Rules about Lily (2 page)

Lily showed up at the main house promptly at seven a.m. expecting to be assaulted by Jared enthusiasm, but was instead greeted by Bella, the cook/housekeeper that had worked for the Maguire household for the better part of twenty years. Bella was a very large German woman in her mid-fifties that had migrated to the United States with her husband thirty-two years ago. The couple had come to the ranch looking for a quiet life, five years ago her husband died and the childless woman had enfolded the Maguire family into her equally large heart. She informed Lily that young Mr. Jared had gone out to the corral before the sun had come up, and muttered something about a new foal that was due. That did not come as a surprise to Lily; Jared always had a soft spot for newborns. As a child he was always carrying around a kitten, puppy, lamb or piglet and the rest of time you could always find him at the corral or in the barn. She thanked Bella and headed out into the early morning to find Jared. He was leaned against the high fence with one booted foot up on the lowest rail it was the same pose that two of his cowhands sported.

“Good morning Hank, Lenny, morning’ boss.” She nodded to each man in turn.

 

Jared reached out one arm and snagged her, pulling her in the circle of his arms in front of him. He nuzzled the side of her head, unconsciously sniffing her hair and the sweetness of her skin.

“Look Lily, a new baby.” He said softly, pointing to the small week kneeded bundle. “What do you want to call her?”

“I get to name her?” she asked in the same soft tone. The two cowhands had moved on when Jared had brought her into his arms. It was somehow another unspoken rule that no one touched Lily, there were invisible boundary lines that everyman saw clearly, everyone but Lily and Jared. They would have laughed out loud if anyone had ever mentioned it, which of course no one ever would. The staff, who were more like family saw them as a perfect, happy little family if they would every catch a clue and get on with it. Impatient sighs were often heard whenever Jared went of on a date, but the chemistry between them was strong enough for the most hardened cowpoke to see. They either didn’t know what it was or was choosing to ignore the situation but it was infuriating to the ranch family and especially to Jared’s mother, who loved Lily like a daughter.

“I think I’ll call her Scarlett. She has the most beautiful red coat I have ever seen. What do you think Jared?”

Jared placed a quick kiss on the side of her head.

“I think Scarlett will fit her perfectly”
They stood silently for a few minutes just looking at the small beauty.   

Jared turned them both and started walking back to the house with an arm around her shoulders. He always seemed to find a way to touch her, never noticing her arousal to his slightest touch. They went into his office and closed the door. He took his place around the desk and she sat in the visitors’ chair and picked up the folder she had placed there earlier.

 

“So Lily, what have you got for me” he rubbed his hands together like he had just struck gold.

“Well, I thought we should go about this like the classic Cinderella story. I will send out some hand written invitations to all the eligible young ladies in the surrounding counties and to some of your business contacts. The gist of the invitation will advise them that the handsome prince, that would be you, is looking to settle down and if they were interested they were invited to two weeks at the ranch for an opportunity to spend sometime with you and to enjoy a series of parties and relaxing activities such as massages and horseback riding.

I think we should start with about
twenty women, we’ll do a meet and greet and dismiss the ones you know you don’t want to continue. Once we’re down to five solid choices, I will give you a schedule that will allow you some individual time with all of the women and leave some free time open to spend with someone whose company you enjoyed more that the others.

 

The staff will be briefed on the situation and I will hire a few extra hands to help with the cooking and cleaning etc. I will also be encouraging the women to bring a friend or chaperone if they wish.”

He looked at her with no small amount of awe.

“You are unbelievably awesome. You said that we needed to talk about the kind of woman I was looking for, what did you mean? You know the type I usually date, just pick some of those.” He made it sound so simple.

“And I believe you were the one to point out how ineffective that approach has been thus far. Bottle blonds with big boobs are easy to find, if that’s all you’re looking for but…”

“What’s wrong with liking big breasts?”
His eyes slipped down to rove over her chest and blinked as he noticed how fully she filled the cream colored blouse.

“Nothing
at all, but what about personality, temperament and sense of humor that kind of stuff.”

“Some of all of that sounds great, whatever you thing is good, I’m sure will be fine.” The man was the devil.

“You are no help at all.” She huffed “and I’m not doing anything further if you’re not going to take this seriously.”

“Fine, what’s first?” he sat back heavily in his chair, settling in for what promised to be torture.

