by Joannie Kay
“There now, that’s enough of that,” Vince said quietly as he sat her up and held her. He found a clean handkerchief in his pocket and handed it to the pretty redhead. “I didn’t spank you all that hard, young lady,” he remonstrated with her.
“Yes, you did,” she insisted. “I hurt something awful!”
“My face hurts, too,” he told her.
Sara looked up at him and was shocked to see a red print of her hand on his left cheek. She was immediately ashamed of herself. “I’m sorry, Mr. Williamson. I have a very bad temper,” she confessed.
“So I see,” he soberly acknowledged. “Why are you here, Miss No Name, other than to slap my face, that is?”
“You bought my building and you are turning it into condos and selling my apartment! I’m mad at you!” she declared.
“I never would have guessed,” he said with a deadpan expression.
“It’s just business for you, but it is my home! I’ve lived there for three years, and I can’t afford to buy it, and I can’t afford to move, either! You are making a mess of my life, and you don’t even care! Look at this room! It’s bigger than my whole apartment!”
“What building are we discussing, Miss No Name With a Bad Temper?”
“My name is Sara Hart,” she said, and then gave him the building’s address, while he nodded.
“I need some time to check into this, Miss Hart,” he said. “There are times that my agent makes sound investments for me and I am not aware of the particulars. If you will leave your telephone number, I will look into this matter and call you.”
Sara didn’t know why she bothered, but she gave him her telephone number. He didn’t write it down, and she was positive that it was a simple tactic to get her out the door. It was embarrassing when he stood her on her feet and then asked if she was composed enough to drive home. She assured him she was, but she merely wanted to escape before she started crying again… this time in pure mortification!
She was barely out of the gated community when her beloved car broke down! She got out and raised the hood and looked to see if she saw any loose wires. She couldn’t afford to hire a mechanic, or to even have the car towed. She kicked the front tire on the driver’s side, and started bawling again. She knew she was going to have to call and ask one of her sisters to come and help her out of yet another mess. Her three older sisters were so together, and Sara wondered if she would ever live up to their successes. Holly wasn’t home; Sara got Stacy’s voice mail, which meant she was working, and Jenna didn’t answer, either. She tried Brooke’s number, but when she answered there was so much background noise that she said she’d call her back when she got home later that night. So much for siblings, Sara thought. She was ready to call her Dad out of sheer desperation, even though she wouldn’t appreciate his lecture about her old car, when a sleek black sports car pulled up behind her. Sara was immediately alert and ready to defend herself, when she recognized Vincent Williams as he got out of the beautiful car.
“Sara Hart,” he said. “I can see you have car trouble. Do you need help?”
“I can’t reach any of my family,” she explained.
“We can call a tow truck to take it in to be repaired.”
“That would be great except for the fact I can’t afford to do that.”
“I see,” he said. “At least allow me to give you a lift,” he offered. “It isn’t safe for you to be on the side of the road like this. Anyone could come along, and I won’t have that on my conscience.” When Sara opened her mouth to refuse he quietly stated, “Do not force me to pick you up and put you in my car. I rarely lose my temper, but when I do, I go off real easy for a few days afterwards, and I have already made enough of a fool of myself for one day. Please, Sara, accept my help.”
Sara nodded, and reached in her car for her purse.
“Leave your car key in the glove box, Sara. We’ll get someone to get it off the street so you don’t get a ticket, or have the police call and have it towed to an impound lot. That would be ridiculously expensive.” Her green eyes widened in dismay, and he snapped out his cell phone and made a simple call to Jacob at the gate and asked him to take care of the matter. Jacob said it was as good as done, and Vince knew it would be. He opened the passenger door for Sara, and she got in the car and sunk into the expensive leather seats.
Sara loved the car. It was so beautiful she couldn’t help but be jealous. Of course, no matter how soft the seats, sitting did not feel so good right now. That spanking would be with her for a while she realized as she squirmed to get comfortable.
“Hurting, huh?” Vince said, not caring if he embarrassed her. “You’re lucky you pulled that foolish bit of nonsense on me, and not on another man. I know I spanked you hard, and you deserved it, but another man might have taken his fists to you and hurt you badly enough you could have ended up in the ER. Someone your size should never pick on someone my size.”
“I didn’t know you were your size,” Sara admitted. “I have a temper,” she repeated herself and shrugged.
“Your father should have spanked that out of you when you were a kid,” he said.
“Dad tried, and that is why I moved out on my own when I started college. I didn’t like being threatened with punishment every time I expressed an opinion he didn’t agree with.”
“I see,” Vince said thoughtfully. He got along well with his dad, but his mother made him nuts with all her straightening up all the time and nitpicking over his every move. “Do you get along well with your mom?”
“Yes, I do. I could live with her and no problem, but Dad is another story. He would never believe me too old for his scolding and his interference with my decisions would make me crazy.”
“That is the way it is with my Mom and me. I get along well with Dad,” Vince admitted, smiling. “Do your siblings feel as you do?”
“Not all of them. Brooke still lives at home, and she doesn’t have a problem with it.”
