by Megan McCoy
Cole took her hand, and they walked up to the door. It was probably to keep her from running away, but for some reason, she appreciated the warmth and strength of him. Cole rapped on the door, and within a minute Matt opened it. “Hey, Cole. Hello, Rayne,” he nodded at her, and she took a deep breath.
“Matt, I screwed up yesterday and I’d like the chance to apologize to Liz, if that’s alright with you.”
“Come in,” he said.
Rayne walked in before Cole, feeling grateful he was there. Liz stood in the middle of the living room, dressed in what looked like a nurse’s uniform. Was she heading to work? Honestly, Rayne thought, she barely remembered her from yesterday. She’d been mean enough to make this professional woman cry? That made her very ashamed.
“Liz, my name is Rayne. I just started to work in the kitchen a few days ago. Yesterday, I messed up and lost my shit. I’m so sorry I yelled at you. I am not like that usually, I promise. If you give me another chance, I’ll make you and Matt a great dinner tonight, to make up for it.” She stopped a second to catch her breath, hoping Cole thought that was a good apology.
Liz cocked her head to the side, and sighed, then said, “We all have bad days. I understand, Water under the bridge.” Liz stepped forward.
Rayne sucked it up and stepped in to hug her, whispering in her ear, “I’m really sorry.”
“It's okay,” Liz said.
Rayne stepped back, tears in her eyes and said, “I’ll bake you the best wedding cake you’ll ever have. Can we have lunch one day next week and see what you’re thinking?”
Liz nodded, “Thank you, I’ll stop by… well… call?”
“Nope, you stop by anytime you want,” Rayne said. “It will be fine. I’ll see you and Matt tonight for dinner.”
“We’ll let you get to work,” Cole said, easily. “Nice to see you again, Liz. Will be working with you tomorrow, brother.”
Matt walked them to the door and out.
Cole wandered down the path with the silent female beside him. She’d done pretty well with that. He wasn’t pleased she had to have a drink before she did it, but if she was one and done, he wasn’t going to say anything.
“You still have to talk to your kitchen staff today,” he reminded her.
“I know. Cole,” she began but didn’t finish.
“What, Rayne?” He asked gently. He loved the combination of fire and shyness she was.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what, baby? You didn’t do anything to me,” he said, and grabbed her hand again. He liked the feel of her hand in his. Strong and capable, yet, small and feminine.
“I really got off on the wrong foot here, didn’t I?” she said.
“No. You had a glitch. We’ve all had glitches in our lives. The key is to take responsibility and change from here on out.”
“I didn’t stand in the corner last night,” she said, as if she were mortified. He thought that was too cute.
“That’s okay. There will be another time again, soon. And what did I say would happen then?” he asked. Would she say it?
“That you would spank me first and then stand me in the corner showing my… my…” she didn’t finish and ducked her head.
“Showing me that gorgeous red ass,” he prompted. “That’s going to happen at some point. But in the meantime, I’m going to kiss you again.” He stopped in the middle of the path, tilted her face up and kissed her. Not gently like last night. Today he wanted to challenge her, make her his. His lips found hers, parted and waiting. He commanded and demanded, she submitted to his thrusts and returned with such passion he couldn’t help but harden. Yeah. He knew once he got her to bed, she’d be more than a willing partner.
She looked up at him, glazed eyes and swollen lips and said, “Oh….”
“Yeah,” he said, then smacked her butt, trying to calm himself down. “You have a few hours before you have to be at work. Go calm yourself down, and get ready to work that gorgeous ass off tonight.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and all but skipped down the path.
Cole shook his head, watching her. What was she? The fiery tempered cook, the sweet submissive, the almost wanton kisser? He was going to have a great time finding out.
“Did you get that handled?”
Cole looked over. “Uncle Jeb, Dad. Yes, sir, I did.”
