by Livia Grant
“Tell her to forget it, Matt,” he sighed. “Actually don’t even bother. I’m sure Laney will fill her in on what an asshole I am.”
His friend just frowned in confusion. Josiah wasn’t ready to explain, so he filled the silence by finishing up his coffee. God, that stuff was good.
Matt was still staring at him, brow furrowed waiting for him to explain. So he did, filling him in on every last regretful sordid detail, ending with his threatening to spank her. He couldn’t believe he had done that. This place was wearing off on him quickly, and he wasn’t sure that was a good thing. “Man, I don’t know what I was thinking, how presumptuous of me to say something like that to someone I had just met! I must have come off like a real jerk.” He didn’t realize until he stopped talking that his friend was openly laughing at him. Not quiet chuckles either, but loud hearty guffaws. Matt was laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing. Josiah stared at him in annoyance until Matt thumped on his chest, gasping for air.
“Oh, man. That sounds like quite a night!” he exclaimed. “But listen, it really sounds as if Laney was the one in the wrong here. If anything, I’m a little surprised you’re still interested. It sure sounds like she was in rare form after her and Julie’s little martini date last night. But, since you seem to be, I’m going to clue you in on a few little secrets here. The first thing is, threatening to spank her isn’t something unusual around here. We all do it to the ladies, especially the single ones like Laney, probably a little more often than we should. You weren’t out of line. She was.”
“But, I just met her!”
“True, but I really don’t think that that’s what got her upset. She’s pretty used to it. I know Brent does it fairly often, as does Beau, and occasionally as do I, or I used to. And now, here is the big secret, the real reason she probably got upset after that, and the reason I no longer make empty threats to anyone who isn’t mine to spank. It wasn’t your threat that hurt her, it was the lack of follow through.”
Josiah stared at Matt as if he had grown two heads. “So, you’re saying that she’s mad, not because I threatened to spank her, but because I didn’t do it? But, that’s crazy!”
“Yes, it may be, but Laney is here because she wants that. Just like you, she moved to Corbin’s Bend because she wanted a domestic discipline lifestyle. And trust me, man, if there is anyone who could benefit from a good spanking, it’s her. I get it, it’s a whole different way of doing things than you’re used to. Back in Green Valley you probably practice just because it’s the way things are done, and then you see the benefits of it. Here, we already see the benefits of it, and we do it because we want to, and as far as spanking and relationships are concerned, sometimes it’s okay to put the cart before the horse so to speak.”
“Meaning to spank someone and then maybe consider a relationship with them? But that…that’s nuts!”
Matt made a face, then nodded. “It might be, but you can’t take back what you said, and my gut tells me that if you’re interested in a possible relationship with Laney, the only thing to do is to make good on your word and put your money where your mouth is.”
* * * * *
It was a miserable day at The Ginger Paddle. The storm had passed but the weather was still unusually dreary for August, and Ginger was still pissed at her about leaving the door unlocked. As impossible as Ginger could be already, she was one pissed off Prego. The hormones made her a force to be reckoned with, and woe to anyone who got on her bad side. Business was slow, which always put Ginger even further on edge, and Laney was doing everything she could to avoid her cousin at all costs.
When the bell on the door rang, signaling that they had a customer, Laney ran to the front of the store, perking up until she saw who it was. Josiah took a seat at the bar, right in front of where she made the rolls. Of course he would, she thought in annoyance. If it was any other day, she would have gotten Ginger from her office and begged her to take care of it. But today Josiah certainly seemed like the lesser of two evils, although not by much. His charming easy smile made Laney want to smack him upside the head, and when he aimed those pearly whites right at her, she could literally feel her blood pressure rising from his mere presence.
“Afternoon, Lannea,” he said pointedly, and she realized with chagrin that she hadn’t greeted him when he came in.
“It’s Laney,” she spat out, barely disguising the venom in her voice.
“Well now, that’s not what your apron says,” he said, gesturing to the large loopy embroidery that formed a semi-circle across the top of her apron, and was Ginger’s handi-work.
“Okay, sure whatever. What can I get for you, Joe?” she said pointedly, shortening his name with a sarcastic smile. He didn’t take the bait, a fact that further enraged her. She would just have to work harder.
“I’ll take a Corbin’s Bend Roll, and a Paddle You Pink Roll, to go please.” His eyes twinkled mischievously, and Laney blanched at his choice, relieved that he had chosen to take his order to go. She really didn’t know how much more of him she could take. It was only noon, and she was ready for this day to be over. She donned a new pair of plastic gloves, then stepped behind the glass screen to make his order, every nerve in her body painfully aware of his eyes following her as she worked. She didn’t think she had ever worked as fast, mad at her body for betraying her, as his mere presence caused her to be instantly aroused. She needed him to be out of here, and she needed to stop seeing him everywhere she turned. Ever since he had arrived in Corbin’s Bend, if she wasn’t seeing him, she was hearing about him.
