Rescuing Lilly (8 page)

"Nothing," she shied, looking at the floor.

He put his finger under his chin and lifted her face to look at him. "Lilly," he warned with a joking tone. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm just nervous," she replied honestly. "I think I like you too much."

Jake chuckled and smiled at her. "Well the feeling is mutual, little one." He slid his hands until the hem of her tank top and pulled it up. She raised her arms as he lifted it over her head. He helped her up, sliding her shorts down her legs. In one swooping motion, he had her cradled in his arms again. Turning to place her in the tub, he lowered her until her bottom hit the water. She clenched onto his neck as she felt the hot water touch her sore behind.

"Owww. I changed my mind. I don't want a bath," she said, grabbing tighter around his neck.

Jake laughed. "That's too bad. You practically begged for that spanking and now you have to deal with it," he said lowering her completely into the water as she cringed.

Lilly slowly became accommodated to the water. Jake grabbed a sponge and washed her with such gentleness she would have figured him a different person from the guy fifteen minutes earlier. Once he was finished, he pulled her up and wrapped her in a large towel, lifting her out of the tub. She had never had anyone take care of her in this way. She relished how she felt at that moment. Even though she could still feel the fading burning in her behind, she had never felt more loved and cherished.

"Stay there. I'll be right back," Jake said, tapping her nose.

Lilly cuddled the soft towel around her and waited. Jake reentered with what looked like one of his t-shirts and a pair of her panties. He pulled the towel off of her and motioned for her to lift her arms. He slid his shirt over her head. She pulled the panties on as he towel-dried her hair.

"Are you sure you don't have to go back to work right now?" Lilly asked as they walked down the stairs to the living room.

"Yeah. I think I need a day off to rest anyway," he answered, grinning down at her.

Lilly climbed onto the couch while Jake turned on the giant flat-screen over the fire place. He plopped down next to her and slid her back onto his lap. "I like you right here, where I can keep an eye on you," he said, kissing her on the forehead. She snuggled up next to him, where she stayed for the next two hours.

---oOo---

Over the few weeks, Lilly did her best not to make Jake angry. After the last spanking, she didn't think she could handle another one anytime soon. As it turned out, Jake was actually an easy person to talk to and she found herself becoming more and more honest with him as the days passed. She explained to him why she left Nathan and gave him a little background information about her parents and life back on the east coast. She wasn't about to tell him how much debt she was actually in, but she was hoping that it would either just go away on its own, or she would be able to get a job and move out of his house to pay it off sooner rather than later. For some reason, she figured Jake wouldn't hesitate to lecture her about spending habits and debt control.

When her phone started to ring continuously a week later, Lilly could only figure it was debt collectors trying their best to reach her and determine why the bills were not being paid. She did her best to hide the phone calls from Jake. However, Jake had a rule that no calls were to be answered during dinner and these bill collectors didn't seem to care what time of day they dialed her number. He let the first call slide when she offered the suggestion of the wrong number. By the third call, she hopped out of her seat to turn the phone to silent.

"Hold it," he said as he grabbed her arm pulling her back to sit down. He got up and walked over to where the phone was lying on the coffee table. "Why are you getting all of these calls at seven o'clock at night? Is there something going on?"

Lilly sank into her chair, hoping he wouldn't jump to anymore conclusions and doing her best to fabricate a believable lie in her head. "No, of course not. I keep getting these calls from the wrong number. I figure if I just ignore them they will stop calling."

"Have you answered and told them it was the wrong number?" he asked casually.

Lilly stilled, wondering what to say. She thought for a split second, and then turned back to him, "You know you're right. The next time they call I'll do just that."

Thankfully, Jake had a satisfied look on his face after her explanation and walked back to the dinner table. He just nodded and they went back to eating. Lilly prayed the phone wouldn't ring again before she scarfed down the rest of her food. She ran to grab her phone and started up the stairs.

"Going to bed early tonight?" Jake asked when she got halfway up the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted. Probably going to take a bath and try to get some extra sleep," Lilly lied coolly as she smiled at him. "Good night."

"Okay," he said wearily. Lilly saw the look on his face like he knew something was going on with her. "I'll be in my office doing some paperwork if you need anything."

"Cool, thanks," she sputtered quickly and ran up the stairs. She turned on her phone and stared at the missed calls, thinking that there was nothing Jake could do about it, and there was no reason he had to know. Her mind raced, wondering why she was feeling so guilty about keeping this from him. He hadn't judged her about anything else she told him. He simply listened and tried to give some good advice. On the contrary, none of those other things would give him a reason to be angry. Something in the back of her mind said he wouldn't be too happy to know she owed various credit card companies almost ten thousand dollars. She decided a hot shower would help clear her head. Lilly let the steam and hot water surround her until she began to relax. The more she thought about how she was going to pay off the cards, the more she realized she needed to start looking for a job. She couldn't stay here forever, despite how much she was starting to like Jake. She decided she would ask him if she could use his computer while he worked tomorrow and maybe take a trip to town to see what was available.

Once she dried off, she threw on some flannel pajama bottoms and an old baseball tee. She tip-toed downstairs towards Jake's office. The door was slightly cracked and she could see him hunched over the desk. His shoulders looked so broad and muscular as he leafed through various papers in front of him. His hair had a messy look like he had just run his hand through it. She didn't think it was possible for him to be any sexier. She hated thinking that she would have to leave him soon and figure out what she was going to do about her situation. She lightly knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Jake answered gruffly.

