Chad’s fingers tweaked her nipples for what seemed forever. And then he suckled one aching bud while his hand massaged her other breast. Sierra sighed; she might faint from the sensations. When she thought she couldn’t stand it another moment, he lavished attention on her other nipple. She heard herself moan aloud.
“That feels so wonderful...” She sighed.
He raised his head, met her eyes, and started unbuttoning her shirt. The small white buttons got the best of him, and he simply pulled her shirt over her head. She slipped her arms out of her bra straps and tossed it aside. She’d rethink this in the morning, but for now being totally naked from the waist up in the middle of the dining room seemed like a good idea. And she fully intended to suggest they move down the hall to a bedroom any minute now.
Sierra tugged Chad’s t-shirt out of his jeans and pulled it over his head, loving the sight of his naked chest. A mixed scent of horses and sweat and man teased her nose. She caught her breath, inhaled deeply. She’d never been so turned on by a man’s scent before. If men’s cologne manufacturers bottled this, they’d make millions.
Chad pulled her against his muscular body. Sierra’s ribcage had healed and she savored the feeling of bare skin against bare skin. The heat from his body flamed her desire. The dusting of hair on his chest tickled her breasts, and she tingled with the sensation.
He found her mouth and kissed her senseless, backing her up against the hard table edge. He lifted her up, set her bottom atop the table and nestled his erection between her legs before resuming his attention to her nipples. When she felt his arousal pushing against her intimately, she lost all conscious thought, loving the pleasurable things he was doing to her body.
In an instant, he slid her cookbooks aside and lowered her onto the table, only briefly losing contact with her lips. Breathing heavily, he looked into her eyes and gently moved on top of her. She savored the wonderful feeling of his weight anchoring her. Otherwise, the sensations he created in her might cause her to spin into the universe.
This handsome rancher could have any woman of his choosing, but he wanted her. She could barely wrap her head around the idea.
He claimed her lips with a kiss; his tongue invaded her mouth. Chad moved his body against hers, and she responded immediately matching his movements. She explored every delectable corner of his mouth. Their tongues danced wildly in rhythm with their hips. Nothing had ever felt this good.
He whispered, breathlessly, “There are way too many clothes between us.”
Chad’s words brought Sierra back to the present from the cosmic sphere he’d sent her to. Suddenly, she realized what they were doing, or almost doing. Most importantly, she remembered where they were doing it.
Oh, my Lord. What if someone walked in on them? Celia. Worse yet, his mother! Caught making love with the boss on the dining room table. There was no level of mortification that would cover that situation.
She pushed on his chest. “Chad, let me up. Please,” she choked out, breathing heavily.
Chad opened his eyes, stared at her with a dazed expression. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Chapter 9
For several moments, Sierra couldn’t find her voice, just stared back at him. And then a wave of guilt swept through her like a tsunami. “We’re...we’re practically having sex on the dining room table,” she exclaimed in a whisper.
Chad’s lust-filled eyes roamed over her half-naked body for a moment, and then his eyes widened. “I’m...I’m so sorry. I didn’t intend for this to happen. I saw you in here, and I came in to say goodnight.”
Chad’s guilt-ridden expression told her his remorse was genuine.
Sierra scooted out from under him, grabbed her shirt off the table, and pulled it over her head, covering her nakedness. She felt her face redden. First, the hot tub and now the dining room table? What had come over her? “I should get some sleep. Morning will come early.”
Chad slid off the table, settled on his feet. He dragged his hand through his hair. He met her eyes and for a moment, words seemed to fail him. Finally, he blew out his breath and whispered, “That’s a good idea. I’m going to turn in, too. Goodnight, Sierra.”
“Goodnight.” She grabbed her bra, paused for a moment and then abandoned her cookbooks. She hurried out of the dining room and headed down the hallway before she embarrassed herself further.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she chastised herself, aloud, as she slipped into her bedroom.
