Break In Two (8 page)

"I could eat. We worked those burgers off a long time ago," Claire answered as she dried off her legs.

Cole handed her his bathrobe and quickly dried himself off. He threw on a pair of grey pyjama pants that hung low at his waist, "Come on, let’s grab something to eat."

"Sure," Claire answered, "I'm just going to comb out my hair and I'll meet you down there.”

Claire looked at herself in the mirror as she combed her hair. For the first time in years, maybe ever, she loved what she saw.

As she descended the staircase, Claire was completely at ease. Cole looked up at her in his bathrobe, it almost dragged on the ground, she was so small. "How about some strawberries and beer?"

"Mmmm, sounds great. Although I feel as though I'm drunk right now," Claire replied, as Cole opened a bottle of beer and handed it to her.

He opened his and they clinked their bottles together, "To appliance shopping," he said with a sexy grin, "Who knew it could get a woman so hot?"

Claire laughed, "I thought that was common knowledge. You men need to pay more attention."

Cole picked up a strawberry and popped it in her mouth, then took one for himself, "Stay with me tonight."

Claire looked deep into his hazel eyes, knowing there was nowhere on earth she would rather be, "All right."

He gave her a lingering kiss and then carried the bowl of strawberries and his beer over to the table. He turned on his stereo and suddenly John Mayer's voice rang out. They each sat down at the table to share their snack. Claire could hardly believe that this incredible man was sitting across from her, bare-chested, feeding her strawberries. It felt like she was living someone else's life.

When they were finished, Cole stood up, took her hand and pulled her to her feet and close to him. As Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton were singing about being fools, Cole started swaying with the music, looking at her with such tenderness, it melted her heart. He pressed his lips to her forehead and held his face to the top of her head, holding her around the waist with both arms wrapped around her. Claire hugged him tight, swaying to the beat along with him.

When the song faded out, Cole put one arm under her knees and lifted her up. He carried her up to his bed. After weeks of yearning for her, he finally felt satisfied, but he knew that this one night wouldn't be enough for him. He was filled with a need he had never felt before, as if his very breath depended on her being with him. He laid her down on the bed and took off his pyjama pants, revealing his already hard cock. The sight of her on his bed in his bathrobe with her hair falling over his pillow stirred a deep sense of possessiveness that was entirely new to him.

He lifted himself onto her body and nuzzled into her neck, kissing her lightly and sucking gently on her ear. Claire moaned in anticipation, shocked to find that she could become wet again at his slightest touch. The weight of him on her body was perfection. He leaned on one elbow and used his other hand to open the sash on the bathrobe, moving it aside. He pressed his skin onto her body and lowered his mouth to hers. Her lips were slightly swollen from kissing, making them appear plump and unbelievably sexy. He wanted to feel those lips all over his body. Almost as if she understood his thoughts, Claire started to kiss Cole's neck and chest. She pushed him onto his back and moved her way down his body, kissing him until she reached his midsection. She licked up his length in slow, firm movements and then placed her mouth over his head. He let out a low groan as she plunged her mouth over him. The sound was enough to excite Claire as she lifted her mouth up and back down, over and over, using one hand to caress his testicles. She moved her hand to his cock and her mouth down to his balls, licking and sucking on them with increasing intensity. Cole reached down to pull her up to his face and rolled on top of her again, kissing her hard on the mouth. Their tongues found each other as he started grinding his hips into her, parting her legs and pushing his cock against her sex. She opened her legs into wide splits as he entered her, slowly moving in circles with his hips to bring himself carefully all the way into her pussy. She wrapped her legs around his mid-back and locked her feet together.

"Hmmm, bendy," he said, thoroughly impressed.

"That's nothing," she said with a coy smile.

"It's a good thing we're already fucking, because that is the kind of information that would make me as hard as a rock."

Claire grinned as she tilted her hips up bringing him in deeper. He grabbed onto his wrought iron headboard with one hand and used the strength of his arm to pull himself forward in a slow, hard motion. Claire squeezed his cock with her pussy as he pulled forward into her. He thrust himself inside her in long, hard movements, the intensity building for both of them as he moved faster and faster. Cole looked directly into Claire's navy blue eyes as he pulled himself forward and back. The lust between them was overwhelming.

