Lydia's Twin Temptation (18 page)

Clayton shook his head and said, “No way am I rushing the first time we make love, Lydi. That was just a little appetizer.”

As he sat up, Chance said, “He’s right, baby. We don’t fuck and run.”

She couldn’t believe her audacity when she replied, “Only because I haven’t asked for it yet.” Lydia kissed them both quickly and climbed from the bed.

Their eyebrows shot up, and sexy grins brought a jolt of happiness to her heart. They rose from the bed, and Clayton elbowed Chance as they headed toward the door and said, “She makes an excellent point.”

As she walked to the bathroom to get dressed, Clayton said, “We’re heading out, Lydi. Chance is running to the hardware store. I’ll be at the barns this morning.”

Lydi nodded as they smiled at her standing there in her birthday suit, and said, “I’ll see you at lunch. Tell everyone that it’s enchiladas for supper tonight.”

“Mmm,” Chance growled and rubbed his belly. To Clayton he said, “We’re in high cotton, huh, bro?”

“Lydi’s gonna make us fat and happy, I think.”

Lydia giggled and replied, “Nope, I’ll work it off of you, too.” She couldn’t imagine either of these two men getting fat, as hard as they worked. They blew kisses and departed.

A little while later, Lydia was downstairs having a cup of coffee and reviewing her to-do list when she saw Chance’s truck return from town as he drove past the kitchen window.

Lydia greeted Presley Ann when she walked in at seven thirty and indicated that there was fresh coffee in the coffeepot if she wanted some. Presley Ann nodded and prepared herself a cup as Lydia looked over Presley Ann’s to-do list one last time. Presley Ann needed such close supervision, she hadn’t been able to deliver another morning snack to the ranch hands. Twice she’d intended to, and both mornings had ended with her feeling she hadn’t accomplished much of anything.

Lydia felt the amount of work she’d assigned Presley Ann today was reasonable. Chance and Clayton weren’t neat freaks but neither did they live like pigs. Tidying the bedrooms and restocking the linen closets upstairs should not take all morning. Maybe she would be able to get in enough time to make the men a snack after all. After discussing the list, they started their day.

Their first stop was Chance’s bedroom. Lydia was tidying the books and magazines on the shelf under his bedside table when a book slid out onto the floor.

She reached behind the table for it, and her eyebrows felt like they reached her hairline when she recognized the cover of
The Rancher’s Lady
. This copy was identical to the one they’d given her, except it was dog-eared and the spine was creased in multiple places.

Listening for Presley Ann, she looked through the marked spots. She smiled when she found that many of them were favorite passages of her own, including some particularly hot love scenes.

She shrugged as she bit her lip, thinking it was okay with her if Chance wanted to read erotic romances. She hoped to be the beneficiary of his research sometime soon. She needed to write an e-mail to Caressa MacFarland, thanking her for writing that book.

The books and magazines were all stacked neatly on their shelf and dusted when Presley Ann spoke from the bathroom doorway. “Well
this
explains why someone has a rosy glow in her cheeks this morning.” Hanging from Presley Ann’s finger was the skimpy G-string to her baby-doll nightie.

Chapter Sixteen

Presley Ann twirled it on her finger as she said, “You know, I thought something was going on between you and Chance the other day, but I wasn’t sure about it, since you act like such a lady.”

Lydia stood and walked over to her and jerked the dangling garment from her finger. Lydia counted to ten, reminding herself that she was a professional and that she didn’t want to go to jail for hurting Presley Ann.

“The faucet handle to my shower is broken. Chance told me I could use his until he got the part needed to fix it.”

“
Right.
Hey, whatever works for you,” Presley Ann said knowingly as Lydia jerked the used towels from the towel bars that Presley Ann had left hanging there and then strode from the room, dropping them in the hamper sitting in the hallway.

Presley Ann followed her to the master suite and began flicking the dresser with the duster while Lydia sprayed the mirror in the bathroom and wiped it down. She glanced out the bathroom door and found Presley Ann looking out the window. Fed up with her laziness, Lydia walked out of the bathroom, collecting her thoughts before giving Presley Ann the ax.

As if sensing her presence, Presley Ann held back the lace curtain and said, “He sure is a fine man.”

“Who?”

“Chance. Clayton. Both. Whichever.”

“Whichever?”

Presley Ann couldn’t tell them apart and had even admitted it to Chance and Clayton at lunch the day before. Her attitude communicated that she didn’t care if she couldn’t tell them apart.