You were thinking how badly you wanted to make love with him. She stormed across the floor, flopped down on the bed. You were half-naked in his mother’s dining room for Pete’s sake! He was her employer, after all, and she always honored her own self-imposed standards of behavior. At least, she had until this week. Tears sprang to her eyes and she felt riddled with guilt. She’d been acting like what her grandmother would have called a floozy.
But she wanted him so badly. He could so easily steal her affections. Grand theft larceny of her heart. Would she mind if that happened?
What am I supposed to do, Grandma?
Just then a flash of lightning lit up her room, followed closely by a window-rattling crack of thunder.
Sierra gasped. “Was that you, Grandma?” she whispered into the darkness.
And then she cringed. Had she disappointed her grandmother with her behavior? Or was Grandma telling her that Chad was her Mr. Right? Okay, she’d asked for a sign, but this was ridiculous. Over-active imagination. Nothing more. Or was it?
“I know, Grandma. I’m not the kind of woman who has sex with a guy days after meeting him,” she whispered aloud. “I don’t know if that was a sign from you or not. Or if it was, if it meant you approve or not, or if Chad’s the guy for me. But I’ll try to keep my distance for awhile until I can figure all this out.”
* * *
Chad dragged his hands through his hair, resisting the urge to kick himself. “What the hell were you thinking?” he asked aloud, as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and tucked it back into his jeans. He’d been thinking about getting into her pants again, recalling their time together in the hot tub. Not a bad idea, but he’d almost made love with Sierra on the damn dining room table. “You jerk.”
A vision of her luscious, naked breasts popped into his head. He could still taste her mouth and her breasts on his lips. God, he’d never wanted a woman so badly in his life. No woman had ever excited him as thoroughly as she had. Every time he laid eyes on her, his heartbeat quickened and his body reacted.
He gazed about the dining room. How was he ever going to eat Sunday dinner on this table again, after what almost happened tonight?
Just then a bolt of lightning lit up the room and Chad jumped a foot when a crack of thunder rattled the large dining room window.
“Chad, darling, are you still awake?” His mother rolled her wheelchair into the dining room doorway. “What are you doing in here?”
Chad cringed, hearing his mother’s voice. Fortunately, all evidence of his attraction to Sierra had disappeared. Thank God she hadn’t rolled in a few minutes earlier. She would have gotten quite an eyeful. He didn’t want to even think about what her comments would have been.
“I...I came in to say goodnight to Sierra. She just went to bed. The new colt was born a couple hours ago, and he’s just beautiful. We can name him tomorrow. I’m going to bed now, too.” Chad realized he was babbling like a guilty teenager, caught making out with a high school sweetheart. He moved toward the doorway, but his mother was blocking his exit with her wheelchair.
“I need you to drive me to my doctor’s appointment tomorrow, Chad. And then I’m having lunch with Cathy. I reserved a table for three assuming you’d be joining us.” She sat in her chair, hands resting in her lap, with a hopeful expression on her face.
Chad shook his head. His mother never gave up, and she was at it again. He felt bad about his callous treatment of his mother when she returned home from the hospital. As well as treating the cooks unfair
ly, she was unrelenting when it came to her matchmaking. Somehow he had to put an end to her meddling in his social life.
“Sorry, Mom, I’ve got too much going on at the ranch. And I have a lunch meeting with our banker.” Chad touched her shoulder as he snuck past her wheelchair. “Just call a cab and request a vehicle with wheelchair access.”
“I’m not taking a damn cab to the clinic, or anywhere else for that matter. Call the banker and reschedule. Then you can drive me to the medical clinic and join Cathy and me for lunch.”
“Can’t do it, Mom,” insisted Chad.
“When was the last time you saw Cathy? You should take her out to dinner, dear. She’s a lovely young lady—a kindergarten teacher, volunteer for several charities, and daughter of one of our family’s dearest friends. She’d make you a wonderful wife, if you’d give her half a chance.” His mother peeked up from her seat, smiling expectantly.
“Enough with the matchmaking. Not going to happen. Cathy Smythe is the most self-absorbed person I know. She never does anything unless there’s something in it for her.”
