More than a Maid (7 page)

Ramon huffed a breath out of the side of his mouth. "No. Why would someone do that? I was hopeful. Put 'em there for you."

"Okay." She gave him a thoughtful look, unsure what to believe. But she instinctively bent her knees, opening her legs to show him she was ready for round two.

"Mmm." His eyes went up and down her body as he opened the wrapper. As he unrolled the condom, he said, "I'm
so
glad you're here."

Marcy detected a hint of sadness in his tone, as if he had said those words without realizing it. Maybe he really was glad she was here. Was he lonely and in need of some female attention? Maybe he wasn't the player she assumed.

But a guy doesn't get that good with his tongue unless he has a lot of practice
, she thought.

Her thoughts melted away at the feel of his body between her thighs as he maneuvered into position. He flashed her a sexy, crooked smiled and thrust into her.

Marcy smiled up at him, and suddenly his mouth was on hers, his tongue plunging between her lips as he rocked into her.

She curled her arms around his back and gave in.

His rhythm was slow at first, until she let out a moan much louder than she intended. He let go of her mouth and touched his forehead to hers, gazing longingly into her eyes. Then he put his hands down beside her and lifted his chest, his movements faster and deeper.

Marcy reached up and held his shoulders, her fingers gliding along the lines of his well-defined muscles. He was the sexiest man she had even been under in her entire life. His long-lashed eyes twinkled down at her. Full lips, bright red from kissing, opened and closed as he breathed.

It was a sight she wanted to see more of in her future. And as he went faster, she found herself hoping she would.

Many minutes later, Ramon inhaled in tiny gasps as he came. Then he lowered his body and planted a kiss on her forehead before rolling away beside her, panting and smiling.

She tucked her head down and smiled back at him weakly, now feeling timid.

"Don't worry…" he said between breaths. "Not done yet… let me rest up…"

"Good," Marcy giggled out.

He laughed and reached forward to cup her jaw. "So pretty…" and then he kissed her again, his skin sweaty and his chest still heaving.

She tried not to look disappointed when he let her go, but she already missed him.

He rolled to his back, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as he finished catching his breath.

Feeling a draft in the room, Marcy pulled the sheet across her naked body. "So," she said, "Do you invite a lot of women to your room?"

He offered a light shrug. "Nah." His brows furrowed as though he was thinking. "Why?"

Biting her lip, her eyes floating shyly around the room. "You just seem… really… uh… confident? In your abilities? Like, you've had a lot of practice?"

He grinned. "It was good, wasn't it?"

Her cheeks warmed.

"Really?
That
good? Wow." He nestled under the sheet with her and gave her lips a quick peck. When he pulled away, he rested the side of his face on the pillow and said, "I knew I had to be good tonight 'cause I'd like to keep you comin' back for the next four weeks."

She gasped from both surprise and joy. Surprise that he was so forward with his intentions. Joy, at the possibility of more nights like this. But she calmed immediately, determined not to seem desperate. "Well, that's clever."

He nodded proudly. "I thought so."

"But does that mean it's not always gonna be
that
good?" She flashed him a naughty smile. "I could really get used to that tongue."

Ramon let out a long laugh, kissed her forehead, and continued laughing when his head rested again on the pillow. "I'm glad you told me that." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I don't know why some women are so shy about what they like. Frustrating. I'm not a fuckin' mind reader, you know?"

"You mean, no one's told you that before? About your tongue?"

"Not in so many words, no. Or maybe they just took it for granted. I don't know." He sighed. "And it's a shame, too. I worked hard to get that good."

Stunned, Marcy said, "Huh? What do you mean, you worked hard? How? A lot of practice?"

"No. I took lessons."

Marcy laughed. "No, you didn't. Where? How?"

"Online."

"What?" She kept laughing.

Nodding, Ramon said, "Yeah. A long time ago. First thing I did when I got a computer in high school."

"Whoa." She was instantly calm, wondering how he'd stayed single all these years. "You've been doing
that
since high school?"

