The heavy hammer made a hollow thud as he pounded a nail through the wallboard in his waiting room. He wasn't sure if it was totally professional to put up pictures of himself and his family, but Pete thought it was a homey kind of touch. Staring at a recent photo, he wondered if he was going to age as well as his father. Brown eyes stared back at him from the picture, his dark hair tousled in the wind at the lake. His father and he could have been brothers, they looked so much alike, though Pete was a couple of inches taller at six feet.
A smile flashed over his face as he remembered his late afternoon interview with the new nurse. She was a looker; that was certain. Tiny, slender, with bright brown eyes and a pirate's smile, he had to concentrate hard on evaluating her for her qualifications as a nurse and not those he'd attribute to a romantic interest. Jackie…not Jacqueline, as he'd first thought. Jackie Journey. It was a good name. His office manager, Willa, told him that the Journeys were multi-generational residents of the area and had a big spread half an hour away. It would be a huge plus to have a local girl accompany him on his rounds. People would accept their new doctor a lot more easily.
It was getting late and he'd be starting early in the morning. He had several patients to see in the office, and then house calls in the afternoon.
The walk to his residence usually took about two minutes but he ran to avoid getting soaked in the heavy rain. His big ranch house, a part of the property where the office sat, was jumbled with boxes and items still wrapped in moving blankets. Pete planned on unpacking over time. It was more important to get to work.
After undressing, he crawled in between the crisp sheets of his big bed and drifted for a few moments, excited about starting the real work tomorrow, but tired from a long week of preparations. Jackie Journey would be there the next morning at 8:00. A smile curled his lips as he considered working with her. Yes, this new practice was going to be perfect.
* * *
Pete grabbed a second cup of coffee as he paced the short hall between his two treatment rooms and the reception desk. Everything was gleaming clean and white with sea blue trim. The place still smelled a bit like fresh paint, and normally Pete would have loved the sense of newness he got from the odor, but this morning he was getting too ticked off to notice. He glared at his watch. Where was she? This was a fine way to start off their working relationship.
By 8:20 AM, he was beginning to get worried so he dug out Jackie's employment application and dialed up the cellphone number he found there. She answered on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Miss Journey, this is Dr. Kaminsky. Are you alright?"
"Yes! Yes, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'm runnin' late this mornin'. I'll be there in, like, five minutes."
"Running late? Are you driving now?"
"Yes. But I'm goin' as fast as my car can go. I promise I'll be there shortly."
There was an apology in her voice, but not enough, as far as Pete was concerned. Did she think that the patients would be happy waiting for a tardy nurse to show up? Did she think her boss would?
"Why are you on the phone while driving, Miss Journey?"
"Because you called?" Although she didn't say it, her tone said duh, which irritated him further.
"Get off the phone and get your tail in here."
"I'm going ninety. I'm nearly there."
"Ninety? Ninety miles per hour! Goodbye, Miss Journey. I'll see you soon." He quickly hung up, hoping she'd get back to concentrating on the road. He couldn't believe she'd be talking on the phone while driving that fast—driving way too fast, as far as he was concerned. Not only was it a drivers' license losing offense to go so far over the speed limit, but it was just plain unsafe. She shouldn't be talking on the phone while driving at all.
Disappointment speared him while anger churned with the coffee in his stomach. She was young, maybe too young for the responsibility of being a country doctor's nurse. It wasn't as though there was any backup for her. If she flaked out, he was left high and dry.
He'd liked her so well during their interview, too. Pete debated firing her on the spot when she showed up, but he made himself take several slow, even breaths to calm down. She was qualified. She was personable. She had history in this area. He'd simply have to teach her better work habits.
But how?
He pushed dark hair off his forehead and slurped at his coffee again. There was little choice in the matter when it came down to it.
At 8:29, she walked in the door. A cool breeze followed her in, the post-storm sunshine around the door as bright as her smile.
He stood at the reception desk and frowned at her.
"Sorry I'm late, Doctor." Her smile faded as he continued to stare. "I got here as fast as I could. I'm not a mornin' person, you see, so…" Slowly, as she was met with silence, Jackie's shoulders slumped. "Am I fired?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh no. Please don't fire me. I really want this job!"
Pete glanced at Willa, who was trying to look busy with filing while listening to every word. "Come into my office, Miss Journey."
"Yes, Doctor."
She followed him down the hall and into his private office. He closed the door behind her and gestured to a chair across the desk from where he sat down.
"Miss Journey, I don't want to fire you, but it is outrageous for you to show up nearly half an hour late for work on your first day."
Her neck bent as she hung her head. Her long, graceful neck. Pete caught himself and frowned at her harder.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't do well in the mornin'. I like to stay up late and then the alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button a few times. Pretty soon half an hour goes by and I'm late."
"Well, I can't have a nurse who has so little regard for the patients. It's very rude of you to keep them and me waiting."
"I didn't see any patients in the waitin' room when I came in," she pointed out.
"They'll start coming in at 9:00. But that's not the point. You kept me waiting, too."
Jackie bit her lower lip and her eyes dropped. It looked like she was debating herself about what to do or say next. Finally, she looked him in the eyes. "What if I promise never to do it again?"