“Is she the youngest child?”
“Oh yes, and spoiled as can be. Dad indulges her all the time, and Mom is her slave. It’s ridiculous they can’t see that. Dad would never permit me to stay out as late as Brooke does. She doesn’t pay anything to live at home, either. The rest of us had to pay something the moment we got a job of any kind.”
“Yes, but the youngest doesn’t usually get the business, if there is one. The oldest has to live up to family tradition, gets the Junior after his name, or the Third, Fourth, or whatever number it is up to.”
“You must be the youngest?” she guessed.
“The youngest of three boys. No sisters,” he admitted.
“I have four sisters, three older and one younger. No brothers.”
“Your poor Dad!”
“Don’t waste time feeling sorry for him; he already feels sorry enough for himself.”
“That is mean-spirited, young lady. Give your poor Dad a break.” They were at the apartment building and Sara jumped out of his car.
“Thanks for the lift.”
“Hold on there. I would like to see your apartment. As the owner of this building I have the right to inspect any apartments on demand.”
“By all means.” She did her best to control her temper. He followed her up to the third floor, and when she opened her door, he followed her inside. “Make yourself right at home,” she sarcastically invited.
Vince ignored her tone and looked around the space. While it was true the apartment was small, it was also cute as could be, and it suited the feisty redhead. Vince knew he couldn’t make her homeless, but he was going to have to be clever or she would think he was using her apartment to control her and get into her pants. Vince was attracted to Sara. She didn’t give a damn that his family was wealthy, or that he owned his own company and invested in all sorts of businesses. They’d connected in a purely physical, man to woman, palm to butt manner. She’d already made a place for herself in his heart, but given the fact she was stubborn, it was going to take some convin
cing before she would believe him.
When the legal packet of papers arrived a couple of weeks after that fateful trip to Vince Williamson’s apartment, Sara threw them to one side while she finished the assignment she was working on, trying not to think about what was inside. She was positive that the packet contained her notice of eviction. Sara didn’t know what she would do. No one had any room for her to move in on them… except for Mom and Dad, and that was the one place she didn’t want to go!
Once she opened the papers, she picked up her telephone and called Holly, “Thank you so much!” Her throat was clogged with unshed tears.
“For what?” Holly asked.
“Oh, you know, so don’t pretend. Thank you so much.”
“Sara, I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Okay, I understand.” She talked a few more minutes, and then hung up, after asking Holly to thank the others if they were involved, too. She felt very loved.
To her surprise, Vince Williamson called a couple of days later, and asked her out to dinner. Sara accepted, just to see what he wanted from her. Vince made sure she had fun, and invited her out again for the next evening. Sara looked at him. “What is this about?”
“It’s about us getting to know each other better; I really like you, Sara.”
“Even though I was horrible to you and slapped you the second I met you?” she asked, wanting honesty from him.
“I think you suffered the consequences of that,” he softly reminded her.
“Yes, I did. My butt was sore for a few days. You don’t know your own strength.”
“I felt justified.” This time he grinned. “I guess you should know before we start dating that I do believe in spanking if it is earned.”
“You’d just better make damn sure I think it is earned, too!” she retorted.
“I don’t like swearing, Sara, and I think this is the second time I’ve mentioned this to you.”
“And…?”
“The third time is a charm, Red.”
The third time came sooner than either of them anticipated it would. Sara was helping him wash his car on Saturday when the hose got away from her, soaking her shirt and shorts completely. She cursed without even realizing she’d done so. Right there, in the driveway of his home, not caring if the neighbors watched or not, Vince bent her over the hood of his car and set her wet shorts on fire. She honestly felt like her shorts were smoking by the time he stopped, and she was in tears, embarrassed as could be for earning a second spanking from the handsome man.
“Now you know what the third time will bring, Red. I don’t like to hear my lady swearing. I don’t swear, either, and while it is hard to resist at times, it sounds better to use intelligent words to express anger.”
Sara felt warm on the inside as well as on the outside. Vince called her his lady. And she was.
Chapter Five: Brooke
It was hard being the youngest of the Hart Sisters and having to live up to all that her sisters accomplished, and Brooke was positive she fell short most of the time. They were all glamorous and beautiful and hardworking, and none of them lived at home like she did. No one ever noticed her as Brooke Hart; she was Jenna Hart Davidson’s little sister, or Stacy Hart’s kid sister, Holly Hart’s untalented little sister, and Sara 4.0 Hart’s sister who barely pulled an average grade in any class. Yes, Brooke felt sorry for herself. How could she be known for herself with all those smart older sisters?
She resolutely carried herself to her next class. She’d thought it would be an easy, filler class when she signed up for it, and she was pretty sure it was a class that none of her sisters troubled themselves with, so she wouldn’t have a professor asking if she was Jenna, Stacy, Holly, or Sara’s sister. She wanted to be taken for herself.