"Yep." He adjusted his pillow. "You see, when I first moved here from Mexico, I pretended like I didn't speak English for a long time so I could eavesdrop on Henry and the ranch hands. But Mama spoke it at home sometimes, and I knew it better than they realized. I became fluent much faster than my brothers did." He paused to clear his throat. "So anyway, all the guys out back used to talk about, 'La Lengua,' like he was a legend. 'La Lengua' means 'the tongue.'"

"Okay."

"So, he'd just died at the time and they all went to the funeral. Apparently he was this little old ugly guy, but there were all these women mourning him. Like, sobbing openly. Hell, maybe the guys were lying. I don't know. It was a running joke for a long time. They said he had, like, ten wives and twenty girlfriends and it was all because he was 'La Lengua.'"

Ramon stopped to chuckle, then he continued. "After that, I'd go to the library to read these sex books to try to figure it all out, but Mama found out and I got in trouble. So I had to wait till Henry passed his old computer down to me. Found some lessons. Had to send away for a CD with a money order. There were all these tongue exercises, techniques. How to keep your tongue from wearing out. Stuff like that."

Marcy stared at him in disbelief. "And how old were you?"

"Fourteen, when I got that CD."

She was deflated. "So, you've had a lot of practice since then, huh?"
Or, in other words, I'm just a notch in your bedpost?

He smirked. "Not,
a lot
."

What's it matter anyway?
she asked herself, trying to console the tiny piece of her heart that had unexpectedly broken. She didn't expect to feel that way for a guy who was only supposed to give her a night of fun… or maybe four weeks of it… So, she opted for a subject change. "It sounds like the ranch hands are pretty raunchy."

"Not so much anymore. I got a good group of guys right now. Plus, it's a different vibe without Henry around." He groaned. "He can be a dirty old man sometimes."

"What happened? I heard he just took off one day with the maid."

Ramon nodded. "Yeah. That's pretty much it."

Marcy lifted a brow. "So, he was fooling around with the maid? Kinda cliche, don't you think?" She nudged him knowingly with her elbow.

His eyes darted around the room as he shook his head. Then his gaze settled on her. "I used to think so. But now I think it's kinda hot."

Marcy averted her eyes and tried to hide her grin. She couldn't deny that she thought it was kinda hot, too. "So, why'd they take off, anyway? Did something happen?"

Ramon's expression went cold. "Did Victor tell you to ask me that?"

She widened her eyes. "No."

He scanned her face for a moment like he was trying to determine if she was lying. Then he took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay."

"Did you know Henry and the maid were… uh…" She paused. "Intimate?"

"Yeah, I always assumed. Nothing ever happened around me but I know how Henry is."

"But you lived in the same house, right? You never walked in on anything?"

"Honestly, I didn't care enough to notice. Hell, they're adults. Let 'em do what they wanna do, you know?" He shrugged. "Besides, I think they spent most of their time together in the trailer out back."

"Trailer out back?"

"Yeah," he said. "There's a double-wide trailer out there. Henry bought it a few years ago for the guys to use as a break room during the day. At night, I guess it was his and Elsa's love nest." He grunted like he was about to gag.

"Am I supposed to be cleaning that, too?"

"Only if you want to, I suppose. Maybe just once a week to vacuum and mop or whatever. Those guys can be a bunch of damn pigs sometimes. That's why I make 'em clean up their own mess. Have you not gone out there yet?"

"No offense, but…" Her nose wrinkled. "There's a smell. I caught a whiff of it from the back deck. I probably need to go out there and look around, huh?"

"Don't go out there unless I'm with you." His eyes fixed on hers.

"Why? Is it dangerous?"

"Just don't do it."

"Uh… okay." She didn't know him well enough to interpret his facial expressions, but he seemed pretty serious. "Do the guys ever come here, to the house?"

"Sometimes, but only for emergencies. I told 'em all to keep out now that I got all these people stayin' with me. Makes things easier." Ramon suddenly gasped, giving his alarm clock a glance. "Shit! It's eleven o'clock already?"