“Candy sent me out here to see if the new chef and I needed a board meeting.” Strong, tall, and very much the man in charge of everything, Jeb looked at him as if he respected his opinion. Since he’d only been back in his life for a few weeks, Cole felt honored that he did.
“Yes, sir, she’s going to need a board meeting sooner than later, but I can handle it,” Cole told him, firmly. “She’ll be doing her job well, though, I’ve no doubt.”
“I trust you, and just so you know, there’s plenty of boards in the barn. Be careful though, with her fair skin, she’s going to bruise. Personally, I think it will be the best thing that’s happened to her. I’ve read her resume. She’s never lasted anywhere very long. We’d like to keep her. I think it would be good for us all.”
Jeb headed back toward the office while Cole looked after him. Well. Now he knew where he and Matt both got their paddling gene. Dear ol’ dad. He’d taken them all out on the boat as kids, calling it a board meeting. While it wasn’t correct to do anymore, they all sweated bullets during the boat ride hoping it didn’t end with the board meeting their butts when they landed on shore. It had never occurred to him that Jeb had paddled Rose, maybe he whupped Candy, too. He’d seen her squirm a time or two. Surely, he didn’t spank the workers. It had probably evolved to a generic statement more than anything that actually happened. Jeb was old after all.
But Cole knew he wasn’t a generic kind of guy. He had every intention of not only paddling the feisty redhead, he would bed her too.
Matt turned to Liz after Rayne and Cole left. “You okay?”
She nodded and rushed to his arms. “I’m sorry I made a deal out of this. All she did was ask me to leave.”
Matt hugged her tight. “You don’t deserve to be yelled at by anyone but me,” he said, almost fiercely.
Liz giggled. “You never yell at me.” She reached up and stroked his cheek.
He looked down at her, heart full of love, and said, “Sometimes I paddle you and make you cry.”
“True that,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him, “But still you never yell. I don’t like yelling.”
“I know you don’t, and if she ever yells at you again, I demand that you come and tell me,” he said. “She can be on the next bus out.”
Liz laughed again. “Silly boy, she’s going to be your new kind of sort of sister-in-law. Did you not see how Cole looked at her?”
“Elizabeth! They haven’t even known each other a week and really, she’s a bitch.” Matt couldn’t believe what he heard.
“Oh, she’s not that bad,” Liz started.
He put her apart from him, at arm’s length. “She made you cry last night. I was ready to send her packing.”
“What stopped you?” Liz asked, sweeping her dark eyelashes up. That drove him crazy when she did that.
“Cole,” he admitted.
“Give her some time, give him some time. I bet she’s not nearly the bitch you think she is. Besides, you Lyon men have a way with taming your women, you know,” she grabbed his hair and pulled him into a kiss. “Now. I have to go to work. For the few short hours my man allows me to work,” she wiggled away, and grabbed her purse. Then turned and looked at him, “Seriously, Matt. Thank you for taking care of me. I love you.”
He looked at his soon-to-be wife, heading out the door to work. Who would have thought he’d be in this position in his life? At one point in time, all he wanted was just this. Being at the ranch, working and living here. His first marriage had broken up because she wasn’t happy here. Kim wanted to move back to town and he wouldn’t consider it. She left him for town. She’d settled there, happil
y. Got remarried. Gave Blaze a half-sister, Hayley. He didn’t want to move to town, he loved it here, but he wanted to see the world.
He felt restless. He wanted to travel. Wanted to see what was out there, and he was deliberately tying himself to the ranch with a woman who loved it here and a teenager who needed to finish school in a stable situation.
Yes, they were traveling for a month, and right now that had to be good enough for him. Love meant sacrifices. Ben probably didn’t want to be uprooted and moved, though he seemed much happier now than he had been when he first moved here. He had friends at school, and his son, Blaze, and his best friend, Gabe, had all but adopted him. Ben loved hanging out with them. Liz probably didn’t want to worry about getting paddled, but yet, it was now a fact of her life. He planned to redden that adorable bottom every opportunity he had for the rest of their lives. If he had to put his travel plans on hold a few years, till Ben grew up, then that was his sacrifice. They could travel a month or so every year. Between Blaze, his dad and Candy, and Liz’s brothers, someone could keep an eye on Ben. Heck, depending on his school, and interest, he could come too. Maybe Blaze could too, sometimes. This was going to work out. Slowly, but hopefully happily ever after.
