by Starla Kaye
The thought made him almost sick. Maybe this unexpected trip was what would lead both of them to make some tough decisions.
Valerie rolled over in bed, her eyes slitting open as she glanced toward the windows in an attempt to figure out if it was still night or morning. Morning, a gloomy morning. She didn't care. She was happy inside. She'd made a decision yesterday, after spending so much time working alone in her painting studio over the weekend. She was going to win Jett back. Period. He was struggling with swallowing some pride and giving their marriage another chance. Fine, he could struggle, but she was going to win this battle!
Rolling onto her back, she tugged the covers around her. They still smelled faintly of sex, even though it had been a week since they'd made love. She needed to change the sheets, she knew that. But with the weird week they'd had and then with him working hard to avoid her over the weekend, those sheets had felt like her last lifeline to their marriage.
She wasn't giving up, and she didn't need these sheets any longer to buffer her determination. She had a little over two weeks left before Valentine's Day--V-Day as she was calling the final day of her battle. They were both busy and that didn't bother her any more. Maybe Jett's being so busy with client work didn't bother her so much now because she did finally--as he'd put it, and which had annoyed her at the time--have things of her own to keep her busy. Beyond all those various commitments each of them had, though, was their marriage. She enjoyed her work, but her marriage was far more important.
She tossed the sheets aside and climbed out of bed with a smile. She had plans for this little battle, beginning with a special "date" tonight--no matter what time he finally dragged in from the office. The outfit she would wear tonight was sure to seriously inspire Jett. She'd like to see him let loose his inner wild man, like he had last Monday.
She mulled over the last minute details she still needed to do for the "date," as well as some things she needed to talk about with her agent. She had simultaneous showings in Taos and Scottsdale coming up in just over two months. She needed to finish the two projects for her commission clients. And she wanted to fine-tune the painting she'd done for Jett's office as a surprise. What she didn't have time for was staying in bed any longer.
Her feet had barely touched the floor when she heard the garage door opening and closing. Her heart raced. Jett was home! Warmth fired up low in her body. Had he come home to surprise her, to make love with her? Oh, please, yes! She waited, hopeful.
"Valerie!" he called out, already coming her way.
"In here," she answered, tingling all over.
Jett strode to her doorway, but didn't come into the room. His gaze shifted to the rumpled bed and she watched his nostrils flare, his eyes darken. At the same time, his jaw hardened. No lovemaking for now. She was bummed.
"I've got about a half hour to pack and be on my way to the airport." He met her eyes, regret simmering in his. "I'm going to Chicago for a client emergency. And I'll probably be gone most of the week."
Disappointment tore through her. She'd had such amazing plans for tonight. Business was coming before her once again. But she'd known his business was important to him, and in her heart she knew that he loved her. He just might never be capable of putting her ahead of his firm. She reminded herself that she'd already decided she wanted this marriage to work no matter what. The time he could give her would be enough. Still, she hurt a little now.
Valerie couldn't look at him, couldn't let him see the pain his announcement had caused her. She turned to make up the bed. Maybe another day she'd change the sheets.
"I'm sorry." She jerked the quilt upward, her frustrations beginning to show. "But I've got plenty of work of my own to keep me busy."
"Painting," he stated, but she couldn't get a handle on how he actually felt about her work. Then he sighed. "I know we need to talk about your art, about other matters as well... When I get back..."
"Yes, we do!" She slapped the quilt into place. "When you can squeeze me into your schedule." She hadn't meant to add that last part, even if it was the truth.
"Valerie," his tone held warning.
Okay, she had decided to accept the part in his life he was willing to give her, the few hours spread here and there. And she would bend way over backwards to compromise for the sake of their marriage. But maybe he needed to get a taste of how much he hurt her sometimes.
She faced him, temper simmering. "Okay, I'm upset. I've really been trying here, but you make it damn hard."
A tear trickled out of the corner of one eye and he took a step toward her, but she held up a hand. "No! Just go. I'll deal with my disappointment, like always."
For a second she didn't think he would walk away, but then his shoulders sagged and he turned to go. Annoyed, she tossed one of the pillows across the room and it hit the door with a Thump. She'd thought it would hit the carpet and he'd never know about her momentary tantrum. The second tantrum of hers he'd witnessed in a week.
Amazingly fast, he came back, picked up the pillow and tossed it onto the bed. The tightness around his mouth, the flash of disapproval in his eyes warned her of trouble. "Do we need to have a discussion before I leave? I'm not going to Chicago to spite you or to avoid you, Valerie Anne. This is business. Plain old business."
Now that her temper had been unleashed, she had trouble reining it back in. She turned around, lifted her nightgown, and stuck out her bare bottom in challenge--not thinking he'd really take her up on it. "Discuss away. If you think you can spare me that extra minute."
A sharp, biting Swat! landed on the middle of her right cheek.
She yelped in surprise. "Damn, you move fast sometimes."
She had started to stand up, but he held her in place with one arm. "No. Let's deal with this right now." His free hand lit a quick fire and she swore she'd never be stupid enough to challenge him like that again. The spanking didn't last longer than a minute, but it was enough to change her attitude.