"That's not good enough." He'd fired her. Why was he sitting here talking to her about it? Pete was torn by a desire to help her to keep her next job by giving her a stern talking to, and making sure she was regretful enough to make it possible for him to give her back the nursing job in his office again.
Something about her appealed to him, irritated as he was at her behavior. But that didn't address the situation. No, it didn't solve things at all.
Chapter 2
A look of stubborn resolve tightened Jackie's shoulders as she sat across from him, twirling her long dark hair on one finger. "Punish me."
Pete was sure he hadn't heard her right. "I beg your pardon?"
"Punish me. I deserve to be punished for bein' thoughtless and rude."
"Yes, but I think firing you is an adequate punishment, don't you?"
She leaned forward and put a hand on his desk. "Please, Doctor Kaminsky. Please. I really want this job. It's perfect for me."
"Your enthusiasm is a little late, Miss Journey."
"Spank me."
Pete felt like his jaw hit the floor right about where his stomach was already lying. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
Her voice was firm. "Spank me. Then I'll be punished but I won't have to lose my job."
Childhood memories spun through Pete's brain. Oh, he knew how his father dealt with him and his brothers and sister as kids. They got spanked when they were willful, thoughtless or disobedient. And he suspected his mother wasn't spared the rod either. She sometimes had a grimace upon sitting down, followed by a wistful, dreamy look. He didn't even want to think what that was about.
Maybe Jackie Journey needed a spanking. Maybe she could learn to behave after the judicious application of a little corporal punishment. It was not the best way to start off any ki
nd of relationship, however.
"Do you realize what you're saying, Miss Journey? Are you really asking me to spank you?"
She nodded. "Yes."
He was flustered but he kept it to himself. The idea of spanking her appealed to him on many levels. It would teach her a lesson. It would allow him to keep his nurse. And, although it wasn't a noble reason, it would give him access to her very desirable behind.
"Have you ever been spanked, Jackie?"
"No, but I can take it. I don't want to go home unemployed."
He'd never spanked a woman for punishment, though he had spanked during sex more than a few times. And that was the problem. He associated spankings of grown women with sex, something that he could not engage in with his employee. Pete didn't know if he could separate the two. His attraction to Jackie was undeniable. It would have been a real pleasure to have met her under other circumstances and then enjoyed some hot nights together. Reality drowned that cat, though.
"No."
"Oh please? Please give me this chance to make it right. Then we can start over. I promise I'll never be late again."
Her begging was getting to him. It was a risky proposition. "It's against the law. It could be construed as sexual harassment."
"I won't sue you! I want a job, not a lawsuit! Please, please, please?"
Her family had a good, honest reputation in this county. They weren't known as people who engaged in lawsuits. Pete really wanted to have this work out. "Okay."
Eagerness made her voice vibrate. "You mean it? You'll spank me?"
He couldn't help but smile, though his lascivious thoughts made him feel guilty, too. "Yeah. We'll move on after that."
"Great!" She stood quickly, but hesitated as her knees straightened. "So…I…um…"
She wore bright blue scrubs with little white clouds on them. Pete quickly considered their options in his small office and decided on something traditional. He stood and rounded the desk toward her.
"Lean over the desk and pull your pants down."
"Pants?" Her voice became a whisper. "Down?"
"You asked to be spanked, Miss Journey."
"Yeah, well… I know. I didn't think about…"
"Are you wearing panties?"
Her face went scarlet, and Pete couldn't help but admire the innocent shock there. She was twenty-two, but her behavior suggested a younger woman. "Yeah," she whispered.
"I won't have you take them down." He gestured toward the clear spot in the middle of the desk. "This was your solution to the problem, remember."
"I reckon it was. Yeah, it was." She twisted a lock of hair around several times, finally nodding and turning toward the desk. Rushing as though to get things over with as quickly as possible, she yanked her pants down to her knees and bent over the desk.
"Grip the far side of the desk."
"Okay."
"Good." He pulled her tunic up to her waist. She had a sweet, round butt. What he wanted to do with that butt… Second thoughts shot through his head. He wanted her legs around his waist, to bury himself deeply in her and hear her soft moans. Instead, here he was poised to give her a punishment spanking. The whole idea was ludicrous. In fact, he started to pull her tunic back down, to tell her to get up and go home, when she spoke.
"Please, Doctor. Please, Peter. Spank me."
He tightened his jaw. "It's Pete," he said as he flattened her bottom with the palm of his hand. She was so petite, his hand covered most of her ass.
"Oh! Ouch!"
Pete wasn't sure how much to hold back. He knew that some women really enjoyed a little sting and he didn't know if that described Jackie Journey. She said she'd never been spanked before, but maybe she meant punishment spankings rather than the sexy kind. In any case, he intended to make a point with the spanking. He didn't want her to misbehave that way again. He cracked his hand down several more times and each time she cried out softly. Her bottom was getting hot to the touch and she was rising up on tiptoe with each successive smack.
"No more tardiness, Miss Journey!"
"Yes, sir. Ow! Ouch!"
