by Maggie Ryan
Nate’s eyes lingered on her shapely bottom outlined by the thin material of her skirt and he wondered just how long he needed to wait before he proposed. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the one for him, even though they had only known each other for a few days.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw him still standing there. “Go on, sit down. I’ll be right in.”
“Can I carry anything for you?”
“I really want to do it all, just like I see on the TV where the smiling housewife brings everything in and the husband just sits at the table and appreciates her. I wish I had an apron, but at least I made do with a dishtowel like I saw Julia Child do on some of her old cooking shows. Go on, go sit down and let me have this moment.”
He chuckled. “All right, sweetheart. You can have your moment,” he agreed as he started to move toward the table positioned at one end of the living room, just outside the small kitchen. “But I want to help you in the future. I don’t expect you to wait on me.”
He stood in shock as he looked at the table. How had he missed this? She had gone all out setting it, including a tablecloth, flowers and specially folded napkins—even though they were only paper. He recognized the candles as being the ones he had placed in his bedroom for romantic interludes. Apparently she had made herself thoroughly at home.
She bustled in carrying the casserole and placed it on the waiting trivet. “Now, see, you’re not doing your part,” she scolded with a twinkle in her eyes. “You’re supposed to be in your chair, looking at me with adoration.”
In answer he took her into his arms again. “I can adore you right here. I don’t need to sit down and be served food to do that.”
She snuggled in with the full body wiggle against him that he loved so much. “You sure know how to distract a girl. It’s a good thing everything is turned off in the kitchen, so nothing can burn.”
“I’m burning, I’m on fire for you. Marry me.” What was he saying? It sounded so corny! Shut up, fool!
Her body went completely still in his arms and he silently cursed his impulsiveness. But now was not the time to show weakness. “I know that you weren’t expecting this so soon, and that I should be down on one knee with a ring box in my hand, but all I can think about is you and how soon can I make you mine. I promise you that I mean this with all my heart, even if I didn’t do any advance planning.” She still hadn’t moved so much as a muscle. “Please?” he added with a hint of desperation and felt her relax against him.
“Oh, Nate,” she breathed and there was something in her voice that sent a cold shaft to his core.
“Don’t say no!” he ordered. “If you’re not ready to say yes yet, I can live with that, but please don’t reject me.”
She shook her head. “I could never reject you, but—”
He put his finger over her lips to silence the rest. “It’s too soon,” he finished for her. “I understand. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable. I certainly can’t say that I’m sorry for proposing, because I want to make you mine with every fiber of my being, but I’m sorry that I forgot to sit down and I’ve overshadowed your TV moment.”
She giggled softly. “I think it’s traditional to at least taste a woman’s cooking before proposing.”
“It’s going to be phenomenal, the nose knows.”
She looked at him tenderly. “You are just the most wonderful man it has ever been my pleasure to have in my life.” She tapped his nose. “Thank you for that opinion. Now sit down and see what your mouth thinks. The biscuits are getting cold and that doesn’t improve them at all.”
“Yes, dear.” He sat down and put the napkin in his lap.
She beamed. “Now that was just like on TV, you’re getting into the spirit.” She went back into the kitchen to fetch the biscuits.
When she returned, she was carrying a bowl with the biscuits wrapped in a towel to preserve the heat and a small jar. “This is the salad dressing. You need to give it a good shake, it separated a little while I was waiting for you to come home.”
He sprang to his feet and hurried to pull out the chair for her. “You are amazing! I can’t believe that you even made the salad dressing. Thank you for everything you did to make this meal special.” He bent over and placed a lingering kiss on her neck as she settled into her seat.
“Oh, how I love your kisses.” She sighed with pleasure, her eyes drifting closed and her head tilting slightly in silent invitation.
He chuckled and rubbed his evening beard stubble in place of the kiss she was expecting. “Your delicious meal is getting cold; much as I’d love to keep nibbling on your neck, I think I should sit back down and we can start eating. What do you think?”
“I think that you are a very silly man. I’ve been telling you and telling you to sit down, and instead, you just had to go and make me forget all about eating.”
“You’re putty in my hands.”
“I am.”
So marry me. The words were struggling to come out, but he’d already rushed her. It was time to pull back and let her get comfortable with the idea. With a quick final kiss to soothe the irritation from the stubble, he returned to his seat. “The table is lovely. I don’t know how you managed to do everything. Tell me all about your afternoon.” He put some of the fabulous coq au vin on his plate and let her adorable chatter flow over him as he enjoyed his meal. He offered a silent prayer that this was what his future was going to be like.
Kathy rolled over and punched her pillow, trying to find just the right degree of coziness that would turn off the thoughts in her mind and let her fall asleep. Nate wanted to marry her. It was the stuff of fairy tales. Love didn’t happen like that. Did it? Her thoughts were all over the place, a big tangled jumble in her head. She wished that she could talk things through with someone, she just knew that it would help her to figure things out. But who should she share this with? She knew instinctively that if she chose the wrong person in this small town, everyone would know and the resulting awkwardness could last for years, perhaps do serious harm to her relationship with Nate, no matter what the outcome. Well, she knew the outcome she wanted, didn’t she?
