Authors: Hallie Miller
"I brought you some breakfast," the lady said with a smile, setting the tray down on the bedside table. "I'm Sylvia. I take care of the house here on the ranch. You must be Lilly."
Lilly felt ashamed thinking this sweet lady was someone Jake was flirting downstairs with only minutes earlier. "Hi." Her mouth went dry and she felt the need to explain herself and why she was in Jake's house. "Jake, um, picked me up yesterday. My car broke down," was all she could spit out.
"I know, sweetheart. Jake told me the whole story. It's so nice to have you here. It's going to be great to have another female to talk to during the day."
The whole story? Did he tell her about the spanking and everything?
Lilly's face filled with an embarrassing blush, but she glanced up at the older lady who just smiled genuinely at her and held out her hand to help her sit up in bed. "Is Jake still here?" Lilly asked.
"No, honey, he left to get back to work at the stables. He won't be back until around lunchtime. Would you like to come downstairs and eat with me? Or would you rather stay up here?"
Lilly knew Jake told her she was supposed to go back to bed, but after hearing he wasn't here, she decided she didn't care if she followed his directions. She hopped out of bed and followed Sylvia out of the room with the breakfast tray.
---oOo---
"Has he always been so bossy," Lilly asked Sylvia as they cut carrots and celery for dinner.
"Oh, honey, you have no idea. He has been that way for years. He really is a sweet man though." Sylvia smiled at Lilly and nudged her arm as they stood side by side. "Jake just has his hands full dealing with all of the ins and outs of the ranch. He is very particular how he likes things done, but he dang sure knows what he is doing. He has made this ranch one of the most profitable in the state since his brothers left for San Antonio."
"He has brothers?"
"Two of them. Ethan and Kyle. They are four and five years older, respectively. You see, when their mother died about twenty years ago, Ethan and Kyle took over the ranch to help their father. Jake was only a little boy then and he watched as his older brothers worked hard to help their father out of debt after his wife died. Jake was still too young to do most of the ranch work, but as the years passed and their father grew sick with cancer, Ethan and Kyle grew weary of the ranch business and moved to the city for property sales. Jake took over by himself and has been doing it ever since. e is such a hard worker, but that's probably the reason he never found himself a wife and family. He dedicated himself to this ranch so many years ago." Sylvia frowned, thinking of how Jake deserved a good wife and family. She sincerely hoped that Lilly may be the one for him and prayed she realized Jake was a good man.
After listening to the history Sylvia retold as they worked in the kitchen, Lilly started to change her mind slightly about Jake.
Maybe he really is just trying to help me
. She finished cutting the vegetables and threw them in the large pot on the stove. She sat back down at the kitchen table, thumbing through Sylvia's recipe book.
"What are you doing up?" Jake demanded as he strode into the kitchen.
Lilly hadn't even heard the door open when she jumped at his deep voice. She looked to Sylvia for some back-up, hoping she could just remain silent.
"Jake, calm down. Lilly and I were just talking and prepping for dinner," Sylvia soothed as she put the last of the ingredients into the Dutch oven for the roast. "Why don't you sit down and I'll make you two some sandwiches for lunch."
Jake glared at Lilly and sat down beside her at the table. Lilly slid down in the chair, avoiding his eyes, and tried to continue reading through the recipe book. She knew why he was upset, but she was hoping he wouldn't do anything rash while Sylvia was still in the room.
"You didn't answer my question," he asked quietly with a menacing tone.
"Sylvia asked me if I wanted to come down and help her in the kitchen," she murmured quietly, refusing to look at him.
"That's wonderful, but I asked you to stay in your room and get some rest. I'm sure Sylvia would have understood if you would've told her that," he spoke with an almost threatening tone and Lilly wished Sylvia would help her out of the situation.
"Told me what, Jake?" Sylvia asked.
"I specifically told Lilly to stay in her room and get some rest today like the doctor ordered. I'm guessing she didn't tell you that though," he assumed, looking back and forth between the two ladies, seeing the guilty blush on Lilly's cheeks.
Sylvia could feel Jake's annoyance and knew he was particular about certain things, but she didn't want to get Lilly in trouble. She really liked her. She was sweet and helpful. "Jake, I'm sure she was just trying to be nice and give me a hand. Don't give her a hard time. She still has all afternoon to rest."
Lilly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank God for this heavenly lady saving me from the wrath of the overbearing cowboy
. She looked at Jake and saw his grim face now appeared somewhat appeased at Sylvia's explanation so she nodded in agreement.
"I'm gonna run to the store to grab some dessert for tonight since we have a guest," Sylvia mentioned, feeling the need to leave Jake and Lilly alone for a little while.
Once Sylvia shut the door behind her, Jake turned to look at Lilly. "I know you feel like you two pulled something over on me just now. I'm going to let it slide this time because I am glad you and Sylvia are getting along." He paused, leaning in until he was only inches from her face. "But don't think that you are going to continue to evade the rules in this house. I meant it when I said I don't like to be disobeyed. This is your last warning."
Lilly felt tingles all up her spine. This had to be the most intimidating man she'd ever met. However, for some reason, she didn't think the way her body was reacting was just fear. She felt somewhat aroused from his demanding statement and almost wanted to test his follow-through. She felt the heat rising underneath her skin from his overwhelming presence. Her mouth began to go dry. She looked up into his icy blue eyes and saw his pupils dilating in lust. She leaned in toward him, thinking of her next move, wanting more than anything for him to put his lips on hers and thrust his tongue into her mouth. Instead, she decided against her body's wishes, knowing if she kissed him she wouldn't be able to stop.