"Not even five minutes." He rained the spanks with each word.
"Oh! Oh! No, sir!"
A percussive tattoo rang through the room as he swatted her. "And you will not drive at ninety miles per hour. Not to get here or any other place. Do you understand?" His hand was getting a little sore and he could feel her trembling where he held her lower back down on the desk.
"Yes! Yes, I understand."
Five more smacks and she was gasping and groaning. "Do you promise?"
"Ow! That's enough. Oh, ow! Ow!"
"Promise, Jackie."
"Yes, sir, I promise! Please stop." There were tears in her voice. He'd made his point. He gave her one more hearty spank and then released her.
"Done. Pull up your pants."
She lay gasping over his desk for several moments before she stood and shakily drew her scrubs back up. Fat tears rolled down her face and Pete's heart went out to her. She was being so brave. He couldn't resist pulling her against him for a hug.
It was a huge mistake in several dimensions. The first was that she completely fell into heartfelt sobs and tears against his chest, and the second was that he knew, without a doubt, that he was going to make Jackie Journey his wife.
* * *
Snuggled up in her boss' warm, strong arms, Jackie could almost forget how she got there. Almost, but not quite; her butt was on fire, and tingly with tiny shooting pains. Now she knew what it was like to be spanked. It was highly unpleasant. She didn't understand how Gabby took it. Of course, Gabby knew that Ace loved her and hoped to help her improve herself. That would make a huge difference. Plus, it hadn't escaped Jackie that there was something intimate about it. That was appealing all by itself.
Although love had not played a role in it, incentive to improve was the same motivation behind Dr. Kaminsky's spanking. Certainly, the reason was clear, but there was more to the spanking; it was significant in terms of her rapport with the young doctor. If Pete Kaminsky hadn't wanted her around he wouldn't have done it. He'd have pointed to the door and told her not to let the screen door hit her ass on the way out. She wouldn't have blamed him. She'd really screwed up by being so late.
The thing was, it had never been a big deal before. She was not schedule-oriented. If she showed up a few minutes late for classes, she made up for it by studying harder. When she'd been late for her nursing practicums at the hospital, she always had a good excuse. It was true that by the end of the term the nursing supervisor who was in charge of the practicum had given her a lower grade because of the tardiness, but she'd still passed the class with a B. Her family had long since gotten used to her being late for everything and they made plans accordingly.
This time, however, she'd crossed a line. Real life, the working world, wasn't like school. If she was late, someone else was adversely affected. Pete Kaminsky had made that clear. Her aching butt was a testament to that.
Jackie vowed to herself that she'd try harder to get up on time. She was going to set her alarm clock earlier to allow for hitting the snooze button a few times.
She snuggled in deeper against Dr. Kaminsky—Pete. Her tears had turned into hiccoughs and sighs, and it seemed easier to control her racing emotions. Well, mostly. Pete Kaminsky was warm against her body, his arms sheltering, and the feeling of his chin resting on her head was comforting rather than a reminder of how petite she was. In fact, she was kind of glad to be petite for once.
He smelled good, too. Like coffee and spicy cologne and clean man-skin. Of course, she hadn't spent much time in a man's arms, but she knew that Pete's scent was uniquely his own. Jackie pressed her nose against his shirt a little more and felt his chest rising and falling steadily.
"Shh, now," he said softly as she shifted against him. He started to release her, but she let out a sob and burrowed, and his arms tightened around her again. Much better. This was the kind of comfort she could get used to.
Even if it meant a spanking to bring it on.
Of course, he wouldn't go around hugging her all day. He was her boss. In fact, she knew she was breaking some kind of rule about fraternizing with her employer. Maybe that was a mistake.
The nursing job was important to her, and she wasn't going to mess it up. This medical practice was the only one this side of Sonora, and she didn't want to have to travel all the way to the city to work. Plus, it was a small practice working with patients whom she'd known all her life. She loved this area and its open vistas and snaky highways with the cattle just beyond the barbwire fences and alfalfa growing in patchwork fields. No, this was the job for her and she was going to deal with the inconveniences that entailed.
Pete smoothed her ponytail down her back, and Jackie sighed with pleasure.
There was a tap at the office door, and Pete pulled away abruptly. Jackie's first instinct was to follow him and snuggle up against him again, but the tapping was louder the second time.
"Dr. Kaminsky? Doctor?"
He cleared his throat. "Yes, Willa?"
The doorknob rattled and Jackie quickly took a step back. It wouldn't do to have the older woman see her standing too close to their employer.
The door opened and Willa stuck her graying head into the office, looking around with bright, curious eyes. "Mrs. Greely is in a treatment room, Doctor. And your next appointment is in the waiting room."
All professional demeanor and cool calm, Pete nodded. "Thank you, Willa."
Willa didn't turn away, but stood staring from the doorway.
"Ahem," the doctor said, sounding a trifle irritated as he turned toward Jackie. "Jackie, you need to go do the vitals."
She nodded, curiously unhappy about walking away from him. "Yes, Doctor."
"And, Miss Journey…"
Jackie turned back. "Yes, sir?"
"Don't be tardy again."
Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 Page 2