"Oh yes Cole, fuck me! Fuck me so hard!" she cried out.

Those words brought on an orgasm strong enough to cause Cole to see stars. He plunged his tongue into her mouth as he came, his entire body shuddering with the force of it. Claire could feel the pulse of him coming so deep inside her that her own orgasm erupted wildly and for what seemed like minutes.

They were both left glistening with sweat as they tried to recover their breath. Cole lifted himself off of Claire and lay down on his side, the length of his body touching her, with one arm holding her around her waist.

"That was....just...wow."

He reached down and tugged the covers up to tuck them in. Claire gave him a sleepy smile, "I would tell you that you can do better, but I frankly don't have the energy left to experience round four."

Cole kissed her neck softly, "Rest up. What I have planned for tomorrow will make tonight seem boring."

"Really? Are we going shopping for a new dishwasher?" she planted a firm kiss on his lips and then turned away from him onto her side, snuggling into him with the back of her naked body.

He wrapped his arm around her top arm and held onto her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. Claire fell asleep immediately with a sense of peaceful bliss that she had never felt before. Cole lay awake for a while, feeling slightly panicked at how strong his feelings were for someone he hardly knew.

The next few days were heavenly. Claire and Cole decided not to tell anyone, so they would try hard to act very professional while managing to steal a few moments together to drive each other crazy. After the supper clean-up each evening, Claire would sneak over to Cole's cabin and they would make love until late in the night. Claire felt like she was in a constant haze, brought on by a combination of exhaustion and their lust for each other. When he wasn't around, she still had a reminder of him in her somewhat sore muscles and her slightly raw pussy. She was completely caught up in him, thinking only of the next time she could touch him, kiss him, feel him inside her. She had no desire to sleep and she barely thought about eating, even though she was around food all day.

Cole's feeling of panic on their first night together subsided. He could see how well they worked together and loved hearing her ideas for the restaurant. Everything about her seemed to scream out that she would stay, which was all he really wanted. Sex with her was the most intense and amazing experience of his life. She was always ready for him, sometimes waking him up in the middle of the night to make love. He had never been so tired or so happy before.

One day, while Alicia and Claire were cleaning up from breakfast, Alicia asked, "So, how are things with Cole?"

"Oh great," Claire said avoiding eye contact with her new friend, "He's a great boss. Really open to new ideas and very positive all the time."

"No, I meant how's the sex?" Alicia replied with a wry smile.

Claire's face flushed to a bright pink hue, "Is it that obvious?"

"Let me put it this way honey, Ben figured it out and he doesn't notice anything."

Claire covered her mouth with her hand and laughed with embarrassment. "Okay, I don't want to kiss and tell, but let’s just say I can hardly walk some mornings when I wake up and I don't even care."

"Wow, really? Sounds like he takes after his big brother."

The two friends giggled naughtily just as Cole walked into the kitchen.

He picked a grape from the fruit tray and popped it in his mouth, "What's so funny?"

Claire gave him a sheepish look, "Apparently you and I aren't fooling anyone."

Cole closed his eyes for a moment, cringing with the thought of being found out. She was the new chef and he definitely shouldn't have been involved with her romantically. After a moment, he walked over to Claire and said, "Fuck it. I'm glad if people know you're mine."

He put his arm around her back and kissed her hard on the mouth, bending her body back into a dip. When he let go, he gave her a slap on the ass and walked out the backdoor. Claire's face was flushed again - this time with lust.

Later that morning, Claire snuck into Cole's office while he was on the phone. She quietly shut the door and locked it, then crossed the room to stand in front of his desk. Staring directly into his eyes with a naughty grin, she started swaying her hips from side to side as if moving to a sexy beat. Then she lifted her pink sweater over her head, revealing a lacy light blue tank top underneath. Her light blue push up bra was clearly visible through the shirt. She tossed the sweater to Cole and watched as his jaw dropped and he had to adjust himself on his seat.

