His Next Ex Page 8

  Her shoulders drooped as she nodded. “Y-yes, I do. I’m sorry. I was just mad.”

  “I’m not going to spank you for losing your temper. But did you or did you not promise to uphold our arrangement for the duration of two years?”

  She sniffled and nodded again. Her voice cracked, “Yes.”

  He raised his hand and a string of firecracker-like pops and cracks filled the dining room as he attacked the lower half of her bottom. Each impact jolted her over his lap and quickly had her crying out through gritting her teeth, her feet scrambling against the floor as though she was trying to run right off his lap.

  “No more running away,” he said, laying a final smack to the backs of each thigh. “Agreed?”

  “Yesyesyesyes!” Jamie yelped, sobbing and squirming.

  “All right then.” He held her over his lap, rubbing her back until she calmed. “I would like an apology for the rudeness, and then I’d like for us to sit down and talk to one another like adults. If you’d stop being stubborn and think about it calmly, you just might realize that I’m not being high-handed or conceited or arrogant. I’m providing you with the best opportunity to become even more self-sufficient and independent later on in your life. Pushing a cleaning cart for seven dollars an hour isn’t going to do that for you.”

  She nodded, her shoulders shaking, still gasping and hiccupping, though they were coming less and less frequently.

  “You may get up now, darling,” he said, as he let her go.

  Instead of scrambling to her feet, Jamie slowly pushed herself up until she could roll over on her hip. She sat on his lap with tears rolling down her face and her bottom lip quivering. She didn’t even pull her jeans back up. She just perched on his left thigh, her legs between his, her hands in her lap, not looking at him.

  “Let’s start with the apology,” he cued.

  “I’m sorry for being rude and insulting you,” she said, in a voice no louder than a whisper. “I didn’t mean it. And I’m sincere about that, too. Honestly.”

  It was quite possibly the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life, but from the moment she pushed herself up, he kept his hands off her. That damn no-touching rule. He’d pushed his luck by spanking her. And though he didn’t regret it, despite his stinging hand, he wasn’t entirely certain that she wouldn’t just pack up and leave the minute she pulled herself back together again. He didn’t want to lose her. Of all the women he’d ever spanked and cradled on his lap, Jamie was the one he wanted to keep there indefinitely.

  Talk about a thunderbolt realization. It all but jolted him to his toes. Could a man have feelings that strong for a person he’d only known one day?

  “Are you—” she hiccuped, a gaspy little breath that made her shoulders jerk and fresh tears flowed past her lashes to slip down her cheeks to her chin. “Are you going to—to do that—often?”

  “Are you going to need it often?” he countered softly.

  “You h-have a very hard h-ha-hand!” And what little bit of self-control she’d managed to maintain, Jamie lost right there. She dissolved into ragged sobs that quickly had Megan wailing in stereo sympathy.

  And ‘no touching’ went right out the window.

  “Here, get up.” Travis helped her stand so he could lift Megan from the highchair and handed the baby to her mother. Then he sat back down and pulled Jamie all the way onto his lap, holding and rocking them both. Megan calmed fairly quickly, but Jamie took some time. She still hadn’t pulled her jeans up and he could feel the heat of her bottom right through his pants.

  “It wasn’t supposed to feel like that,” she sobbed into his shoulder.

  He kissed her forehead as he rocked her. “No?”

  “It h-hurt!”

  He caressed her back, trying not to laugh. “Jamie, honey, it was meant to hurt. It wouldn’t be much of a behavior modifier if it didn’t.”

  “But where’s the eroticism?” she hiccupped forlornly as she sat up. “The stories all say it smarts a bit, but it feels good, too. In my fantasies it was always nice and w-warm and sexy. I feel so betrayed.”

  He looked at her, incredulous. “Jamie, was this your first spanking?”

  “Well, gee, you knew everything else about me,” she muttered grumpily. “Wasn’t that in my file, too?”

  “Get snappish with me, young lady, and I’ll put you back over my knee.”

  She looked instantly contrite. “I’m sorry.”

  “Your first husband never spanked you?”

