RED HOT RANCH

by Swale, Lizzie

  Sadie heard a chair scrape and giggling and a few moments later a girl opened the door with smeared red lipstick on her cheek and was buttoning a low cut blouse and it was very obvious that she had no bra on. You could see her nipples through her shirt. Sadie had a good idea what was going on in there and almost turned around and walked away.

  “Come in Sadie.” Cedric called. “You are my morning interview, right?”

  Sadie walked in and saw Cedric, realizing that he’d only gotten better looking as he’d gotten older. The soft boyish face he once had was now a chiseled face of a man with a strong jaw and gorgeous blue eyes surrounded by dark lashes. He looked like a super model, rather than a MIT genius who was the geekiest of the geeky.

  “You fornicate with the staff?” Sadie asked him bluntly as she walked over and set her file on his desk and sat in the chair. When she was eye level with his belt she realized his belt was undone and he had smears of red lipstick on the bottom of his shirt.

  Blushing, she could imagine exactly what that woman had been doing in here that would smear her red lipstick against her face and his pants. She wondered if he was well endowed and tried to shake the inappropriate thoughts from her head. Chastising herself mentally for the inappropriate thoughts, she tried to look at his face and not his crotch.

  Job. Interview. She told herself. Focus, Sadie. If you want this job, pay attention to Cedric and what he’s saying and not that he was probably getting a blow job just moments before.

  “Why do you want this job?” Cedric said, sitting down in his chair and looking at her, not bothering to correct his clothes.

  “I have medical bills I need to pay for my father. He’s sick and his insurance won’t cover all of it. I feel obligated to help since he paid for me to get through college so I’d have no debt. It’s the least I could do.” Sadie said. “And you need a competent assistant, while I won’t pretend I’m not mildly offended by the obvious lack of protocol in a work place, I can look past that for the job.”

  Cedric stared at her for a few minutes and then wrote something down on the pad in front of him. He slid it over to her for her to look at.

  “What is this?” She said, blinking. It was in triple digits.

  “The salary I will pay you to be available to me at all times and do the job I need you to do, which could be anything from picking up my laundry, to taking my date home.” Cedric told her.

  “I thought you needed a business assistant?” Sadie said looking confused.

  “I do, but sometimes that includes personal business so I can get to meetings on time without worrying about a woman, or clean clothes.” He looked at her without blinking. “I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. The work environment here is something I created because it makes me happy. I have no desire to change it for an assistant who is replaceable.”

  “But you need someone who is actually capable of doing a real job, or you wouldn’t be trying to hire me when you have a dozen women out there who’d do almost anything for you.” Sadie pointed out, getting a quick read on the situation.

  “You’re good.” He said sitting back. “You grew up pretty Sadie.”

  “Cedric…” Sadie said, not knowing what to say. “Do you want to give me the job or not? I don’t want to waste both of our times. I can live with your… girls if you will meet me half way to communicate effectively with me and not yell at me, and promise not to call me four eyes.”

  “Do you still wear glasses?” He asked her.

  “Contacts.” Sadie said automatically and then blushed. “I want to get laser surgery in a few years, but I can’t afford it right now.”

  “Our health insurance plan should cover it once you’ve worked here for six months. The job is yours if you want it, but I expect you to be able to handle whatever I throw at you. You can start right now.”

  “Fine,” Sadie said. “What do you want me to do first?”

  “Re-file everything in the file cabinet by alphabetical order and date. After that, I want to start digitalizing files and making everything in an online cloud drive. So I can access files anywhere on my tablet or phone. Having to come to the office just to check a piece of data makes my life harder. We’re supposed to be a technology based company and we still use a paper filing system. I need to change that.” Cedric got up and walked around to shake her hand.

  Sadie took his hand and realized how much larger his hand was than hers. It engulfed hers, and though he was a geek, his fingers were rough like he used them outside.

  “I rock climb.” He told her when he saw her staring at his hands.

  “That explains the calluses.” Sadie nodded and would have walked over to the file cabinet but he didn’t let go of her hand for a moment.

  “You really did grow up beautiful Sadie.” He told her and then dropped her hand suddenly like she’d burned him and turned to leave the room. “I’m going out for lunch, you have until I get back at two to have them organized.”

  Sadie watched him leave, feeling her heart pounding in her chest, realizing that the reaction she had to him wasn’t fear about not getting the job, it was attraction to him.

  She felt guilty, he was her step brother, of course they didn’t really know each other, but that particular relationship still existed and it should make her feel wrong that she felt something besides sisterly love for him.

  Yet, she didn’t see him as her brother. She saw him as a man. A man who liked fast women and slutty dressed office workers, that woman wasn’t her. She’d never be that. She realized that he hadn’t hit on her and wondered if he didn’t see her like that and figured she’d have to make a point to cover herself from head to toe so no one would get the wrong impression.

  The last thing she wanted was people thinking she wanted to seduce him or something.

  She didn’t want to seduce him. He was going to be her boss, and just because he was comfortable sleeping with the other women here, didn’t mean she wanted to be added to the notch on his bedpost. Besides, how could she possibly compare physically to those leggy women out there who didn’t look like they had a wrinkle or butt dimple anywhere.