“That’s a little harsh,” stated his mother.
“Mom, I’m not certain she even likes kids. The only reason Cathy teaches school is to have her summers free, so she can travel the chuckwagon circuit with her family. She bullied almost everyone in high school: making fun of less fortunate students’ clothes and criticizing any girl who wasn’t a cheerleader.”
“I’ve never heard any of this before, Chad. Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”
“Cathy was head cheerleader and she decided the only suitable guy for her to date was the team quarterback. She recruited me to be her boyfriend. Of course, dating the most popular girl in school fed my ego. After college graduation, I’ve called her when I desperately needed a date for some event, but there will never be anything permanent between us.”
“I find those things about Cathy difficult to believe. Regardless, how am I going to get into the city?” demanded his mother.
“What time is your appointment?”
“Eleven fifteen.”
“I’ll ask Sierra to drive you. She can prepare dinner early and Celia can serve it at noon. Sierra will be back in plenty of time to help Celia with supper.” Chad smiled at his mother, feeling rather pleased with himself for escaping lunch with Cathy while still arranging transportation.
“I refuse to drive into Calgary with…” his mother began.
“Then you can have Celia call you a cab.” Chad didn’t feel like continuing this argument. His muscles hurt from a long day’s work, and his loins ached from the interrupted love-making session with Sierra. “I’m going to bed.”
“All right, Sierra and I will go into Calgary together. She can have lunch with Cathy and me after my appointment,” his mother called after him.
“Okay. I’ll ask her to drive you when I see her at breakfast.” Chad lumbered down the hallway, paused outside Sierra’s bedroom door before entering his own room. He closed the door, recalling how Sierra’s body felt lying under his.
It was going to be a long, lonely night.
* * *
Bonnie Parker slumped in her wheelchair, disappointed with Chad’s solution to her request. She rolled out of the dining room and headed toward the kitchen.
Her legs had been jumpy tonight, and she’d known she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She hadn’t even moved out of this damn chair to attempt it. She’d rolled down the hallway from her room awhile ago, intending to brew herself a cup of herbal tea. While moving down the hallway, she’d heard Chad and Sierra’s voices coming from the dining room. When she realized what they were doing, she’d almost shouted at them, letting her abhorrence be known. That her precious son would get involved with some hash slinger was unthinkable.
But she’d held her tongue.
No need to embarrass her son.
She’d rolled her chair back down the hallway into the reading room until she heard that gold-digging woman enter her own bedroom. When she asked Chad to take her into the city tomorrow, she couldn’t believe her ears when he refused. Now, she had to spend the day with that little nitwit who’d taken over her kitchen with her son’s blessing. Damn it anyway. Why couldn’t Chad see that woman for what she really was?
Bonnie stared at the clock on the wall. Almost midnight. In less than twelve hours, she’d be listening to the doctor expound on her treatment options. Each year there were fewer. Her fist thumped the wheelchair’s armrest. “God, I hate this damn chair,” she whispered, aloud, hoping she didn’t wake Celia.
Bonnie brewed a cup of tea and sat alone at the end of the kitchen table sipping the hot beverage. When her tea cooled enough, she swallowed her medication in hopes she’d be able to sleep a little after all.
As the minutes ticked by, Bonnie’s legs stilled while her anger grew. She’d looked forward to her luncheon with Cathy and Chad. She couldn’t believe Chad’s opinion of the lovely young lady she’d hoped would be her daughter-in-law some day. Today’s youth frustrated her to no end. From her son to the young nurses in the hospital, none of them had a lick of common sense, it seemed.
Finally, she yawned and set her cup in the sink. Celia had helped her into her nightgown before she turned in for the night. All Bonnie had to do was move from the chair to her bed, a maneuver she’d mastered now. While she rolled down the hallway toward her room, Bonnie formulated a plan. No way was Miss It’s-My-Kitchen ever getting her hash-slinger hooks into Chad. Not if Bonnie could stop it. She smiled in anticipation of taking Sierra Griffin down a peg, two or three if she was lucky. Regardless of what anyone said, the kitchen at the Whispering Pines Ranch was her kitchen. She couldn’t wait until noon tomorrow.
