“You are no help at all.” She huffed “and I’m not doing anything further if you’re not going to take this seriously.”
“Fine, what’s first?” he sat back heavily in his chair, settling in for what promised to be torture.
“Since this is a ranch, it would be fair to ask how physically hearty you want her to be. Do you like delicate women or rough riders?” She sat poised with a notepad on her lap and a pen in hand.
“I like feminine women but she can’t be so delicate that she’ll wilt if she sees horseshit or blood.” He watched as Lily grimaced over his answer.
“Feminine but earthy. Check. How important is fidelity, can she be a flirter, or will you care if she has other lovers?”
He sat back upright again “Absolute fidelity, I don’t share what belongs to me.” His voice was rough at the thought of his woman going to some other man. Lily was the only person he felt propriety towards but imagined it would be same with any woman he married. Lily swallowed at the feral look in his eye and shivered. What wouldn’t she do to have him feel like that about her?
“Big yes to fidelity.”
“Sense of humor?”
“Yes”
“Age?”
“Between twenty-three and thirty-two.”
“I already know you want children; how soon and how many?”
“As soon as possible and at least four.”
“At least four? That’s a bit much to ask isn’t it?”
“This house has always been too quiet; we need the pitter patter of little feet around here. It will give Bella and my mom something to do, they have been bugging the hell outta me about kids.”
“Brood mare. Check.” She scribbled in her notebook.
“Lily” he drawled with a warning.
“Sorry. Do you expect her to be a housewife or will it be ok if she had a job outside the home.” Jared wasn’t sexist, but his life did require someone to be the host of quite a numbers of parties and business dinners.
“I would prefer that she was well spoken and educated, but working outside the home is her decision.” She was impressed by his sentiment. “I can always hire someone to help with the kids and I’ll have you to handle being hostess.”
“Um Jared, I have to talk to you about…” He cut her off and her nerves plummeted, she wiped her damp palms on the fabric of her chair.
“Before I forget, I wanted to thank you again for helping me with this Lily. I could not do it without you. Remind me to give you a huge bonus this year.” He winked at her and blew her a kiss.
“Of course boss and finally, the part you have been waiting for; what are you physical preferences, besides big boobs that is?”
“I’ll leave that to you, I don’t want my past choices to influence this, but regardless of what they look like, I want someone that likes sex.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sex, lovemaking, fucking, however you want to call it. I love sex and I don’t want to end up with a woman who considers it a duty to make love to her husband.” Lily felt her lower body jerk as he said each word. Heat and wetness pooled in her pussy at the imagery they triggered.
“I heard you the first time; I’m just surprised you mentioned it. I thought this was the one area that you were going to handle for yourself.” She had to clear the huskiness from her throat. “I guess that means you don’t want a virgin, huh?” She forced a grin as she waited for an answer.
“Hell no, I don’t need to hear about her past, but the raunchier the better. So if you come across any little innocent just send her on her way.” Lily’s heart dropped, she most definitely was a virgin. No amount of bluffing or faking could cover up her woeful lack of experience. Ironically, Jared was the major cause of her sexual status and not it was that very status that pushed her soundly out of the race. It was a good thing she was leaving; she would never survive seeing Jared build a life with another woman.
“Ok then I think I have I need for now.” She capped her pen and picked up her folder, ready to head back to her own office.
“Well you certainly have this thought through, but may I ask what you will be doing while this is going on.”
“Moi?” she asked with a grin “Since you’ll be Prince Charming I guess I’ll be doing duty as a fairy godmother.”
Chapter Four
Lily stepped through the door that connected her office to Jared’s. She had spent a busy morning writing invitations that was carefully worded so as not to insult any of the ladies but made them feel like they were the first one that was thought of in the process. She had also been working on the second half of her problem, namely finding a place to live. She had an appointment with Mr. Baxter; he had an advertisement in the local paper for an apartment for rent on a month-by-month basis. She would live there until she found another job, and depending on where the job was, then a more permanent living arrangement.
“Jared?” she called out.
“I’m right here woman, there’s no need to shout. What do you want?”
“I want a gorgeous man to fall at my feet in adoration and promise to be my devoted servant for all eternity, but what I need is to leave a little early today. I have some errands to run.” She wasn’t asking him, she was just letting him know incase he went looking for her.
“And I need to borrow your truck, I walked over this morning and I need to go into town.” She held out her hand and waited expectantly.
“I’ll go with you; I’m tired of staring at this financial ledger and could use a break anyway.” He started to get up but sat down again when she shook her head.
“No that’s Ok,” She said hurriedly. “I want to go by myself. It’s a private matter.” Again she held out her hand. She knew she would have to tell Jared sooner or later but was counting on it being later. He came around the desk to tower over her, eyes fierce and more than a little intimidating.
“Let me get this straight, you have something private that you want to do alone, in town and in the middle of the afternoon. Something you don’t want me to know about. You probably won’t get to leave this house again if you don’t tell me right now what the hell is going on” His voice had gotten increasingly louder until he was shouting.
