Break In Two (17 page)

As they drove back to the ranch later that morning, Claire said, "Hey, you need to tell me about your parents!"

"Right, well, you'll meet them sometime soon I expect. They usually show up every few months for a visit. They stay for a couple of weeks and then get back on the road. They bought an enormous RV and after years of running the ranch, they are seeing the world now. They've been travelling up in Canada since May. I think you'll like them and I know they'll like you.

My mom, Mary, is a great horsewoman and is as tough-as-nails. She doesn't mince words and you always know where you stand with her. She married my dad when she was nineteen. She took bookkeeping courses and ran all the books for the ranch. My dad, Jake, grew up on the ranch and is one of the most respected horse trainers in the state. He's really patient and pretty quiet most of the time, but he has a dry sense of humour and he can tell a great story once he's had a beer or two."

"Well, I look forward to meeting them sometime," Claire said, "What are they like together?"

"I would say they aren't necessarily passionate like your parents, at least not that we saw, but they're definitely great partners. They both work hard and they work well together."

"That's important."

They drove for a while in silence before Cole spoke up again, "I'm almost sorry we have to go back home today. I would like it if we could just keep driving and go somewhere with no responsibilities for a while."

"Me too, but at least we'll be together for now. I love that we can sneak over and see each other whenever we get a chance."

"That is a great perk, isn't it?" Cole smiled. He loved how Claire tried to look at the positive side.

They pulled into the ranch a few minutes later. They parked and Claire put her hand on the door handle.

"Wait! Allow me, my lady. We haven't had a proper date, but I can give you a preview of what it will be like." He got out and walked around to her side of the truck, opening the door and holding out his hand for her.

Claire took his hand and stepped down, "Thank you, Cowboy. It seems like you have some real potential."

Cole spun her over to him, and grabbed her around her waist with both hands, pulling her close and kissing her long and deep.

"How's that for potential?" he asked.

"Not bad, I guess. What else you got?" she retorted with a sexy grin.

"This," he said in a low tone as he kissed her hard on the mouth. He lowered his hands to her ass and gave her a squeeze, lifting her dress up as he did and exposing her to the sun and the mountain air. Claire could feel him getting hard against her stomach and she moved her hands up his chest and around his neck, causing her dress to lift even higher.

"There you - oh! Oh my!" came a woman's voice from across the parking lot.

"Oh Shit," Cole muttered.

They quickly straightened themselves out, Cole tugging her dress down and Claire standing in front of him to hide his erection. She turned, her face bright red with embarrassment.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. You're back!" Cole said in a weak voice.

"Oh Shit is right," Claire whispered with a look of complete panic on her face.

There stood Cole's parents; his dad had a wide grin on his face under his black cowboy hat and his mom was wearing a shocked expression.

"Well, you must be Claire," his dad said, walking forward to meet them, pulling his wife with him.

Cole and Claire stood rooted to the spot, mortified.

When they reached them, Cole's dad hugged Cole and then reached his hand out to Claire, "I'm Jake, nice to see you," he said still with that same amused look.

Claire took his hand and meekly said, "Nice to meet you, sir."

Cole's mom looked her square in the eye, "No need for such formalities now that we've seen your bottom. That's a surprising lack of underwear. I hope that's not how you dress when you're cooking. It's certainly against health codes."

Claire's face burned with humiliation, "No. No, of course not. I always wear underwear. Well, not always... I mean, not in the shower, but otherwise, I'm very big on panties. Today was a special case, no, um, more unusual than special. It's not like I don't wear them on special occasions because I do. I definitely do..." Claire's voice trailed off.

Cole gave her hand a little squeeze, "Claire was just about to go get changed and then head over to the restaurant," he said, then turning to her, "See you in a bit, Claire."

Claire excused herself and walked away, wishing a sinkhole would open at that very moment and swallow her up.

Cole turned back to his parents and gave his mom a hug. "Good to see you Mom, Dad. I've missed you. It's lonely without you here."

His dad shot him a wry look, "You didn't look that lonely a minute ago. In fact, you looked like you had your hands full."

His mom stared at him, "Honestly, Cole. You're messing around with the new chef? Does that seem like a smart way to run the ranch?"

