Lily's Cowboys (6 page)

The bathroom was identical to Allen’s in layout but with different colors and much more lived in. There was shaving cream and his razor laying on the counter. A toothbrush and toothpaste were set in a holder and a comb was next to the sink. Lily spent a little longer cleaning Caleb’s room wondering what he would be like when she met him. Maggie had said he bottled things up. She would have to work on his being able to talk. She was an excellent listener.

The next room was definitely Ethan’s. Everything was immaculate. The bed was made and there wasn’t a thing on the floor. The window covers were pulled back and tied neatly. A look in his closet had Lily laughing, even she wasn’t that organized! The bathroom was also spotless. Ethan must have cleaned it before he left. Unable to resist knowing what Ethan’s scent would be, Lily walked over to a shirt hanging on a hanger next to the bathroom door and pulled it towards her. Inhaling deeply, the rich masculine scent of wood and soap filled her. Closing her eyes, she was unprepared for the feelings rushing through her. She felt her womb clench and something she had never felt before tightened even lower. Gasping, she released the shirt and hurried from the room. There was nothing to clean and far too much danger in staying.

Lily made her way to the last room and slowly opened the door not really knowing what to expect. The room was gigantic! A bed twice as big as what had been in the other rooms stood in the center. It was a huge four posted bed. There were two mirrored dressers and two tall chest drawers. Walking to one of the doors, Lily discovered a huge walk-in closet. It was empty. Closing the door, she walked over to see if the bathroom was as big, or bigger, than the other bathrooms. She walked in and gasped as she studied it. There were mirrors everywhere. A tub the size of a small pool sat in the center of the room. Along one wall was a huge shower. It looked like the water fell from the ceiling above it like rain. The counter containing the sink actually had three sinks. The last wall had huge windows looking out over the mountains so if you were in the tub you could look out. She didn’t think she would ever get out of the tub if she ever got in it. The bathroom was clean and she could tell it wasn’t being used. This had to be the master bedroom.

“
This was my parents’ room.” A quiet voice spoke behind Lily, making her jump.

Lily twirled around, a hand going to her throat, “Oh. You are very good at that, you know.”

“
At what?” Allen asked huskily. He had been watching Lily for several minutes from the doorway. He enjoyed watching her framed against the windows overlooking the mountains he loved so much. He could picture her naked in the tub with her long hair unbraided hanging down to her waist. Her naked body reflected in all the mirrors. He had grown hard just thinking about it.

“
Sneaking up on me and scaring me!” Lily said with a teasing smile before turning to look out the windows again. “Isn’t it beautiful? I could live in this room alone.”

Allen came up behind Lily unable to resist the desire to touch her. “Yes, absolutely beautiful.” He murmured softly. Allen closed his eyes for a moment as Lily’s arousing scent swept through his body nearly overwhelming him. He clenched his fists close to his sides in an effort to stop himself from dragging her down to the floor and taking her right there.

“
Oh, well. This isn’t getting the house clean.” Lily said nervously as she moved a step away. “Why don’t you go out and see the new horses? Harold and Brad said they would take me out riding. I told them I’d go in a few days after I got settled in and knew my way around the house a little better. I’m really excited. I haven’t been riding in years.” Lily started to move around Allen but he reached out wrapping his large hand around her arm stopping her from leaving.

“
I’ll take you riding.” Allen growled softly. “I don’t want you around those two.”

Lily looked into Allen’s dark brown eyes. For a moment she lost herself in a dream, a dream she knew could never exist for her. With a sad smile, Lily reached up with her free hand and laid it on Allen’s cheek, “You don’t have to worry about them. I’m not interested in developing a relationship with anyone. That’s not what I’m here for.”

“
What are you here for, Lily?” Allen whispered.

“
To be your housekeeper as long as you need me.” Lily dropped her hand and pulled away from Allen heading out the door. “Now, if I don’t want to lose my job I’d better get dinner going or you’ll have grounds to dismiss me.”

Allen watched as Lily walked out of the door. She didn’t hear Allen murmur softly, “Never, Lily. I have a feeling I’m always going to need you.”

