by Megan McCoy
“I’ve seen you naked,” he said, mildly. She looked good in a towel.
“A person needs their mystery,” she said haughtily.
“You just told me you had to pee after sex or get an infection,” he reminded her. “What kind of mystery is left after that?”
“Oh so much,” she said, “Just you wait and see.” She began to gather her clothes.
“Hey, don’t leave. Spend the night,” he patted the bed invitingly.
Wrinkling her nose at him, she somehow managed to get into her t-shirt and shorts without dropping the towel. He liked the gyrations.
“Someone has to let the dogs out. Your son is asleep, the last person you hired to do that quit and this one doesn’t want to clean up dog pee. Oh,” she stopped. “Unless you do. In which case,” she began to pull her shirt back off over her head.
“Not really,” he sighed. “Will you come back after?”
“Oh, there’s some of that mystery I was warning you about,” she teased, dropping her shirt back down, and all but danced out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Slowly, he let the corners of his rarely smiling mouth tug up by themselves again. He liked her. He really did.
Rolling over, he grabbed his phone and texted Kane his first order of business in the morning. Find out what it would take to get her to stay. He knew she wasn’t married, otherwise involved, both her folks were retired to Florida, and her only brother was stationed in Germany. She had nothing keeping her in the boondocks of Illinois. How hard could it be?
Not hard at all. Anyway, other than his beloved wife dying, he eventually got everything he ever wanted. Now he wanted her.
Chapter Six
Three days later, Joy looked at the two men as if they were insane. “I can’t move to Arizona. It’s hot out here. You can’t grow tomatoes. You have to pump in your water in a pipeline from a few states away and you will die if the pipe breaks. It’s ridiculous. I appreciate the thought, but, no,” she hesitated at the look in Jericho’s eyes. “Are you not able to replace Kerrie? Is that what this is about? I’m not a nanny or a physical therapist. I’m a dog trainer.”
Kane laughed and Jericho gave him a death stare. “Maybe Joy and I should talk alone a few minutes.”
“Oh, hell, no,” Kane said cheerfully, one hand fluffing his now orange Mohawk. Joy rather missed the purple but apparently there were different colors for different weeks. She knew someone who had a crested with a bit more hair than Tymber – a hairy hairless – and she liked to do his hair in a Mohawk and dye it colors. Joy thought it was a waste of time, but to each their own. Kane thought it was an important part of his being or style or something and changed it regularly. Touching her own hair, she wondered how it would look purple. Maybe just on the ends?
Oh, Jericho was speaking. The man did like the sound of his own voice, didn’t he?
“Obviously, I can replace an employee. People do it every day, and no one is irreplaceable. I’m wanting you to replace her,” he looked at her as if that was all the information she needed to know. So wrong, grasshopper.
“So, you slept with Kerrie too and replaced her with me?” she asked as cheerfully as she could muster. Sure, it stung a little, but she’d known going in, she was a two-week stand. Apparently, he wanted to stretch that stand out a bit further. Men like him would find another stand sooner or later and she needed to keep that in mind. This was not a heart decision. This was a business one.
She got busy calculating the dollar amount in her brain. If he paid what he’d been paying her for a couple more weeks, maybe she could stay a bit longer. She’d have to get hold of Jenn and see if she could stay a while longer at the house. If she was paid to be a three or four week stand, what did that make her, since she was working her real job, too? Not a paid….stand?
Her racing thoughts suddenly were interrupted by Jericho almost flying across the room. “Since Kane won’t leave, you are coming with me and you are doing it right now,” he said through gritted teeth.
Astonished, startled, she looked over at Kane as Jericho began dragging her from the room. Once she got her feet under her, to go with him, she threw over her shoulder, “If you don’t see me again, check under that big cactus out back! Dig deep, he’s strong!”
“Gotcha,” Kane called back and she knew she heard him chuckle.
She wasn’t really scared, but she admitted to being a little nervous. What was he thinking, pulling this big caveman act on her?
