The room was filling with the smells of baking bread and slow-cooked roast with new potatoes, carrots, and sweet pearl onions. Lily Mae hummed as she began gathering the ingredients for a pineapple upside-down cake. If she were in L.A., she’d be either on a job or trying to hustle work in between fielding phone calls from her creditors.
Several times she’d told Jace she’d get back to work as soon as she could to pay him back, but he’d brushed it aside. “I’m happier just having you cook and look pretty,” he said. “It does my heart good to have something to come home to at the end of the day.” It had been such a delightfully old-fashioned sentiment and so… so Jace. And Lily Mae realized that she’d be quite happy being a housewife to Jace Whitaker. A submissive housewife.
She blushed at that last admission. In L.A. she’d developed the kind of Type A personality necessary to compete in her competitive field. Sweet, soft southern girls didn’t survive in the big city, and with no Jace in her life, she’d given free rein to her feisty side until it had grown downright obnoxious. Now, after just a few weeks living with Jace, she could feel herself soften into her new role. The primped and hurried woman in the clicking heels and business suit seemed like someone else now.
“Smells good in here!” Jace’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned from the counter to see him standing behind her holding a bouquet of wildflowers in his hand.
“For me?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, Jace, they’re beautiful!” Lily Mae hugged him. It felt good to feel his arms go around her, especially after knowing how she’d disappointed him that morning. But he’d told her the slate was clean, and the kiss he planted on her lips reaffirmed that.
“What happened with the mare?” Lily Mae asked as she put the flowers in a vase with some water.
“She gave birth to a big healthy colt.” Jace smiled down at her. “You want to meet him? He was up and nursing like a champ when I left.”
“Oh, thank god,” Lily Mae replied. “And I’d love to. Just let me get this cake in the oven.”
“Sounds good. I need to wash up anyway.”
Ten minutes later, Jace was back downstairs in a fresh shirt and blue jeans. Lily Mae felt her heart swell with happiness. He was so handsome, with his easy smile and boy-next-door good looks.
“We’re out of pineapple,” she said. “You need to pick up some when you go to the market.”
“You can do it,” he said.
She dropped her gaze, embarrassed. “I would, but I’m kind of broke.”
“No, you’re not, sunshine.” He gave her a gentle tap under the chin. “I added you to the checking account yesterday when I was in town.”
“You did?” Lily Mae was surprised.
“I figured it would make life easier for both of us if you can do the marketing and pick up things from the hardware store.”
“You trust me?” she asked.
“Your past is just that, Lily Mae. The past. And I’m convinced that any woman who gets that excited about a bouquet of wildflowers is past the need for spending sprees. Besides, baby, you can have anything you want. All you have to do is ask.”
The ranch hands had gone home for the day, and the barn was empty when Jace and Lily Mae walked in. The big bay mare had endured a difficult delivery, Jace said; the baby had been large and turned the wrong way.
“Doc did a great job, and as it turns out, it was a good thing the mare delivered a little early. If she’d gone all the way to term, he doesn’t think that baby would have come out.”
“He sure looks good now,” Lily Mae said, smiling as she watched the foal bump the mare’s udder with its nose. Its mother whickered softly, nuzzling the foal’s back as it began to nurse greedily.
“He needs a name,” Jace said. “I figured you might be able to help me come up with one.”
Lily Mae smiled. “What’s his mama’s name?”
“Well, her barn name is Penny. But her registered name is Doc Bar Chance of a Lifetime.”
Lily Mae looked around the barn. The light coming down the aisle was beautiful this time of day.
“How about Second Chance? We can call him Chance.”
Jace took her into his arms. “That sounds like a great name,” he said. His hands roamed her back and then slid lower to cup her bottom cheeks. “How’s the backside?” he asked.
“A bit sore,” she said, winding her arms around his neck. “If only there were someone to kiss and make it better.”
“Naughty girl,” Jace replied, taking her hand and pulling her across the barn aisle into the tack room. Reaching up, he pulled a riding crop off the wall. “You should know better than to tempt a man with an access to leather.”
Lily Mae gasped as Jace suddenly turned her around and pushed her to bending over a wooden saddle rack. For a moment, she feared she was in trouble due to the way he jerked the hem of her dress up and roughly pulled down her panties. But then his hand was roaming her bottom, his fingers tracing the fading welts he’d left earlier.
She moaned as he kicked her legs apart and began to gently tap the outer lips of her pussy with the tab at the end of the riding crop. It was a strangely erotic feeling.