“Calm down Jared. For god sake’s, it’s not like I’m having an affair, I’m just going to look at an apartment.” She said it matter of factly but her heart raced and she was mentally crossing her fingers that Jared would just let her go without an argument. No such luck for her as he continued.
“An apartment for who?” he asked shortly.
“For me of course, I’ll need a place to live once you get married Jared.” He looked at her blankly, so she continued. “I called Mr. Baxter and set up an appointment to take a look at an apartment at two thirty this afternoon so I really have to get going. Keys please.” She held out her hand yet again. He took a step back as she explained and scoffed at her.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you don’t need an apartment. You live here, you’ve always lived here, and there’s absolutely no reason it won’t continue to be your home. Why in the hell do you think I would let you leave your home Lily?” he looked puzzled. By now he was leaning on his desk and this time it was she that moved to stand in front of him.
“You really hadn’t thought about this part have you? I can’t continue to live here once you get married. No woman would allow it, and she shouldn’t have to put up with a strange woman living on property. When you get married, our relationship has to change.” She tried to talk to him with a reasonable tone.
“We’ll think of something when that time comes, but you can forget about leaving. I won’t have it.” He refused her flatly. She was irritated at his blunt refusal, especially because he didn’t have a right to refuse her.
”Not because you say no makes it so Jared. I’ll just walk home and then take my car.” She spun got up and left hurriedly, slamming the door on her way out. Jared Maguire was not the only one with a temper. The extra time it took for her to retrieve her own car mad
e her fifteen minutes late for the appointment.
“Mr. Baxter how nice to see you again, I’m sorry I was so late, I had a little bit of car trouble on my way here.” She shook his hand and gave him a smile that was both apologetic and warm. Lucien Baxter was a friendly, timid little man that was best known for his clip on bow ties and awful checkered polyester jackets. His comb-over was a classic effort at covering his rapidly balding head.
“No problem Lily, but I’m afraid that I’m the one that has wasted your time. The apartment is no longer available. It was taken just a little while ago and it was an offer I just couldn’t refuse.” He gave her a nervous little smile.
Lily became suspicious, that apartment had sat un-rented for at least two months and now there was somebody so interested in it that Mr. Baxter would break his word about giving her first refusal. What she was thinking was so ludicrous, she felt silly even asking.
“Did Jared call here and tell you not to rent to me Mr. Baxter?”
A guilty flush colored his face and he refused to meet her eyes as he responded.
“Well he didn’t really say that exactly” the little man stuttered.
“Well exactly what did he say? She looked ready to explode.
“He just let me know that he would appreciate if I found another tenant that would be more suitable for the apartment. I’m sorry Lily but Jared carries a lot of weight in this town and he was in the mood to throw some of it around. I don’t know if you’ll find anyone willing to rent to you around here.”
“Thanks for letting me know Lucien, it’s not your fault. I’ll see you around.” She shook his hand again and sat in her car for the next ten minutes trying to calm down and resisting the urge to go back to the big house and simply kill Jared. After her nerves settled she drove home and got on the Internet. Jared may be able to manipulate the local townspeople but his arms couldn’t reach everywhere. Maybe it was time to strike out on her own and Jared’s upcoming nuptial was the kick in the pants she needed.
Chapter Five
Three days later Lily was still not taking to Jared. She continued to show up to the main house and work on "The Plan" but never gave him so much as a passing glance. He in turn never apologized for what he did and periodically tried to talk to her as thought he didn’t know he had done anything wrong. It was very frustrating.
"How much longer are you going to be mad at me sweetheart?" Jared had come into her office and perched himself on the corner of her desk. She had been searching through a desk draw and slammed it shut as a response to his question.
"Two days was the longest you’ve ever been mad at me and that when I told Fat Fred Farnby that you had a crush on him when you were in the sixth grade. Looks like you’re going for a record huh?" She started to get up to leave but he grabbed her hand and tugged her easily over to stand in front of him. He was the most domineering man. She always thought he was just bossy, but this extended far beyond. He had become so used to controlling every aspect of her life that neither one of them noticed just how controlled her.
"I can’t deal with you being mad at me honey. Can you just punch me in the eye so we can get back to normal?" His hands were sitting on her hips and he jiggled her back and forth as though giving her a physical start.
"That won’t work this time Jared and you probably wouldn’t feel it anyway. How could you do that to me? You can’t control my life, I am an adult and have every right to live where I want or even with whomever I wanted." She looked him fiercely in the eye, which was about level with him sitting down.
This was the second time in the past few days that he was made to think of her with a man in sexual terms and he found that he didn’t care for it at all. He looked into her bright green eyes and his heart lurched in his chest once, but painfully heavy as though waking from a deep slumber. He drew her closer and settled his mouth firmly over hers for a second. He wasn’t aware of doing it and she was too stunned to respond.
“Open your mouth.” She parted her lips slightly to allow deeper contact, following the tone of his voice more than his words.
His hands on her hips tightened as he ran his tongue along her full lower lip and slipped past the seam, stroking her tongue and licking at the heat he found there.
“Kiss me back Lily” he demanded.
