Embraced (3 page)

Barrett smiled. Virgin or no, her body was one big nerve ending. It must be confusing, and frightening. “Meagan, I want you.”

Her expression was priceless.

“And I intend to have you.”

If her eyes bugged out any more, she’d be wearing them as a necklace.

“I just wanted you to know where I stand. You’re always accusing me of sneaking up on you. I’ve just laid my cards on the table. We don’t know each other very well, but that can be rectified during the next couple of weeks. I’m not going to let you ignore me or the attraction we share any more.” He watched her carefully, and she looked like she’d swallowed a frog. He patted her hand. “I don’t mean I’m going to jump your bones this minute

– not that I don’t want to, you understand.” That seemed to calm her somewhat. “What happened in the kitchen; I’m sorry I frightened you. That wasn’t my intention. It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as responsive as you are, and I lost my head a little. I think it was your reaction that made you uncomfortable, wasn’t it?”

Her pale face was a blazing scarlet, but she nodded. Barrett leaned down and kissed her in a kindly, less sexual fashion than earlier. “Don’t worry about it now, ok? Just relax, take it a little easy, and we’ll discuss things more a little later in the week.”

Meagan would have sold him her soul if he’d’ve just agreed to get the hell out of her bedroom. She nodded like a good, obedient girl – which was false advertising – and he left. On her

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side, trying to get to sleep, she was scheming up ways to stay avoid him over the next two weeks.

Barrett, meanwhile, was racking his brain to come up with a way to keep her with him for longer than a measly two weeks.

What Barrett wanted, Barrett got. And he definitely wanted one Miss Meagan O’Reilly, by hook or by crook.

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warm, wet tongue was licking insistently at her cheek, then swiped boldly across her lips.

A“YEEEECCHHH!!” Meg sat up and compulsively wiped “doggie kisses” off her mouth and cheek. “Bu-tchie!!

Mamma loves you, but that doesn’t extend to your tongue down my throat! Blech!”

She was still making disgusted faces when breakfast a la Barrett arrived. “I thought you said I could get up today?”

The tray was situated over her lap before he spoke. “You can, I just thought you’d like to continue the tradition.” He opened the curtains while Meg perused the . . . food.

This was food?
The other meals he’d brought to her had been fabulous – way too much, but great – pancakes, fluffy eggs, home fries, etc. The toast on her plate looked like it had barely survived Chernobyl. The eggs were by Dr Seuss and she was afraid to inspect the bacon too closely for fear it might bite.

Orange juice.
Can’t do much to that
, she thought. Wrong again. It was sour, had seeds, and whole chunks of rind in it. And the coffee had so many grounds in it she wouldn’t have to be worried about being regular any time soon.

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Carolyn Faulkner

“Uh, I’m really not very hungry this morning,” she feigned weakly, setting the tray aside. “I guess you were right about me not eating that Ben and Jerry’s last night. Spoiled my appetite.”

Slipping her robe around her shoulders, she got up.

Surprisingly, Barrett collected the tray and made his way out without comment while Meg dressed in rose colored jeans and an old but still pretty print top in cream, rose and green. Tiny jade and gold earrings, a jade and gold flower ring, a spritz of light perfume and she was ready to face him again. Maybe if she were lucky, he’d have to go away somewhere – anywhere.

Three morose faces confronted her in the kitchen. “What happened, did someone die?”

Hayden kissed her good morning on the cheek as Barrett scowled terribly. It looked like his talk with that boy had done no good at all. He’d have to do some reinforcement of his claim later.

“Worse than that. Katrina had a family emergency and has to be gone all summer – maybe even into September!!!”

Katrina was the cook. That explained the lack of food at breakfast. Well, edible food, anyway.

Mandy pushed her chair away from the table and got up. “I don’t know why everyone’s in such an uproar about Trina leaving, it’s not like we’re going to starve or anything.”

Meg choked softly on that, then said, “Excuse me,” in a soft voice, not daring to meet anyone’s eyes. They’d certainly starve on what Barrett could kill – uh, cook.