"Hmm?" Marcy looked at the clock.

Ramon growled and let his head fall to the pillow. "I'm so fuckin' tired of wakin' up at three-thirty."

"Huh? Three-thirty?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "Guess I'll have to go in late tomorrow. No way I can function on three hours sleep. Four, maybe. But not three."

Marcy squinted at him. "I think your math's wrong. If you go to sleep now, you'll get four and a half hours."

He sat up, chuckling, then pulled another condom out from under his pillow. "Not with you in my bed." He reached out and put his hand behind her head, pulling her forward.

She happily melted into his arms, his kiss awakening her body once again.

Some time well after midnight, Marcy dozed off into a blissful slumber in Ramon's bed.

At three-thirty, as she lay on her side with her back to him, she jolted awake at the blaring alarm clock he had forgotten to turn off.

She kept her eyes shut, chuckling, when she heard him mutter a string of expletives, then smack the clock until the buzzer stopped.

"Fuckin' three-thirty…" Ramon muttered.

Laughing inside, she lay peacefully, waiting for sleep to overtake her once again, when she felt his arm curve around her waist. Then she felt his warm chest against her back.

Does he want me to wake up?
she wondered. But almost instantly she heard his slow, rhythmic breathing and knew he had fallen asleep.

She eased her body against his and closed her eyes.

The next time she awoke, it was to the sound of dresser drawers opening and shutting. She rolled over, blinking to clear her eyes, then rubbing them. She saw a bare-chested Ramon pulling on a pair of jeans.

Clearing her throat, she asked, "What time is it?"

Ramon frowned, looking at her as he zipped his pants. "Seven-thirty. Sorry. I was trying to let you sleep."

"It's okay." Marcy pulled the covers to her neck, enjoying this early morning eye candy.

"What time do you usually wake up?" He walked to the closet.

"Seven or eight." She yawned. "But I'm not used to the time change yet. I'm
so
tired."

He nodded as he plucked a T-shirt from a hanger, then stopped, narrowing his eyes at her. "Wait. You gained an hour. You shoulda got plenty of sleep." He pulled his shirt over his head, flashing her a wry smile. "Unless someone kept you up past your bedtime."

Marcy sighed, thinking about last night. "Can't you take the day off? You're the boss, right?"

Ramon gazed at her thoughtfully as he headed to the dresser. He picked up a belt and started looping it through his jeans. "I'm the boss but I'm the last guy who gets a day off."

"So, you
never
take time off?"

He shrugged. "Took a couple days for Armando's wedding last week." He exhaled a labored breath as he worked with his belt. "First time in a while."

From his tone, Marcy sensed "a while" meant months… or possibly years. She sat up, using the covers to keep warm. "That's not healthy."

He smirked and picked up his wallet, tucking it into his pocket. "Oh well. That's life."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Ramon snickered and gave her a wink.

She rolled her eyes. "I mean, business related, like we talked about yesterday. For real. I can reconcile some accounts if you're behind. Stuff like that."

His eyebrows knitted as he put on his watch. "I'll think about it. Maybe next week I'll take you to Kernersville with me for a day."

"Kernersville? That's the town where your two other ranches are?"

Ramon nodded and plopped down beside her on top of the covers, crossing his socked feet at his ankles. "Yeah. That's where I'm headed now. Believe me, if there was ever a day I wanted to stay home, it's today." He shook his head, his eyes going up and down her blanket-covered form. "I gotta be careful. Ain't gonna get nothin' done with you livin' here." Then he stared up at the ceiling and let out a weary groan before shifting his legs to the floor to stand, then head to the door.

Marcy heart raced, hoping he would change his mind and stay with her at least a little while longer. "So you're just… leaving?"

"I have to. Wish I didn't." With his hand on the doorknob, Ramon turned to look at her. "I gotta go to my office downstairs for a few minutes then I'll stop in the kitchen to grab some coffee before I leave. Maybe I'll see you down there?"

Disappointed, Marcy said, "Yeah."

