That was one of the reasons he’d spent the past fifteen years growing his business. Now all it took was a phone call to arrange things just the way he wanted. His employees had quickly learned to arrive at meetings with him at least five minutes ahead of the scheduled time.
He followed the woman all the way to The Big House. As he did, he thought he smelled her perfume wafting on the breeze. Not flowery like most women’s scents, but a spicy, citrusy blend.
Where had he smelled it before? It took a moment before it came to him. In the lobby when he’d nearly been taken down by Sadie and her friend. Taking a deep breath, his cock twitched with interest. If thatwasMallory, she smelled delicious.
Not wanting to frighten her, or cause her to think he was stalking her, Fletcher stayed a half dozen yards behind her. As they approached, he took a moment to study The Big House.
The house was more two-story rustic mansion than house in appearance with a wide front porch and lots of windows. The bushes and flowers around the base of the house were patterned to look wild and freeform, though he had a feeling someone put a lot of hours working in the gardens.
Fletcher frowned as he watched the woman hold on to the stair railing. It looked like she needed both hands to help pull herself up the half dozen steps to the porch.
By the time he reached the base of the stairs, the woman was knocking on the front door. He climbed the steps and onto the porch just as Sadie opened the big wooden front door.
“Mallory! Master Fletcher! You came together? This is so great!” Sadie gushed as she bounced up and down with excitement.
Mallory whirled to face him, looking startled. She was indeed the pretty auburn-haired woman he’d kept from falling on her ass outside the Ranch store. She stared at him with widemossy green eyes that he immediately wanted to fall into. “You followed me from the resort?”
He shrugged. “I’m not stalking you, just walking the same path since there’s only one way to get to here for lunch.”
“Oh. Okay.”
When she wobbled on her kitten heels, he stepped closer and grabbed her hips to help steady her. That earned him a frown over her shoulder even as she answered Sadie.
“Um, no, we didn’t come together. We just arrived at the same time.”
Another look into her eyes had his heart, which he’d been certain had been dead since Beth, his ex-wife, had walked out ten years before, begin to beat again. Their divorce had been signed and finalized just a few months before oil had been found on the family cattle ranch he’d inherited from his grandfather.
Now that he had a chance to really look at her, he realized that Mallory Blackstone was older than he’d originally thought. The lines around her eyes and few strands of white threaded through her chin-length reddish-brown hair made him guess she was closer to his age than he’d originally thought. If she was experienced, he had a feeling she would be the perfect submissive play partner for this visit.
Fletcher cleared his throat and shifted his hips, hoping the women would not see his cock pressing against the zipper of his jeans.
“Sadie? Are you going to keep our guests on the porch all afternoon or allow them to come inside where the food is?” Master Derek asked as he stepped into view beside his wife.
“Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry,” Sadie said as she backed up, pulling the door open wide. “Please, come inside.”
Fletcher followed Mallory inside, his gaze dropping to her beautiful round ass that the drape of her dress showed off to perfection. He watched as she limped further into the house.
Once they were inside with the door closed, Fletcher laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking any further. “Why are you limping?”
“Excuse me?” Mallory looked at him like he was crazy.
“You were limping on the walk over. Are you hurt?”
She smiled even as she dropped her gaze away from his. “Not injured, just breaking in new shoes.”
“Take them off,” Fletcher ordered.
He held out an arm for her to use to keep her balance as she took off the black kitten heels that were obviously causing her pain. He glanced at Derek as she toed off the shoes and pushed them into the corner.
“Would you like a drink before lunch or with it?” Derek asked as he led the way toward the back of the house.
Before Fletcher could answer, Mallory’s stomach gave a loud roaring rumble.
He and Derek chuckled as she slapped both hands over her stomach. “I’m so sorry,” she said as her face turned pink.
Sadie giggled. “Don’t be embarrassed, Mallory. My tummy grumbles like that when I’m hungry, too. Rawr.”
The Little girl’s dinosaur imitation had Mallory laughing instead of cringing with embarrassment.