The Professor was a stickler for time. He started promptly, ended promptly, and he docked points for being tardy. He told them on the first day of class that while the title of the class might sound simple, getting a good grade wouldn’t be so easy. He assigned books to read, papers to turn in, and just when the end was in sight, the man stood at his podium, laser pointer in hand, and announced their final assignment was the equivalent of their final exam, and would count for half of their grade. Ignoring the groans, he passed out a detailed explanation of the assignment and said, “For those of you who lose everything, you can go online and download a copy of this assignment. I am not going to accept any excuses for your not finishing on time. I posted a paper on the back wall with your partner’s name beside yours. It doesn’t matter if you hate the name I put you with; you will work with this person. In life we all have to work with people or clients that we do not like. Think of this as good experience for the future, and no complaints. I do not want to hear them. I will make no exceptions or changes, even if the person is your ex, and even if you have a restraining order!” he insisted. “You have the rest of this class time to talk with your partner and brainstorm for your project. Every minute is precious; do not waste time.” With that he was done talking and there was a rush to the back of the room for partners to find each other.
Brooke was not happy. She did not feel it was fair for this project to count for half of their grade when they had to work with someone else. She heard a lot of groaning coming from the back of the room as people paired up. She was sure the Professor was making this final task as difficult as possible, and by making them work with partners they didn’t like, he was making the last few weeks in his class extremely difficult.
“You are my partner, Brooke. Couldn’t you at least have pretended some interest and walked to the back of the room like everyone else did?”
“It figures you would be my partner, David. Professor Zorn is a very smart man; he figured there was a reason you sat as far away from me as possible, and he honed in on it and placed us together. Unless it escaped your notice, no one in this class is happy about the partner they were given, including us.”
“Fine. That realization doesn’t do one darn thing to complete our project. We need to come up with an idea.” David Worth plunked his butt down in the seat next to hers. “Put that brain of yours into gear and think of something besides what party you can go to next.”
“I’m not like you, David. I like to be with my friends and have fun.”
“You spend too much time with those friends and not enough time studying.” David was not the least bit shy in expressing his opinion; he wasn’t shy about it when they were dating a year ago. He’d given her an ultimatum then, and she’d told him to fuck off. He’d looked at her for a couple of minutes, and then he walked away. Now, thanks to this ‘nutty’ Professor, they were right back where they were a year ago.
“I do not have to answer to you, David Worth.”
“Until this project is done you do. We are going to spend a certain amount of time each day working together so the end result is cohesive and both of us are visible when this is finished. I want a good grade in this class, and you are going to do your share to make it happen.”
“I am not going to spend that much time with you.”
“You will spend just as much time with me as it takes to do this project. Don’t try to use this class as a way to get even with me, Brooke. I’ve done a lot of thinking since last year, and I know now where I went wrong. Push me and you’ll find yourself wishing you hadn’t. Now, enough; we need to use this time to decide on a project. Do you have any ideas?”
“No.”
David sighed. “Is there anything that interests you that we could turn into a project?”
“No.”
“Brooke, don’t be like this.”
“Why don’t you just do the project and leave me out of it…?” She got to her feet and ran for the door. This is one Professor who liked to play mind games and it wasn’t a bit funny. He’d managed to put people together in a deliberate manner to cause pain, and she didn’t find it funny. She wasn’t going to pretend that everything was cool with David when it wasn’t. He was one r
eal rude bastard, bossy as hell, and he hurt her when he dumped her. She wasn’t going to help him pass this course. That was her final word.
David let Brooke go. The last thing he wanted was a public scene with her. He would confront her when no one else was around. That evening he rang the doorbell at her house and her father answered. “Hello, Mr. Hart. How are you, sir?” he asked politely.
“I am fine, David. It’s good to see you; come in.”
“Thank you, sir. Is Brooke here?”
“Yes, she is.” The man looked as though he didn’t know whether or not to allow David to see his daughter.
“We have a problem, Mr. Hart,” David said quietly, and then told the man about their assignment. “Brooke doesn’t want to work with me, but the Professor hasn’t given us a choice. I need this credit, and I am sure she does, too.”
“I do not approve of this assignment, and I think this Professor is crossing a line by putting students together who have a history,” John Hart stated. “But, you are right. Brooke needs this credit. She doesn’t take her classes seriously enough; she spends too much time with her friends having a good time. I’ll back you up, David,” he said, reaching his decision. He went to the bottom of the steps and called upstairs, “Brooke, come down here, please.”
David knew that Brooke was going to have a fit and he hoped her Dad could handle her. She was lacking in discipline, and instead of walking away from her last year, David felt he should have hauled her over his knee and spanked her soundly. It was exactly what she needed, and unless she showed him some cooperation on this assignment, Miss Brooke was going to get the spanking of her life. David was through with her childish behavior.
Brooke cut short her conversation with her sister Jenna, and hurried to see what her Dad wanted. It wasn’t like him to disturb her when he thought she should be studying and preparing for the next day’s classes. It was probably nothing important, but she lived under his roof and Brooke did love him… even though he could be impossible at times. “What is it, Dad?” she asked softly, a smile on her lips… until she saw David. “I have nothing to say to you, David Worth. Get out of my home and don’t come back.”