He pulled her nightgown back down and she faced him, sorry to have them parting on such a bad note. "I shouldn't have acted like that. I'm sorry." She gently rubbed at the light sting. "I know you wouldn't be leaving now if it weren't important. You've never liked traveling for business. It's just that..."
Jett pulled her into his embrace in the next breath. His mouth was hot on hers, devouring, demanding. Then, his chest shuddering with unsatisfied needs, he set her aside. "I've really got to go now."
"I'm sorry you had to spank me." She didn't know what else to say.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he just hurried away.
"How are you coming along on those two projects?" Valerie's agent asked her later that afternoon. "About done, I hope."
Valerie held her cell phone up to her ear and looked across the main room of the pool house. Six paintings of different sizes and in varying states of finish sat on easels in front of the big window. After Jett had left, she'd raced around to get back to work. Anything to keep from crying about her spoiled plans for tonight.
"They should be done by tomorrow." With nothing better to do, she could paint 24/7 if she wanted to. But she didn't want to. Actually, she wasn't in the mood to work on any of these projects. She was restless already. Frustrated.
"I might have another showing for you, this fall sometime. In Dallas. How would you feel about that?"
Another showing? How could she manage to come up with enough paintings for these two summer shows and a fall one, too? Her mind whirled with ideas. She needed to stay busy. But...
"I don't know, Amanda. As much as I'd like to, I have a lot going on in my life at the moment." She really needed to keep focused on what she'd already taken on, and winning this battle to save her marriage.
"Jett still not cooperating?" Amanda asked. They were good friends besides being artist and representative agent.
"Nothing is ever easy with my husband." She missed him so much already.
"I've got faith in you. When you set your mind to something, you a
ccomplish it. You've done it with your art work and establishing yourself in a pretty competitive business," Amanda reassured her.
Feeling better, Valerie studied the painting for Jett's office. "You're right. He doesn't stand a chance."
Instead of working on the paintings she needed to finish, Valerie spent the next few days redecorating the master bedroom. She had started the project almost right after talking to Amanda. Her creative juices had started flowing and then overflowing. Since she fully intended to move her things back into what should be their bedroom, she refused to move into a room so depressing. The first afternoon she'd sat in the middle of that horrible, dark cherry bed and surveyed the room, from corner to corner, from ceiling to floor. Finally she'd decided that everything was going. She knew Jett would probably freak at her donating all the heavy pieces of expensive furniture and the ugly, dark framed prints on the walls. Too bad.
The next day she'd hired movers to haul away the furniture and she'd hired painters, too. She might have felt guilty about working on this project if she intended to keep it a secret from her husband. She didn't. But he hadn't called her either of the first two nights, so he'd just have to live with being surprised when he got home.
Wednesday, while the painters did their thing, she went shopping for furniture. This time she used their credit card. By the time she dropped into bed that night she was exhausted, and she'd stacked up quite a few charges. Jett would definitely not be happy about the expense. She was pretty sure he would like what she'd picked out, though. Still, she'd no doubt go to bed at least one night with a very sore bottom. She'd decided this project and the final outcome of it would be worth some minor suffering.
Thursday morning, satisfied with what she'd accomplished at home, Valerie decided to take on Jett's office. She was in the pool house as the sun rose and promised a day filled with brilliant blue skies. She donned her paint shirt dotted with numerous dabs of dried oil paint. And then she got to work finishing the painting for Jett. While she added touches here and there, her mind was busy thinking about possible other additions to his drab, cold office. Maybe a new table lamp, something with pizzazz. An area rug with colors that went with the painting.
She had just added the last touch to the landscape of their home in Maui when the pool house door opened. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, jumping and then turning to face Jett. "I-I didn't think you were coming home until tomorrow." Her heart raced.
Every chiseled part of his face seemed sharper. His eyes darkened with anger, until they caught sight of the painting she'd finally completed. He blinked and his expression softened, somewhat. "That's... well, it's amazing," he stated, although his tone echoed with how frustrated he was with her. "If I wasn't so upset with you..."
Valerie felt waves of uneasiness roll over her. She carefully put the paintbrush she'd been using in a nearby can. "You've seen to the bedroom already." It wasn't a question.
The seams of his suit coat were strained to the max from the rigidity of his shoulders, the stiffness of his pose. "We should have discussed redecorating before you did it," he gritted out.
"You hate it," she said, feeling utterly depressed and disappointed. Tears welled in her eyes. She'd worked so hard, thought she knew a way to perfectly blend what she liked with what he would like.
"I didn't say that," he snapped. "It's a big improvement, but that is beside the point. You chose to do something big without even talking to me about it. Obviously you got rid of the very expensive furniture I purchased less than six months ago. And I'm sure that new furniture cost you quite a bit."
"Cost us," she clarified and watched his jaw tighten again.
He pulled off his coat and laid it on the back of the sofa only a few feet from the door. She watched in dread as he unbuttoned his dress shirt sleeves and then began rolling them up his forearms. "I thought you had given me back all of our joint credit cards."