“Yes. Whichever. Fine and
rich
is what matters to me.”

“Presley Ann, what are you getting at?”

Presley Ann turned from the window to look directly at Lydia, and the cold calculation in her eyes wasn’t hidden for a change. “Can I level with you?” Without waiting for Lydia’s response, she gestured dismissively to the house around them. “I know this all means a lot to you. You seem like a hard worker and you take a lot of pride in what you do.”

That was all true, but Lydia failed to see what that had to do with anything. “We have work to do, Presley Ann. What are you trying to say?”

“You are a caregiver. You
enjoy
taking care of them. I could give a rat’s ass about this house or whether or not the dust bunnies are eradicated. You have your goals and I can respect those. They aren’t much different from
mine
.”

“Huh?” Lydia thought the two of them were like night and day.

“It’s obvious that Chance, or Clayton or…
whichever
is sweet on you. He likes what you do for them. Hell, they both do, I guess. But I saw him kissing you the other day. If that’s how you want to work it, I say go for it. But we could make all this a whole lot easier for each other and maybe even wind up being friends.”

Not likely.

Lydia didn’t like where this conversation was going as Presley Ann continued to speak. “When I found out from my aunt that the Carlisles needed someone out here I knew it was my chance. My dad wants to put me to work in one of his damned stores. He says I need to make something of myself. This is my chance to do that—make myself a Carlisle. I thought I could get their attention, but all this running and working that you’ve got me doing is making it more difficult for me. I don’t stay on the ranch so I don’t get to be here in the early morning. I only see them at lunch and I go home before they come in for supper. I’m just not wired for all this housework the way you are, I guess.”

She made it sound as though Lydia looked on her labor as a hobby or something.
So I like a clean house. Shoot me!

“Presley Ann, what are you getting at?” Lydia already knew, but she wanted her to spell it out.

The young woman looked her in the eyes and smiled. “Here’s the deal. I won’t get in your way, with the one you want.”

“Whichever?”

Lydia had meant it sarcastically, but Presley Ann smiled brightly and said, “Exactly! We could work together, since we’re after the same thing. Let me stay here so I can catch the other one and then I’ll insist down the road that you’re working too hard and that they should hire a whole staff. Lord knows they have enough money to afford it. Since you love this house so much, you can have it. I’ll have him build me another new one.”

It irked Lydia like crazy that Presley Ann referred to whichever of the men she planned to claim so ambiguously. Presley Ann smirked as she looked out the window and said, “It is a plus that there are some fine men around here.
Mmm-mmm.
Look at that ass.”

Jealousy flamed white hot inside Lydia as she drew closer and looked out the window at which of the Carlisle men she was referring to. Anger replaced the jealousy when she realized the only man Presley Ann could see at the moment was Richard Warner as he unloaded a truck. He was bare-chested, and Presley Ann confirmed that she was indeed talking about him when she said, “I’m licking that six-pack the first chance I get.”

“That man is engaged to be married.”

Presley Ann shrugged nonchalantly. “So will I be, soon.”

In a calm voice, Lydia said, “I think we’re done.”

Presley Ann rolled her eyes in relief and said, “Thank
God
! I’m so
glad
you understand! My feet are killing me and my nails are positively ruined. I could hardly get my ass out of bed this morning. I thought I might cry if I had to do any more housework around here. Of course I’ll help you keep the pretense up if you’ll help me. They never have to know.”

Lydia shook her head. “No. You don’t understand, Miss Woodworth. We’re
done
. We’re through.
Finito!
I can’t believe you would treat them as interchangeable. Chance and Clayton are separate, unique, wonderful individuals!”

Presley Ann flapped her hands to shush Lydia and said, “Relax, honey! I only
need
one.”

“Well that’s a shame because they are
both
already
mine
!”

Now it was Presley Ann’s eyebrows that shot up as she gasped and said, “Oh, Lord have mercy. Are you one of
those
women?”

“As a matter of fact I am. If by that you mean one of those women who’s about to whip your gold-digging ass before I kick you off this ranch! I’ll deliver your paycheck to the employment agency this afternoon. You can pick it up there. Now get your ass off this ranch before I have you escorted off of it.”

Lydia flung a finger toward the bedroom door and waited. Presley Ann stood there gawking for a moment while everything sank in and then slowly crossed her arms over her surgically altered chest and adopted an uppity stance.