Claire kept swaying and licked her lips slowly as she pulled her tank over her head and tossed it at him next. He caught it with one hand and a big grin on his face.

His expression changed suddenly as he became aware of the person on the other end of the phone, "Sorry, can you repeat that? Someone came into my office and distracted me for a minute.....uh huh.....okay.....okay, can I get back to you on Monday about that? I'll just have to check on that."

Claire turned her back to him and ran her hands up and down her sides and danced in a little circle. She unbuttoned the top button on her jeans and wiggled them down her hips a little, revealing a lacy blue thong.

"Okay....right....right. Yeah....no, I meant no, of course not. Okay. Talk to you Monday." Cole hung up the phone and exhaled with a moan, "You are trouble, you know that?"

Claire bent forward, pressing her head down to her knees with her legs perfectly straight. He watched as loose curls of her long hair touched the floor. She arched her back and lifted herself to stand up.

"Yoga" she said simply as she stopped dancing. She leaned over onto Cole's desk and snatched her tank top back. With a nonchalant look, she slipped it back on as if to say, “That's all you get. No big deal."

She grabbed her sweater and slid it over her head, then buttoned her jeans. Cole groaned, "Oh come on!" he said in exasperation.

"I need to get lunch prepared," she said with a shrug. And with that she blew him a kiss, turned and walked out the door, leaving him with an erection and very little clue as to what he had agreed to on the phone.

Claire laughed as she exited the lodge, thinking of the expression on his face. She had never felt this sexy before. She felt wild and powerful around Cole, like she could do anything.

That afternoon the next group of guests arrived. They were to stay for one night at the lodge, two nights of camping, followed by one more night back at the ranch. Claire was clearing tables on the restaurant patio and had an excellent vantage point of the guests exiting the airport shuttle. A feeling of dread passed over her as she watched them. It was a group of tall, thin women in their early twenties, each one hotter than the last.

"Shit," she muttered. It was her worst nightmare. The thought of Cole out watching over them as they rode and camped made her feel nauseous. She was suddenly and completely deflated. In an instant there was no trace of that sexy woman who had been doing a strip tease in Cole's office that morning.

Trey, Dustin and the other guys seemed to appear out of nowhere to welcome the girls, looking like kids on Christmas morning. Alicia, who had seen Claire standing motionless, came out onto the patio and stood beside her.

"It's a group of volleyball players from Colorado State. They were the national champs last year and they are here for a celebratory trip. Yuck, right?"

Claire never took her eyes off them, "Yeah, this is going to be a challenge for me. My ex tossed me aside for a tall, 22-year-old stick bug, without bothering to mention to me that we were over."

Alicia put her arm around Claire's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Well, Cole is hot and they may try to get his attention. It won't work though. I've known him all my life and I have never seen him come close to cheating. I've also never seen him this crazy about anyone before," Alicia paused, "Still sucks balls though, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Claire said as she rested her head against Alicia's shoulder for a second. "I have a bad feeling that I'm not going to handle this gracefully."

"Just keep reminding yourself that he's one of the good ones and if he did mess around - which he won't - he wouldn't be worth your tears anyway."

Claire nodded as she saw Cole exit the lodge to greet the girls, "I'll try."

She took a deep breath and turned back to Alicia. “Let's cook.”

*              *              *

When supper rolled around, the guests and ranch hands all piled into the restaurant and onto the patio. There was an energy of sexual tension making the place feel more like a night club than a ranch cookhouse. The dozen volleyball girls were done up in casual, sexy clothes, some with their own spin on western wear. They had spent the last couple of hours with the guys testing their horse-riding skills.

Before dinner Claire had rushed back to her cabin to freshen up her makeup and change into a sexy black top in a clingy fabric with a low v-neck. She looked at herself in the mirror and tried to convince herself that she looked every bit as good as those girls out there. It was a stretch though, at 5'4" and 31 years old, she knew they were in a whole different league.