  After a moment, Jamie shook her head, softly admitting, “He thought I was weird.”

  “Darling,” Travis kissed her sad mouth, “you’re not weird. And I’m sorry your first spanking had to be a disciplinary one.”

  “I didn’t think it was going to be like that. I thought maybe it would sting.” Her bottom lip began to quiver. “But it wasn’t supposed to hurt!”

  Travis kissed her tear-salty cheek, brushing her hair back so he could see her watery eyes. “I’d love to give you the kind of warm and sexy spanking you want, but not as a reward for inappropriate behavior.” His warm hand cupped her chin. “It’s not my intent to be unfair, and I don’t want you to feel as though you can’t speak your mind to me. But I insist there be no rudeness or name-calling. We can be civil to one another, can’t we?”

  Nodding, Jamie leaned over to lay her head against his shoulder. “Yes.”

  “All is forgiven and forgotten then,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her.

  She felt good in his lap, a comfortable armful, her and Megan both, who copied her mother and lay her head against Travis’s chest as well. No wonder fathers carried pictures in their wallets. Who wouldn’t want to carry this comfortable, pleasurable armful with him all the time?

  Travis gently wiped a lingering tear from Jamie’s cheek, and when she tilted up her face, the most natural thing in the world for him was to drop a tender kiss upon that ribbon pink bow of a mouth. Just one, he told himself. He was offering her comfort, that was all. And it was good to have limits.

  Well, all right, maybe one was a bit too restrictive. Two, then. He’d stop at two.

  Jamie sighed, raising her hand to touch the side of his face, her mouth opening to him, a silent, seductive invitation for more.

  Mountains knew no limits.

  His arm tightened around her, and two kisses became a good deal more. Hunger replaced tenderness, passion overtook restraint, and what Travis had initially offered as comfort, began to evolve into something else entirely. It probably would have run away with them both, but for Megan, who drew breath and loudly objected to being squished between them.

  The effort to stop left Travis shaking. Tense, his whole body throbbing, he forced himself to let Jamie go. In a half-strangled voice, he said, “Go upstairs, sweetheart. Wash your face, touch up your make-up, and I’ll make breakfast. After we eat, then—then we’ll go.”

  She didn’t move right away, but sat looking at his mouth with desire-fogged eyes.

  “Jamie.” His hand slipped down to pat her panty-clad bottom, commanding her attention. “Go on.”

  “We’re not going to make it, are we?” she asked softly. “We’ll never last two years. Not without…”

  They weren’t doing very well at trying to make it two days.

  “Go on.” Travis patted her bottom again. “No more touching, I promise.”

  And he’d keep it, too. Even if it killed him.

  Chapter 5

  Instead of the limo, for shopping Travis had decided to take the Cadillac. More trunk room, he’d said. Less conspicuous, Jamie had thought, and not yet comfortable with her role in this relationship, she was grateful for the opportunity to be low-key.

  Except that a Cadillac with a uniformed driver standing on the sidewalk beside it was still very noticeable, especially when parked in front of the Dorsett Building at ten-to-eight on a Wednesday morning, when everyone was hurrying to get to work on time. Morning rush or not, a lot of people were stopping to look.
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  Jamie sat as slumped in the backseat as her tender bottom would allow. Despite the tinted windows and knowing no one could possibly see inside, she either turned her face away or shielded it with one hand whenever anyone she knew walked by. Travis was still inside cleaning out her locker and collecting her final check. By mid-day, anyone who cared would know she’d been fired. She’d never been fired before. It was horribly, horribly embarrassing. And she’d just as soon nobody saw her, at least until she spied Greta waddling up the sidewalk towards the Dorsett Building’s busy glass entrance.

  “Oh! Wait!” Jamie fumbled with the multitude of electronic buttons that decorated the door, hurrying to find the magical one that would lower the window for her.

  The locks went up and down. The air conditioning gushed chillingly. Gentle music suddenly flowed from the back speakers. Classical. Naturally. Buckled in her car seat and chewing on one fist, Megan tipped her head up to look when the light in the cab turned on.