“Is this how you treat all your employees?” she asked him, after he’d pulled her into his bedroom, and slammed the door behind them. She walked over to sit on the bed, gracefully, carefully, just as a reminder to him of what they’d been doing in that bed, quite recently. Then shook the arm he’d just grabbed while she gave him a glare. Brute.
“No, so far, you’re the only one who makes me this damn frustrated,” he said, leaning back against the doorframe.
“I’m confused. Why am I frustrating you? Because I don’t want to live in Arizona or because I asked if I replaced Kerrie in your bed in front of Kane. Let me assure you, in case you’d forgotten what you told me. He knows absolutely everything going on around here. If I was you, I’d be worried he had the bedroom bugged.” Joy folded her arms and looked at him as steadily as he looked at her. She’d done nothing wrong. He had no reason to give her the death stare. None.
“What do you want?” he finally asked as if it killed him to use his words.
“I don’t understand the question!” she said, softly. “What are you asking me? I thought you asked me to move here forever and be Russ’ personal assistant?”
He half nodded but seemed to have gone mute. Men and their words were the most irritating thing on the planet.
“I came here for a two week vacation from my real life. I’m having a blast, getting a tan, doing some good work, making more money than I’d make in three months at home, and got to sleep with the boss. It’s a great job!” She stared at him steadily. “Jobs end. People quit. People get fired. I have a house and a life and a business. What would I do here if you decided I wasn’t worthy or Russ gets all better and doesn’t need me, or you decided you wanted someone cuter and hotter in your bed? We’ve only known each other ten days! I’d have no job, no house, no business. This does not seem to be a good idea from this side of the checkbook. Think about it.”
His jaw twitched and she admired the muscles it must take him to stay under control. She wanted him to break that control, just a bit.
“Seriously?” he asked her, seemingly mad, but she honestly couldn’t figure out about what.
“What have I said that confuses you? I don’t understand?”
“Well, for one you implied I only want you here for your sexual prowess.” She noticed he clenched his fists.
Feeling more and more bemused, she said, “Well, isn’t it? I mean I know you know I can do the job you hired me for, but if it wasn’t that we are such a good fit in the sack, would I even be listening to – what the hell, Jericho?”
He’d crossed the room while she was talking, sat down beside her and pulled her face down over his lap.
“Hey! We aren’t playing!” she protested as her stomach oofed across his knees.
“Damn right we aren’t!” he replied, as her hands grabbed the floor for balance.
“What are you doing?” she spat out. What was wrong with this man?
“Figure it out,” he suggested as his hand came down hard on her cotton shorts.
“Why?” she said, trying not to raise her voice or let him know that hurt. The man had some serious arm muscles! That would be kind of hot in other situation. This was just….not.
“So you will hear yourself berating both of us with your ‘affair only’ nonsense,” he said. “It hurt my feelings so I’m hurting your butt. We’ll see how we both feel after.”
“After what? Ow!”
Again he told her, “Figure it out.”
He steadily whacked away while s
he tried to hold still. If she acted bored, maybe he’d stop this. Ho hum. Just hanging out here in this mortifying position. As the heat and sting began to build to overload, she decided she’d just roll off his lap. Make it stop. That would work. Just move over, and down on her knees and distract him, and, “Hey!”
“Straw,” he said, almost conversationally. She wiggled, hard. Stupid man, had too good a grip on her, she couldn’t move and her bottom was starting to hurt.
“Ow! Let me up! Now!”
“Haven’t you figured out by now that people don’t tell me what to do?” He peppered her bottom with hard stingy swats that weren’t fun at all.
“Well, maybe somebody needs to! You aren’t king of the world!” she tried to roll off his lap again. “Ow! That hurts!”
“It’s supposed to. Gets your attention. Makes you realize you were being stupid,” he swatted even harder and despite her best efforts she couldn’t stop a hand from flying back to stop his.
