“Very,” she answered, knowing it was like poking at a wasps’ nest with a stick. She reminded herself that Ian could hurt her six ways to Sunday when it came to business, but since she had a backbone and a mouth that often got her into trouble, she wasn’t in a butt-kissing mood.
Lily Rose turned to Jake as they led their horses into the barn. “Can you give me a minute with Ian? I need to get some things straight.”
Jake didn’t budge, but he did glare at Ian. She really didn’t want this to turn into a testosterone match so she stepped between them. “I’m not going to punch him,” Ian snarled. His eyes narrowed. She doubted Ian could get off a punch before Jake could knock him cold, but what annoyed her was that Ian obviously thought he had some reason to be upset about her going off riding with another man. Or that the man had given her a nice, rainy climax against a tree. Lily Rose really needed to set him straight, but since Ian could play dirty, it was best to do the straightening when Jake wasn’t there. Plus, she really didn’t want this to come to blows, and with Ian’s penchant for irritating people, it could easily happen.
“Could you please give Ian and me a minute?” Lily Rose asked Jake again.
Before she even looked at him, she knew his eyes would be narrowed, knew that her request wasn’t going to make him happy. Of course, he was already unhappy about what had happened so her request only added to his scowl. She partly expected him to bark out some kind of order about which horse and which hand he wanted her to work with today, but he didn’t. Jake just walked away, leaving his gelding with her and heading out the front of the barn and toward his house.
Ian turned to watch him leave, and didn’t say anything until Jake was out of earshot. “Does he know?” he asked.
Lily Rose understood the question, knew exactly what he meant, but she didn’t want to hear it all spelled out. “No.”
Ian made a sound, the kind a person would make when they knew someone had screwed up in a big way. “He’ll think you’re like all those other women he’s trying to avoid.”
Yes. He would. But again, this wasn’t something she wanted to rehash. “Are you here for a reason or is it just to state the obvious?”
“Both,” he readily answered. He smiled. “I want you to come back to work for me.”
Now, Lily Rose made a sound, the kind a person would make when they’d just heard something ridiculous. “You fired me, remember?”
He lifted his shoulder. “You and I both know I did that out of anger.”
“Anger?” she repeated. “You did it because I found out you were having sex with another woman.”
He didn’t dispute that. In fact, Ian nodded. “It was a stupid business decision on my part. You’re an excellent trainer, and I can give you the opportunity to rise to the top.”
These were words she had desperately wanted to hear. Four months ago, anyway. “You want me to go back to the way things were before? I can’t—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I don’t want to hire you just as a trainer. I want you to supervise a huge cutting horse program. After a couple of years, I’ll make sure you have your own operation. I can supply the horses and you can focus on the training. I’ve already lined up buyers for them, too. Logan McCord over in Spring Hill.”
She knew Logan. He had the cream of the crop when it came to cutting horse stock. And having her own business was exactly what she wanted. But none of this felt right—probably because it wasn’t.
“Ian, why are you doing this?” she asked. “And please don’t tell me it’s because you’re in love with me.”
“No,” he repeated. “This isn’t about love or sex. It’s business. You can make me a lot of money and vice versa. We can both get what we want out of this venture, and if we decide to start seeing each other again, then it’ll have no bearing on the cutting horse operation.”
Maybe, but she still wasn’t convinced, and Lily Rose reminded herself that Ian loved to wheel and deal. He wanted things he couldn’t have, and maybe now that he thought she was interested in Jake, this was his attempt to win her back. But there was a huge problem.
She was interested in Jake.
Not just for a fake relationship, either. She was thinking she wanted the real deal. Too bad she might have blown any chance of that happening. Even after her job was finished with him, he almost certainly wouldn’t want her if he thought she was like all the other women in Wrangler’s Creek.
“I can see you’re thinking it over,” Ian said. Yes, she was, but probably not in the way he believed she was. “Good. Because this is your dream job. Just remember that.”
She stared at him. “What’s the catch? And yes, I know you said this was strictly business, but I know you, and there has to be something else.”
Bingo. His hesitation let her know that she’d been right. Ian was up to something.
“People are talking about me,” he finally said. “About us. About how you ditched me for another man.”
“I didn’t,” she interrupted. “You ditched me, and what does this have to do with the offer you just made?”
“It has everything to do with it.” Another long pause. “This situation with you has made me look like a wronged man. And yes, I know I’m the one who ended the relationship, but some people don’t seem to believe that.”
“Some people?” she questioned.
He lifted his shoulder. “Some folks I do business with. They think less of me because they’re under the impression that my woman ran off with another man. It’s hurting my company.”
Lily Rose was certain she looked at him as if he were crazy. “That doesn’t make a lick of sense.”
“Not to you,” he readily agreed. “Not to me, either. But it’s just the way things are.”
Maybe, though she did think that was shortsighted of these business associates. But even if what Ian was saying was true, she still had no idea where he was going with this.
Uh-oh.
Lily Rose suddenly got an idea, though.