“Meagan, could I see you for a minute in my office?”

She’d never been in Barrett’s office before, and she followed him complacently, interested in seeing his inner sanctum. He held open

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Embraced

the door for her with a flourish. “Step into my parlor . . .” Meg glared back at him and he laughed.

It suited him to a T, a large rectangular room with oak paneling, a huge desk in front of big bow windows and floor to ceiling bookcases. There was a black leather couch over an Aubusson carpet and a small TV with VCR. It smelled of leather, cologne, and man. Meg took a
very
deep breath.

Barrett’s manners were impeccable and old worldly – that’s probably why he subscribed to the idea of spanking, too. He seated her before taking the big cushiony chair behind the desk. “Mandy says you usually only stay about 2 weeks.”

Meg laced her fingers over her stomach. “Yes. It’s about all I can afford. I have a summer job that’s slowly helping me pay down some of my school bills. Student loans are
forever!
” she sighed ruefully.

“I can offer you an extremely well-paying job down here.”

She could feel his eyes on her, and tried to play it casual and cautious. “Doing what?”

He leaned on his bare, lightly hair covered forearms, having rolled up the sleeves of his white business shirt. “I have an immediate opening for a cook. Mandy tells me you can fill the bill.”

Fidgeting under his intense stare, Meg replied, “I’m no Wolfgang Puck.”

“Neither was Katrina. I don’t want someone to cook fancy, inedible, miniscule meals that are all decoration and no meal. I need someone who can cook a decent breakfast and dinner for the

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three of us – and probably Hayden and David sometimes - and do all of the shopping, etc, that that entails.”

She met his eyes and murmured with just a touch of sarcasm, “Sounds like a fun vacation for me, chained to the stove.”

Barefoot and pregnant, the surprising thought came into his head. Naked and open. Wet and warm – he shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Disconcerted, he played his trump card, naming an astronomical sum of money, and watched her swallow hard in surprise. He’d done his homework well, thanks to some not-so above-board friends he still had from his stint in the military.

Barrett had to give her credit. She managed what little money she had well. He hadn’t realized how poorly teachers were paid until he looked at her credit report. The figure he quoted her would payoff her student loans and then some. It was just big enough to be almost impossible to turn down, but still be feasible for the job.

“I don’t know what to say.”

A sly grin spread across his face. “Say ‘yes, Barrett, I’d love to come to work for you.’” He supplied in a high-pitched, singsong voice.

“You just want to stave off starvation from having to eat your own food.”

Big, booted heels
thunked
loudly on the solid oak desk as he put his feet up and leaned back. “I don’t have time to cook, or eat out. I have a ranch and several other businesses to run. You know the family, what Mandy likes to eat – and the boys and I are far from fussy – and I already know you. No bothersome references and such.”

“Don’t you entertain occasionally?”

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“Rarely. That’s what caterers are for.”

He could see that she was obviously tempted, and came around to her side of the desk, leaning his butt against the edge, bulging muscular arms folded across a bulging muscular chest. He hated to wait, hated the real possibility she might turn him down, wanting to just order her to accept his offer to sign on as cook. Or into his bed. Her choice, either way the end result would be the same. Instead, he kept his big mouth shut like a good boy, and reflexively reached for a cigar from the box on the desk, but half way to lighting it he looked at her and stopped himself. No way was he going to smoke in front of her with her lung problems.

Scratch that.

Meagan was overwhelmed. She had no idea what to say or do, and he was leaning there all masculine and sexy, all she really wanted to do was throw herself on him and kiss him until neither one of them could stand up straight. The episode in the kitchen kept replaying in her mind, and it was making her nipples go tight and tingly all over again . . . “Uh, when do you need my answer?”

“As soon as possible.” She was getting up, and he could read nothing but confusion in her expression. No help there.

“I’ll let you know.” Her gait was unsteady, as she was lost in thought on the way to the door.

“I’ll be here. Wasting away . . . Skin and bones . . .

Starving to death . . . “ he added small cough for emphasis.

