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clothes…”
    Eleanor blinked as the door shut, leaving her with what she’d bargained for. She looked around the disastrous filth she’d agreed to clean, hoping the local gossips had been right about the generous salary he paid his housekeepers. He thinks he’ll chase me away before I collect my wages. I’ll show the swine!
    Eleanor swept the dirt before her, attacking the task at hand with fortitude. Pushy? I wish I could beat him over the head with this broom. She vented her frustrations on the room, removing one layer of grime at a time until the kitchen was clean enough to cook in. Only the lower rooms in the house had been abused. Her quick peek on her trip upstairs had found bedrooms that were dusty but neat and orderly.
    It had taken only moments to hang her one change of clothes in a closet, don her work gloves and return to the kitchen. She carried in the supplies, set the canned beans and peaches in the pantry and looked for more inviting food to prepare.
    Outside, a garden provided fresh vegetables. The icehouse was filled with smoked meat and rounds of beef. Inside, the pantry held flour, sugar and spices, and she found a basket of semi-fresh eggs hidden under some dirty linens on the counter.
    After the meal was organized, Eleanor remembered the laundry he’d mentioned. There were not enough hours in the day to complete all his assigned tasks but when the ranch hands rode into the barn lot at dusk, she felt she had given him his money’s worth.
    He’d said fifteen hands which meant sixteen employees to feed, counting Mr. Burke. Eleanor calculated the size of portions to be served after considering the brisk intake of William’s friends. She’d supervised the preparations of the robust amounts of food they’d consumed.
    All was prepared and waiting when the cowboys came through the kitchen. Although she was at the stove with her back turned when her employer walked in, she already recognized his step, his scent and the aura of power surrounding him.
    His tread vibrated through the floor, sending tingles of alarm along her spine as he crossed the room and stopped next to her at the sink. The remembered taste of Mr. Burke made Eleanor swallow nervously. As she peeked sideways, he rolled his sleeves to his elbows before lathering, scrubbing and rinsing away grime.
    Her gaze crawled from his calloused hands up bronzed forearms, clinging there like lead filings stuck to a magnet. Instead of experiencing panic, fear or disgust, her body flooded with heat.
    Cyrus inspected the kitchen before he glanced at her and asked, “Supper on?”
    Eleanor resisted the urge to smooth her hair and straighten her apron as he casually studied her appearance. “Yes, Mr. Burke,” she replied, as crisply professional as possible.
    “Good, I’m hungry.” He pitched the drying towel in a crumpled heap on the counter and walked into the dining hall.
    For such a brawny man, he moved with an almost sinuous grace. His denims hugged his long frame, outlining strong thighs and the firm bottom Eleanor admired all the way through the door.
    As soon as it closed behind him, she grabbed the cloth he’d discarded, burying her face in the damp folds to cool her cheeks and tame her rioting thoughts. His arms look like sculpted metal. Eleanor fanned herself with the towel and listened. I need to compose myself.
    It was very silent in the room. She had anticipated loud talk from the cowboys. William’s friends had been increasingly raucous as they ate and drank wine. Of course this was a different setting and coffee was the beverage not alcoholic spirits.
    Were they enjoying the sautéed carrots, cauliflower drizzled with hollandaise sauce and roasted beef?  She’d garnished each plate attractively with a sprig of mint from her own supplies brought along to decorate her Saturday and Wednesday pastry order.
    I will speak to Mr. Burke about continuing my baking for Mabl e— but not yet. Another conversation with him so soon was