The Man of Her House

by Constance Masters

  The intruder raised his hands while keeping her in place with his legs. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just calm down.”

  “What do you want with me?” Alyssa yelled, whacking the big man in the chest. He wasn’t going to hurt her? Apart from throwing her on the bed and holding her down? She tried hard to bounce him off, but he didn’t budge.

  “Stop that! I’m just trying to find out what’s going on. Why you broke in.”

  “This is my house!”

  “You’re Alyssa? Alyssa is twenty years old and away at college. You don’t look old enough to be in high school.”

  “Well, I am! Now get the hell off me!” the young woman said, pulling herself up to her full five feet two inches as she was let up. She straightened her pajamas and gave him another whack in the chest.

  “I thought you’d broken in. I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

  “Who are you anyway, and what are you doing in my house?” Alyssa was so confused.

  “I’ve been asked to organize some repairs to the house and to fix up the garden. This killed two birds with one stone. The work can be done without inconveniencing your mom, and I can keep an eye on the place as well. In other words, I’m here at your mother’s request. I’m Jesse.”

  Alyssa looked at the outstretched hand but refused to shake it.

  “I’m a contractor, and my uncle is seeing your mom. That’s how we met.”

  “Well! Isn’t that convenient?”

  “Look, I was contracted to do a job that I’m qualified to do and watch the house. That’s it.”

  Alyssa pouted. This wasn’t how she had envisaged her trip home at all. “Well, that was then, and this is now. I’m here, so you don’t have to stay.”

  “Nice of you, but no dice. I didn’t do business with you, I did it with your mother. So if you don’t want to be here with me, maybe you better take yourself back to school where you’re supposed to be. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I have more right to be here than you.”

  “Very mature. By the way, I saw the broken lock and the mud you trailed through the house and the remains of your cooking spree. You should have cleaned up after yourself. “

  “I didn’t want to clean it up, so I didn’t.” She had no idea who this man was or why he was telling her what to do in her own house, but she certainly wasn’t going to be told what to do by him. “It’s not bothering me.”

  “Well, it is bothering me.”

  “You can fix it yourself then. I’m going back to bed.” She balked when he grabbed her wrist.

  “You can clean up first.”

  She pulled her hand from his grasp. “No way! According to you, you’re the hired help, so you do it.” She went to walk away, sucking in her breath as one of the little cuts on her hand began stinging, but Jesse caught the back of her baggy pajamas.

  “What’s wrong with your hand?” He grabbed her hand and turned it over.

  “Some idiot planted some things with spikes all over it under the window.”

  “Security.”

  “Oh, I might have known it was you.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you, but you need to put something on that before it gets infected.

  “I had a shower. It’s clean. I just want to go to bed.”

  “It’ll only take a minute,” he said tugging her towards the bathroom.

  “It’s nothing.” Seriously, why does he even care, she thought irritably.

  “Alyssa, stop being a big baby.”

  “I’m not!” She wrapped her fingers around the doorway and hung on tight, planting her bare feet onto the floor.

  Jesse plucked her fingers free with ease.

  “Leave me alone!” she squealed. He lifted her up like he was dealing with a three-year-old that didn’t want to take her medicine and plonked her on the counter.

  Alyssa saw red. Before she knew what she was doing she had slapped him hard across his arrogant face. She held her breath and watched in horror as the pink stain of her hand welled up on his face. She actually thought she saw a little flame flicker behind his eyes.

  His hand latched onto her wrist with a vice like grip, and he sat on the edge of the bath.

  Alyssa had no other option but to cling to the cool porcelain as she was tipped over his hard knee.

  “That was a mistake,” he warned her, his tone deadly serious.

  Alyssa had no idea how big of a mistake it really had been—not until the palm of his hand suddenly landed sharply on her bottom. “What do you think you are doing, you bastard!” she cried out in shock and fury.

  “Teaching you a lesson, little girl,” Jesse responded sternly, before landing another hard, stinging smack on her bottom.

  Alyssa sputtered but found herself at a loss for words as his hand started falling in rhythmic slaps all over her pajama clad behind. Her struggles did nothing to stop the intense and growing pain in her poor backside. She had one hand on the bath and a fistful of denim in the other hand. He was holding her firmly, but she still felt like she was flailing in mid-air as his hard hand pelted her thinly-clothed bottom. In an almost involuntary motion, she squeezed, managing to pinch his skin through the denim.

  “That’ll help,” he said sarcastically bringing his hand down even harder and faster, quickly building the already fierce sting in her behind into a blazing fire.

  She squealed and kicked her legs as hard as she could, trying to shake him off. “You can’t do this!” she protested loudly. Apparently he could, though, because the spanks kept coming hard and fast, each thud igniting a fresh wave of burning pain.

  “Stop! Please!” she wailed. Her bottom really hurt, and by now she was quite sorry indeed that she’d slapped him.

  Jesse popped her helpless bottom a few more times and then stood her on her feet directly in front of him between his legs.