Chapter 7
A week after Rayne had made her apologies to the kitchen staff, she felt very proud of herself for keeping her temper under control. The staff seemed happy, her bosses seemed happy, and she felt pretty pleased with herself. Today, though, felt a little stressful. She had two dates today. It was her first day ‘off’ since she’d started. Mariah was coming back two days a week now, and she was nervous about someone else taking over her kitchen and about her dates. She was meeting Liz in town to discuss their cake. Their wedding was in a month, so decisions needed made.
Then. Cole had said he was stopping by later tonight, and wanted to know if she wanted to go out and grab a bite to eat with him. Was it a date? She was considering it a date. Even though she felt certain he simply wanted to make sure she was behaving and doing right by her staff. She hadn’t been on a date in, literally, years.
She was going out to dinner with a hot guy tonight and if she wanted to think of it as a date she would. The man made her stomach flip and her heart race. Wishing she had a friend to help her decide what to wear and what to do, she thought she’d just wing it. What choice did she have? She knew she was too curvy and too fair and her hair was too red for her to be pretty. Why did he want to date her? It was just a check in, that was all.
Glaring at the mirror, she vowed to diet again. Liz would probably pick at her lunch today, that is what skinny little bitches did. Slapping her hand over her mouth, Rayne scolded herself for saying that about her boss’ almost wife. She had so many bosses here though.
Candy hired her. Jeb owned the place. Matt was his kid and co-owner. Blaze seemed to know everything and be everywhere. Even though he claimed to be just a stable hand, she knew he was a boss, too. She wondered if anyone knew about his real relationship with his best buddy, Gabe. It was fairly obvious to her they were more than good friends. But it wasn’t her place to say anything to anyone.
Right now, though, she wanted to go check on her kitchen then head to town. She needed to do a little personal shopping before she met Liz for lunch. Making up a folder of some cake ideas the night before, she wondered what Liz had in mind. How many people were coming? Did she want fondant or buttercream, three layers or add a waterfall? Did they want a groom’s cake? Colors? Theme? So many things to find out in order to create this cake.
Plus, she needed to make a good second impression on her. She’d screwed up bad and big time last week. She had a lot to make up for. Hopefully she would. Feeling very proud she hadn’t had one meltdown this week, she knew it was just a matter of time. The irritation with the world crept up on her. She knew she could only be nice for so long. Right now, though, she had to get through lunch. Figure out a cake. Then she would go for a run or something before her date with Cole tonight. Excitement flipped her stomach. A date. But she needed to feel calm and centered before she went.
Half an hour later, she hopped in her car and headed away from the ranch, realizing it was the first time she’d driven since she’d arrived here almost two weeks ago. She needed to find a store and pick up some shampoo, coffee for her room, and some other necessities of life. Then she was meeting Liz in a couple hours. Maybe she’d look around and see if she could find a decent clothing store, too. Or not.
She was making too much out of this date thing. She knew it. It was his fault though, he did something to her no man had ever done, and it wasn’t just the threat of being put over his knee. No. It wasn’t. While, in retrospect, she didn’t really think he’d do that, though he’d convinced her of it at the time, it was kind of hot, for some weird reason. What had he meant, that he was a dominant? Maybe he’d talk about that a little more.
Shivering, she thought about being under his control. Giving up control to a man. No. That couldn’t happen. Could it? Did he mean just sexually? Or in other ways too?
He fascinated her. Intruded into her thoughts. Her dreams.
Shaking her head, she looked around at the landscape. Softly rolling hills, still covered in thick green covered trees. It was going to be lovely here when they started turning this fall. That wouldn’t be for weeks and weeks yet, though.
