before anyone starts once you decide on who to hire, anyway. I’ve got to run. We’re moving some horses this afternoon, so I need to help load people up for the trip to the airport this morning. If I don’t see you at lunch, have a good day, sweetness.” He squeezed her shoulder and loped off.
Billy Jean had begun to relax around the two men over the last few days. They’d backed off a little, giving her room to breathe. They’d made it clear that they weren’t backing away from the relationship at all, just allowing her time to get used to them. Each day they had taken turns spending a little time with her then both of them would visit with her at night before they left to go home. She could honestly say that she was beginning to get more than a little frustrated by the constant touching and stolen kisses. She wanted to make love with them again.
She still needed to talk to them about her decision to see a therapist. The fact that they were talking about hiring someone to help in the kitchen gave her a little breathing room about what to do about taking the time off to go. First s
he needed to approach them with her plan. She just never seemed to be able to broach the subject though.
By the time she had breakfast behind her with all of the dishes washing in the dishwasher and the ingredients for sandwiches ready to be put out, Billy Jean was ready for a break. The deck offered a great place to relax and unwind. She poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a brownie she’d made for lunch, taking a cookbook with her. She’d been flipping through the book for about twenty minutes when a shadow blocked the sun that had been shining over her. She looked up and squinted to find Laredo looking down at her.
“Hey there,” she said.
“Hey yourself. Mind if I join you? I brought my own coffee,” he said.
She scooted over on the bench to make room for him as an answer. When he’d plopped down, setting his cup on the table, she saw that he had a pile of papers in his hands as well. She couldn’t help but be curious over what they were for.
“I think the week went well for our first one. What do you think?” Laredo asked.
“I agree. Everyone sounded happy and I never heard anything bad the entire time they were here.”
“Good, good.” He indicated the small stack of papers he’d laid down. “I brought you some résumés I received to look over. I thought you might want to start looking for a helper. If no one in there suits you, we’ll advertise again. I hope you find someone soon though. You’re working too hard.”
She lifted her brows at that. “Look who’s calling the kettle black. You’re in your office when I start breakfast and you don’t stop till after I’m finished each night.”
He just waved it away, frowning. “It’s paperwork mostly. You’re on your feet all day and moving heavy bags and cans of food. You need some help.”
She smiled and squeezed his hand before pulling hers away quickly. “Thanks. I’ll look through them and see if any of them strike me as a good fit for the ranch.”
She picked up the papers and absently looked through them while sipping her coffee. Offhand, she saw two that looked promising. She looked up to find Laredo watching her, a serious expression on his face.