Chapter 3
Millie had sliced, fried potatoes, crisp green beans, fresh baked dinner rolls and corn-on-the-cob on the table and ready for dinner. For drinks, she’d prepared iced tea and had a glass at each plate.
Adam grilled the steaks outside on the barbecue.
Suddenly she heard the most god-awful sound which she recognized as a triangle being rung.
Her brothers-in-law entered from both doors to the kitchen…
talking…laughing and generally having a good time.
They were covered in dust, had smudges of dirt on their faces and tracked muddy footprints on her clean floor, which ticked her off.
Would it have been so hard to wipe their feet before entering.
None stopped at the sink or headed to the bathroom to wash up.
They sat and started eating before Adam even entered the kitchen.
Millie had had manners drilled into her growing up.
She swore she still had marks on her elbows from when she’d been poked for having them on the table.
The more Millie watched their boorish behavior, the angrier she became.
She finally got a pan and a metal spoon.
She went back to the end of the table where she sat and started banging on the pot with the spoon. The sound was deafening.
Talking and laughing stopped as each brother looked up at her.
“What is the matter with you people? Are you completely, uncivilized pigs? Or are you just showing off for me? No one will eat another bite until all of you wash your hands and faces. You’re all a disgrace.”
Christopher who was on Millie’s right side, ignored her and reached for a roll.
Millie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, then she hit him on the head with the pan. “Did you not hear me, Christopher?”
He looked up at her with wide eyes and rubbed his head.
“Yes, I remember your name.”
“Why’d you hit me?”
“Because you don’t seem to respond to English so I thought maybe you’d respond to pain. How about it?” She looked around the table, stopping to stare at each man. “Who’s next? Anyone else willing to try to eat without washing up?”
“No, Millie,” said some of the men.
“No, ma’am,” said others.
Adam walked in, holding a platter piled high with steaks. He looked around at each of his brothers. “Why isn’t anyone eating?”
“Millie said we have to wash up first,” whined Daniel.
Adam opened his mouth, and then looked at Millie, and closed it for a moment. Then he tried again. “And she’s right. Mom would have our hides to see how far we’ve fallen without her constant guidance.”
The brothers looked down.
Millie saw the color rise on each of their necks. Good. They should be ashamed. Acting like animals just because their mother wasn’t around to make them behave.
After washing their hands and faces the men returned to the table.
Millie looked around smiling. “That’s much better. Your mother would be proud to call you her sons.”
They blushed again.
She smiled. Getting them to blush was so easy. Now to think of more ways to get them to do so.
That evening after dinner and after the kitchen had been cleaned, the men returned to the bunkhouse. Now it was just her and Adam, in the living room, along with the pink elephant.
She sat in one of the two Queen Anne chairs that were upholstered to match the sofa.
Adam sat in the other, reading a book.
An end table was between them holding their drinks. Decaffeinated coffee for her and a small straight whiskey for him.
Adam yawned and swallowed the last of his drink. “I think it’s time for bed.”
“Yes, it is. What are the arrangements you want?”
“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I’ll sleep in one of the other rooms, and you can have the master bedroom.”
She looked over at him. “You would really do that for me? I thought you were lying, just to make me more comfortable, when you said you wouldn’t require me to sleep with you right away.”
He stood and walked close, where he took her by the hands and pulled her to her feet.
“First, I’ll never lie to you. Second, make no mistake.
I want you and I would love to sleep with you, but not until you are ready for that.
” He ran his left knuckles lightly down her cheek.
“So soft.” Then he cupped her jaw with his left hand and wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Adam gazed at her.
His eyes were nearly black with desire. No, she couldn’t discount the fact that he wanted her, nor could she hide the fact from herself that she wanted him.
He lowered his head.
When she felt his lips meet hers, she lost herself in the pleasure. Adam was a master at kissing. He could have held her with nothing but his lips. Feeling him deepen the kiss, she eagerly met his tongue with hers.
She wanted to bring him into her mouth, however, he appeared to be holding back. Not understanding, she tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. Instead, he practically devoured her. His kiss was sensual and not like anything she’d ever experienced before.