“Since this is a ranch, it would be fair to ask how physically hearty you want her to be. Do you like delicate women or rough riders?” She sat poised with a notepad on her lap and a pen in hand.

“I like feminine women but she can’t be so delicate that she’ll wilt if she sees horseshit or blood.” He watched as Lily grimaced over his answer.

“Feminine but earthy. Check. How important is fidelity, can she be a flirter, or will you care if she has other lovers?”

He sat back upright again “Absolute fidelity, I don’t share what belongs to me.” His voice was rough at the thought of his woman going to some other man. Lily was the only person he felt propriety towards but imagined it would be same with any woman he married.
Lily swallowed at the feral look in his eye and shivered. What wouldn’t she do to have him feel like that about her?

“Big yes to fidelity.”

“Sense of humor?”

“Yes”

“Age?”

“Between twenty-three and thirty-two.”

“I already know you want children; how soon and how many?”

“As soon as possible and at least four.”

“At least four? That’s a bit much to ask isn’t it?”

“This house has always been too
quiet; we need the pitter patter of little feet around here. It will give Bella and my mom something to do, they have been bugging the hell outta me about kids.”

“Brood mare. Check
.” She scribbled in her notebook.

“
Lily” he drawled with a warning.

“Sorry. Do you expect her to be a housewife or will it be ok if she had a job outside the home.” Jared wasn’t sexist, but his life did require someone to be the host of quite a numbers of parties and business dinners.

“I would prefer that she was well spoken and educated, but working outside the home is her decision.” She was impressed by his sentiment. “I can always hire someone to help with the kids and I’ll have you to handle being hostess.”

“Um Jared, I have to talk to you about…” He cut her off
and her nerves plummeted, she wiped her damp palms on the fabric of her chair.

“Before I forget, I wanted to thank you again for helping me with this Lily. I could not do it without you. Remind me to give you a huge bonus this year.”
He winked at her and blew her a kiss.

“
Of course boss and finally, the part you have been waiting for; what are you physical preferences, besides big boobs that is?”

“I’ll leave that to you, I don’t want
my past choices to influence this, but regardless of what they look like, I want someone that likes sex.”

“Excuse me?”

“Sex, lovemaking, fucking, however you want to call it. I love sex and I don’t want to end up with a woman who considers it a duty to make love to her husband.” Lily felt her lower body jerk as he said each word. Heat and wetness pooled in her pussy at the imagery they triggered.

“I
heard you the first time; I’m just surprised you mentioned it. I thought this was the one area that you were going to handle for yourself.” She had to clear the huskiness from her throat. “I guess that means you don’t want a virgin, huh?” She forced a grin as she waited for an answer.

“Hell no, I don’t need to hear about her past, but the raunchier the better.
So if you come across any little innocent just send her on her way.” Lily’s heart dropped, she most definitely was a virgin. No amount of bluffing or faking could cover up her woeful lack of experience. Ironically, Jared was the major cause of her sexual status and not it was that very status that pushed her soundly out of the race. It was a good thing she was leaving; she would never survive seeing Jared build a life with another woman.

“Ok then
I think I have I need for now.” She capped her pen and picked up her folder, ready to head back to her own office.

“Well you certainly have this thought through, but may I ask what you will be doing while this is going on.”

“Moi?” she asked with a grin “Since you’ll be Prince Charming I guess I’ll be doing duty as a fairy godmother.”

Chapter Four

Lily stepped through the door that connected her office to Jared’s. She had spent a busy morning writing invitations that was carefully worded so as not to insult any of the ladies but made them feel like they were the first one that was thought of in the process. She had also been working on the second half of her problem, namely finding a place to live. She had an appointment with Mr. Baxter; he had an advertisement in the local paper for an apartment for rent on a month-by-month basis. She would live there until she found another job, and depending on where the job was, then a more permanent living arrangement.

“Jared?” she called out.

“I’m right here woman, there’s no need to shout. What do you want?”

“I want a gorgeous man to fall at my feet in adoration and promise to be my devoted servant for all eternity, but what I need is to leave a little early today. I have some errands to run.” She wasn’t asking him, she was just letting him know incase he went looking for her.

“And I need to borrow your truck, I walked over this morning and I need to go into town.” She held out her hand and waited expectantly.

“I’ll go with you; I’m tired of staring at this financial ledger and could use a break anyway.” He started to get up but sat down again when she shook her head.