Wordlessly, she finished his order, bagged it up, and walked it over to the register. She took his cash, and quickly made change for the twenty he handed her. “Have a good day,” she said, dismissing him with a fake smile. To her dismay, he didn’t leave.
“Lannea,” he started, nervously.
“It’s Laney!”
“Lannea,” he continued stubbornly. “I have always prided myself on being a man of my word, and I don’t think I treated you very fairly last night. It’s come to my attention, that, ahem, it was unfair of me to make threats I didn’t plan on carrying out.” Laney could see beads of sweat forming on his brow, and she knew he was nervous, although she hadn’t quite figured out why, or what exactly he was getting at. If anything, the more he spoke, the more confused she became.
“What are you saying?” Her voice was flat and unaffected. She watched as he realized how unclear he was being, took a deep breath, and started over.
“I’m saying, I like you, and despite the fact that we got off to a rocky start I think you are sweet, and funny, and breathtakingly beautiful and I’d like to get to know you better, if you’ll let me. I’m completely new to the world of dating, and I’m not very good at this. I understand now what I said that hurt you and why it did. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance to right the wrong, and…” He paused, searching and when he spoke again, she got the distinct impression that the words he spoke were foreign to him, borrowed from somebody else. “And put my money where my mouth is.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying…what I think you’re saying?”
“I’m saying, I’m home tonight, and if given the chance, I’d love to make it up to you.” The door jingled, alerting them to a new customer. Josiah blushed, flustered, and left in haste, tossing a half hazard wave over his shoulder at her.
Laney just stared after him, her jaw agape, still trying to make sense of the conversation as she played it over in her mind. It all jumbled together with very little of it making sense at all. The only things that stuck out in her mind was that he had called her breathtakingly beautiful, had seemingly offered to spank her, and what was that about being new to the dating world. Wasn’t he in his thirties? How was an attractive man in his thirties new to dating altogether? Normally this would have raised a major red flag, but something about his words rang true, and his innocent charm told her there was more to him than met the eye. The whole thing had
obviously been extremely hard for him, and she realized with a shock that he invited her over, but hadn’t told her where he lived. Not that it would take much for her to figure it out, she supposed, but it didn’t matter anyway. She wasn’t going.
Chapter Five
Lannea stood on Josiah’s doorstep, unsure of why she had come. It hadn’t been hard to figure out where he lived, and she need only look for the police car parked in a driveway where she hadn’t remembered there being one before. Not quite ready to knock, and still considering chalking her being here up to a temporary bout of insanity, she pulled her thin sweater jacket tighter around her body. It was unusually cool for late August, a remnant of last night’s storm.
She stood there, shivering, more from nervousness than from cold and argued with herself. Am I really that desperate for a spanking?
I must be, I’m here aren’t I? I should just go.
No! You need this! You’ve needed this for a long time, and if the hot and charming although strangely naive cop is the only one seriously offering, then so be it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
She raised her hand to knock. A gift horse? I’m not sure this is a gift horse. We barely know the guy. He’s probably some creepy psycho serial killer, and the polite innocent act is all a ruse. She lowered her hand.
Matt and Julie don’t seem to think so.
She raised her hand again. This was ridiculous. Was she really standing here in the cold having an argument with herself? She was, and she was getting nowhere with it. Time to fish or cut bait. Which is it going to be? Unbelievable. She was still talking to herself. This had to stop. It was time to fish. Holding her breath, she knocked.
Josiah answered quickly, and hot damn. He was shirtless, clad in only a pair of well-worn button-fly Levi’s. The uniform did not do him justice, she realized. The breath she had been holding came out in a stunned whoosh. Who cares if he turns out to be a psychotic serial killer? You’re going to let him spank you, right? Right? I mean, what a way to go!
“I assure you, I’m not a serial killer of any sort, psychotic or otherwise.”
Her eyes widened, and she felt herself turn purple. She had said that out loud? Oh my god. Kill me. Just kill me right now, she thought to herself, careful not to speak aloud this time.
“But, I will spank you, if that’s what you decide you want.”
Frozen in place from the utter humiliation of even being there in the first place, she raised her eyes to meet his. She saw only humor, and kindness, and that effortless charm of his that was going to be the death of her. “I…I don’t know what I want. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
“Fair enough. Why don’t you come in? I was just about to try some of that wine that was in the welcome basket. Would you like a glass?”
Her brain went numb at the mention of the welcome basket. Josiah had one? Well, of course he did. Which meant he also had…the Corbin’s Bend paddle. It was the very object of all her dreams and fantasies. Her throat went dry. Would he want to use it on her? Would she let him?
“Lannea?” he interrupted her wayward thoughts.
He was still standing there with the door wide open, waiting for her to accept his invitation. And she was still standing there like an idiot gaping at his bare chest, and agonizing over a stupid paddle. Geesh.
