Читать книгу Cowboy Seeks Perfect Wife - Linda Lewis - Страница 10

“All right, Miss Saddler. You’re hired.”

She flashed him a smile that made his knees go as weak as his head. He had to be soft in the head—he’d just agreed to make Sidonie Saddler his housekeeper.

His live-in housekeeper. He’d have to move, of course. No way could he live under the same roof with her—not if he wanted a rat’s chance in a maze of courting any of the ladies in the county. No decent woman would put up with a chorus girl, even if she were disguised as a housekeeper.

Rafe pushed himself away from the kitchen counter he’d been leaning on and headed for the door. “Come into the study and I’ll give you your instructions.” Wrestling with his problem—how to keep Sidonie safe and himself sober and respectable—made the words come out curt and cold. He was halfway down the hall before he realized she wasn’t following him. He glanced over his shoulder.

Sidonie was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. When he caught her eye, she said coolly, “I’ll be with you as soon as I feed Gypsy.”

He should have known Sidonie wasn’t going to be a subservient kind of servant. “Gypsy? Oh, that’s what you named the mutt. I guess she’ll be staying, too.”

“That’s all right, isn’t it?”

For the first time that afternoon, Sidonie looked worried. Mostly she’d been doing a great imitation of a steamroller. She’d flattened him out in a New York minute.

“Yeah, the dog can stay.” Rafe made a disgusted noise as he stomped to his study. What had he done? A woman like her living in the same house was the last thing he needed. Housekeeper? Ha! No one was going to buy that story. Sidonie sure as hell didn’t look like a woman who knew how to cook and clean.

But she was hurt, and her injury reminded him of his own knee problem years ago, the injury that had ended his career as a rodeo cowboy. He’d come to this very place to heal—first his body and later his heart. After he’d recovered, Buck Saddler had loaned him a stake, enough money for a new start in another place. Buck had been thrown from a horse and killed before Rafe could pay him back.

Rafe had decided that leasing Buck’s ranch house for twice the going rate would finally wipe out the old liability. Apparently his way wasn’t good enough for whatever fate had sent Buck’s daughter home. Helping Sidonie was going to be the interest on the debt

Rafe couldn’t turn Sidonie away from her own home, not after all Buck Saddler had done for him, not when she was hurting and looking for a safe place to curl up and lick her wounds. She needed time to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life. He’d been there. He knew what it was like to have the future you’d planned blow up in your face.

Rafe sat down at his desk, put his face in his hands and groaned. He’d always had a weak spot for strays and underdogs, but he’d never adopted a chorus girl before. With her flaming red hair, blue eyes and long, long legs, Sidonie was bound to cause trouble. And trouble was something he’d sworn he was going to stay away from the day he left Cache. With one notable exception—the night he’d first met Cornelius Fielding—he’d kept his vow.

And he was his own man, now. No one was going to mistake him for someone who could be bought this time around.

He leaned back and stared at the door, squaring his jaw. No redheaded, blue-eyed temptress was going to lead him around like a bull with a ring through his nose. The fact that his unwanted houseguest had wakened his long-dormant hormones was just bad timing. A few more weeks and he’d be engaged, and his hormones could rage all they wanted to. He could wait.

The cause of his dilemma strolled through his study door, a satisfied smile on her face. He couldn’t fault her for looking smug. He had met her less than twenty-four hours ago, and she’d gotten everything she’d wanted from him so far. That had to stop. If he didn’t let her know right now who was the boss of this outfit, no telling what she’d be up to next.

“Sit.” He nodded at the chair in front of his desk.

“Standing’s more comfortable. My knee.” She pointed to the brace on her left leg.

He cleared his throat and tried again. “Your duties are—

“Oh, I know. I cook your meals, clean the house…do your laundry. In a day or two I’ll know whether you wear boxers or briefs.” She winked at him, a slow, sexy wink, and his toes curled in his loafers.

He held up a hand. “Let me do this, all right? I’d like to feel like I’m the one in charge.” She shot him a surprised look, but she kept her mouth shut for a change. “I expect breakfast on the table at six, lunch at noon and dinner at six. I want real food, meat and potatoes. No quiche, no pasta and no fancy French sauces. Understand?”

She nodded. That worried look flashed across her face again. Damn. She probably didn’t even know how to cook something simple. On top of everything else, he was going to starve. He shifted his gaze away from Sidonie. He couldn’t look at her—if she batted those baby blues at him one more time, he’d be agreeing to sweep and dust and bring her breakfast in bed.

Staring out the window, he continued. “I’ll let you know if I’m not going to be here at mealtime. I’m stocking my ranch, so I’ll be doing a lot of traveling in the next few months—visiting ranches with breeding stock, going to cattle auctions here and in the neighboring counties. We probably won’t see that much of each other.” He hoped.

When he forced himself to meet her gaze, he caught her grinning at him. She sobered immediately and nodded. “Is that all?”

“No. When I’m away, you’ll be responsible for feeding and watering the stock on this place. Right now that’s only my horse and one Beefmaster steer, but there’s more on the way. The breeding stock I buy will have to stay here until my barn and corrals are finished. Can you handle it?”

“Sure.” She frowned. “I’ve heard of Longhorns and Shorthorns, Angus and Herefords, but what’s a Beefmaster?”

“Another breed of cattle. Tom Lasater developed it—breeding for six essential traits.”