The sun broke through the cloud cover, making everything sparkle after last night’s light rain. Rayne smiled and felt her spirits rise even further. Today would be a great day. Getting away from the kitchen was just what she needed to calm and soothe herself. See, she didn’t have to have a meltdown or a fired-up scene. She just needed to go for a drive. Well, and have something to look forward to.
Two hours later, she pulled into the cafe parking lot where she was meeting Liz, on her lunch hour from the dentist office where she worked. Rayne had found out she wasn’t a nurse, but a dental tech, and worked there about twenty hours a week, then worked with the grounds crew at the ranch another few hours. Plus, she had a husband and a kid to take care of. Rayne never thought she could have a social life, much less a family life. She simply worked too many hours and too late at night. When she had been asked out in the past, telling them she had one day off a week that she usually slept through was kind of a turn off. She loved her job, she did, but it was stressful and time consuming. She’d realized a long time ago, that work was her priority.
Spying Liz walking down the street, she got out of the car and went to meet her, after grabbing her folder full of cake pictures.
“Hi, Liz,” she called out.
Liz stopped. “Oh, Rayne! Hi! I’m so looking forward to our lunch. I’ve been wanting to get to know you better, and pick out my cake!” She flashed a smile that made Rayne a little jealous of her happiness.
Suck it up, she told herself. Be happy for her.
They were seated quickly in a small back booth that offered them some privacy, and ordered. Rayne loved looking at menus. How they were laid out, what they offered, all the descriptions. Her job now didn’t really need a menu, but she decided while she was out today to pick up a big blackboard to start writing their day’s offerings on it. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? People liked to know what they were getting. Even though everything at Rose’s Ranch was all-inclusive, including the meals, it was still good information to get out. There was a big office supply store in the next town. If she couldn’t find one here in town, she’d go there next day off. Duh, she thought then. Order it online. Easy peasy.
Ordering the seafood croissant sandwich and a glass of raspberry tea, she pulled out her folder while Liz ordered.
“So are you getting close to having wedding plans finished up?” she asked.
Liz gave a short laugh. “No and it's making me nuts. Every time I think I have most of it done, another item pops up. We should have eloped. I never wanted a big wedding.”
“I heard weddings are challenging to put on,” Rayne tried to empathize.
“And expensive,” Liz said. “Now Matt’s forbidden me from working overtime, so I don’t know what I’m going to do for some of this.”
“He forbid you?” Rayne felt shocked. “Can he do that?”
Liz laughed again, a real laugh this time. “He sure can, and he sure does. He has ways to make me listen, too.”
“Doesn’t that make you crazy?” Rayne asked. “And if he’s doing that now, what’s it going to be like when you’re married?” She said it, cautiously, trying not to overstep her bounds.
“Oh, it's going to be great,” Liz sighed. “I’ve never had someone take care of me like he does. I protest now and then, but overall, I love him taking care of me.”
“Being taken care of is different than telling you what to do,” Rayne pointed out carefully.
Liz patted her hand, then grabbed the folder of cake details. “Not for a Lyon man it's not. Jeb does the same for Candy. It's like in their blood or something. They tell you what to do and how to do it and then love you till your brain almost explodes. It's fantastic. Oh, look! I love this one!” She pointed to a cake.
Rayne’s head was about to explode. Is that what a real dominant was? Someone who made his woman happy to be bossed around and told what to do? She was dying to ask Liz if Matt ever threatened to spank her, but decided it was too much information. Instead she concentrated on the cake. “What are your colors?” she asked. Much better idea than asking the bride to be if she got spanked!
“Blush pink and gray,” she said promptly. “I don’t look good in white, so I’m wearing a blush pink dress. Holly and Meredith are wearing gray dresses with blush pink sashes, and the guys are wearing gray shirts with pink flowers. It will be too hot for suits, probably.”