  “How do you—” Jamie glanced quickly out the window. Oh, to hell with it. Greta was almost in the Building as it was. She gave up and opened the car door, poking her head out and hissing, “Pst! Greta!”

  The pregnant woman turned around. She smiled when she saw Jamie, then did a quick double-take as she noticed Ben and the car. Her hand froze halfway into a greeting wave and her smile faltered. But when Jamie beckoned, she came down the short steps and walked up to the curb. “He’s only just now taking you home? Can I assume dinner went well?”

  Looking up and down the street, Jamie opened the door wider. “Hurry. Get in before someone sees me.”

  Greta laughed. “Hurry, she says. Get in, she says.” But she obligingly bent down and struggled into the back seat next to Megan. “I can’t stay long. I’m almost late as it is.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jamie said dryly. “You won’t get in trouble. I’ve suddenly got connections.”

  “I’d be careful with those connections, were I you. You don’t want Megan to end up with a sibling.” Greta took the baby’s hand between two fingers and a thumb and shook it. “Isn’t that right, sweet pea? Do you want a brother or a sister, huh?”

  “Whatever you’re thinking happened between us last night, it gets even better. Trust me.” Jamie shut the door. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone, but if I don’t talk about it soon, I’m going to explode! Can you keep a secret?”

  “Are you kidding?” Greta spread her hands. “Who am I gonna tell? I don’t believe me as it is, and at least I know I’m not lying.”

  Jamie held out her left hand and wiggled her ring finger meaningfully. “You see what’s not on this hand?” Greta’s mouth dropped as Jamie said, “Well, it will be in about an hour. The jewelry store is our first stop after this.”

  “Girl! He proposed to you?”

  “Proposed, married, yanked clean out of the dating pool. And that’s after he got me evicted from my apartment.”

  “He got you evicted?”

  “Because I wouldn’t go out to dinner with him.”

  “I hate to say it, but I’ve seen your apartment. You could be living in a cardboard box right now; it would be a step up.”

  “Did I mention he fired me, too? Apparently, it’s too embarrassing having a janitor for a wife.” Despite her spanking, the loss of her job still stung, and it surprised her a little when Greta wasn’t immediately sympathetic.

  “I’ve seen his tax returns. Believe me, you don’t need to work.”

  “But that’s not the point!”

  Greta let go of Megan’s hand. “What is the point?”

  Jamie flapped her hands helplessly in her lap. “I—I have no idea. I’m sorry. This is just happening so fast. I—I’m just confused.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “Don’t be silly! I didn’t even know him before yesterday!”

  “And you agreed to marry him already? He must be hell in the sack.”

  Blushing, Jamie softly confessed, “Every time he puts his hands on me, I forget what I’m doing.”

  “We’ve been friends for a while now, right?” Greta leaned over, laying her hand over Jamie’s. “Do you trust me?”

  After a moment, Jamie nodded. “Yes.”

  “Then take my word for it. You could do a whole lot worse than Travis. He’s a decent guy.”

  “That’s what I thought about Dale and look how that turned out.”

  “Travis isn’t your ex. He’s a good man. He’ll take care of you.”

  Jamie looked out the tinted window, shaking her head as she did so. “The worst troubles of my life I got into because I trusted a man to take care of me. I don’t need any more of that.”

  “Spoken like a true rabid feminist.”

  Jamie half-smiled, though it didn’t last very long. “Here he comes.”

  At nine months pregnant, getting out of the back of the Cadillac took time. Greta was still working on it when Travis reached the car and held out his hand to help her.

  “Thanks,” she panted.

  “Shall I push from this side?” Jamie offered.

  “If you do, you’d better pray you never become pregnant again. I guarantee, for such a slight, there would be vengeance.”

  “My, we’re feisty today,” Travis commented mildly.

  “Shut up and pull.” Greta caught his arm and groaned as he pulled her out of the back seat. She smoothed her blouse down over her round stomach and gave it a fond pat. “Oh yeah, my boy better hope I’m never left alone with any of his future girlfriends. I swear, I’m going to build the biggest collection of naked baby pictures to embarrass him with.”

