by Sam Crescent
Sighing, she went back to her order form. Working at the decorating and supply store wasn’t the best job. At least she could afford a small apartment for herself and get out of her parents’ house. She did love her family, but whenever possible, she tried to stay clear of the family events.
Looking for work outside of Long Mead was her last chance to finally get over her feelings for her two best friends. Liam and Shane didn’t need her drooling over them. The rest of her day went by without a hitch, and she managed to get everything up and running before closing time at five.
Claire walked the short distance to her meager apartment above one of the shops. The cost of living had gone up in the last few months, and she couldn’t afford anything else.
A message flashed on her cell phone. She ignored it. Her mother would be calling to tell her about another party where she could meet a partner and settle down to marry. Claire didn’t want anyone besides Liam and Shane.
Her feelings were getting harder and harder to ignore. When Shane had started ordering her around, she’d wanted to jump over the counter and fling herself into his arms. Being with her friends made her want to never part from their company. Claire went to her small kitchen and started heating up some leftover pasta. She should diet. The weight had been piling on her in recent years, and she was tired of having a spare tire around her stomach. Maybe if she dropped a few pounds, Liam and Shane would start to notice her.
God, she was pathetic.
She served her pasta and walked through to her sitting room to the only chair in the room. Once her dinner was finished, she took a cold shower—there wasn’t enough heating to heat the water—and settled into her single bed. Her place wasn’t much, but at least she was away from her parents, and that was the plus.
* * * *
A week later, Claire grabbed a newspaper and flicked straight to the job sections to see if anything new had come up. Work at the decorating and supply store was starting to grate on her nerves. There was only so much cleaning and ordering she could cope with. Why hadn’t she gone to college when she had the chance?
She knew the reason. There were two very male reasons, actually. Being away at college for any length of time would mean she wouldn’t see her best friends, which was a silly reason not to go. She was happy, though.
A glance over at the jobs showed her one new ad had been placed in the last week.
Needed: housekeeper to cook and clean for two men and ten ranch hands. No skills required other than the ability to make a decent stew. Turner and Cook.
She read through the advertisement a few more times. Claire had cooked regularly for the boys at the ranch. Her meals had always been welcomed by the men who worked for them. With nothing else to occupy her thoughts and the only other solution being to leave Long Mead, she decided to answer.
Claire walked over to a shaded part so the sun wouldn’t be in her face and dialed the number.
“Hello, Turner and Cook Ranch, how can I help you?” Liam said, answering on the first ring.
“Hi, Liam. It’s me. Claire.”
“Hi, babe. Why are you phoning the work line? Isn’t our regular line working?”
She had all their contact numbers in case of an emergency.
“Yes. I’ve just looked in the local paper, and the funny thing is, you didn’t tell me you were advertising for a housekeeper.”
He chuckled on the other line. “The decision was kind of last minute. Why? Are you applying?”
Her body came to life with the deep way he spoke. Just from hearing him talk, a bolt of heat went straight through her body, warming her from the inside out. Her nipples got hard, and her pussy creamed just from the sound of his voice. Shane had the same effect on her. If only her two best friends could see past the tomboy in her.
“You know I can cook. I get along with your ranch hands. I’d be brilliant for the position.” She wasn’t blowing her own horn. She was simply stating the facts as she saw them.
Good cook, check.
Gets along with ranch workers, check.
Completely bored with her own life and in need of a little more excitement, check.
Okay, being on a ranch cooking and cleaning wasn’t the best excitement in the world. However, a bunch of sexy muscled men to watch and serve food to had to be better than putting tins of paint on shelves. Surely.
“Could you handle Shane and me being your bosses? You’d have to do everything we said. Everything.”
Claire ignored his suggestive tone. She knew Liam liked to tease, and he never meant anything by it.
“Since the time we could go off and do our own stuff, I’ve been taking orders from the pair of you. Working for you won’t be much different.” She smiled as she heard him laughing on the phone.
“This won’t be the same, sweetheart. I can promise you that.”
She glanced around at the busy street and wondered how many other people would apply. “Has the job been filled?”
His laughter stopped instantly.
“Tell you what. Why don’t you come around and we’ll have a test run. You can cook for the workers and us and then we’ll let you know.” The laughter and humor had gone from the conversation. Claire missed it. Had it been something she said?
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll get Shane to drive into town and pick you up.” They arranged the details, and she phoned the shop to let them know she would be taking a personal day. Her fingers were crossed that it would be longer than a day.
She stood by the parking spot that she and Liam had agreed upon. About an hour later, Shane rolled up in his red truck with lots of mud down the sides. The window was rolled down, and she guessed it was from the massive heat. It looked like summer in Long Mead was going to be a harsh one.
“Get in,” he ordered.