  “You hurt me. You had no right!” Alyssa sniffed and rubbed her burning bottom. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d been more humiliated. She’d just been turned over a stranger’s knee and spanked like a child. “I should call the police.” She swiped a tear off her cheek angrily while she glared at this man. Who did he think he was?

  Jesse moved her to the side and got up.

  “Where are you going?” Alyssa’s eyes blinked in surprise as he strode past her.

  “To get you the phone.” he said. “Of course, I’ll need to talk to them after you’re done. To tell them about the break in.”

  “I’ll tell them I’m supposed to be here.” she said falteringly. The police would take her side, wouldn’t they? She was, after all, the victim.

  “Fine. I guess you’ll want to explain to your mom when she phones you back why you’re not at school?”

  “They won’t call her.” They wouldn’t, would they? Even as the thought drifted through her mind, she knew he was right. They would want to talk to the owner of the house.

  “Yes, they will. Still want the phone?”

  “You’re loving this, aren’t you?” He’d won and they both knew it.

  Jesse shrugged. “I’m not hating it. Now, are you going to let me fix your scratches?”

  “I guess.” Alyssa really didn’t want to give in, but she could see that if she was ever going to be able to go back to bed, she would have to do so. She wasn’t going to give in without giving her opinion though. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Where’s the first aid kit?”

  “Bottom drawer.”

  “Thanks. See? That wasn’t so hard was it?”

  Alyssa hissed in a breath as Jesse dabbed at each of the cuts with some iodine soaked cotton. She went to pull her hand away, but he held her arm tight, blowing on the freshly cleaned wound to take away the sting.

  “Anywhere else?” he asked.

  She raised her pajama leg a little. “My leg.” She didn’t want to admit it even to herself, but the graze on her leg was stinging.

  “Ouch. We might have to cover that one
with a small bandage.”

  “I won’t bother telling you that’s not necessary.” It probably wouldn’t hurt to cover it, and having someone else cover it for her felt kind of nice.

  “Good idea,” he smirked as he sat on the floor to take care of the rest of her war wounds.

  “Okay, done.” He packed away the kit and slid it back into the drawer. “Look. I know you’re tired and I’m tired too, so I’m willing to do some of it just to get it over with. But you need to come downstairs and at least help to clean up that mess. I’ve been out all day, and I’m tired and hungry. There’s no way I’m attempting to cook amongst that mess.”

  “So, order some Chinese food.” He was making money from her mom wasn’t he?

  “No. I bought food, and I intend on cooking it.”

  Alyssa couldn’t see how this was her problem. “So cook. I’m not stopping you.” Seriously there were other pans, other dishes, so why was he making it such a big deal?

  “You are going to come and help clean up young lady… You made the mess. It’s only fair.”

  She opened her mouth but then closed it again as she could tell she wasn’t going to win. “Fine.”

  “Good girl. We’ll clean up, I’ll have my dinner, and we’ll both get a good night sleep. Then we’ll talk about our predicament after breakfast. Okay?”

  “Like I said. Fine.” She stomped out of the room with as much dignity as a person could that had just been spanked like a five-year-old by a hot stranger whom they hated on sight. Did she say hot? No, she thought hot, but what she really meant was dirty, bossy, and mean. He may have been good looking if you liked that kind of thing. Tanned skin and a sculpted body from working outdoors may have been some girls’ thing, but that didn’t mean it had to be hers.

  * * *

  Alyssa opened the dishwasher and started heaving things into it, ignoring the loud clanging and clinking. The fact that Jesse winced every time some small thing landed made it quite satisfying. “Problem?” she asked with a bored expression.

  “You need to rinse those things and stack them in the slots, or they won’t wash properly.”

  “You wanted cleaning, I’m cleaning. You asked me to help. You didn’t set out any criteria for how it should be done.”

  “You’re not cleaning. You’re not even trying. You’re throwing things into a dishwasher like it’s some kind of magic box that’ll clean off absolutely everything. The blades can’t even turn around.”

  “Oh for f—! What do you want me to do?” He was so unreasonable and picky!

  “For a start, rinse everything and stack them properly into the machine. Then close the door gently.”

  “I have open wounds!” Alyssa griped, holding up her iodine dabbed cuts. That had absolutely nothing to do with why she didn’t rinse the dishes.

  “Okay. I’ll rinse the dishes and stack the dishwasher. You go and collect anything else that needs to be washed. Then you can vacuum.”

  “Who said you were in charge anyway?”

  “I’m making suggestions because you don’t seem to know where to start. If you did, you would stop whining and just clean up.”

  “This is my home. If you truly are employed here, then doesn’t that make me your boss?”

  “Oh don’t you even dare try to play that card. Yes, I’m employed. Being employed means that some money exchanged hands between the employer and me. It has nothing to do with you.”

  “Whatever. I’m tired!” she whined.

  “So am I, so why don’t we just get on with it, and then we can both go to bed. Well, you can. I still have to eat and do laundry, so you’re a step ahead of me.”

  “This isn’t fair. All I did was tap the window a little so I could get into my own home. My keys were gone!” She didn’t mean to make this mess—she really didn’t.

