Chapter 15
“A whorehouse? I bought a whorehouse?”
Liberty looked away from the dilapidated mansion to the man sitting right next to her in the big ol’ monster truck. Jesse had a stunned expression on his face. Since he was rarely stunned—by anything—she couldn’t help laughing.
“You mean to tell me that Jesse Cates, a savvy businessman who never makes a decision without getting all the information, didn’t know he bought one of the most infamous whorehouses in Texas?”
He continued to stare at the house they were parked in front of. “Not a clue. Although that explains why Mrs. Stokes was grinning like a cat that ate a canary the entire time we signed the paperwork.” He glanced at her. “A whorehouse?”
“At one time, Mrs. Fields’s rivaled The Chicken Ranch. Cowboys, civil war soldiers, oilmen, and senators flocked to Fanny’s, who happens to be my great-great-great-great aunt on my mama’s side. Her brother, who, ironically, was the town preacher and eventually responsible for closing the house down, was my great-great-great grandfather.”
A big grin spread across his face. “I knew you had naughty blood running through your veins. Especially after last night.”
Just the mention of the night before had her feeling all flushed and hot. Damned if Jesse didn’t know it. His smile got even bigger as he leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“I didn’t realize you were into bondage and pain—my bondage and pain. And I gotta tell you, darlin’, we might need a safe word. My butt cheeks are still stinging.”
She blinked. “Really?”
He sent her a wounded look. “Now would I lie about that? In fact, I think you need to kiss them and make them feel better.”
She swatted his arm. “You are the orneriest man I know, Jesse Cates. Your mama should have blistered your butt.”
“Believe me, honey, she did. Not just with her hand, but with a belt and a wooden spoon and a hanger. Whatever was handy.” He had a teasing twinkle in his eyes, but there was something else too. Something that made her instantly concerned.
“No joking, Jesse. Your mama abused you?”
He shrugged. “She wasn’t what you would call a loving mama.”
Liberty’s heart broke. “Oh, Jesse. I didn’t know. If I had, I never would have spanked you last night. I’m so sorry. It must have been traumatic for you.”
“Hey, now.” He cradled her face in his hands. “Believe me, the sweet spanking you gave me last night was about as far from traumatic as a spanking can get.”
Which meant that the other spankings he’d gotten had been traumatic. The mere thought of her ornery little redheaded Opie Wolverine being abused made her want to weep.
It also made her madder than a hornet.
“Does your mama still live in Houston?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No reason. I was just wondering.”
He studied her for a long moment before a big grin spread over his face. “Are you going to go hunt her down and kick her ass, darlin’?”
She scowled. “I’m definitely thinking about it.”
He laughed before he leaned in and softly kissed her. “Thank you, but I think it’s best if we leave the past in the past.” He gave her another kiss, this one longer and deeper. “For now, I’d rather concentrate on the present.” He looked back at the house and a look of awe filled his face. “I own a whorehouse.” He opened the truck door. “Come on! Just wait until you see inside.”
Liberty had been inside of Fanny Fields’s house before. Growing up, it had been a rite of passage to break into the mansion at night and see how long you could stay without getting scared. Liberty had stayed the least amount of time. She had always been scared of the supernatural and the old, crumbling house was the perfect place for ghosts to live.
It still looked that way.
Once inside, they had to step over piles of water-damaged ceiling plaster to get to the rest of the house. But Jesse didn’t seem to be bothered by the mess, or the falling-down ceilings, or the holes rodents had made in the walls.
“Would you look at this bannister and stairs? That’s solid maple, darlin’. And do you see the craftsmanship? They don’t make staircases like that anymore. Just wait until you see the bedrooms.”
The upstairs wasn’t quite as bad as the downstairs, but it still wasn’t good. Most of the windows were broken out and wind whistled through them, blowing the threadbare curtains and making them look like tattered ghosts.
“You have lost your mind, Jesse Cates,” she said as they headed back downstairs so he could show her the carriage house. “There’s no money to make from this old house.”
“I don’t know about that. The more I hear about this house, the more I think it’s worth saving.”
“For what?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I just want to see it returned to its former beauty.” He squeezed her hand and winked at her. “I happen to like beautiful things.”
Liberty shouldn’t get all mushy inside over a compliment from a natural-born charmer. Jesse had no doubt used his lines on numerous women. But knowing that didn’t stop her from melting.
She had been doing a lot of melting lately.
She melted when he smiled. She melted when he laughed. She melted when he looked at her. And she really melted when he touched her. She wished she could stop the melting, but the only way to stop it was to let him go. She couldn’t do that. At least, not yet. She was enjoying their time together too much.
For the last five days, since they had decided to give this thing between them a chance, Jesse had arrived at the ranch bright and early . . . with Tay-Tay in tow. Inside of devoting his attention to her, he devoted his attention to her family. He’d helped Hank clean out the chicken coop and Mimi pull weeds and Darla clean rugs. He’d brought muffins for breakfast and steaks for dinner and Mimi a rosebush.
