Rules about Lily (4 page)

Chapter 6

Lily spent the rest of the week avoiding Jared, it wasn’t hard to do. She was a genius when it came to manipulating events and schedules. Planning a woman hunt and a weeklong party was a very time consuming job. There had been invitations to extend, accommodations to arrange, the entertainment to book, food to cater and a schedule to juggle. Like the smart man he was, Jared left the details to her good judgment, trusting her implicitly.

 

The last detail was the hardest. Getting one man to spend an equal amount of time with twenty women without the ladies becoming overly competitive or involved with each other had taken every ounce of organizational skills she possessed. All but two of the women had already returned the invitations with a resounding yes.

She was aware that Jared was
an eligible bachelor but the quickly returned responses also indicated how aware all these women were, that he was also a very desirable man. She had been made all too aware of that just last week; her mind strayed to that heated kiss time and time again. The moment was burned into her brain, branding her with a memory she should not have gotten.

 
             

The twenty women or rather eighteen so far were due to start arriving tomorrow evening and it suddenly occurred to Lily that she was to play hostess to the woman who would one day be Jared’s wife; it also occurred to her that she looked like the stereotypical ranch hand. She moved away from the bed and stood in front of the full-length mirror, trying to give herself an honest appraisal.

She had waist length hair that remained a rich mahogany color no matter how long she stayed in the sun
, but she usually kept it braided; she probably could do with a new hairstyle. Her complexion was a light bronze that worked beautifully with her flawless skin, but she had never bothered to wear makeup, only a regime of cleanser and moisturizing cream. Her eyes were a mossy green, nose small and freckled, and her lips were full, maybe a bit too wide.  She exercised regularly and was fairly fit but entirely too curvy; no amount of exercise would reduce her large breasts and wide hips.

Perhaps the greatest flaw she had was with her neglected wardrobe. There was no end to the number of jeans, t-shirts, plaid shirts or church dresses she owned but nothing that could compare to what she knew the prospective brides might wear. A shopping day was in order. She had all the details for tomorrow taken care of and could afford the time it took to make herself presentable.

She walked back over to the phone on the nightstand next to her bed and called the main house. Bella picked up on the second ring and promised she would let Jared know that Lily would not be in the office, but would have her cell phone turned on just in case something came up. Her next few phone calls were to make appointments to the hairdressers and the day spa; she also gave herself ample time to find some clothes. She finally called Ava Maguire, next to her son Jared; Ava was Lily’s best friend and mother figure.

 

Ava never needed an excuse to treat her self to a day at the spa and was easily encouraged to play hooky and join Lily for a day of leisure. Twenty minutes later Ava honked the horn on her baby blue convertible and the pair of them left with a trail of dust in their wake.

Ava was a spirited lady whose trim figure came from years of hard work on the ranch and whose fun loving disposition detracted from her age. Lily’s unwillingness to be a girlie girl was the bane of Ava's existence. The girl was like a daughter to her and she would have loved to have dressed her and fixed her hair and makeup and share secrets on boys and all the starry-eyed things most girls did.

At the age of twenty-seven, Lily was finally giving her a chance to transform her into the beautiful woman Ava knew her to be. She was told of Jared’s plan on finding a wife a few days ago and was so mad at her son for not being able to see right in front of his eyes and at Lily for participating. Ava heart’s desire had been to see the pair of them unite. Lily might not be aware of it yet but Ava was not about to let them make the biggest mistake of their lives. She was about to turn the innocent beauty into a hothouse flower and have her drive he stupid son mad. She had spoken to Bella two days ago and the two women had some plans in the works, there was a rousing response from the rest of the staff as well to participate in the downfall of the Jared and Lily.

The low-slung luxury car brought the women to an empty parking spot directly in front of Madame CeCe’s hair salon, although everyone knew that CeCe was actually Cindy Tanner. She was a
n outrageous forty something year old beautician that was born in the town of Perkins and who for that matter had never left the small fair town. Lily and Ava entered the bright and spacious shop and were greeted by an excited CeCe.

“Ava darling, it’s so good to see you.” Cece drawled in her thick fake French accent. “Who have you brought to see Madame CeCe?”

“This is Lily Lancaster, a very dear friend of mine. I need you to work some of your magic on her, but nothing to drastic you understand.” Ava warned CeCe, knowing her penchant for elaborate hairdos.

“Of course, of course, just a little tweaking. This child has beautiful
hair; I would never try to interfere in near perfection. Well, not too much anyway.” She was busy turning Lily around in circles, stroking and touching the lustrous locks.