No. That was the whole problem. Sure, she’d like to be married to Nate, he made her heart sing and she felt so right when she was in his arms. But how could she trust those feelings? They had come on so strongly and so suddenly, maybe it was all a silly crush because he had been nice to her when she was at such a vulnerable point in her life.
Although, this was different from the daydreams she’d had when she was younger. They’d all featured a big wedding with her wearing a princess dress and the handsome groom, who happened to be rich, would worship her beauty at her feet. They’d live happily ever after—but somehow there were no other details. What was married life like in those dreams?
That was probably why the divorce rate had risen so high. The dreams of little girls didn’t feature any idea of the marriage following the fairy tale wedding. For a special day, they got to be a princess and that was everything they needed to know about getting married, right?
No, wrong. At least for her it was all wrong. She actually didn’t care about her wedding day, she wanted the happy ever after. She wanted the family life that she saw portrayed on the older TV shows, the newer ones all seemed to feel that they needed to feature problems within the marriage. The problems were caused because people were not loyal and honest in their marriage vows to their partner, giving into temptation or getting caught in lies. That was not for her. She’d be true to her husband until death parted them.
She wasn’t indulging in a daydream about Nate. He wasn’t rich, and, as a car mechanic, never would be. He wasn’t handsome, he had a nice body, but it wasn’t like the men on book covers. His face was ordinary, no striking features that made a woman’s breath catch, but nothing that was disturbing either. His smile when he was looking at her was the thing that she loved the most about his face, or maybe it was his eyes and how they reflected his mood. How
could ordinary brown eyes change so much? They twinkled, glinted, sparked, flashed, bored right through her. She gave an involuntary shudder as she remembered how they’d appeared when he was raging in the sheriff’s office. The shudder reminded her of the sensation that swept through her when his magic lips kissed her neck and she tingled all over. Oh, his lips! There were places all over her body that ached to feel those lips. Maybe his lips were his best feature; after all, they delivered his smile.
With a smile on her face matching the one she saw in her head, she turned her mind back to the problem of who she could talk to, seeking help to sort through all the thoughts in her head. And that was sufficient to ease the turmoil and allow her to sleep.
When she woke, she knew exactly whose advice she trusted and valued for this situation. It was going to be an imposition to ask, but somehow, she was certain that it was the right thing to do. She dressed quickly, but carefully, and headed out.
When Ed Johnson saw Kathy waiting by the back door of the store when he arrived an hour before opening, he was surprised. He couldn’t imagine what she was there to see him about, but his innate good manners and kind heart had him welcoming her inside and seating her in his office.
He sat opposite her, folded his hands on his desk and asked, “What can I do for you, Miss Kathy?”
“Sir, I know that this is a big imposition and you have no obligations to listen and I already took some of your time yesterday, but this is another matter entirely and I think that I can really benefit from your help. So I wonder if you would be so kind as to help me figure out things. You see, Nate asked me to marry him last night and I want to say yes, but I’m worried that it is too soon or that my feelings might not be true love. How can I tell if they are the lasting kind; what should I do? Everything is a big jumble in my head.”
Ed sighed inwardly, but gamely took it on. After all, he had daughters her age and had some experience in helping them sort through their feelings. Plus, after hearing her story the afternoon before, he was aware of just how alone she was in town, with no strong relationships yet that she could depend on. He supposed that he should be honored that she had sought him out. “You’re worried about the jumble in your head, but the first question is what is in your heart?”
“Oh, thank you, sir.” She visibly relaxed in her chair and launched into a tangled monologue.
Chapter 7
Kathy waited excitedly for Nate’s truck to appear on her street. He had gotten off work half an hour ago and should be coming any minute to take her to the fair. She had changed her outfit several times and was nervous about her final choice. She was torn between hoping that Nate didn’t notice her outfit at all and hoping that he told her she looked nice.
She had bought a cute sundress that showed more skin than was perhaps acceptable in Menton—which may have been why it was donated to the thrift shop in the first place—and she really wanted to wear it. She didn’t think that Nate would disapprove since he’d only expressed concern about one item of clothing, and the fair wasn’t in Menton, there would be people from all over. But she was worried that the short skirt might be a problem on some of the carnival rides and she would probably get sunburned since she didn’t have any sunblock.
So she had changed out of the sundress into a full floaty skirt with a peasant blouse. The neckline left a lot of her neck exposed and she was hoping that Nate’s magic lips would spend a lot of time lingering there and sending those thrilling tingles through her. But the skirt was very light and tended to move too freely with the slightest stirring in the air. It would be completely unmanageable on the rides and she imagined that she might spend entirely too much time trying to hold it down just walking around.