  Sadie shook her head feeling stupid, he hadn’t even given her any indication that he was even remotely interested in her like that.

  How stupid was this? She was thinking like a stupid teenage girl with too many hormones.

  She’d always had a crush on him as a little girl, even though he’d been mean to her, and it looks like it had never gone away. She wondered if this was a good idea taking this job. She’d remembered following him around like a lovesick puppy when they’d been growing up.

  He’d teased her mercilessly because of it.

  Chapter 3

  Cedric was out for lunch with two of the women he preferred to accompany for a meal. Neither of them had an eating disorder, so they’d finish their food, and actually enjoy a good meal. A few of the girls wouldn’t eat when he took them out, and it always bothered him to see them pick at a meal and be afraid to eat in front of other people. He liked women who weren’t afraid to eat.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about Sadie. Angela had her hand on his cock under the table through his pants and was trying to excite him and he was ignoring her. She finally let out a little huff and moved her hand from his pants when it was clear he wasn’t going to respond or engage in a little public fornication under the table where someone might see them be naughty.

  “What’s wrong with you? You are acting all distracted.” Angela told him, giving him a funny look.

  “I just hired a new assistant, I was thinking about if she’d be able to handle the work environment and keep up with her work load.” Cedric told her as he put a piece of bread in his mouth while he waited for his steak. “I had her organizing the filing cabinet the last assistant I fired screwed up.”

  “You mean that mousey little brunette who needs to go on a diet who walked in today?” Angela said laughing. “Well, she’s definitely not a threat to the rest of us, let’s hop
e she can do a better job with her assistant skills than her horrible outfit choices.”

  “There was nothing wrong with her outfit.” Cedric said, feeling the need to defend her. “She wasn’t mousey either. She’s short and curvy, and while she’s not blond, a brunette can be a nice color change occasionally.”

  “You hate brunettes. And since when have you been attracted to chubby girls?” Angela said feeling shocked. “You’ve never hired a brunette in the entire time you’ve had your business, and I’ve worked here for years.”

  “I don’t hate brunettes, I just prefer to see skimpy blonds dancing around half naked most of the time, besides this is my step-sister. She’s also not fat, she’s curvy in all the right places.” Cedric said grinned and then reached out and fondled Angela’s breasts. “I like curves.”

  “Oh, you’re doing her a favor. I get it.” Angela said, relaxing in her seat. “Poor baby, family drama huh? If you let me come over tonight I can try to make you feel better. We can even invite Tiffany. The two of us can rock your world.”

  “I bet you would.” Cedric said, leaning forward.

  “Hey, I could help too.” Simone said, nudging Angela. “Share him please, don’t hog all the good stuff. We can share him tonight, let me come.”

  “Don’t worry girls, there’s enough of me to go around tonight.” He said grinning at them as the waiter finally came with his steak.

  He attacked his steak with a hearty appetite, the same way he felt about women.

  When he finished his lunch, he went back to the office with the girls not keeping their hands off him. He realized that he was thinking about Sadie and was distracted.

  Cedric dismissed the girls to their desks, and while he noticed their disappointment about his lack of interest, he didn’t really care right now. He’d make it up to them tonight, they could just deal with it for right now. He walked back into his office to see Sadie finishing up the filing cabinet.

  Satisfied he walked over behind her and crowded her against the file cabinet, making her slightly uncomfortable.

  She turned and inhaled his scent, blushing when she looked up at his face and wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

  Her conscious started yelling at her that he was her step brother and she needed to keep her mind firmly on the job at hand, and less about his abs.

  “You finished the filing cabinet?” Cedric asked her, liking to see her flustered, it amused him. He crowded her and she took a step back, running into the cabinet.

  “Yes.” Sadie said gulping as she could feel his body heat and almost hear his heart beating. No, wait, that was her heart pounding in her chest from his closeness.

  “Good, I will get you a work laptop and tablet and you can start digitizing all the information. I want it done by Friday. I have a business meeting next week and I’d like to be able to make a presentation over the weekend using the data from the files.” Cedric told her, reaching out to brush a single lock of her hair behind her ear that was laying against her cheek.

  Sadie inhaled sharply as his fingers brushed against her cheek and her ear and half-closed her eyes when he leaned close to her, thinking he was going to kiss her.

  Instead, Cedric closed the drawer the rest of the way, shutting it behind her and winked at her before backing off, leaving her there breathing hard staring at him.

  “I need to go down to the basement and talk to our IT guys, we are due for some computer upgrades here soon and I need to figure out what all they need or want for their work computers. I’ll have a list prepared for you soon on items to order from our suppliers.” Cedric told her turning to walk away, leaving Sadie confused and distracted.

  “What?” Sadie said, blinking at him, realizing her heart was still racing in her chest, and she suddenly felt guilty that maybe she’d been reading too much into his behavior towards her and it was just his natural personality and had nothing to do with her.

  Cedric repeated himself, he’d moved on from talking about job related stuff. “Have dinner with me on Wednesday, we can try to catch up.”