Cole arrived a few minutes later than the rest of the group, along with a tall, blonde girl, Brittany. From the kitchen window, Claire observed their entrance. Brittany, it seemed, was a novice rider and needed some “extra attention”. She was gushing over Cole, who was smiling and trying to reassure her that she would be just fine tomorrow.

One of the other girls, who was sitting next to Trey called out to her, "Brittany! You and Cole should come sit with us!"

Brittany waved back, "Ok!" She reached for Cole's arm in a far too familiar way, "Come on!"

He excused himself to head back to the kitchen and told her he hoped she enjoyed her dinner. Brittany gave a pouty look, walking over to her friend and dropping onto the chair.

Cole stepped into the kitchen, happy to find Claire on her own. "There's my bendy girl," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek, "I've been missing you since your little dance earlier - I can't wait to see the rest of it."

Claire gave him a brief, fake smile and turned back to the oven to take some chicken out. "Oh hey," she said with very little enthusiasm. She was suddenly humiliated at her brazen attempt to seduce him in light of the new arrivals.

"What's wrong, Claire?" Cole asked with concern.

Claire didn't look up, "I'm just having a crappy afternoon, that's all," she said with a tight voice.

Cole walked up behind her and put his big hands on her shoulders to massage her, "How can I help make it better?"

Her body stiffened in response to his touch.

"Okay, what's going on, seriously?" he asked as his hands dropped to his sides.

"Can we talk about this later? I am really busy right now trying to feed a bunch of starving volleyball goddesses."

"Oh. So that's what this is about," he said with a hint of amusement, "You're jealous?"

"I'm not sure what's so funny about that to you. You're about to leave with those girls for two nights and it's pretty obvious that at least one of them would like to ride something other than a horse during their trip," Claire's words cut through the air like a knife.

"Hey, relax, okay? It doesn't really matter what they want, it matters what we want. And I want you. Going away for two nights won't change that."

"Well, I hope you'll still feel that way when you are out in a tent surrounded by a bunch of horny college girls that look like supermodels!" Claire retorted, her voice rising.

"Ssshh! Calm down," Cole spoke in a low tone and made a downward motion with his hands while giving her an urgent look that told her to be quiet.

Being shushed was not high on her list of likes. Seeing red, she pointed her finger at him and loudly said, "Calm down? Calm
down
? You calm down!"

Cole walked to the back door, "You're right, we should talk about this later," he said as he let the door slam shut behind him.

Claire reached into the oven for a pan, forgetting her oven mitt and burning her fingers. She dropped the pan, spilling the chicken on the floor with a loud crash.

"Fuck!" she yelled.

Alicia came back into the kitchen just then, "Oh Claire, you okay?" she said with concern. "Here, run your hand under some water, I'll get this cleaned up."

Claire's eyes filled with tears, "I knew I wasn't going to be graceful about this. Shit," she paused for a moment, "could everyone hear me out there?"

Alicia winced, "Well, maybe not everyone. I don't think Bill had his hearing aid on."

"Ugh, I have fucked this up fast, haven't I?" Claire said, now moving into the ugly cry.

"Well, it's not anything you can't come back from I'm sure. Cole will understand once he knows what happened with your last relationship. For now, let’s figure out what to feed these people."

Claire nodded with resolve and blew her nose into a tissue, "Okay, you're right. There's salmon in the fridge, I can spice it and throw it on the barbeque fast. In the meantime, maybe see if anyone would like a bowl of wild mushroom soup while they are waiting."

"I'm on it!" Alicia said, moving quickly.

*              *              *

After dinner service was over and the guests had left the restaurant, Claire turned to Alicia, "You go home and spend time with Ben. I'll clean up."

"You sure? I was thinking you might want to go talk to Cole."

"I will. I just need to figure out what I'm going to say first, so I could use some time to think," Claire replied.

"Okay. You hang in there. I'll see you in the morning."

"You bet. And Alicia?" Claire turned from the sink to look at her, "Thank you so much - for everything. I don't know what I would do without you here."