We he finally pulled back and looked at her.
She felt wrung out. So much so that her knees buckled and only Adam’s arm around her waist kept her upright. “Well, Mr. Sullivan, you certainly know how to kiss. I was just along for the ride.” She ran her hand over her forehead, as though she was sweating. “And what a ride.”
Adam threw his head back and barked out a laugh. “I’m glad I could please you. Now, you have an idea of what is waiting for you when we finally join together.”
“I do. And as much as I enjoyed that, I’m not ready for us to consummate our nuptials yet. On that note, I’ll put these dishes in the kitchen and then I’m going to bed.”
“I’ll take care of the dishes, you go to bed. Sweet dreams…wife.” Adam smiled and crossed his arms over his chest.
She looked at him and lifted one brow. “You, too, husband.” Millie wandered off to bed wondering just what her life here would bring and if Ricard could find her.
She hadn’t used her name, and he would never have expected she would marry a stranger.
Especially since she was running from him and their arranged marriage.
She could never marry him, he was vile and cruel.
Her father was an insane old man when he’d agreed to the marriage.
Millie would rather be married to a total stranger than the man her father had chosen.
The next morning, the first thing Millie heard was Adam moving around. She looked out the window and saw that it was still dark outside. She couldn’t tell if anything had changed overnight but would assume it hadn’t or she would have heard more than Adam moving around in his room.
She quickly showered and dressed, then hurried downstairs to start on breakfast. She was lucky that their cook, who they called Cook, had taught her how to cook, otherwise she would be up a creek without a paddle.
She’d learned a lot of things from Cook such as how to cuss, some colloquial sayings and mostly everything having to do with a kitchen.
It gave Millie something to do. She was an only child and without Cook would have been bored out of her mind.
Coffee was the first thing to get made. Even she needed coffee to get going on some mornings.
Once the coffee was brewing, she took the hash browns out of the freezer and poured the entire bag into a large cast iron skillet.
In a second skillet, as large as the first, she started bacon cooking.
She would cook two pounds this morning and then gauge if it was enough or not, then adjust tomorrow, if needed.
Next, she beat a dozen eggs, added some cream, vanilla, cinnamon and a heaping tablespoon of flour.
This was the dip for her French toast. On a grill which was set over two burners she started frying the French toast. Lots of French toast.
While the French toast cooked she checked the windows.
Nothing moved outside.
After that, she placed pitchers of orange juice and milk on the table.
Then she set the table, stirred the hashbrowns, started more bacon and scrambled two dozen eggs.
She hoped they had another refrigerator or two in the garage or she’d be going shopping every day and that just wouldn’t do.
She needed to stay as far away from Steamboat Springs as possible.
One of the brothers would have to do the shopping. She knew that wouldn’t go over well.
She could hear Adam now— “Why can’t you go shopping? What do you mean you can’t go into town? Why? Who are you avoiding?”
Millie knew she should probably tell him about Ricard, He was her husband even if it was in name only, but regardless of that, she didn’t know him other than the fact he was very rich as owner and CEO of Sullivan Technologies.
She’d read enough gossip magazines to know that all the brothers were wealthy, though she hadn’t known how many of them lived at the ranch until she and Adam arrived and she saw them all.
This surprised her. If they were all wealthy, as the magazines stated, why wouldn’t they all have their own homes?
She couldn’t tell him, but what if he found out she was Ricard Sokolov’s fiancée?
Would he annul their marriage? He could, especially since they hadn’t consummated their vows yet.
But he couldn’t have it annulled if the marriage was consummated.
That made up her mind. This would be a real marriage, from today forward.
At least as much of one as she could provide.
Now, to get Adam to go along with it without knowing why I changed my mind.
The men filed in.
She was pleased to see they had washed and combed their hair, too.
Adam had donned a clean shirt and jeans. She wasn’t sure about the other men, but they all looked washed.
Millie sat at the end of the table opposite Adam. She picked up the plate of bacon and placed two slices on her plate before passing it to her left.