"You're lucky I'm already tired," she sneered and got up from the table. There was something fun about making this guy mad. She wasn't sure if he was going to react to her statement so she rushed up the stairs faster than normal. Once in her room, she shut the door and lay down on the bed, pulling the blanket around her. She actually was pretty tired. She closed her eyes and was asleep within minutes.
---oOo---
Jake watched as Lilly ran up the stairs and heard her door shut seconds later. He couldn't help but grit his teeth at her snide statement. He felt like she was trying to rile him up on purpose. She seemed to be making it obvious that she didn't want any of his attention, but he started to realize that he had been somewhat bossy with her since they returned from the hospital.
Maybe I should lighten up a little
, he thought. He finished his sandwich and walked out the back door to continue working. Despite moving on to various chores, he just couldn't shake Lilly out of his brain. It took everything in him to not go back to the house early, but he gave in anyway at six o'clock, hoping she would sit down and talk to him before dinner.
Jake opened the back door to the kitchen to find only Sylvia standing over the stove, stirring a pot. He slumped slightly, realizing how upset he was that Lilly wasn't in here with her. Sylvia turned around when she heard him.
"Well are you calling quits early today?" She smiled at Jake and poured him some lemonade from the fridge. "You wouldn't be trying to spend some time with Lilly would you?"
Jake whipped his head around to look at her. "I just figured I could use a break today."
"Mm hmm." Sylvia nodded, knowing Jake better than anyone. He never asked for a break, unless he was sick or someone in the family was hurt. "Well, in case you were wondering, Lilly is upstairs still. She was still sleeping when I checked on her half an hour ago."
"It's been almost six hours," he said in amazement. "Has she been asleep the entire time?
"As far as I know she has been asleep since I got back from the store around 12:45."
Jake knew she needed some rest from the day before, but he was a little worried that she would sleep for that long. He hoped she wasn't just pretending to be asleep so she wouldn't have to see him. After showering and changing clothes, he walked back into the kitchen. Sylvia was still at the stove with no sign of Lilly. "Well I should probably go check on her," he said and made his way up the stairs.
Once he reached her room, he knocked softly, and whispered, "Lilly, you awake?" When no answer came, he opened the door a crack and peeked inside the room. She was on her side with her back toward the door, curled up in almost a ball. Other than her chest rising and falling slowly, she was immensely still. He walked over to the bed and put a hand on her waist to lean over and see her face. She seemed to be dreaming peacefully and had a small smile playing on her lips. He didn't want to wake her if she was really tired enough to sleep for this long. But then he realized that she probably needed to get some food in her system if she was going to continue sleeping for the rest of the night. He walked around the bed to sit on the edge and began to shake her lightly to wake her. "Lilly, wake up, honey. It's almost dinner time," he said softly.
She stirred slightly and Jake could hear a faint whine coming from her. "Uhhhhhh. No. Stop," she whined in her sleep. She began to toss lightly back and forth. Jake put his hands on either side of her so she wouldn't roll away from him.
"Lilly, come on sweetheart. Wake up. It's ok," he soothed while he rubbed her back.
"Stop. Please don't!" she cried, still dreaming.
Jake didn't think she was awake but was worried what she could be dreaming about that made her so scared. He shook her a little harder this time to wake her up out of the nightmare. Suddenly her eyes shot open. The wild and scared look in her eyes was something Jake would never be able to remove from his memory. Before he could pick her up to hug her, she jumped into his arms and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her out from the covers so she was sitting in his lap.
"It's ok. It's ok. I've got you," he murmured into her hair. He could her feel warm tears seep through his shirt as she softly cried. He rubbed her back and rocked her lightly until she quieted down. When she started to sniffle, he pulled her back by the arms to look at her face. Her eyes were still swollen from crying and her face was still slightly red. "You wanna tell me what that was about?" He spoke softly, still holding her and rubbing her arms with his thumbs as he held them in his hands.
Lilly just stared at him for a second, shaken from her dream. She shook her head and then turned to stare out the window. It was still light outside, but the sun was beginning to come down and she could see it setting over the rolling hills in the distance.
"What time is it?" she asked, still not looking at him.
"It's almost seven. You slept for over six hours." When she tried to get off of his lap, he pulled her back down and turned her face to his. "Are you ok?" His voice took on a worried tone and he hugged her closer. When she tried to retreat again and pull away, he took a firmer grip around her waist. "You know I would never hurt you, right?"
She swung her head back to look at him remembering how he spanked her the night before. She gave him a disbelieving stare and muttered, "Yeah right."
When Jake realized she immediately thought of the spanking he'd given her the night before for her bratty behavior, he knew why she gave him the angry look. He took a deep breath. "Ok. We need to have a little talk," he began, "I will never hurt you. I may spank you when you disobey me or act foolishly and put yourself at risk, but I will never cause you any harm. I can promise you that."
"But it still hurt me!" she retorted, her voice rising to a higher note.
Jake chuckled. "It's supposed to hurt. It's punishment."
"Well I don't like it and I don't want you to do it ever again," she stated emphatically and turned her head back away from his, indicating that she wanted that to end the conversation.
Jake shook his head at her body language. "Well as long as you do as you're told and you respect me and the rules of the house, then it won't have to happen again. That," he paused and tapped her on the nose, "is up to you."
She didn't want to question his statement and deep down she really did know that he would never actually hurt her, despite how big he was. They sat quietly for a minute and she began to relax against his chest as she stared out of the window. She didn't know why she felt so comfortable in his arms, but her body still felt so exhausted that she didn't have the energy to move.
"How about I take you riding in a few days when you're feeling better," he asked, breaking the silence.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah, really. What do you think?"