“You want me to walk away from training Jake’s horses?” she asked, hoping that wasn’t it.
However, Ian nodded. And he didn’t hesitate with that nod. “To get the dream job you’ve always wanted, you have to leave here today.”
“Today?” Lily Rose questioned, but that was all she got to say because Ian kept on talking.
“I’m sure you’ll want Jake to have a steady supply of the livestock he needs. Like what happened a few hours ago. He lost out of a deal because someone paid above market value for a herd he wanted.”
Oh, mercy. She had no trouble filling in the blanks on this one. “You bought that herd.” And it wasn’t a question. “Let me get this straight. Are you threatening to hurt Jake’s ranch if I don’t go back to work for you?”
“You’re a smart girl. Figure it out.” And with that, Ian strolled away.
CHAPTER FIVE
JAKE WAS REASONABLY sure his mood couldn’t get any worse. He’d lost a cattle sale that he needed to increase his herd. The nonstop rain had slowed down some fence repairs and some other ranching chores. And the training on the cutting horses had ground to a halt. That was because Lily Rose had told one of his hands that she’d needed to take some personal time.
Personal time was code for her regretting that hand job he’d given her against the tree.
Jake had known it was a mistake right from the start, and now Lily Rose might be thinking of leaving. That wasn’t a guess, either. Delbert, one of this hands, had seen her after she finished her conversation with Ian in the barn, and Delbert had said she looked upset. Ian, on the other hand, had looked pleased with himself. Of course, Delbert wasn’t an expert in body language so who the hell knew what was going on.
He ducked his head under the shower, hoping it would help clear the dull ache there. It didn’t, and he
finally gave up after a couple of minutes. He dried off, pulled on his boxers and went toward the kitchen for a beer and whatever he could scrounge up in the fridge to eat. However, he only made it a few steps before he heard a sound he didn’t want to hear.
Someone was moving around in his bedroom.
Hell. He didn’t want to go another round with Marcie so Jake put on the toughest scowl he could manage and went to face her down. But it wasn’t Marcie.
It was Lily Rose.
Not naked, though she was sitting on his bed.
Jake hadn’t thought there was a cure for his bad mood, but the sight of her sure helped. For a couple of moments, anyway. During those moments, he remembered just how good those kisses had been. How much he wanted her. But after those moments passed, he remembered something else. That she was probably here to tell him that it was over between them. Not that it’d actually been on, but she probably wanted to ditch even the fake relationship.
She fluttered her fingers in the general direction of his living room. “Your front door was unlocked. You really shouldn’t keep doing that, or you might find Marcie in here again.”
True, but that didn’t explain why Lily Rose was here. Jake was about to ask her that, but he got distracted when he realized she was looking him over from head to toe. Probably because there was a lot of bare skin in between those body parts. Jake could have reached for some clothes, but he figured he’d have plenty of time to do that after she left.
“Are you here to tell me that you’re quitting?” he asked. She blinked as if surprised by that conclusion. “One of the hands mentioned you looked upset or something after Ian left,” he added.
She stared at him. “You find a woman on your bed, and the first thing you think to ask is if she’s quitting.” Lily Rose shook her head, smiled, but the smile didn’t quite make it to her eyes. “I must be losing my touch.”
No, she wasn’t. He’d felt her touch, and everything was just fine in that department.
She stood, walked to him. It was probably a bad idea since they always did stupid things when they got close to each other. Lily Rose knew that, too, but it didn’t stop her. She just kept coming until she was only a few inches away.
“I wish things were different,” she said. No smile, and he saw something in her eyes that he didn’t want to see. Sadness. Maybe even regret.
Hell.
She was quitting.
Delbert had apparently been right after all about her being upset. Jake reminded himself that her leaving was a good thing. Lily Rose wasn’t someone who should be working for him. Still, he figured there was more to this than just her ending her employment.
“Are you going back to Ian?” he asked.
She gave another blink of surprise. “No. Not like that. But he wants me to work for him again.”
Clearly, she was considering doing that, but he couldn’t understand why. And he didn’t get a chance to understand it, either. That was because she kissed him. Oh, man, she tasted good. Like all those things he’d been dreaming about for a long, long time.
Jake had had plenty of kisses, and he’d always seen them coming but not this one. Probably because he’d been expecting an answer to his question.
Are you going back to Ian?
Obviously, Lily Rose thought that could wait because in addition to the kiss, she leaned in, brushing her body against his, and she deepened the kiss.
“I don’t want to talk about Ian,” she whispered against his mouth.
Suddenly, Jake didn’t want to talk about the man, either. The effect of the kiss kicked in, knocking out of him what little sense he had left, and he multiplied Lily Rose’s mistake by hooking his arm around her. He snapped her to him, not that much snapping was required.
Jake continued things from there.
And Lily Rose let him do that.