She responded to his drugged kiss in amazement and in just a few minutes her body had leaned forward and was resting completely on Jared’s as her hands slipped up his arms to cross at his neck. Jared took advantage of her weakness and pressed her along his body with his left hand and cupped her head with his right, keeping it in place for his unforgiving mouth. His kiss became hard and bruising, returning again and again to bite and lick at her lips.
Lily rubbed unconsciously against the erection she was leaned against and Jared groaned at the rhythmic contact. A broom fell in the corridor outside the closed office door and rudely interrupted the oblivious pair. Lily stepped back quickly and put a hand up to her gasping mouth and almost moaned aloud as the exquisitely sensitive nub of her clit rubbed against the seam of her slacks, she could feel the wetness pouring out of her pussy to saturate her panties. Jared stared at her with eyes that were bright with the fever of desire, his chest heaving heavily.
“I wish I could say I was sorry about that, but I’m not sure exactly what in the hell just happen." Jared’s voice was husky and he licked his lips, trying to capture the remaining taste of her.
"We’ve been friends for a long time and it was probably curiosity, you’re going to be a married man soon after all." She was reaching for an explanation wildly but couldn’t really hear her words past the pounding in her ears. Jared had gotten up and was pacing the floor restlessly.
"Curiosity be damned, I think my head’s about to explode. I know I didn’t feel that alone. Maybe it was just the shock of kissing each other that caused it and maybe if we tried it again we would fine that it was nothing" he was reaching for her as he finished talking. She did a quick side step.
"Oh no you don’t. Let’s just pretend that we did and nothing happened and we’ll just laugh it off as a wacky thing to add to the list of things to tell the grandchildren. I’ll just go have lunch and when I come back in an hour, this would never have happened." She grabbed her purse and headed out the door without giving him a chance to reply, making sure she stepped a wide path around him.
Jared watched her hurry out the door and licked his lips again. The taste of her was still there. The smell of vanilla that he had always associated with homecoming finally registered in his brain that the smell was actually of her. Lily might be inexperienced enough to think that the kiss was something she could ignore or the response an ordinary one but Jared was no such novice. Jared had fucked more than his fair share of women but no one had ever sent him soaring so high or gotten him so hard as fast as Lily had in those few moments. He stood in the middle of the office space with an immense hard-on, his cock so hard that it was painful. He felt like the erection might never subside and grinned through his arousal. Whether she came back in an hour or the next day, the experience was not something he was likely to forget and it would definitely happen again.
Chapter 6
Lily spent the rest of the week avoiding Jared, it wasn’t hard to do. She was a genius when it came to manipulating events and schedules. Planning a woman hunt and a weeklong party was a very time consuming job. There had been invitations to extend, accommodations to arrange, the entertainment to book, food to cater and a schedule to juggle. Like the smart man he was, Jared left the details to her good judgment, trusting her implicitly. The last detail was the hardest. Getting one man to spend an equal amount of time with twenty women without the ladies becoming overly competitive or involved with each other had taken every ounce of organizational skills she possessed. All but two of the women had already returned the invitations with a resounding yes.
She was aware that Jared was an eligible bachelor but the quickly returned responses also indicated how aware all th
ese women were, that he was also a very desirable man. She had been made all too aware of that just last week; her mind strayed to that heated kiss time and time again. The moment was burned into her brain, branding her with a memory she should not have gotten.
The twenty women or rather eighteen so far were due to start arriving tomorrow evening and it suddenly occurred to Lily that she was to play hostess to the woman who would one day be Jared’s wife; it also occurred to her that she looked like the stereotypical ranch hand. She moved away from the bed and stood in front of the full-length mirror, trying to give herself an honest appraisal.
She had waist length hair that remained a rich mahogany color no matter how long she stayed in the sun, but she usually kept it braided; she probably could do with a new hairstyle. Her complexion was a light bronze that worked beautifully with her flawless skin, but she had never bothered to wear makeup, only a regime of cleanser and moisturizing cream. Her eyes were a mossy green, nose small and freckled, and her lips were full, maybe a bit too wide. She exercised regularly and was fairly fit but entirely too curvy; no amount of exercise would reduce her large breasts and wide hips.
Perhaps the greatest flaw she had was with her neglected wardrobe. There was no end to the number of jeans, t-shirts, plaid shirts or church dresses she owned but nothing that could compare to what she knew the prospective brides might wear. A shopping day was in order. She had all the details for tomorrow taken care of and could afford the time it took to make herself presentable.
She walked back over to the phone on the nightstand next to her bed and called the main house. Bella picked up on the second ring and promised she would let Jared know that Lily would not be in the office, but would have her cell phone turned on just in case something came up. Her next few phone calls were to make appointments to the hairdressers and the day spa; she also gave herself ample time to find some clothes. She finally called Ava Maguire, next to her son Jared; Ava was Lily’s best friend and mother figure. Ava never needed an excuse to treat her self to a day at the spa and was easily encouraged to play hooky and join Lily for a day of leisure. Twenty minutes later Ava honked the horn on her baby blue convertible and the pair of them left with a trail of dust in their wake.
Rules about Lily Page 2