Lilly pushed her head inside of the room, still keeping the rest of her body out in the hallway. "Oh, sorry Jake, I know you're busy. I just wanted to say goodnight," she whispered as she stared at the floor.

Jake looked up from his desk when he heard her voice, concerned why she sounded so scared and subdued. "Hey, honey. Its okay I'm not too busy. Come on in."

Lilly walked over to him slowly, craving one of his big hugs. Somehow they always seemed to make her feel so much better, like there was really a light at the end of the tunnel and he would lead her to it no matter what happened. She had never felt so cared for by any other man and she barely even knew him. As she walked closer, he turned his chair to the side and held out his arms. When she got within arm's reach, he lifted her under the arms and sat her on his lap.

"What's wrong sweetheart? You've been acting kind of strange tonight," he said, rubbing her back as he held her.

Lilly snuggled closer up into him, resting her head under his chin. "Nothing," she said, none too convincingly.

Jake leaned back and lifted her chin with his finger until she was looking him in the eye. "You can talk to me, you know that right?"

Thoughts of how she could leave swarmed her head fighting the other thoughts of how to tell him what was wrong. When she couldn't choose either, she just nodded her head. "I just wanted to say goodnight."

Jake continued to rub her back and kissed her on the forehead. She settled her head back under his chin. "Hmmm," Jake mumbled. "All right. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Okay," she whispered, "I do have a question though."

"What's that, sweetie?"

"Would you mind if I went into town tomorrow?"

Jake stopped rocking his chair for a moment. "What do you need in town? I was thinking about heading there this weekend anyway. How about you just come with me?"

Lilly thanked God he wasn't looking at her face the way she blushed. "Oh, I just wanted to get out of the house for a little while... nothing really important."

"Oh okay. Well, how about I ask Sylvia if she wants to take you. I don't want you going by yourself since you don't know your way around yet."

"I don't need a babysitter. I can find my way around," Lilly spat out, becoming frustrated with her crumbling plan.

"Excuse me?" Jake began, leaning back to glare at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know where the attitude came from, but I don't want to hear it. You can go with Sylvia or you don't have to go at all."

The finality of his sentence made Lilly's blood boil. She hated being told what she could and couldn't do. She struggled out of his lap while he tightened his hold on her waist. "I can't believe you!" she yelled as she twisted in his lap. "I'm not a child! I can find my way around just fine!"

"Well you're certainly not acting like an adult. I'm not changing my mind about this. If you don't want to go with her then you and I can go down there on Saturday," he stated calmly. He allowed her to stand, keeping a hold on her wrists. "You hear me?"

"Fine," she grumbled. She would figure out another way to go without him knowing.

"Good. Now then, it's time for bed," he said giving her a couple of pats on the butt. "I've got to finish this paperwork. I'll come say goodnight in a little while." Lilly wrenched out of his grip and stomped toward the door. "If you don't tone down that attitude, you'll be getting more than just a goodnight when I come up there," Jake warned as she closed the door on him. He shook his head after she left, wondering why she was so eager to go into town by herself. He knew she was hiding something from him and he was going to figure out what it was. If he knew her well enough, he figured she would find a way to get into town by herself without him knowing it. Too bad he was one step ahead of her - he would not be letting her out of his sight tomorrow.

Jake trudged upstairs three hours later once he was finally done with the ranch's accounting books. He really needed to hire someone to help him with all the paperwork. It was almost too much taking care of the ranch and all of the bills now that they were expanding their land. He slowly opened the door to Lilly's room, peering in on her sleeping peacefully. He walked in quietly and kissed her head, pulling the covers up tighter around her. He couldn't bear the thought of her leaving. The past few weeks had been amazing, getting to know her and she was finally opening up to him. At least, he thought she was. There was still something bothering her that she wouldn't tell him. He hoped she wasn't thinking of leaving. The ranch was feeling more complete with her. He was starting to believe that she might be what he needed. The more time he spent with her, the more he thought he could spend the rest of his life taking care of her. He went to bed thinking of way to make this upcoming weekend very special.

The next morning, Lilly woke to her phone ringing loudly on the bedside table. She slammed her hand down onto it, silencing the ring. She groggily sat up, thinking of how she was going to get to town today to check out some possible jobs. Who knows, in this little town, there probably wasn't anything available. She walked down to the kitchen to find Sylvia cooking pancakes and bacon.

"Morning, Lilly. Jake said you might want to go to town today," Sylvia began, placing some finished pancakes on a plate for her.

Lilly sighed.
Of course he already told her
. "Actually, I thought about it, and I think I might just hang around the house."

Sylvia nodded her head. "Okay, well if you change your mind, I'm going to head to the grocery store around noon. You are always welcome to come with me."

"Thanks," Lilly said, digging into the pancakes. "I'll let you know."

She knew Jake had already left to work in the stables and decided to hop on his computer to check online to see if she could find any available jobs in the area. She surfed through various websites, but apparently this town wasn't nearly big enough to post jobs online, much less using computers at all. Deciding the best mode of action was to just find a way to town, she headed upstairs to change clothes and call a cab. Luckily the ride was only going to cost her thirty dollars. She would meet him a mile down the road so no one would see her leaving the ranch.

Jake watched from his horse as Sylvia's van headed down the dirt road out of the ranch. He didn't see anyone in the back seat or passenger seat. Thinking Lilly really did decide to stay home, he rode toward the house to see what she was doing. As he pulled up to the back porch, he heard the front screen door close. He hopped off the horses and tied the reins to the stairs. As he made his way around the side of the house, he caught sight of Lilly walking down the driveway with a large purse.