In the back of his mind, he knew this was another mistake, but it was obvious this was why she’d come here. Perhaps this was her way of saying goodbye. If so, it was a darn good way—with one exception. When he had her in his arms like this, he wasn’t wanting goodbye to play into it. Of course, that was the lust talking. It was doing some talking for Lily Rose as well, but when the heat cooled, she might be more than ready to tell him what was eating away at her.
For now, though, he just slid right into the flow of that heat.
Lily Rose did her part. She kissed him right back, all the while tugging and pulling him closer. It was hard to manage that since they were already plastered against each other, but all that tugging and pulling upped the urgency. So did the French kisses. And it didn’t take long for them to start moving in the direction of the bed. All in all, it was a good direction if this were going to lead to full-blown sex. Judging from Lily Rose’s kisses, that was her plan, but Jake had to be sure this was what she truly wanted.
He pulled back, his eyes meeting hers. “Are you sure?”
Or at least that was what he intended to say. Jake got out the “are” and a little of “you” before Lily Rose latched onto the back of his neck and went after his mouth again. Jake pretty much gave up asking questions after that. Heck, he gave up any notion of common sense, too, and he figured if he was going to make a mistake, then it might as well be a good one.
He backed her to the bed, pushing her onto the mattress, and since they were coiled around each other, when she fell, he fell with her.
Maybe it was the pressure of his body against her, the wild kisses or the fact they’d already worked each other up from what had happened against that tree. It didn’t seem to matter why, only that Jake decided he had to have her now. Lily Rose seemed perfectly fine with that decision. In fact, she started in on his clothes. Of course, she didn’t have much to remove since he was only wearing his boxers, but she stripped those off while he was going after her top.
He’d kissed her breasts earlier. Years ago, too. But it was even better this time around. Maybe because she made that needy sound when he took her nipple into his mouth. Maybe because she latched on to his ears and pulled him to her. He lingered there a moment and then gave her other breast the same kissing attention. It caused her moans to get louder. Her grip got harder, and when she lifted her hips to his, Jake knew he had to do something fast.
Fast involved getting her out of those jeans. No easy feat when it was clear he had a woman who wanted him bad. Lily Rose kept kissing, kept touching and kept driving him crazy while he rid her of her jeans and grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer.
Jake intended to enter her slowly so he could make this last longer than a certain part of him had in mind. But Lily Rose had other plans. She did that hip lift again just as he pushed into her, and it damn near caused them both to come right then and there.
He had to grind his teeth and think “pure” thoughts just to get him past the “blowing off the top of his head” stage to where he could pace this out better. He was doing fine with that, the pleasure slamming him in all the right spots, but then Lily Rose said something.
His name.
Normally, that wouldn’t have done anything to spiral him toward a climax, but it sure as hell worked now. It also didn’t help when Lily Rose shattered, the muscles of her body latching on to him and giving him only one place to go.
Jake shattered right along with her.
* * *
LILY ROSE HAD never regretted a mistake so little as she regretted having sex with Jake. Not only had it been wonderful, it had given her some memories to take with her.
Too bad those memories were bittersweet.
It was also too bad that she was an idiot.
She cursed her screw-ups, cursed her situation, which was of her own making, and she cursed again because this wasn’t going to end well for anyone. Well, perhaps Jake would get a happy ending out of this, maybe because for him this had jus
t been sex. But if it had been more, then he was just another casualty of this road of hers that she’d paved with mistakes.
Lily Rose eased from the bed, brushing a kiss on his mouth. Jake stirred a little, but he didn’t wake up. Ditto for when she gathered up her clothes and tiptoed into the living room. She got dressed there, hurrying and trying to figure out how she should tell Jake the truth. Of course, she should have told him before the sex, but that was water under the bridge now.
She glanced around, looking for paper, and found some on the kitchen counter. Lily Rose considered leaving a full-out confession, but that should probably keep for a face-to-face conversation. Though it could be a short conversation indeed once Jake learned the truth. Instead, she settled for telling him that she had to get back to the Granger Ranch and that she would call him in a day or two.
Keeping as quiet as she could, Lily Rose slipped out of the house and went to the stables so she could say goodbye to the horses. Thankfully, no one was around so it gave her a moment to clear her head.
Unfortunately, the head-clearing only reminded her that there were no easy fixes for this. She would either have to go back to work for Ian or suck it up and go to her brothers. Either was about as palatable as tangoing with a rattlesnake, but she was fresh out of good choices.
One of the horses, Sapphire, whinnied when Lily Rose approached and turned, eyeing her as if questioning why the heck she was there. Lily Rose couldn’t quite get out the word goodbye because it cut her to the core to know that she wouldn’t be able to finish the training. She wasn’t a quitter, especially when it meant leaving a job she loved.
Lily Rose touched the horse, rubbed gently. “You’ve probably never been between a rock and a hard place, have you, girl?” she whispered.
“If she answers you, I’m leaving,” someone said.
The voice shot through the barn, causing Lily Rose to gasp, and she spooked the horse. She whirled around to see Lawson leaning against a stall. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, but it seemed as if he had been waiting for her. Knowing her brother, he probably had.
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