Without questioning his attitude, Claire opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. Her bag on the floor, she buckled her seat belt.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
She glanced over and saw the stern look on his face. Out of all of them, Shane had grown to become the most serious. She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she remembered he was so stern.
Cutting off the thought, she nodded her head. “I’m sure. Unless you’re not stocked up with the food needed to feed you guys?” she teased, and tried to make the conversation light.
“We’ve got a well-stocked fridge, freezer, and cupboards.”
Staring out the window seemed to be the best option. Ever since that disastrous night six years ago when she was seventeen, Shane had done everything to make sure he wasn’t alone with her. Being in the truck was the first time since then they’d been alone.
“Why have you decided to get a housekeeper? I thought you liked the bachelor freedom?” Claire didn’t want to bring up the events of that night, so taking the conversation to more neutral territory seemed the best idea.
“The boys have gotten tired of us serving burned stew, and they don’t ever get a decent slice of cake. When Liam or myself are in town, we forget to go to the diner,” he said.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him working the car. The truck wasn’t an automatic, but a manual. He needed to shift and change gears. She licked her lips as she turned her head and gave him her full attention. Shane was the bigger of the two men, with his chest being at least twice the size of hers. He had short-cropped hair cut close to the head that was dark brown, darker than her own color, and his eyes were a deep brown. Most of the time he looked sad, as if his thoughts were plaguing him. His arms were huge, and she liked the look of his firm legs. Many times she’d admired him, as had other women.
She wasn’t jealous. The next best thing to being his lover was being his friend.
“Have there been any other takers?” she asked.
“No. You’re the first.”
Claire kept her fingers crossed she’d be the only. The rest of the drive was spent in silence. She tried to keep h
er gaze off him, but every time he changed gears, his thick arms bulged, and it turned her on. Shane was knocking all of her prior beliefs out of the window.
What would it be like to watch him move bales of straw?
Would he be able to pick her up?
She thought about sinking her nails into his flesh as he pushed between her thighs. The erotic image broke into her mind, causing her to gasp.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Good.”
Leaning out of the trucks window with the breeze on her face had to be the safest option. She couldn’t jump his bones in his own truck.
Liam was waiting outside at the gates when Shane pulled up.
“Hey, precious,” he said. He opened the door and nudged her farther into the truck.
“What are you doing, Liam?” Shane asked.
“Getting a ride with the pretty lady.”
“You could have walked,” Shane said as he put the truck back into gear.
Liam, at her side, shrugged. She was conscious of both men on either side. The gear shift and handle brake stopped her thigh from being pressed against Shane. His arm kept brushing hers as he moved.
Taking a few deep breaths and controlling her racing heart was in order. She closed her eyes for a split second and reminded herself that Liam and Shane were her best friends.
In no time at all they were pulling up to the large ranch. It was a beautiful, three-story house that had been built back in the fifties. Liam’s granddad had left it to him in his will, and since then, Shane and Liam had brought it back to full health.
Claire was so proud of her friends. While they made something of themselves, she spent time in a supply store cleaning and stocking shelves. Working at the decorating and supply store had not been the future she had planned for herself.
When the ranch hands saw her, each one came over and hugged her close. She’d been to the ranch many times and usually brought cake or a pie.
“Please tell us you’re here to cook,” one of them said.
“I’m auditioning for the role.”
All of them cheered and high-fived each other as if they were on the school playground.
Shane ordered them back to work, and then her friends took her inside the kitchen.
“How about I start cooking a dinner and you guys tell me about this job?” she suggested.
Claire moved around the kitchen as if she had been born to be part of it. She knew where everything was and started getting the vegetables together and the meat out of the fridge. She found several pots and began to make each one up with the same amount of meat and vegetables. There were a lot of workers to feed.
She was home.
Chapter Three
Shane watched as Claire moved around the kitchen. She served him a cup of coffee and began chopping vegetables. Sitting in the car with her entire presence surrounding him had been a blessing and a nightmare. He loved her, and that never stopped. This had been the first time in years since that fateful night that they’d been alone together. At least in the truck he didn’t have the fear of hurting her.
Unlike the time he’d hurt her all that long ago.
No. He wouldn’t think of it.
“The position would be for a live-in housekeeper. You know, the basics of keeping a house. Cleaning, washing, and cooking. You’ll have your time off and everything. Pretty much a wife’s role, only you get paid,” Liam said with a smile.
The term wife made Shane’s heart jump inside his chest. Claire would make a good wife. She cared about people and made sure everyone was taken care of.
Shane drank his coffee and let Liam do all the talking. He didn’t want cause her more pain, and he knew his possessiveness always had the ability to upset her.
“Everything sounds fine to me. Live-in? Does that mean I get to stay on the ranch?”
“You’ll have your own room upstairs.” Liam pointed up at the ceiling. Shane smirked over his cup as her gaze followed the direction up at the ceiling.