She had known he would punish her for spending so much money, but it was happening much sooner than she'd hoped. "All but one," she wished she could prevent this, distract him. "It's an amazingly comfortable bed. We could--"
Jett strode toward her, snagged her wrist and pulled her with him to the sofa. He sat down, releasing her. "Jeans to your knees. Now. Panties, too."
"But, Jett..." His expression told her there would be no negotiating, no distracting him.
Her hands moved to unbutton her jeans and slide down the zipper. "I would have told you about it, but you didn't call."
"Get. Them. Down," he ordered. "And phones work two ways. You could have called me."
True, but she'd figured he would tell her "no" and that hadn't been what she wanted to hear. She'd forged ahead with the redecorating knowing he'd be mad, certain he would spank her at some point. Her fingers shook as she shoved down the jeans and the panties to mid-thigh. Then she pulled off the paint shirt, leaving her standing before her angry husband in a cropped t-shirt that barely reached her belly button and a bared bottom. Her cheeks heated in discomfort.
Without another word, he tugged her over his hard thighs. She was still scrambling forward, trying to stretch out her arms and hold the cushion in front of her, when his hand walloped her bottom, hard.
"I'm not sorry," she hissed out. "The room was awful."
He didn't bother responding except with his hand, over and over for at least a dozen times. There was nothing warm-up like about these first swats. Nothing remotely apologetic for having to spank her. He meant business.
Valerie sucked in desperate breaths. She curled her fingers around the cushion, and lowered her head to sob into the cushion as well. She knew he had a right to be upset with her, but the spanking still hurt. A lot. She'd be sleeping on her stomach for sure.
After what seemed like forever, when she could barely think straight from dealing with the pain in her throbbing bottom, he finally said, "The room was awful, you are right about that."
She craned her head to look back at him, flinched seeing his big hand lift again in preparation for another swat. "Would you have let me redecorate if I'd asked you?"
The smack landed and she gasped, but continued to focus on him. He held his hand over the spot he'd just spanked and said, "No."
"I didn't think so." Seeing that he wasn't finished spanking her yet, she lowered her head again. "Then I'm glad I did it anyway."
He sent a particularly hard Swat! to the under part of her buttocks. "Which is why I'm going to burn this ass damn good."
The man didn't lie. When he finally stopped, she was sobbing like crazy. Even the caning with its horrible sting hadn't hurt this much, or the short miserable belting.
He would have let her but Valerie chose not to lie over his lap waiting to recover a little. She climbed to her feet; her hands flying back to cover the fire searing her bottom. He frowned but didn't stop her. "I'm not returning any of it," she said stubbornly, sniffling at the same time.
The look in his eyes was gentler now. He started rolling down his sleeves. "I won't ask you to. I like it." He nodded toward her. "But you deserved a serious spanking."
Valerie knew she should pull up her panties and jeans, but that seemed like such an incredibly bad idea at the moment. So she continued to stand half-dressed in front of her husband. She watched heat enter his eyes, longing, too.
"I-I was going to wear this hot new red corset and fishnet hose for you Monday night. I had some great plans. But..." She purposely let her words die away.
Jett closed his eyes and groaned. "But I left town and spoiled your plans. Your sharing that just now is your way of getting back at me for spanking you, isn't it? You know I'll have that image in my mind the rest of the day."
She smiled. "Yes, it serves you right." She gritted her teeth and eased the panties and jeans over her swollen bottom. "Not happening now, Mr. Hart."
Chapter Six
His beautiful blonde wife was torturing him. Jett climbed out of the big, new bed Valerie had bought a week ago, along with new nightstands, a chest
of drawers and a dresser. The bed was far more comfortable than what the high-priced decorator had insisted he buy last year. But he still slept alone in it.
He stomped out of the room and through the house, headed for the guest room. He was tired of these games of hers. Sure, he'd gotten into the habit of going to her room, making love that nearly melted his bones, and then went back to sleep in the master bedroom. But he'd ended that before he'd gone off on the business trip to Chicago. He'd rolled over and slept there with her. Yes, he'd told himself then it was because her bed was more comfortable. The truth was that he wanted to sleep beside his wife. Just like he wanted to now.
Storming through the living room, he grumbled under his breath about stubborn, impossible women. She'd redecorated their bedroom and now refused to sleep there. The situation was reversed now. They had blindingly hot sex in their bed until he didn't think he could ever move again, and then she pranced all the way back to the guest room for the rest of the night.
Well, he'd had enough of this nonsense!
"Valerie Anne!" he bellowed, striding down the hallway to the guest bedroom. "Why the hell can't you sleep all night with me?"
A suitcase half-filled with clothes lie on the middle of her rumpled bed. "What is going on here? Why are you packing?" His questions came out more as statements of fury. His gut had curled at the thought she might be leaving him again, for good.
She poked her blonde head around the corner of the bathroom door and glowered at him. "I'm leaving for a few days." Her eyes widened as she got beyond her irritation and noticed that he was completely naked. "Jett..." She didn't seem to have more to say than that.
Jett hadn't even thought about his lack of clothing when he'd headed in this direction. Only one thing had been on his mind: Find Valerie. Another thought had occurred to him as he'd steamed this way: drag her back to their bedroom and blister her bottom for not staying put all night. He stopped next to the bed and frowned down at the suitcase.