* * *
Sierra set the magazine down and rose to her feet when she spotted Mrs. Parker being pushed in her expensive wheelchair from the medical clinic’s examining room out to the waiting area. Sierra blinked back tears, remembering her beloved grandmother’s ordeal with MS. Her grandma could only have dreamt of owning a chair like that, but she would never have agreed to spend so much money on herself.
This morning’s encounter with Chad still grated on her nerves. The guy had balls, asking her to drive his mother to her appointments today. Given their explosive first meeting, what had Chad been thinking? She’d been hired to cook. Since when had her duties evolved to include his mother’s personal chauffeur? She had to stop thinking about it. She’d just get angry all over again.
Besides, so far the old gal had been on her best behavior. Of course, Sierra would never boot her out of the van and leave her on the side of the road, but Mrs. Parker didn’t need to know that. For some reason, the woman had actually seemed pleasant, carrying on a cheerful conversation the entire trip into the city.
Was she up to something?
Sierra mentally kicked herself. Why hadn’t she realized it earlier? The second they returned home Mrs. Parker intended to complain bitterly to her son about something Sierra had done, a total fabrication, and then she’d insist Chad fire her. Even if Sierra denied everything, would Chad believe her? Or would he believe his mother?
“All done. We’ll see you again in two weeks, Mrs. Parker,” chirped the young nurse, handing her patient a small rectangular card. “Your next appointment is written on there, but we’ll call the day before to remind you.”
Bonnie Parker scowled and stuffed the card into a side pocket on her purse. She glanced at her watch and waved at Sierra. “Let’s go. We’ll be late for lunch.”
Sierra moved forward and the nurse stepped back simultaneously like choreographed dancers. “We don’t want you to miss lunch with your friend,” agreed Sierra, rolling the wheelchair toward the front door.
“You’ll be accompanying me,” Chad’s mom announced out of the blue.
Sierra stopped so abruptly that Mrs. Parker was thrown forward in the chair. “I am?” she blurted.
“Well, of course, you are,” snipped Mrs. Parker.
* * *
<
br /> Bonnie Parker leaned back in the wheelchair. She hated the damn apparatus with every fiber of her being. When she received the MS diagnosis years ago, the doctors warned her that her condition would deteriorate to the point that she’d be forced to use a wheelchair some day. No matter the length of time, she suspected she’d never accept her doctor’s decision. Recently, she was proven right. She’d only been using the chair a little over a week, and already she was sick of it.
Her son’s new ranch cook wheeled her out to the Whispering Pines minivan. She settled Bonnie in the passenger seat and, once again with surprising expertise positioned the head rest and folded the foot rests and stuffed the chair in back. Bonnie had disliked the woman when she first laid eyes on her, and their first meeting hadn’t gone well. She still couldn’t believe her son had spoken so rudely to her, had even taken the girl’s side in the argument.
Well, she’d gotten rid of a half dozen cooks. She could get rid of this one, too.
Bonnie felt certain that Sierra had set her sights on Chad. She intended to end this thing between her son and the cook, and the sooner the better. Cathy Smythe had grown up on a neighboring ranch, and she and Chad had known each other all their lives. Bonnie smiled as she recalled two-year-old Cathy and three-year-old Chad dressed in their swimsuits, sharing a backyard wading pool. Chad had splashed Cathy and made her cry, and being a gentleman even at that tender age, he’d apologized and brought her a towel to wipe her eyes.
Bonnie and Sarah Smythe had been friends and neighbors since the day they’d met as young brides. Cathy was the spitting image of her mother, who’d died of breast cancer several years ago, and Bonnie couldn’t wait until the kind-hearted schoolteacher became her daughter-in-law.
Cooking For Cowboy (Stampede Sizzlers) Page 9