"Hey, tonight I'll need you up here at eight o'clock sharp. Or you're in big trouble." He grinned.

Her face lit up. "Okay. But won't everyone think it's strange that we're both upstairs so early?"

Shrugging, he said, "Nah. They keep each other busy. Probably won't even notice." Ramon opened his door, then abruptly closed it and added, "Hey, if I don't see you downstairs… have a good day."

"You too."

Ramon gazed into her eyes with the same hint of sadness she thought she noticed the previous night. "Sorry to leave you like this but I really do have to go." And then he opened the door and left.

Marcy stared at the closed door for a moment, hoping he'd come back and at least kiss her goodbye. But then again, maybe a kiss goodbye was too familiar. That sort of thing crossed into "relationship territory," a place neither of them wanted to go.

Or maybe he was afraid he couldn't control himself? The thought of it made her smile.

Marcy took a deep breath. Oh well. At least they had plans for tonight. Her only worry was getting through the day without fantasizing about what he'd done to her in that bed the previous night.

Hmm… maybe if she rushed downstairs she could see him for a minute before he left.

Five minutes later, after brushing her teeth, detangling her hair, and applying a minimal amount of makeup, Marcy descended the stairs on her way to the kitchen. The house was already alive with energetic voices and the rich smell of coffee.

Instead of going straight to the kitchen, she sneaked down the hall, listening outside Ramon's office. The door was shut but she heard his muffled voice.

And she felt like an idiot for smiling.

Heck, why did she care if she got to see him again for another minute? It wasn't long enough to matter.

Marcy shook it off and headed to the kitchen, refusing to analyze her feelings and resolving right then to just let herself be happy. Maybe she deserved to have a good time with a hot guy, for once. "No strings attached" may be the smartest thing she ever did.

When she entered the kitchen, everyone but Isaac stopped talking. He sat at the island beside Victor, both of them eating cereal. Tom and Patty hovered near the stove.

"Good morning, everyone," Marcy said as she made a beeline for the coffee pot. "Where's Cara?"

"Sleeping," Victor said.

"Okay." Marcy went for the biggest mug she saw in the cabinet. She was a little sleepy but it was nothing an enormous serving of coffee couldn't fix.

She soon heard footsteps enter the kitchen and her pulse quickened. Was it him?

Her question was answered when Isaac, his mouth partially filled with cereal, said, "Wuh-moan!"

Marcy kept her back to him, determined to act like nothing happened, even though she was glowing inside.

Tom said, "Nice to see you. You're usually long gone by now."

Ramon chuckled. "Yeah, figured I deserve to sleep in once in a blue moon."

Isaac dropped his spoon into his cereal bowl with a
clang
and said, "Did you find the cannoh-wee?"

"Huh?" Ramon asked as he walked to the coffee pot. "Did I find what?"

Marcy turned around to see Isaac's little blond eyebrows formed a frustrated line.

"The cannoh-wee!" Isaac said. "Did you find it? Gwammah said you two was somewheh pwayin' hide the cannoh-wee."

Marcy's cheeks were instantly warm, now realizing why everyone stopped talking when she entered the room. She left her mug on the counter and stared straight down at the floor, determined not to look at Ramon… or anyone else.

Ramon stifled a laugh as he reached into the cupboard for his gigantic mug. "Don't know what to tell ya,
hombrecito
. I probably wouldn't know what a cannoli was if I found it."

Victor smirked and shot a mean look at Patty, then Marcy, then at the back of Ramon's head. He placed a gentle hand on Isaac's back. "You should probably finish eating your cereal before it gets soggy."

Isaac nodded enthusiastically. "I wike cannoh-wee, but I wike cake bettow." He frowned and asked in a pleading voice, "If you guys find the cannoh-wee can I have it?"

Patty rushed to Isaac, walking up behind him to give him a hug. "I'll tell you what, sweetie. Today, I'll make a whole batch of cannoli just for you, because you're such a good boy." She kissed his cheek.

Isaac gasped, then smiled at his grandmother. "Okay!"

