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CHAPTER5
Tanner felt like he had been summoned to the principal’s office for some grave misdoing. But he’d done nothing wrong, and he wasn’t about to confess to his aunt he had spent the night in Emily’s arms.
And what a night it had been. One he didn’t regret but worried it would interfere now that he knew she was the new cook. It had been a one nighter, nothing more, nothing less.
One night of extreme pleasure spent in Emily’s arms that he’d never forget.
“Explain to me why you treated our new employee so rudely. What has she done that you feel the need to tell her to leave?” his aunt said, gazing at him behind her large desk. “I’ve worked very hard to find a chef of her caliber to come to the ranch.”
As the head of Burnett Enterprises, she wielded her power accordingly. She was the boss and he’d managed to trespass into her territory. He’d stepped on her toes and she wasn’t taking his remarks kindly.
What could he say? From the way Aunt Rose was staring at him, he had to start talking and maybe he’d wanted to keep it private about what happened last night, but that wasn’t looking possible. It seemed everyone would soon know where he’d been and what he’d been doing.
“I met her at the hotel last night,” he admitted. “We had dinner.”
She gazed at him. “You slept with her didn’t you?”
He squirmed in his seat like he was nine not twenty-eight going on ninety.
“It was a night of mutual pleasure,” he finally admitted.
That wasn’t a lie. In fact, it didn’t explain how wonderful the night had been. But at least it skirted the edges from the most passionate night he’d ever experienced.
“Did you tell her it was a one-night hookup? Did you lie to her?”
With his foot, he tapped the rug, not able to sit still. “No. I did lie about my name because I didn’t want her to trace me back to the ranch.”
Neither one of them had acknowledged that it was going to be just one night, but he assumed they both knew it could not last longer. She was traveling and he was only there for that night before he returned home.
His aunt shook her head and sighed. “How did that work out for you?”
“Obviously, not well. Just fire her, Aunt Rose. We’ll find another chef.”
The woman leaned over the desk. “Do you know how long it took me to find a good cook? She’s a graduate of Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and earned the student chef of the year award from the American Culinary Federation. And you want me to send her packing? Are you crazy?”
Oh, she was not happy. Not happy with him at all.
“There’s a better chance of me sending you packing. Keep your dick in your pants and leave my cook alone. Do you understand me?”
Stunned that his aunt had used the worddick, he knew he was in trouble.
“If this had been Joshua, I would not be shocked, but you? Do you realize she could sue us for sexual harassment? That you have made us very vulnerable to a lawsuit? The sad thing is I want to keep her. She’s what we’ve needed and you screwed it up.”
Never before had his aunt been so strict and stern with him. Her voice had risen to where she was one octave below yelling at him.
“Keep away from her, do you understand me? If I hear of you giving her any trouble or see you near her skirts, you’ll be kicked off the property.”
Wow, that was about the harshest punishment you could get from Aunt Rose.
All because he had experienced one night with the new girl. The first time he’d had sex in over five long years. One act between the sheets and he was being threatened with banishment. It just didn’t seem fair, and yet if he argued, he’d find himself outside the parameters of the Burnett Ranch.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I didn’t know who she was.”
“And she obviously didn’t know who you were or this would never have happened. But I’m not willing to start searching for a new cook because you could not keep it in your pants.”
Travis needed to get back here quickly or Tanner would soon be looking for new employment.
“Now get out of here. I have work to do. And again, don’t let me see you hanging around her.”