“That pisses me off!” she said. “Damn it!” He’d grabbed her hand and was controlling her way too easily. She did not like this one bit.
“What pisses you off? Your sore butt or the fact you can’t charm and sweet talk your way out of this?” He seemed to be concentrating on the lower part of her bottom and she wiggled even harder, trying to scooch over his lap. Who gave a crap if she landed on her head? It couldn’t hurt more than her butt did!
“Out of what!” What had she done, or didn’t do? She didn’t remember, but she was starting to think agreeing with him would be just a very good idea. Anything to get him to stop lighting this fire in her rear!
“Oh, that’s how we’re going with this, is it?” he said, and seemed to intensify his efforts to make sure she didn’t sit for the next week. What was wrong with him?
Okay. She wasn’t stupid. “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” she wailed, hoping those were the magic words that meant stop.
“You will be sorry,” he said.
Duh. Wasn’t that what she just said? Okay, try this, “Please! Okay! Can we just talk?”
“I thought I was finally getting through to you,” he said. “Thought you were finally understanding me.”
“Understand what?” she squealed as the thwacks came harder and harder and she could feel herself starting to panic with the helplessness.
Trying to choke back a sob didn’t work, but she pleaded, “Please? No more?”
With that he gave her about ten more really hard smacks and each one made her stiffen and squeal involuntarily, then he moved his leg and stood her up.
Rubbing her sore bottom frantically, she glared at him, sniffling. “What the hell was that all about?”
He looked at her from those dark brown eyes and said, “I thought it was quite clear.”
“Well, maybe it was clear before all the blood rushed to my head and you raised the temperature of my butt a hundred degrees,” she rubbed both cheeks with both hands and gave him her best evil glare.
It didn’t seem to faze him a bit. Stupid male.
“Are you ready to talk like a sensible person?” he asked.
Eyeing his huge hard hands, she knew the right answer to that question. “Yes, sir!” she thought about saluting, but decided that being a smart ass might not be good for her sore ass.
“What did you mean by all that?” he sat on the bed and looked wearily at her. Poor guy. Did blistering her butt make him tired? She felt so bad for him. Not.
“By turning down your job offer?” she asked, cautiously. Not quite certain that it was only about that. Pretty certain it wasn’t. “If this is how you treat people who don’t accept a job from you, you’d be the biggest employer in the world!” She could just bet he never spanked Kane.
“No.” he said it flatly. “But it is how I treat the woman in my life when she’s acting like a fool.”
She hadn’t cried during the spanking but now had to fight back frustrated tears. Silly girl thing, cried when she got mad or was finding it challenging to deal with a situation. “How am I acting like a fool?” She held up a hand to him, as if to ward him off, though he hadn’t moved from the bed. “Small, simple words, please, I need to understand.” She looked steadily at him as one tear she didn’t bother to wipe off escaped and trickled down her cheek. “What did I do to deserve that?”
He sighed, and then patted the bed beside him. Approaching cautiously, she walked over, and sat down beside him, only wincing a bit. “My bottom hurts,” she whimpered, snuggling close to him. It didn’t really hurt that much now, but she felt as if he needed to remember what he did. But more, she needed to understand why.
“I’m sorry,” he put his arm around her, and she settled into the crook of his arm. She liked it there. “It’s not really about the job, but it sort of is.” He sighed and leaned his head onto hers. She almost melted. Her big strong tough male felt vulnerable in the moment. Her male? Where did that come from? He wasn’t hers. He was a job and a quick fun time. Nothing more.
Right?
“Good start,” she all but whispered. “What? Tell me.”
“I don’t have affairs,” he said. As if that explained anything.
“Good for you?” she replied, questioningly. Was this because his moral police compass went off when she stated the facts of their relationship? Was she his first since the wife and he was all guilty and everything? She guessed she could understand that. Sucked to be her, though, if that was the case. But then why did he offer her the job and the implication of staying on as his main squeeze? Okay, this wasn’t working for her right now. Offense mode on.