  “Alright.” Sadie said and then watched him turn back to face her since he was about to leave the room, his hand on the doorknob.

  Sadie was feeling confused about this entire situation and wondering if had been smart to take a job at her step-brother’s office. She was attracted to him. This just seemed like a bad idea.

  Cedric listed off a time and a place and then smiled at her and then he left to get some other business taken care of.

  Being his personal assistant when they clearly had unresolved feelings between them and apparently new emotions in her that she didn’t know existed. She felt like she was making a big mistake working this close with him and wondered if he’d noticed her feelings towards him.

  Disturbed by her growing infatuation with him, she wondered if she should just quit and try to find another job.

  Being realistic with herself though, she probably wouldn’t be able to find a better job. She sighed and started making a list of notes and organizing her thoughts so she could start doing as he’d requested with the paper files, and tried to set her brain on the task at hand.

  Chapter 4

  Cedric waited nervously for Sadie to show up. She was five minutes late and was afraid she was going to chicken out. He tapped his fingers on the table nervously, not even realizing he was doing it until he tapped his fork and almost knocked it off the table.

  He was looking down at the table to straighten it and the napkin back out when he heard Sadie pull the chair out at the table.

  Sadie rushed in and sat down after being almost fifteen minutes late.

  “I’m so sorry, I got distracted trying to get all those files digitized and I lost track of time.” She apologized profusely.

  Cedric nodded at her, and wondered what else he could do to make her all hot and flustered looking.

  The last couple of days she’d gotten more done than the rest of all his female staff put together in a month. It made him realize that money and naked hot chicks might not be the best way to run a business, but he tried rid those thoughts from his head. He liked the half-naked hot chicks who traipsed through his office in adorable sexy outfits and looked cute when they picked up the phone and twirled their hair instead of taking notes.

  He liked half naked hot chicks, and he could afford to have them around, but his business was starting to grow to the point where he might need to actually hire competent professional people, and it made him wonder if he really wanted to go down the path where he had to let his playboy fantasies go. He needed to make a decision if he wanted to go big, or stay small enough that he could do whatever he wanted.

  “Are you hungry?” He asked her as he looked at his menu. He already knew what he was ordering, but he pretended to be busy so she wouldn’t feel bad for being late.

  “I’m starving, I forgot to eat lunch today.” She said as she looked at the menu.

  The waiter came over a few minutes later and they both ordered. She ordered a cheeseburger with fries, and he ordered a steak and potatoes. Interestingly enough Cedric noticed that she could have ordered a fancier meal but she picked something simple.

  Most of the women he took out always tried to order the fanciest thing on the menu and take advantage of his expense account.

  She definitely wasn’t his usual type of woman. Then again, she shouldn’t even be on his radar as his step sister, but he couldn’t seem to let it go. He saw it almost like a challenge, wanting to push and see how far he could go. If the chemistry he was feeling between the two of them could lead to a fire if he stroked the coals carefully.

  He had a feeling she was a package of dynamite in that tiny little body of hers. He remembered once how she punched him in the nose when he took one of her Barbie dolls when she was little. He’d held it above her head laughing, she’d asked nicely more than once before hauling off and punching him in the face.

  He’d been so embarrassed he’d never told anyone.

/>   He watched her sip her water delicately and realized she’d grown up well. She was soft and curvy in all the right places, and while she’d never gotten to be a very tall woman, she didn’t look like a child.

  He liked that unlike many of the other women in the office, she didn’t seem to be afraid to eat. She seemed to enjoy her meal and when she bit into a particularly tasty bite, her eyes closed and she sighed softly as she chewed. It made him wonder if she’d make the same little mewling noises if his cock was in her mouth.

  “The meal was delicious, thank you.” Sadie told him after she’d finished her meal and wiped her mouth on a napkin.

  “I want to invite you back to my place for a nightcap, we can relax, catch up, and talk about your future at my office.” Cedric told her. Realizing that flat out trying to seduce her wouldn’t work. She was too cautious, and she also probably had reservations because of their relationship by marriage.

  Step-siblings. Even though they’d only lived together for a couple years, it was enough it would make most people uncomfortable, and yet he didn’t care.

  He wasn’t going to let it stop him.

  Sadie hesitated and looked at him, not sure agreeing was a good idea, but finally deciding the job was important and worth an uncomfortable and awkward evening she nodded. She wondered if this would help her infatuation for him and make it go away, or if it would encourage it and rev it up a notch, or ten.

  “Want to take my car, or follow me back to my place?” Cedric asked.

  “I’ll follow you.” Sadie told him, not wanting to give up her way out. She needed a backup plan if the evening got too weird.

  “Sounds good, let me pay and we’ll go.” He slipped his card out on the table and waited for the waiter to take it and bring it back.

  Signing the slip, he left a generous tip and then escorted Sadie out of the restaurant, his hand on her lower back in an intimate gesture.

  Feeling his hand on her back had made Sadie tense, but she wasn’t sure if it’s because she liked it, or because she didn’t like it. Her body and brain were having mixed signals and she didn’t know how to handle this situation.