The next few days fell into a pattern of Allen getting up early and having breakfast with Lily and some of the other men. Harold and Brad were always in attendance during meals much to Allen’s aggravation. They didn’t say anything flirty to Lily but Allen grew more and more restless as he watched them watching her as she moved around the kitchen or laughed at something someone said. He didn’t like the way they stared at her ass when she bent over to get something out of the oven or refrigerator. He definitely didn’t like the way they stared at her breasts like they were imagining feasting on them instead of the food she had just set in front of them. He could tell they were impatient to get her alone. He also knew if they ever did he would beat the bloody hell out of them both.

After breakfast, Lily would chase him outside on the pretense of having him check on the chickens for her or to go see a new horse or some other excuse. Lunch was the same but the evenings were his favorite. He discovered Lily loved to hide in the den curled up with a good book. She loved to read and after the second night he had discovered her in there she had started reading to him. He loved to sit and listen to her. It had been a little over a week since she had come and he realized he hadn’t had or wanted a drink. What amazed him even more was he hadn’t had any nightmares since she arrived. This was a first for him in over eight months. Some evenings they would just talk, or more like, he would talk. Lily was always asking him questions about the ranch; what it was like when he was growing up, how the ranch had changed over the years, what his parents and brothers were like, the questions were never ending. He fell asleep each night thinking about her and woke excited at the idea of seeing her.

“
Hey, boss man.” Ed said as he pulled up outside the line shack. It had been a rough drive even for the four wheel drive pickup but he knew Caleb had to be running low on supplies. Pulling a box of can goods out of the passenger seat he made his way toward the open door. Caleb nodded as Ed walked through. “When you coming home?”

“
Depends on what you brought.” Caleb said turning away to throw another log in the old wood stove. “Why you ask?”

Ed shrugged, “Just thought you would prefer some of your new housekeeper’s good home cooking instead of this can stuff. She sent you a present.”

Caleb frowned, “What new housekeeper? Where’s Maggie?” Caleb took the small cooler from Ed. Opening it, he was almost knocked over by the delicious smells coming from it. “Shit. What did she fix? This smells like heaven.” Pulling out three containers, he opened one to find a thick beef stew, the next one had corn bread, and the last had a big pile of brownies. He could barely contain the drool from dripping down his chin. He was sick to death of can soup and beans.

Pulling a big spoon out of the bottom of the cooler he took a bite of the still hot stew groaning as it hit his taste buds. “Damn but that’s good.”

Ed smiled. “Yeah, Lily is a damn good cook. Her chocolate chip cookies should be outlawed. She’s fattening Allen up pretty good. Haven’t seen the boy eat so much in years.”

Caleb’s head jerked up in surprise, “Allen’s eating?”

“
Yeah. Even he couldn’t resist Lily’s famous hot roast beef sandwiches. He’s been working with Harold and Brad with some of the new horses we got in too. They can’t do much with the weather outside so they have the big barn set up for training the horses’ commands and stuff. Lily keeps him pretty busy too around the house fixing things.”

“
Who the hell is Lily, who hired her, and when did she start?” Caleb asked around a mouthful of corn bread. Damn, it even had butter melted in it the way he liked.

“
Lily’s the new housekeeper Maggie hired before she headed back to Florida a little over a week ago. She runs a tight ship and doesn’t let Allen get away with much. Heard her threaten him with the back side of a broom if he didn’t get out from under her feet yesterday. Never thought I’d see Allen move so fast again. I guess the threat of a mouthful of broom bristles was enough though.” Ed said before snatching one of the warm brownies off the plate.

Caleb bit back a growl. Those were his damn brownies and he wasn’t sharing. Hell, it had been years since he had had any. Pulling the plate closer to him, he shot a warning glare at Ed.

“
You find anything while you were up here?” Ed asked with a grin.

“
Found some tracks but the snow keeps covering them up. It looks like they are coming in from the National Forest.” Caleb’s eyes closed as he sunk his teeth into the warm brownie. Oh, hell, that was heaven. He looked across at Ed and wondered why he had a shit-eating grin on his face.