Cole exhaled sharply, "I know, Mom, I know. She is just so amazing. It's going to sound crazy, because she has only been here a couple of months, but I'm pretty sure I want to marry her."

"Is that so, son?" Jake replied, slapping Cole on the back, "Well she looks real nice to me. I can see why you'd want to hold onto that." He gave a big, hearty laugh and walked over to the barn.

"It's not funny," Claire hissed into her cell phone, "Stop laughing, you bitch! Seriously, help me the fuck out."

Janet had spent the last three minutes trying to think of some way that her sister could handle this situation and was only able to come up with a series of puns like, 'You sure were em-bare-assed!'

"Okay, okay. Sorry. For real this time. I'm done," Janet said, her cheeks now sore. "There really is only one way to play this. You need to get dressed - including panties this time - maybe two pairs, just to be safe - and then go to the restaurant and cook a fabulous meal. Act professional, be very polite, try to have a good sense of humour about it, but only if someone else brings it up. Don't make light of it yourself. You don't want them to know you're a total floozy. Just laugh along if someone else brings it up."

"All right, thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I don't know if I can do it, but it makes sense," Claire paused, "I'm thinking dark boot cut jeans and a plaid button up shirt, nothing too fitted or low cut."

"At this point honey, you might as well just show them your tits. At least then they'll have seen the whole package!" Janet exploded with laughter again.

"I have to go. Fuck you. I love you. Good-bye," Claire hung up and switched it into high gear.

She looked in the mirror, "Okay, Claire, now you really have to wow them with your professionalism and your cooking. You can do this."

She put her hair up in a pony tail, put on just a little make-up, her jeans, her button up plaid shirt and her tan Sketchers. She took a look in the mirror and decided to swap her push-up bra for a t-shirt bra instead. Once she changed, she decided to do up one more button at the top than she normally would.
All right, casual and yet respectable enough.

She got a text message and grabbed her cell phone to read it. It was from Janet and it said, "
Hey Baby Girl, I feel bad about laughing. Listen, you are a talented, smart, fabulous woman. If they don't like you because of one little awkward moment, fuck 'em. Love you. J.
"

She texted back,"
Thx. Love U 2
"

She grabbed her keys and walked out the door.
Okay Claire, professional, polite, sense of humour, wow them with your cooking.

When Claire opened the door to the kitchen, Alicia was already in there, cleaning up from lunch. As soon as she saw Claire, she dropped her dish towel and rushed over with her arms open, "Oh Claire, I'm so happy about the test results!" she exclaimed giving her a big hug.

Claire smiled, "Thanks Alicia. It's just such a relief that all of that is over. How are you feeling?"

"A bit better today, which is nice. I'm hoping I've turned a corner here," Alicia replied as she turned back to the sink.

"Let me finish up. You've been covering my butt for weeks now! You should go take a rest or go visit with your in-laws."

"Speaking of covering your butt and my in-laws..." Alicia said with wide eyes and a little giggle.

"Oh shit. You heard about that?" Claire's face heated up again.

"Yeah, Mary came in a little while ago. She wanted to get my impression of you. I told her how terrific I think you are and how you are very professional and very good for Cole," Alicia answered.

"Oh thanks, Alicia. Thank you so much!" Claire rushed over and gave her another hug, "I feel sick about what happened. Just sick."

"It's okay. She'll get to know you over the next couple of weeks and she'll see what you're made of," Alicia said, hugging her back.

"I owe you big time. Anything you need, just ask!" Claire said.

"Well, there is one thing..."

"Name it. Anything," Claire answered.

"I just really want to find out how you lost your panties," Alicia grinned.

Claire burst out laughing and covered her face with her hands, "Without going into too much detail, let's just say someone got a little overzealous yesterday afternoon when we checked into the hotel."

"Say no more. I get the picture," Alicia laughed, "You two have some heat going on, hey?"

"If it got any hotter, I'd get scorched," Claire said. "He's amazing, I just can't get enough of him. I want to be with him constantly, even just talking or looking at him. Each minute apart feels like an hour."

"Sounds like the real deal," Alicia smiled at her, "I'm so glad. You would be my dream sister-in-law."