“Let’s get started shall we.” As she lead a nervous Lily away.

A few miles out of town on a sprawling ranch, paced an equally nervous man. Jared hadn’t seen Lily for almost a week; she had been dodging him successfully and had now gone missing, with his mother no less, which was always a sign of trouble. She had left him a schedule that would scare a pop star out on tour. He wanted to talk to her about a phone call he had gotten from a law firm in Dallas. They had called to inquire about the resume they received from her, and had left a number for her to call in order to set up an interview. What in the hell was going on? First the apartment and now this. Did she really think he would let her leave him and go to Dallas and live by herself? She needed him dammit, he had always taken care of her and protected her and he was damned if she was going anywhere until they explored what had happened with that kiss they had shared in her office.

That kiss had knocked him to his knees, almost literally. Where did she learn to kiss like that, he had never had a more intensely passionate kiss in his disreputable life and the thought of her sharing it with another man had him stomping down the hallway that lead to his office. Everything in the Maguire ranch belonged to him and somehow that had included Lily. Her blatant attempts to leave him and her home
, made him want to instinctively tighten his hold on her.

The only problem with that was the slow realization that he possessed nothing that could hold her if she chose to go. She never cared about his money and was probably worth much more than he paid her, he couldn’t charm her the way he did with other women because she knew him far too well and knew almost everything there was to know about him. His only hope was the loyalty she had to him
, and of course there was that kiss.

He closed the door behind him and sat at his desk in brooding silence, the thoughts of the next two weeks became a burden to carry and not the pleasurable endeavor he had imagined. Twenty women to meet, woo and kiss was not bad odd for a single man. He knew some of the women that were invited and was initially very encouraged by the prospect. He needed to get Lily out of his thoughts and was going to throw himself into the upcoming games. He forcibly stared at his desk and took care of the loose ends of business so that he would be available to the activities of the next two weeks.

He had plans, the same plans he had a few weeks ago and those were to find a woman, get married and have a house full of kids. There was a message waiting for him and he finally picked up his phone to retrieve it. It was from Lily whose soft voice told him she would be in tomorrow to overseer things, but to please not call because she needed some personal prep time. What the hell did that mean anyway? He hung up the phone and went back to work, determined to follow the plan.

Chapter 8

The sun shone brightly and the air smelled sweetly of cut grass and wildflowers. The staff at the Maguire Ranch had been up and active for several hours in anticipation of the arriving guests and there was still no sign of Lily. Jared had become short tempered and barked orders at any poor soul that happened to walk by; each prayed that Lily would appear to soothe the proverbial savage beast. At mid-morning Ava’s signature car pulled through the circular driveway, Jared came down the three short stairs to greet her and stopped in his tracks as a young woman stepped out of the passenger side, he hadn’t being expecting anyone so early and didn’t think his mother was bringing anyone.

The beautiful creature stared at him with gemstone green eyes and appeared to be waited on a response or some sign of recognition from him. When it finally happened a few long minutes later, Jared could do nothing but stare with his jaw hanging open. His mother walked over to him and used her index finger to push his jaw upward in an effort to close his mouth.

“Jared honey you have a little drool, just there.” She again reached up and patted the side of his mouth with a handkerchief. She had to stifle a laugh as she watched the exchange. He seemed to go from dumbfounded to angry in a split second.

“What have you done to yourself?” He ignored his mother completely and reached around the car to grab hold of Lily’s elbow, pulling her
behind him as he went into the house. As they entered the foyer she tried to shake her arm free of the firm grip. He just tightened his fingers and kept walking until they reached his office where he close the door, blocking out all the curious stares and wagging tongues.

“Jared let go. You’re acting like a crazy man.” Lily tried to put up a brave front but was actually a little nervous. She had seen Jared mad before but never directed at her. He loomed largely in front of her and let go of her arm to stand directly in front of her, forcing her head to tilt at a sharp angle.

“Why are you so mad, all I did was get a haircut and some clothes? Your mother helped and she thinks it’s fabulous.” She looked at him with doubtful eyes.

“
Is it horrible? She didn’t lie to me did she?” Lily mouth ran a mile a minute. She turned to go to a mirror but Jared stopped her again.

“No, it’s not horrible. If fact, you are probably the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I am going to have a hard time getting any work done in the near future.” His voice was gruff and he had to clear his throat twice to finish the sentence
.
What the hell was going on?