  “I believe you are late for work,” Travis said, checking his wristwatch.

  “Oh, haven’t you heard?” she said airily. “I’m in good with the boss’s wife. I can pretty much show up whenever I want now.”

  “Oh, really?” He raised an eyebrow, but before he could correct her, she poked him stiffly in the chest with one finger.

  “You treat her nice, Mister Dorsett, or you and I are going to play a lovely little game I like to call Hide the Important Files and Phone Messages.”

  Travis stared down at her, arching both brows now. “Do, and you may find yourself playing another lovely little game I like to call Unemployment.”

  “I hear you’re already playing that one with Jamie.” Greta gave him a knowing look. “I mean it. You be nice.”

  Resting his arm on the hood of the car, Travis bent down to give the same look to Jamie. The corners of his mouth turned upwards as she blushed, and he said, “Loose lips sink ships, sweetheart.”

  Apparently satisfied that her threat would be taken seriously, Greta dissolved into a more secretarial manner. “Will you be in the office at all today?”

  “It’s my honeymoon, Greta. I like to take at least one day off whenever I get married.”

  “Shall I reschedule your lunch with Morrison and Sons?”

  “Yes. Also send a memo to Carter. I want him to get together with Personnel and hammer out a change in our company benefits. All employees, regardless of their hours, will be entitled to paid maternity leave. I want the first draft on my desk by Friday, and find out what it’ll take to turn the first-floor conference room into an employee child care center.” He looked at Jamie again through the open car door. “I hear having one of those might be helpful.”

  His efforts won the first real smile he’d seen from Jamie since her spanking.

  “What about the fund-raiser?” Greta asked as he climbed into the back of the Cadillac to sit beside his temporary new wife. “Should I send your apologies or try to find that second ticket you said you didn’t need?”

  “What do you think?” he asked Jamie. “Would you like to test your wings a bit?”

  Her shoulders sagged and her smile faded. “I have to start somewhere, I guess.”

  “This isn’t sink or swim,” Travis said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her comfortably closer. “Don’t worry. I won’t throw you to the sharks.�
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  “At least not the oceanic kind,” Greta muttered, winning a half-amused and half-irritated look from her boss.

  She smiled sweetly and shut the car door, leaving Travis to shake his head as she waddled away. “I’m beginning to believe I might have spanked the wrong woman this morning.”

  “If it’ll make you feel better, you can give all my spankings to her from now on,” Jamie offered helpfully.

  “Nice try.” Travis chuckled. “Don’t hold your breath.”

  ***

  They spent enough money in one afternoon of shopping, Jamie was certain, to have completely funded a small country. About half of it went into the engagement ring Travis had selected, despite all of Jamie’s protests. While not the most expensive piece of jewelry in the store, it was a stunning display of craftsmanship with a rock on it the size of Gibraltar. As far as Jamie could tell, the only thing a diamond that big was good for was getting caught on things. And since she’d wiled away the morning hours trying on clothes, she was not only well aware of that little-known truth, but had been forced to add three freshly-snagged sweaters to her newly acquired wardrobe.

  In addition to the ring, a small fortune was spent on clothes and necessary things for Megan, with another thirty-eight dollars going to lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, where Jamie shamelessly indulged her lust for habanera peppers and spicy foods. She also indulged her love for flan. And though determined not to regret it, when the time came to slip into her evening gown—a slinky, sequined, black and backless dress that hugged her every curve all the way down to her ankles—she found herself eye-balling those old and stubborn pregnancy pounds that yummy Mexican custard desserts seemed fond of succoring.

  The prospect of having to mingle with a room full of elegant and perfect Travises was daunting enough on its own, but Jamie turned herself into a nervous wreck as she created a mental list of everything she might accidentally do to set herself apart from the ‘In’ crowd. Or to destroy this phony marriage’s credibility and Travis’s prospects for winning that contract. Oh, just the thought of that made her even more anxious. After that, her makeup refused to go on right, her hair suddenly gained a Medusa’s life of its own, and Travis, she discovered, lied like a rug.