Benjamin accepted the plate from Millie and took four slices of bacon and passed it on.
So it went until everyone had plenty of food on their plates. The empty platters were set back on the table and everyone ate.
Millie still couldn’t believe how much these men ate. She knew she shouldn’t broach this subject, but since all of the brothers would be involved, she felt they should have a say. But she couldn’t make herself speak. How do I tell these virtual strangers that I’m afraid for my life?
That night, after she’d gotten ready for bed, wearing shorty sleep shorts and a thin summer tank top, Millie went in search of Adam. She tried his bedroom first and didn’t see him. She even looked into the bathroom. Nope. No Adam.
Then she headed downstairs to the living room. Nothing.
Each room she entered she checked for an escape route. Another door, but even a window would do.
Last place to look was his office. Luckily, she found him there. Otherwise she would be headed to the barn. She knocked once on the open door. “Adam?”
He set aside the papers he was working on and waved her in. “Millie. Come in. What can I do for you?”
Millie stepped into the room. “I wanted to know how often I’ll need to do the grocery shopping?”
“Why? Do we need groceries already?”
“No, I just wanted to be prepared.”
“That will be up to you since you’re doing the cooking now, you’ll know when we need more groceries.” He leaned forward onto the desk and steepled his fingers.
“Okay. But how often do you usually go?” In case I need to run, I need to pretend to go shopping.
“Millie is there something wrong. I’ve noticed you watching the windows whenever someone drives up. And in every room you enter, you act like you are looking for a way out other than the door. So tell me, what is wrong? What can I do to help?”
“It’s nothing.” How can he read my body language already. We barely know each other. Is it because of his security business? “I’m just curious about who is driving up. You know whether I’ll need to prepare more food…that kind of thing.”
His eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed, but he relaxed and accepted what she said. “Okay, but I’ll definitely let you know if you need to prepare extra at any meal.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Are you okay, now?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Thank you for understanding all of this.
There is something else I’d like to discuss.
” She took a deep breath, looked down at her lap and then met Adam’s deep blue eyes with hers.
“I’d like us to start sleeping together.
I want us to have a real marriage, Adam.
I know that request might seem strange.” She worried her hands in her lap, bunching the apron she wore over her jeans.
“But I want children and I believe you do as well, since that is the reason for us getting married in the first place.”
“This is rather sudden.” He grinned. “Miss me after only one night?”
Millie barked out a laugh. “No, but I’m glad to see you have a healthy ego.”
He waggled his brows. “That I do. You can’t do what I’ve done as quickly as I’ve done it and not have one.”
She let her gaze roam up and down his body. “No, I don’t suppose you could. You started your business from scratch, right?”
“I did. Because I did well with the first dozen or so assignments, my name started coming up more and more often as someone who could protect you. Because of the word of mouth, my business grew extremely fast and I couldn’t keep up with it myself.
I brought several of my brothers in and eventually all of them.
Everett and Christopher have started their own businesses and they are also doing quite well. ”
“I’m very glad for all of you. On another note, you should tell me what you want for dinner. When I get an idea of what each brother’s favorite is, I’ll be able to plan meals better.”
“That was quite the change in subjects but I’ll concede the change. I guess our favorite is fried chicken. My mother used to make it but you need to fry about six chickens. As you’ve noticed, we eat a lot.”
“Speaking of which I need to get started on lunch. I hope cold cuts with potato salad and chips will be satisfactory for tomorrow. I’ll do hot lunches after this. I just need to get my feet under me first.”
“That’s fine. I bought a lot of lunch meat, cheese, and bread. I figured we’d have one cold meal per day. Actually, I figured on two meals, but that was before we married.”
“Good. That makes it easy on me. I’ll just go get the potatoes started for the potato salad. If I cook them tonight I’ll be able to make the salad that much quicker” She stood. “Thanks again for understanding.” She turned and left the room.
Why didn’t she tell him she wanted to go to bed now? Instead she was cooking. Awk! What was the matter with her?
She would have to be more subtle about watching the windows and doors. She didn’t want to have to explain about Sokolov…at least, not yet.