“That would be great. Can you imagine? This would be like one of our old camping trips without the danger, and of course, in a brick house,” Claire said, and turned back to the pot.
Liam and Shane stared at each other. On one of those camping trips, Shane recalled admitting his feelings for Claire. Sometime within that weekend, he had realized she wasn’t just one of the guys anymore. She’d moved into the bracket of a girl.
Now she was a woman. What would it be like sharing a house with her?
He didn’t know, but he sure as hell wanted to find out.
“So, I please you and the ranch hands, and then I get the job?” She poured some water out of the kettle into the stew pots and placed the lids on top.
Shane wanted to say the job had been hers from the start. He let Liam handle it.
“Pretty much,” Liam said, and got up from the table.
“I think this is going to be easy.”
Shane laughed. “Cockiness doesn’t become you.”
“I’m not cocky. Confident, but not cocky. Besides, if those guys have been living on your meals, I’m guaranteed to get the job. You both suck in the kitchen.”
I may suck in the kitchen, darling, but I can make you scream in the bedroom.
Time to leave. Shane got up and left the kitchen. The smells of the food were already making his mouth water.
He knew he’d have to face her sooner or later. He and Claire held a secret, and it threatened to spill out. Would Liam demand he leave the ranch? Their partnership would be over if he ever found out.
Shane couldn’t risk it. He didn’t know what to do.
* * * *
Liam stared after his friend and leaned up against the counter.
“What’s with him and you?” he asked. He noted the stillness in Claire and knew there was something between them he hadn’t been party to.
“I don’t know what you mean.” She turned from him, and he knew she was lying. Shane and Claire had been different ever since the day his friend turned eighteen. Liam might be a joker and prone to teasing others around him, but he wasn’t stupid. His friends had kept something from him, and he didn’t like being in the dark.
“I’ve got work to do,” Liam said. He walked over and spun her around. He gazed into her dark-colored eyes and wished he could get her to open up to him. Never in his life would he dream of hurting her.
He loved her. Yes, he wanted to fuck her brains out. He was a guy, but Claire meant more to him than a quick tumble.
“I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going on. You know me, Claire, as I know you. Something is going on with you and Shane and has been for years. I’ll find out about it. One way or the other.” He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
She didn’t say anything to the contact, and he did it again. Nothing too invasive, a mere brush of lips against each other.
He left and followed in the direction Shane went. Liam found him sweeping out the cattle stalls. He stood near the gate and watched.
The men would be doing jobs around the cattle among other things. Liam and Shane had some privacy until dinner was called.
“Are you intent on sending her away?” Liam asked.
Shane paused in his sweeping. He didn’t look up. “I don’t want her to go away. You know that. I care about her, and that’s not going to change.”
“Are you going to feed me the bullshit line about caring about her and not loving her? Shane, that line is way fucking old. I know you love her, and this constant change of mind is driving me up the fucking wall.” Liam walked into the stall and grabbed the broom. He knew, in a fight with his friend, he’d lose. Shane pressed weights for fun. Being best friends gave him insight. Even if Shane didn’t talk about his dad, Liam knew his old man used to beat him.
Shane used the weights to rid himself of the anger.
“I love her, Liam. I’m not good for her.”
“Don’t give me that shit. If you really cared what was good for her, y
ou’d have let me be with her years ago.” They’d made an agreement on the last camping trip. Neither would seek out Claire unless she chose one first.
Back then they’d been young boys, unaware of a world where they could all be together.
Now they were men and intent on loving Claire forever.
“Let me do my job, and we’ll see how this goes.”
Liam held onto the broom and glared at his friend. More secrets. He handed the broom back.
“You know, you and Claire haven’t been the same since your eighteenth birthday. Anything you care to share?”
The telltale signs, the frozen stance and the closed-off attitude. Something happened that day, and Liam was determined to find out.
“Nothing.”
He nodded and left the stall. If it was the last thing he did, he would find out what was going on.
Chapter Four
Claire gave a final stir to the stew and tasted the seasoning. She placed a lid on each pot, moaned in approval and shoved plenty of bread into the oven to warm up. She fixed the large table to serve everyone and found the bowls.
A lemon cake sat on the side cooling, and she’d already made a bowl of custard to go with it. The sun was setting in the sky, and the chill of a summer night was fast upon them. She’d spent the whole day cooking and cleaning, and never had she felt so happy, and at home a shopping list lay on the counter of the ingredients she’d need for the coming weeks.
She rang the bell. Claire pulled out the bread from the oven. She placed the butter and the bread in the center of the table, and she began ladling out spoonfuls of stew. She made enough for extra portions. The men worked hard in the blistering summer heat. They deserved good food.
She supplied plenty of water and smiled as she heard the pounding feet. One by one they washed their hands and headed for the table. Liam and Shane came in last, and she served them their portions before putting the pot back on the stove. She served a portion for herself and ate next to the two bosses.