The Love Ranch (BWWM Romance) Read Free Page B

amused when the girl had turned up for History with blue hair.
    “We need a cook!”
    “No we don’t,” he protested automatically. “We have one! And she has several assistants!”
    “You’re not talking about Vanessa are you?” she scoffed. “That girl fell in love with you, just as most of your staff have been doing for years, and naturally, she left here two hours ago exactly as her predecessors have been doing, tearing her hair out and carrying on something awful because you didn’t return her feelings.”
    “Two hours ago? It’s still bright and early; in fact, it’s barely seven o’clock! What did she do? Leave before the cock crowed?”
    “I think she said something about not wanting to see your face! Everyone knows you go riding by 5 o’clock,” the woman said, her massive bosom heaving as she glared up at him.
    “Mrs. Shirley,” he began in an amused drawl, “Do you have something you want to say to me?”
    “As a matter of fact I do,” she declared. “You chased that girl away and I liked her! Now she’s not only gone from Paradise, she ran clear across town and right out of the damn state of Texas!”
    “That what she told you?” he asked surprised.
    His housekeeper was an old dragon who valued her privacy above all else. He couldn’t conceive of the fact that she had actually liked Vanessa Sparkles to the point of knowing so many things about her.
    “You betcha! She kept sobbing about going off to stay with cousins in Montana,” Rose began, giving him the evil eye.
    “Well that’s good; everyone should be with family,” he pointed out reasonably.
    “In a convent.” Rose Shirley continued just as if he had not spoken. “That fact has been worrying me plumb to death! I can’t tell why you seem cold right now!”
    He gulped.
    “I’m sensing you want something from me,” he drawled. It was always easier to just cave with Rose. When would he learn?
    “A new cook, pronto, would be a nice start!” she stated, glaring up at him, her close-set eyes cold.
    “You said yourself that there are several cooking assistants in the kitchen. What would it take them to whip up a little food?”
    “For thirty men? I don’t think so! Besides, they are cooking assistants, not cooks!”
    “Look, Rose,” he began authoritatively, drawing himself up to his full height, “If you want a new cook, run the damn ad in the paper and get one hired. I don’t have time for this. I have to go join the men in the fields right now for the harvest.”
    With a meaningful glare, she spun on her heel and waddled away.
    The woman was a tyrant, he decided, watching her leave. Despite her crusty personality though, he loved her like a mother. She had grown very fond of him and he of her too. When he had offered her the job as a housekeeper on his premises, she had accepted and taken to scolding him just as if he were a naughty pupil again. He had borne it for as long as he could, which had paid off because she had relented and let him see her golden heart; he had loved her like his mother ever since. He could often tease her into smiling whenever she was upset, which frankly, was often. But she was obviously not inclined to crack a grin today which was why he had not bothered.
    He handed over Aasifa’s reins to the stable boy, his gaze trailing Rose’s departing back. Vanessa was a thorn in his flesh, he thought grimly. She was beautiful with a long mane of wine-colored hair, beautiful green eyes, an amazing height of five-nine and a wide, generous mouth made for laughter. He had liked her well enough, right up until she had snuck into his bedroom two nights ago, naked as the day she was born, and declared her undying love for him. He had a principle of never sleeping with employees and Vanessa in particular had struck a nerve when she had asked if there was someone else because he turned her down. Tiana’s face had immediately filled his mind’s eye and he had gratingly ordered the other girl from his