“And I do? And that makes me bad?” She tensed a little.
“No. Not that,” he raked his free hand through his hair and then turned and tipped her chin up so she looked at him. “I want to see where this is going. I thought you did, too.”
“Going? Hey, I know how things work. I was close and available, and you, well,” her eyes boldly swooped up and down. “Well, look at you. Hot and well off. Who wouldn’t want some of that, if it was offered?”
“Is that all this was to you? Getting some of this? Just horny and I was available?”
Joy hesitated. Well, yeah. Maybe. In the beginning. Who would have thought this rich somber man would develop actual feelings for her? Or had he? Sighing, loudly and with much feeling, she asked, “Did I say that? I don’t think so. But, hey, I know the facts of life. Only other people get this kind of dream come true and I’m not other people, I’m just me.”
“I like just you,” he nuzzled her neck.
Taking a deep breath, Joy tried to figure how to phrase this, delicately but in a way that got her point across. “See, that’s the issue. I like you, too. Very much. But, I have a life somewhere else. Hours and hours from here. Miles. An airplane ride away. How do you expect me to give that up because you like me? It just isn’t…practical.”
“Practical?” Jericho didn’t seem to understand the word.
“Yeah, practical. That means that it’s not smart for me to give up my life and my business because you are good in the sack, or because I let you paddle my butt. There is more to life than sore nether regions, you know. More to relationships than ‘like’, too.”
“We’ve only known each other a week,” he said, but pulled her closer, held her tighter.
“Ten days. Obviously it wasn’t love at first sight, because, you know, ten days in and I’ve got no ring and no declarations of anything other than, hey, girl, sell your house because I whim it so,” she wanted to turn and glare at him, but it was way too comfortable here snuggled next to him. Silly girl thing she was.
“Can we compromise?” he asked, gently.
This time she did pull away and glare at him. “I can compromise. You are a brute and think a sore bottom means you get your way.”
He smiled. Look at the man, another time she’d coaxed a smile from him. “Apparently I was wrong about that, wasn’t I? I enjoyed it though, so it was a good decision.”
Joy
couldn’t help it, she giggled. “Is that how we figure out good decisions? On how they make you feel?”
“No but from now on we can. What do you say?”
How could she refuse that smile? She couldn’t.
Chapter Seven
“Jen-a-fur!” she sing-songed into her phone.
“What? It’s like one in the morning. Oh! You okay?” Joy’s best friend suddenly woke up.
“I am not okay. You know why?”
“No! I just got woke up in the middle of the night! Speak!” her voice husky, mixed with sleep and worry.
“The boss man asked me to stay another month!” Joy said, excitedly. “At full salary! Can you and Henry stay another month? I’ll have to send you some information on some boarding dogs and things, but?”
“I don’t know. I think so. Can you call me back in the morning after Henry goes to school and it’s, like a decent hour and we can talk about it then?”
“Okay, Jenn, thanks. I’ll call you back tomorrow. Kiss the doggies for me, keep one for Henry,” Joy said, and clicked off her phone.
Lying back on her pillow, she stared up at the ceiling. Did she want to stay another month? Well, when she thought about the money, Russ and, yeah, Jericho, she did. But when she thought about Jericho, she didn’t. She could see falling for him, hard and forever. It was her way. But, while he seemed to enjoy her company and her body, she wasn’t certain that he wanted her around much longer. At the end of the month, he could probably cheerfully wave good-bye to her from his swanky office, and she’d nurse heartbreak for years.
That’s why she didn’t fall in love. Or even date much. She wasn’t a love them and leave them kind of person. Sure, she enjoyed sex and men, just a heck of a whole lot. But to her, sex had always been a commitment of some kind. Not necessarily put a ring on it kind, because no one ever had, but one that meant, you for now, and quite a while. Serial monogamy it was called.
She’d gone against that with Jericho and had decided what happened in Arizona, stayed in Arizona. It was fun, and she was sure would continue being fun for another month.