  Jesse rolled his eyes. “Are you working your way up to another tantrum? I’m happy to take you back over my knee again. Believe me, it wouldn’t be a chore.”

  Alyssa’s belly flipped, and she shuffled nervously under his stern gaze. She couldn’t say her bottom was hurting but an unfamiliar tingle was creeping all over her freshly smacked flesh. Warmth crawled up her neck, threatening to embarrass her further, so she turned away from him without another word so she could do what he’d asked. It felt like her only option, but she was disgusted with her lack of resolve. To make it worse, a tear escaped and ran down her cheek, but it was more from frustration than sadness.

  “It won’t take long, Alyssa. Come on.” Jesse brushed the tear away with his thumb. “Things will look better in the morning. We’ll figure this out.”

  Alyssa nodded, the gentleness in his tone silencing her at last. May as well get it over with, she thought.

  It took no more than forty-five minutes to get the kitchen back into some kind of workable order. After bringing out her plate and such from the living room, Alyssa fetched the wet vacuum cleaner and flipped it on, making sure she vacuumed around Jesse’s feet as many times as she thought she could get away with. When he almost tripped, she pursed her lips for a second to keep her raised spirits under control. “Sorry,” she said insincerely.

  “Uh-huh.” As he closed the dishwasher, Jesse grabbed her hand and flipped off the vacuum.

  “What now?” Alyssa said pulling her hand from his grasp. Was he really going to start picking on her again? She’d done what he asked.

  “I was just going to say that you’d done enough. I’ll run the mop over the floor before I go to bed.”

  “Oh.” To say she was surprised was an understatement. She’d expected him to complain.

  “Thank you,” he said with a smile.

  Alyssa’s heart leapt, but she closed her eyes for a second while she tried to make herself stay angry. She wasn’t ready to entertain happy feelings about this intruder. She didn’t even understand why it would make her feel happy that he was pleased with her. It shouldn’t matter.

  “I guess I’ll go to bed then.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Alyssa gave an awkward smile and took herself up the stairs as fast as she could.

  Chapter Two

  Alyssa woke to the sound of someone moving around outside. She climbed out of bed and walked over to the window to see what was happening. For God’s sake, it was barely light out, she thought grumpily. It couldn’t be more than 6:00 a.m. Jesse was head down and ass up, working in the new rock garden. Okay, she had to admit. Apart from the ungodly hour, it was a pretty great view of a pretty fine ass. That wasn’t the point though. The fact that he was improving what had become an overgrown mess escaped her. All she saw was a stranger messing with her family’s once well-loved garden. Well, she wasn’t going to let him just change everything. If her mom were only here, she’d be able to make her see that none of this was necessary. They could have cleaned the place up a bit. She looked over at her mother’s cell sitting uselessly on her bedside table. She sighed. “I guess it’s up to me to stop him.”

  Jesse turned to the window and waved.

  Alyssa didn’t wave back.

  * * *

  “In a better mood this morning?” Jesse asked with a smile. He removed his boots as he came into the house. He was grateful that Alyssa was now wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and a more softened expression than she’d been wearing the night before. He hoped it showed that she wanted to reach some kind of compromise.

  “That depends.”

  “On what?” Had he jumped the gun in thinking she wanted to work things out? She was looking serious again.

  “On how you think this is all going to work. I don’t want to spend every waking minute being bossed around by you. I’m not a child.”

  No, she wasn’t a child. She was an attractive woman, but she hadn’t been acting that way. “Just let the workers get on with their work, clean up after yourself, act like a grown up, and we won’t have a problem, sweetheart. Who knows, we could even end up being friends.”

  Alyssa’s
stamped her foot. “I’m not your sweetheart, your honey or your princess!”

  “No, you’re not. I’m sorry but at the moment you’re doing a pretty good impression of a being a pain in my ass, and not a very grownup one at that. If you want to be treated like a grownup, then act like one. It’s simple, really.’”

  “Charming.” She pouted.

  “Sit.” Jesse really didn’t want to argue. If only he could get her to understand that he wasn’t her enemy.

  “I just told you—”

  “Fine, then stand.” Honestly, this girl would try the patience of a saint. Talk about being contrary.

  Alyssa sat.

  “Your mom won’t be back here for more than a month, at least.” Jesse said, trying to read her now blank expression. “I’m guessing you knew that, though, didn’t you?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Hmm.” He decided to leave that bit for the time being. At least she wasn’t arguing. “Well, the way I see it, you want me gone, and that’s not going to happen. There are only two options open to us. The first is the most adult and sensible option, which is for us to try and get along.”

  “And the second?”

  “We put through a call to the ship, tell your mom the situation, and let her decide.” He waited patiently for her answer, but he had a pretty fair idea she wouldn’t want to go with the second option.

  “I don’t want to ruin my mom’s break.”

  “Okay then,” he said with a chuckle. He was sure she didn’t care about ruining her mom’s anything. “The first option it is. That was quick.”

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You don’t want Mommy to find out you’re not in school,” he said. “You’re scared.”