“I wonder what Chance and Clayton will think when they find out how you’ve treated me and that you fired me even though I did my best. I wonder what they’ll think when they find out that
you
plan to—”

A male chuckle was heard from the hallway, and both women turned to find both Carlisle brothers standing there. Clayton murmured something to Chance and walked back down the hall. Chance said, “Miss Woodworth, it’s been pretty obvious from the get-go what your plan was. We have eyes and ears. Lydia has been more than patient and fair to you. Clayton is writing out your paycheck downstairs and he’ll personally inform your aunt that your services are no longer required here.” Chance held up a paper bag and added, “Baby, I got the part to fix your shower.”

“If you think my aunt will be sending anyone else out to work on this godforsaken ranch you’ve got another think coming, mister,” Presley Ann said as she stepped toward the door.

“Trust me, Miss Woodworth. We won’t be contacting your aunt for more workers in the future. We’re better off on our own. Could I give you one piece of advice?” Apparently surprised, Presley Ann stopped before him and actually waited to hear what he had to say. He held up a single finger. “
One,
men don’t like hearing that they are interchangeable.
Two,
you should take that job your daddy is offering you. He’ll probably put up with more of your shenanigans than any other employer would. Good-bye, Miss Woodworth.”

“Hmph!” Presley Ann Woodworth turned her nose up and strutted away proudly in her five-inch stiletto heels. She wobbled awkwardly on the first stair step but continued down the stairs.

Lydia stood there watching Chance. Based on his comments, she knew they’d both heard almost the entire exchange, including Lydia’s declaration. He opened his arms, and her cheeks were suffused with heat as she ran to him.

The front door banged shut, and Presley Ann Woodworth’s BMW ripped a black stripe on the circular, concrete driveway outside.

“Sorry about your helper, baby,” Chance murmured as she stood still in the circle of his arms. She closed her eyes in relief and breathed in his clean, crisp scent, like laundry that had been dried in the sun. Chance squeezed her tight and said, “I missed not being able to hug and kiss on you anytime I wanted to, the last couple of days.”

She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Me, too, handsome. I couldn’t listen to her for one more minute, especially when she came right out and told me her plan. To be so cold and calculating about snaring one of you, and the fact that it didn’t matter which one she got, made me see red. I’m sorry you heard us. I imagine I sounded awful, yelling like that.”

“Why would we think that?”

“Because I basically
claimed
you both,” she replied as Clayton came back down the hallway. Chance released her, and she turned to his brother.

With a chuckle, Clayton encompassed her in his arms and said, “Yes, we heard. That’s awful news. We’re terribly vexed. Let me show you how much.” Clayton chuckled as he dipped her back over his arm, making her squeal, and laid a kiss on her that she was sure would curl her hair to the roots.

Clayton chuckled as she sighed when he stood upright with her and said, “Actually, Lydia, I found the exchange very…illuminating. You’re very protective of us and the ranch. I like that a lot.”

“Me, too, baby,” Chance said. “The house feels more peaceful now without her here. Speaking of her being gone—Clayton, don’t forget to call her aunt.” He turned back and added, “And
don’t
let Mrs. Perkins send anybody else out here. Lydia makes those calls from now on.”

Lydia smiled, “I already have something up my sleeve. Can I use the house checking account to make an online purchase?”

“Sure.”

“Good. I just need all the information so I can set it up. I have the perfect helper in mind. After I’m done I might make you a snack.”

“What kind of snack?” Chance asked playfully as he kissed her temple.

“You’ll get apple fritters that are the best tasting thing you’ve ever eaten. I promise.”

Clayton shook his head and said, “They might be a close second, Lydi. The sweetest thing I ever had in my mouth was this morning.”

“Oh! Well—All right!” She giggled and felt her cheeks get hot at his reminder. Her pussy warmed at the thought, too.

Clayton stroked her cheek with his knuckle and said, “Thank you for trusting us, Lydi.”

“The pleasure was all mine,” she murmured.

Chance replied, “That all depends on your perspective, baby. We’re going to get back to work. See you in a bit.”

They both kissed her on the lips, and she smiled as they walked out the back door. Lydia swiped her fingertip across the touch screen of her cell phone and looked through her contacts list. When she found the number she needed she selected it and listened as it rang and then a cheerful voice came on the line.

“Are you missing me already? How are those handsome cowboys treating you?”

“LuAnn, have I got a deal for you.”