But regardless of how much time he spent with her family, he always found time to take her somewhere fun: drives through the countryside looking at the last of the spring flowers, horseback riding at the Remington Ranch, and picnics at Cooper Springs.
At night, they’d go back to Corbin’s trailer where Jesse would fulfill every fantasy she’d ever had . . . and some she’d never had but now did.
Jesse was a charmer. He had certainly charmed her.
“So what do you think?” he asked once he had finished showing her the carriage house. A building just as dilapidated as the house.
“I think a stiff wind could knock it over.”
“You have absolutely no vision, Libby Lou.” He waved a hand. “This is a gold mine just waiting to be mined. All it needs is a little love and money.”
“And a bulldozer.”
Her cellphone rang. As soon as she saw it was Belle, Liberty figured it had to do with the Holiday Sisters Events’ calendar Liberty had just filled in that morning. She knew her sister would be upset. Liberty was pretty mad at herself for taking on all the town’s events.
“I need to get this,” she said.
Jesse gave her a brief kiss. “Take your time, darlin’. I want to check out the antique furniture Mrs. Stokes said was in the attic of the carriage house.”
Liberty waited until he walked away before she answered the phone. “Hey, Belly. I guess you saw the new events I put on the calendar.”
“What in the world were you thinking telling all those folks in Wilder we’d do their events, Libby? Especially when some are scheduled in July and August and neither one of us will be there then. You’re heading back to Houston in a week and I’m not planning on staying past June. Not even that long if Jesse can convince Corbin to sell the ranch to Rome. Has he talked with him yet?”
“Jesse wants to talk to Corbin in person and he’s due back any day now. So don’t worry, Belly. Jesse gave me his word he’ll handle it and he will. As for the added events to the calendar, I know I shouldn’t have agreed to help, but they’re our people, Belle. I couldn’t say no. We can do most of the planning from Houston. On the weekend of the events, I don’t mind coming home.”
There was a long pause before Belle spoke. “What happened to the woman who was ticked off she had to spend any time in Wilder?”
“I guess she realized that home isn’t such a bad place to be.” Especially if Jesse was there.
Although she knew he wouldn’t be there for long. He was a drifter. He made no bones about it. He acted like he was interested in renovating Mrs. Fields’, but she knew it was just something to keep his business mind occupied while he was waiting for Corbin to return. And maybe that was what she was as well. Just someone to pass the time with while he waited for Corbin.
Not wanting to even consider the possibility, she changed the subject. “So have you found any office space to rent?”
“Unfortunately, no. The places we can afford are no bigger than what we have now. The places that are bigger, we can’t afford. It looks like my plan wasn’t such a good one after all. I’ve always been bad at making decisions.”
“That’s not true, Belly. Buying our own tables and chairs will pay off in the long run. So will having a bigger space. We just need to keep looking for a place that will hold all our event supplies and be cheap enough we can—”
She cut off as she stared at the carriage house. It had been built to store multiple carriages. It had four large sliding wood doors and plenty of space inside for horses and carriages . . . and decorations and tables and chairs.
A brush of lips on her neck had her releasing a startled squeak.
“What happened?” Belle asked.
Liberty closed her eyes as Jesse kissed his way along her neck. “Nothing, Belly. I thought I saw a mouse. I’ll call you back later.”
“A mouse?” Jesse whispered in her ear as soon as she hung up. He took her hand and placed it on his fly. The feel of his stiff erection made her knees weak. “Does this feel like a mouse to you, darlin’?” He nipped at her neck. “Have you ever made love in a whorehouse, Libby Lou?”
His choice of words had more than her knees melting. He had never used the term “making love” before and it did something to her heart.
Her voice trembled with need. “N-N-No.”
“You want to?”
At the moment, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more. Only one thing stopped her. “I refuse to do it on an old whorehouse mattress.”
He chuckled against her skin. “Which is why I bought a brand-new mattress for the big ol’ brass bed in the corner bedroom.”
He’d also bought new sheets. On those sheets, he used his talented fingers and lips to make her scream his name over and over. Much later, when Liberty was completely sated and cuddled against Jesse’s hard naked chest, her mind returned to the carriage house.
“How big is the attic over the carriage house? Is it big enough for an office and maybe a conference room?”
Jesse stopped drawing circles on her arm. “More than big enough. Why?”
She sat up. “You know how I told you that Belle and I were looking for bigger office space in Houston. Well, Belle hasn’t been able to find anything that is bigger than what we have and fits our budget.” She hesitated. “But what about if we rented the carriage house from you.”
Jesse blinked. “You mean move your company from Houston and relocate here?”
She sighed. “You’re right. That’s crazy.”
He sat up. “I don’t know about that. The carriage house is the size of a warehouse and would be plenty big enough to store everything event planners would need and then some.”
“But most of our customers live in Houston.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “From all the events you have lined up for the townsfolk, it sounds like there are a lot of people right here who need your services. And you said your family’s barn is a gold mine as far as a venue goes and you think people wouldn’t mind traveling here from Houston for weddings. So if they wouldn’t mind traveling from Houston, they wouldn’t mind traveling from Austin. Which is close to the same distance.”