“Not likely,” came the thoroughly unsympathetic response.

“Worse than that – if I eat my own cooking I’ll get ptomaine, e-coli, salmonella . . . “

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“And that’s just from breakfast.”

“Brat,” he was working hard at trying to seem pathetic.

Meg paused, sighing. “Regardless of what I decide, I’ll feed you while I’m here.”

“Well, then I’ll need to pack a lot in during the next two weeks, huh?”

“Yeah. I’ll need to adjust my recipe measurements up for you.”

She had disappeared into the hall as he murmured with a hooded glance, “I wasn’t necessarily talking about food.”

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he next few days were a balm to her ego.

Everything she cooked was oohed and ahhhed over Tas if it was being offered up by Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. Barrett hadn’t lied when he speculated that Hayden and David might show up to sample her cuisine. The whole family ate dinner together that first night, and though she cooked enough chicken casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans to feed an army, every scrap of it disappeared.

David, even had the nerve to offer up his practically licked-clean plate to Meg with a pathetic look and beseech, “More gruel?”

The whole table dissolved in laughter, and Meagan got up to collect plates, but Barrett’s hand on her arm stopped her. “No way. You sit. You cooked, Mandy cleans.”

Mandy grumbled, but complied, and Meg sank back down into her chair. Barrett hadn’t released his hold on her, but rather slid his hand down her arm to capture and interlock his fingers with hers.

Meg’s mind was on something else, or she’d have made more of a protest to that slick maneuver. “Mand – coffee’s ready, I can smell it. Dessert’s on the stove.”

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“DESSERT!!!” came a chorus of appreciative male voices.

David leaned across the table in a loud conspiratorial voice, and offered with much winking and wiggling of eyebrows, “Marry me.”

Hayden was sitting next to her and took the hand Barrett wasn’t monopolizing. “No, marry ME. I’m richer,” he claimed, then threw out, “and
much
better looking.”

Meg laughed and reclaimed her hand from Hayden, then tried to do the same from Barrett, who refused to give it up, continuing to stroke his thumb down her sensitive palm.

Oooooooh, the effect that man had on her was criminal; Meagan shifted in her seat unconsciously.

The coffee and dessert arrived then, and the guys tucked into homemade brownies with hot fudge sauce, ice cream, and whipped cream on top. Barrett never let go of her, just shifted both of their hands to his knee, drawing her closer to him in the process.

Hayden and David helped Amanda clear the table and do the dishes, as if it was a long ingrained habit, which left Barrett alone with Meg in the dining room. “You cook well.”

He wasn’t a man for flowery or over-abundant compliments. “Thanks. I love to cook, unlike Mandy, who can’t boil water.”

Barrett leaned forward, pulling on her arm at the same time, lips hesitating over hers a millimeter away from completing the kiss. “I want to do some more cooking like we did in the kitchen last night.”

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Meg didn’t know quite what to say and couldn’t draw enough breath to get anything out anyway, so she said nothing.

His tongue flicked out and traced the outline of her lips.

“But I don’t want your nightgown covering you the next time. The next time I suckle, I want to take your bare nipple into my warm, wet mouth.” Before she could protest or even think, he fitted his lips to hers in a very gentle, passionate, romantic kiss. His palms held her face for him in the most delicate way, as if she would break if he weren’t exquisitely careful with her.

The heaven of their kiss ended abruptly when they heard Hayden say loudly, and with no couth at all, “We’re coming into the dining room now. Get your clothes back on.”

Meg’s face was blushing a fire engine red when everyone trooped in, but Barrett’s grin was self-satisfied and smug, and he winked boldly at her when he caught her eye.

~ ~ ~

A couple of days later, Meg was helping Mandy clean up after an impromptu lunch. Usually, it was just the two of them during the day, and they had potluck. For some strange reason, Barrett came home for lunch this afternoon looking more gorgeous than any one man ought to be allowed in a charcoal gray pinstriped suit, white dress shirt, and a maroon, gray and white pattered tie.