With quiet anger in his voice, Victor leaned back to look at Patty without Isaac seeing his face. "Hey Grandma, why don't you make him a cake instead? Then we don't have to discuss cannoli again today."

"Oh," Patty whispered, her lips forming a circle as Victor's words took root. She hugged Isaac again and said, "I'm gonna make you the best chocolate cake in the world."

Isaac's face fell. "But Wuh-moan—"

Marcy interrupted him, finally lifting her eyes from the floor. "Isaac, honey, there was no cannoli. I'm sorry. Grandma was wrong about that."

Isaac's lips formed a distinct pout.

Victor patted Isaac's arm and said, "Hey, why don't you go upstairs and see if Mommy's awake yet? And then stay in the bedroom and wait for me. We'll leave for daycare in a little while."

"Okay." Isaac hopped off the stool and hurried out of the kitchen.

Victor glared at Patty. "You know he hears
everything
."

Patty said, "Yes, I know. I'm sorry."

Ramon gave Marcy a quick glance then asked everyone, "Did I miss something?"

Tom walked up to Ramon and put a hand on his shoulder. "I think there's a loose floorboard in your room."

"Really?" Victor asked, eyes narrowed inquisitively. "It sounded like a spring to me. Like an old, rusty mattress spring."

Ramon snickered. "You mean, like,
one
spring? Out of an entire mattress?"

Marcy drew her hand to her nervous stomach, fearful of where this conversation headed.

Victor said, "Yeah. It was one little muted squeal." Then he proceeded to quietly mimic the high-pitched sound. "Like,
ree!
Ree!
Ree!
Ree!
"

Tom pointed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Kinda like that."

"Oh God," Marcy uttered under her breath.

Patty waved a dismissive hand at her. "Oh, it's okay. It wasn't that loud. I just happened to be awake or I probably wouldn't have heard it. At first I thought it was a cricket, but then it happened again a little while later. And then again."

Marcy's cheeks had never felt so hot. "Did Cara hear it?"

Victor shook his head. "I don't think so. She's a sound sleeper. And I doubt Isaac heard it…" His voice trailed off as his eyes widened. "You guys haven't heard anything… from… uh…"

Patty spoke up. "Your room? No." Then she raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay up there?"

Ramon instantly howled with laughter.

Of course he'd laugh
, she thought.

Unsure what she was supposed to feel, Marcy rushed out of the kitchen to the front porch for some fresh air. She took a seat and listened to the laughter echoing from inside, probably at her expense.

Her memories of last night were somehow tainted by the fact that everyone knew. And her stomach lurched at the thought of telling Cara.

A few minutes later, Ramon burst through the door, heading for his truck. He stopped when he saw her sitting there.

Ramon said, "Hey," then let out a sympathetic sigh.

"Hey."

He scratched his head as he stared off in the distance. "So, I guess we'll try your room instead of mine tonight?"

She pursed her lips and stared at him, nostrils flaring.

With an exasperated breath, he tilted his head to the side. "What? You ashamed of me or something?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

Marcy rolled her eyes. Did she really have to spell it out for him? "It's embarrassing. I look desperate and slutty."

"So?" He shrugged. "It makes me look just as bad. Or worse. Hell, I didn't even know my bed made noises. But guess what?" His eyes widened. "I don't give two shits about what
they
think."

"Of course you don't."

"You shouldn't either. We're adults and it's no one's damn business what we do or who we do it with."

"You don't get it. I came here to do a job, for which I'm very overpaid." Her head shook. "Cara's gonna—"

He held up his hand. "I gotcha. Say no more." Then he gestured for her to get up. "Walk with me to my truck."

Marcy pulled in a deep breath and stood, padding along in her slippered feet as she followed him down the porch steps.

Ramon waited for her to come up beside him before he started down the cement path leading to the side of the house. He said, "In my opinion, Cara has no right to judge you for last night. Months ago when I met her for the first time, she let it slip that she'd only started working for my brother a week earlier." He smirked. "And she was already on an overnight business trip with him."