“
Well, guess I’d better be getting back. Lily was making chocolate peanut butter pies for dessert tonight and oven roasted chicken with all the fixings. I don’t want to miss it.” Ed stood up, put his hat on and pulled out his gloves. “When you planning on coming back to the homestead? Just in case Allen asks.”

“
Today. I’ll be home before it gets dark.” Caleb was not a masochist. He was ready for a hot shower, soft bed, and more of the delicious food he had just eaten. Hell, he might even kiss the new housekeeper if her pies were as good as the brownies. He didn’t give a damn what she looked like.

Ed just nodded before heading out to the truck. Caleb didn’t see the grin spread across the old man’s face.

Caleb shut the door of the shack and looked around the small dingy interior. Yeah, he was ready for his own bed. Pulling out his duffle bag, he stuffed the few clothes he had brought with him into it. He put the can goods in the cabinets and put out the fire in the old wood stove. He made sure everything was secure and neat before he walked out to the pickup truck. He threw his few belongs in the front seat and started the engine to warm it up. Backing up the truck to the horse trailer, he hitched it then went into the small lean-to containing two stalls.

Opening it, he pulled his horse, Buck, out, “Let’s go home, boy. You can sleep in a nice warm barn tonight.” The gelding flicked his tail back and forth and nodded his head up and down like he was agreeing with the idea.

Caleb munched on brownies on the drive home. He was worried about how Allen was doing. From what he could gather from Ed, Allen was actually out of his room and moving around. How the new housekeeper had accomplished such a miracle in less than a week when he, Ethan and Maggie had been trying for six months was beyond him. He wiped a few crumbs from the beard on his face. Grimacing, he couldn’t wait to get a hot shower and a shave. He had never liked having hair on his face. He grinned when he thought about Allen. Hell, he looked like Grizzly Adams. The stuff made him itch personally. He wondered if Allen had shaved yet and gotten a haircut. He was beginning to look like a damn castaway.

He pulled in front of the barn two hours later. He had to go slow pulling the trailer and even then it had been hazardous. He slid out of the truck and walked around the back to unload Buck at the same time Brad came out of the barn.

“
Hey, boss man. Welcome back. I’ll take care of Buck and the truck and trailer for you if you want.” Brad had already undone the back gate of the trailer and was walking Buck backwards out of it.

“
Thanks. I could use a hot shower and a shave.” Caleb said pulling his duffle bag out of the front seat.

“
Just be sure to take your boots off before you track through the house. Lily will open a can of whip ass on you if you muddy up her floors. She clobbered Harold last night with a wet mop in the ass when he forgot.” Brad said with a big grin.

Caleb raised his hand in acknowledgement before he headed toward the back door and kitchen entrance. Dropping his duffle bag by the door to the basement he went up the back stairs heading for his room. He paused outside of Allen’s room when he heard laughing. Moving closer, he pressed his ear to the door.

“
Come here you little rascal. You are going to be in so much trouble.” A soft, sexy, feminine voice said. “Oh, you are such a bad boy.”

Caleb could barely suppress a groan. It had been over a year since he had had sex and now his brother was doing it in the middle of the day. Hell, if he had known Allen was going to rebound so well he wouldn’t have wasted his energy on worrying about him. Pushing away from the door he hurried to his room and a hot shower. Shit, he better make it a cold one instead from the hard on he had in his pants. He wondered if Allen’s friend would be interested in a threesome. For the first time, he was actually interested in someone Allen was, at least if the voice that had given him the hard on was any indication. It had always been their hope they would find a woman who would want to be with them, all three of them. So far, it had remained a fruitless dream. It seemed his, Ethan, and Allen’s tastes in women differed dramatically. Ethan like the tall, willowy type, Allen liked the biker babes, and he, well, he wanted a country girl with an edge. What did they say, a lady outside the bedroom but a whore in it. Sighing, Caleb finished shaving and showering. As he dressed he wondered if Allen and his lady friend were done. He would like to catch a glimpse of her to see if the sight of her affected him as bad as her voice did.