"You too," Claire said, "but I doubt I'd be Mary's dream daughter-in-law."

"Give it time. She'll come around when she gets to know you."

"I hope so. Now, you get out of this kitchen and get some rest!"

"Will do," Alicia grabbed her phone and headed for the door. "See you later!"

Claire spent the afternoon listening to the radio and cooking up a storm. She decided to go for simple, home-cooking with her own little elegant twists. She thought anything too fancy would be a mistake. For appetizers, she made grilled prawn skewers with a touch of red chilli peppers to add
a bit of heat, as well as her signature hummus with a veggie platter and soft pitas. The main dish was roasted carrots and potatoes with garlic and rosemary, grilled steak and mushrooms and grilled asparagus. She made spinach and strawberry salad with candied pecans, goat cheese rolled in cinnamon and dried cranberries and an Asian sesame dressing. Dessert was chocolate mousse served in wine glasses with a dollop of real whipping cream and shaved chocolate on top.

"Well," she said as she surveyed the results of her afternoon's work, "If this doesn't do it, nothing will."

"I'm sure it's going to do the trick," Cole said.

Claire flinched in surprise, "Oh Cole, how long have you been standing there?"

"A couple of minutes. You seemed so lost in your work that I didn't want to disturb you. I also like the view," Cole crossed the room and kissed her on the lips. Claire felt herself melt into him, closing her eyes.

When he pulled back, she sighed a happy sigh and said, "Is it weird that I've been missing you all afternoon?"

"Not really. I am pretty amazing," he said with a mischievous grin.

"You are indeed, Mr. Mitchell." she said, resting her hand on his chest. Suddenly her smile faded, replaced with an anxious look, "So, I made pretty much the worst impression possible on your parents today."

"Well, it could have been worse actually," he said, dipping a carrot in the hummus and popping it in his mouth, "You could have been smoking a crack pipe while I groped your ass."

Claire laughed at the image, "Good point. Okay, well crack pipes aside, have you talked to your parents about me?"

She slapped the back of his hand, which was reaching for another carrot, then proceeded to smooth the hummus dip with the back of a teaspoon.

Cole smiled at her, "I may have, I can't really remember right now."

Claire lifted one eyebrow, clearly getting annoyed, "Cole, seriously. I need to know where I stand."

"I'm too hungry to think. Maybe if I had something more to eat I could remember," Cole grinned.

"Oh fine, have a few veggies if you must," Claire replied, giving him an exasperated look, even though she was feeling more turned on by his teasing than irritated.

"Thanks!" Cole said helping himself. "I told them you're amazing and that I'm pretty sure I want to marry you even though I've only known you for two months."

Claire's heart pounded, "Really?" she said quietly, "Did you really say that?"

"Yes I did," he stared into her eyes, trying to read her reaction, "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No," she said, her voice thick with emotion, "I think it makes perfect sense."

Cole lowered his head and gave her a lingering kiss, "I suppose we should go on a few dates before we decide for sure though."

Claire laughed, "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Yes. Are you up for it?"

"I'll get back to you. I have lots of other offers right now, so I should really weigh my options carefully," Claire turned back to the counter to finish the salad she was working on.

Cole walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the nape of her neck, then up to her ear lobe, taking his time. He waited for Claire to make her little moan and then he asked, "How are my chances?"

Claire's voice came out in a whisper, "Pretty good."

Suddenly she snapped out of her haze, "Ack! I have to get this supper on the table for your family or I'll never redeem myself."

"How can I help?" Cole asked.

"How are your barbeque skills? I need to grill these shrimp skewers and then get the steaks cooking."

"I'm on it."

"Thanks, sexy." Claire's anxiety was replaced by pure joy.

After he walked out to start the barbeque, Claire smiled to herself, "He wants to marry me."

A few minutes later, Claire brought the shrimp out to the barbeque. Cole was standing scraping off the grill.

"You did it again, Cole," she said, putting the tray down on a small table next to the barbeque.

Cole looked up confused, "Did what?"

"You took a crappy situation and you made it better," she said, standing on her tippy toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"I better have, I'm the one who caused the situation in the first place," Cole answered.

"And here I thought it was my fault for being irresistible."

"Good point. I guess it is all your fault."