So she kept the blouse, but put on a pair of jeans. They weren’t flirty, and Mrs. Donner had warned her that they were too tight for some people in Menton, but they would be so practical for kneeling down and playing with the farm animals. People on farms wore jeans. She nodded, happy with the final outfit—until she checked her backside in the mirror. Yes, she had to agree that they were tight and now she had a problem that she’d never had to deal with before. Her panties were very clearly outlined. She bit her lip, that wouldn’t do at all. She changed into her other pair of jeans, hoping that they were looser. They weren’t. She wanted to stamp her foot with frustration, but there was only one solution, her panties would have to stay home for the day. She had worn these jeans countless times without panties, it was no big deal—she hoped.
When Nate’s truck pulled into the curb, Kathy ran out to greet him, too excited to wait for him to come to the front door. He stepped down and caught her as she flung herself into his arms. “Whoa! You’re very enthusiastic. What happened to the demure Miss Kathy who lives here? You know I need to come in and speak with Mrs. Donner for a minute, it’s rude to come by her home and not greet her.”
“She’s not here. She went off with a group of her friends to some outlet mall. It’s a long drive, so they’ll be gone most of the day. There’s so much I’m looking forward to, let’s go!”
He chuckled good naturedly. “All right, Miss Antsy Pants. Did you lock the front door when you came flying out?”
“Oh, I forgot. Give me a minute.” She turned to go back up on the small porch.
He followed her and trapped her against the door. “You look delicious; I just want to eat you up.” He kissed her lips and then began working his way down her throat and along the neckline of her blouse. “I like this shirt. Yum.” His hands grabbed her hips and pulled her tight against him, sliding around to hold her bottom.
All activity stopped as they both froze.
“I’m not feeling what I should be. Tell me why,” he invited.
“I can explain,” burst out at the same time.
“We need to take this inside.” He reached around her and opened the door. As soon as they had crossed the threshold and he’d closed the door against any enquiring eyes, he put his hands on her shoulders to hold her still and glared down at her.
“So, I’m not mistaken; you admit that you aren’t wearing your panties.”
She nodded and tried to drop her eyes.
He caught her chin to keep her eyes on his. “This is serious. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered, completely miserable with the magnitude of disappointment she felt coming from him.
“Why, Kathy? Did you think that since I proposed to you, that you didn’t need to be so cooperative anymore? Is this your way of letting me know that you don’t care about the things I’ve said were important? Are you testing my leadership? Tell me why.”
“I-I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I planned to wear them, but my jeans looked so much better…”
He closed his eyes briefly as he processed her answer. When he opened them again, they were blazing with emotion. “A fashion choice. I have one thing, ONE THING, that I tell you is important. So important that it is mandatory, and you completely blow it off for a fashion choice. Go put your panties on now and then meet me in the living room and we’ll discuss how to handle this.” He spun her around and sent her off with a sharp smack to her bottom.
She found him pacing in the living room when she hurried back. “Nate, I’m so sorry. I never meant to challenge you, I just wanted to look pretty for you.”
“This is the crux of being a couple in Menton. You say that you accept the standards commonly held here, that you are prepared to live with the practice of women being punished when they misbehave. I’ve told you over and over that you have to wear panties, they are not optional, not a fashion choice. Well, you’ve earned a punishment and now we’re at the moment of truth. Are you staying or are you going to go scurrying out of town like my mother did?”
“I’m staying. I was wrong, I admit it.”
“I’m glad, very glad to hear that answer. For all that I’ve said about my mother’s experience, and my efforts to protect your rights, I do want to make it clear that I will spank your cut
e little butt when I feel it is important. When I was Jessie’s disciplinarian, I could see what a benefit it was for her, so I will not hesitate when I feel you need or deserve a spanking. But today I am going to give you a choice. You can either be spanked and go to the fair with a tender bottom, or you can choose to stay home and not be spanked, missing the fair.”
“I choose going to the fair.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Having a little trouble coming out and saying it, aren’t you? But you can’t avoid that word in this town. Go on and say it. You aren’t choosing the fair, what are you really choosing?”
“I’m choosing the tender bottom?” she tried, hoping to look cute as she peeked at him through her lowered eyelashes, anything to soften him up. He had just chuckled after all; she must be getting to him.
“This kind of behavior will get you extras in the future. A woman about to be spanked should be doing her best to appease the man about to administer her punishment, not testing his patience by trying to be cute. Last chance.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I choose the spanking. I really want to go to the fair.”
He nodded. “All right. This is how we’re going to do this. I can see that you are wearing your panties, which is good since I do not plan to expose you, but you are going to be spanked on those panties. So the first thing is your jeans are going to half mast. Then you are going to stand facing the corner and let the weight of your upcoming punishment sink in. When I let you know that your time is up, you are going to come back to the sofa and crawl across my lap for your spanking. You may make as much noise as you like during your spanking, you may kick and squirm if you feel a need. But you may not put your hand back or attempt to obstruct the spanking and you may not attempt to hurt me by biting, pinching or any other means. Afterwards you are not allowed to do anything to alleviate the discomfort—no rubbing, no cold cloths, no ointments. Do you understand everything I’ve told you?”