He was right. They could double their clients. Excitement started to tingle in her stomach, but it died quickly. “It’s a falling-down mess.”
“And that’s fixable. When is your lease up on your office space?”
“In a couple months.”
“That’s plenty of time to get the carriage house finished.”
“But we can’t pay for the renovations.”
“It’s my building. I’m the one who will pay for it to get renovated. You’ll pay rent to me.” He smiled wickedly. “In fact, I’ll enjoy making you pay.”
She didn’t laugh at his teasing. This was business and she never joked about business. “We’d have to have a contract.”
He sobered. “Of course.”
“And I’m not paying you a pretty penny. This is Wilder, after all.”
The grin came back. “I’m sure we can come up with a contract that meets both our needs.”
She stared at him as she finally realized what moving her business here would mean. “Belle and I would have to move back here.”
His eyes softened. “I don’t see that being a problem. You might act like a hardnosed city girl, Libby Lou, but it’s quite obvious that being here makes you happy. This is where you can be your true self.”
“And exactly what is my true self?”
He reached out and yanked on one of her braids. “A sweet little braid-wearin’, roll-bakin’, skinny-dippin’ country gal.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Sweet?”
He laughed. “Okay, maybe not sweet. But sweet is overrated as far as I’m concerned. I prefer my country gals to be full of sass and vinegar.” He went to kiss her, but she placed a hand on his chest.
“Do you really think we could move the business here and it would still be successful?”
“With you at the helm, I don’t see how it can fail.”
It was crazy. She knew it was crazy. But the more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She got out of bed and started to pace.
“You’re right. Wilder is centrally located. Although it’s still over an hour away from Houston and Austin—more if the city traffic is bad. And while some people won’t mind as long as they can have an authentic barn wedding, the drive might deter other people. I just wish there was a hotel close, at least for the wedding party. A cute boutique hotel . . . or better yet, a sweet little bed-and—”
She cut off and glanced around the room as a thought struck her.
“Fanny Fields’ Bed and Breakfast,” she breathed. “It would be perfect. People could have their weddings in an old country barn and their honeymoons in an infamous house of ill repute. What couple wouldn’t jump at the chance to do that? We could research what the rooms looked like online and try to replicate them.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at Jesse. “There’s this antique dealer in Houston. I did a wedding for her daughter and I’m sure she would be willing to do the research and track down what we need if we bought most of the furniture through her. Mama said that Fanny named all the rooms after desserts she loved to eat? Bananas Foster. Strawberry Shortcake. Chocolate Truffle. We could keep those names and maybe use them as a theme for each room. We could even get Sheryl Ann to bake us some signature muffins to serve every morning with cute but naughty names. People would eat it up.”
She glanced at Jesse to find him staring at her with something that looked like panic. With a sinking stomach, she realized what she’d done. Jesse had made it clear he wanted to take their relationship one day at a time. And suddenly, she had jumped from renting the carriage house to renovating and running a bed-and-breakfast in Wilder . . . together.
What had she been thinking? She didn’t want to run a business with Jesse. And a bed-and-breakfast? Where had that come from? She might follow a few bed-and-breakfast sites online because she enjoyed looking at their quaint, homey décor and comfy, inviting rooms and country breakfast buffets all set up on an antique sideboard with crocks of homemade butter and jam, but she didn’t want to own one.
She had a business.
A business in Houston.
She forced a laugh. “I’m sorry. My brain sometimes gets the best of me. Of course you don’t want to run a bed-and-breakfast here in Wilder. And I don’t either. I was just rambling to ramble. Turning this falling-down house into a bed-and-breakfast is a crazy idea. Even turning the carriage house into our event-planning business doesn’t make sense. Holiday Sisters Events belongs in Houston. And so do I.”
“I don’t agree,” he said. “You belong here, Libby.”
And where do you belong, Jesse?
The question popped into her head, but she didn’t ask it. Instead, she started gathering her clothes. “I better get home. I promised Mimi I would help her pick cherries.”
They didn’t talk much on the drive home. Jesse seemed to be in deep thought and Liberty knew she had sent him into panic mode. She wouldn’t be surprised if after he dropped her off, she never heard from him again.
The thought sent a sharp pang of pain through her heart. She realized that, regardless of how much she tried to tell herself this was just a brief fling, she had started to fall for Jesse. She had let her guard down and gotten too attached to a man with commitment issues. After finding out about his mother, she now understood his fear of relationships. Unfortunately, that knowledge wasn’t going to make the pain any less when he did leave.
And he would.
His reaction today proved it.
Decker’s sheriff’s car and Rome’s truck were parked in front when Jesse and Liberty arrived at the ranch. Sweetie, Decker, Rome, Cloe, Mama, Daddy, and Mimi were all gathered on the front porch. Liberty hadn’t known her sisters and brothers-in-law were coming over for supper and the sight of them lifted her depressed spirits.
“Hey, y’all!” she said as Jesse helped her down from the truck. Her smile faded when she saw their somber faces. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong.” Hank glanced at Jesse and waved the document he held in his hand. “We’re being evicted!”