“I’d love some wine, Joe, thanks,” she said, stepping into the house with an evil smile. Brat much?
Josiah just smiled patiently and took her sweater, gesturing her to take a seat on the oversized leather sofa that filled much of the living room side of his great room. He stepped into the kitchen area, to get the wine, and she took the opportunity to take in her surroundings. It looked just as she would have imagined it to look with big cozy manly furniture in dark brown leather. The décor was minimal, and kind of hodge podgy while somehow all still looking good together. Her eyes went to a picture on the wall opposite the couch. A large wooden frame surrounded a photo of a large group of people. She squinted at it, counting a total of nineteen adults, mostly women, and about the same amount of children. Josiah himself stood off to the side next to a bearded man who almost looked to be his twin. The man was surrounded by three modestly dressed women, and between the four of them, she counted a total of nine children. Nine children? What were they, catholic? Except, that didn’t really explain the absurd man to woman ratio.
Josiah came to sit beside her on the sectional, and handed her a glass of sweet smelling red wine. “That’s my family about a week before I came to Corbin’s Bend.”
Lannea nodded, searching for a politically correct way to phrase the many questions running through her head, and coming up blank. “Tell me about them.”
“I will— later. But, that’s not why you’re here, is it?” Just like a cop, he cut straight to the chase.
She would have made small talk for hours. She was a pro at beating around the proverbial bush. “I’m not really sure why I’m here.” It was the truth.
The look he gave her cut to her core. “I think you do.”
“Well, I’m not going to just let you spank me! I don’t know anything about you. If I wanted to be spanked by a virtual stranger, I would have just called up Vance Foster, and availed of his services! Well, before he got with Ettie anyway.” She added the addendum to clarify, but it hardly mattered since Josiah was too new to Corbin’s Bend to get the reference, anyway.
Josiah was just regarding her blankly, with that evenly amused look of his that she was beginning to grow quite accustomed to. “Point taken,” he stated mildly. “Why don’t you just calm down a bit and drink your wine. It’s really quite good, and you haven’t even tasted it yet.”
Laney glanced down at the glass she had forgotten she was holding. Obediently, she took a sip. It was quite good, but that wasn’t surprising. Everyone knew that Brent had impeccable taste, and he was the one who decided what went in the baskets. She took a few more sips, and looked up to find Josiah looking at her expectantly.
“It is good. Thank you.” She smiled nervously.
“You’re not making this easy.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Ever since you got here, you have been all polite and pleasant. It’s a side of you I haven’t seen before. I have to be honest. It’s a bit unnerving.”
She nearly spit out her wine. “I’m sorry? Are you actually complaining because I’m not insulting you? Really?”
He laughed out loud, and crossed his arms over his chest. His lean, tan, chiseled chest. “Yes, I think I am. It would be a lot easier to give you what you came for if you were being your usual bratty self.”
She hmmphed at him and drained the rest of her glass. Her mouth opened, but no witty remarks or scathing insults came to mind. She closed her mouth unnerved. For Laney to be speechless was a rare thing indeed. The tension and awkwardness in the room were tangible. They sat there for a few moments, both unsure to what to say or how to proceed.
Just when Laney was seriously considering cutting her losses and running out the door, Josiah broke the silence.
“Listen, sweetheart, why don’t we save the small talk and life stories for later, and get to the main event? You and I both know why you came here, and it wasn’t to give me your life story. Now, if you’d prefer, I can tell you all about anything you want to know about me, but to be perfectly honest, you’re wired so tight, I doubt you’d hear a word I said anyway. So why don’t we agree to save the other stuff for dessert and get straight to the elephant in the room?”
Laney stifled a laugh at his over use of clichés and euphemisms, and briefly wondered where on God’s green earth this man had come from. Regardless, she had to admit he made a good point. Even if he told her right now, it wouldn’t mean a thing, and she probably wouldn’t remember the conversation five minutes later anyway. Truthfully, she couldn’t remember a word they had said to each other since she had come in, or if they had said any at all. All she could think about were Josiah’s hands on her bottom and what it
would feel like to finally be spanked after so long. And Lordy, if the man didn’t have fabulous hands. They were big, and soft without being girly soft. Lacking the hard calloused skin of a day laborer, but clearly belonging to a man who was also no stranger to an honest day’s work. She had dreamed about hands like those.
“Lannea?” His words cut through her reverie, bringing her back to the present. He was looking at her expectantly, and she realized he was waiting for her answer.
“Okay, Joe,” she said with a sly wink. “You win. Let’s save the small talk for later, and go right to the elephant in the room. “Where do you want me?”
* * * * *
This was a problem he had not expected to have in his first week at his new home. A beautiful young woman ready and waiting for him to spank her. A beautiful young woman he hardly knew.
He realized a small part of him had actually been hoping she would chicken out. He certainly wouldn’t have held it against her. He knew without a doubt, that if he was the one to chicken out, she would most definitely hold it against him.
Not that he would have considered bowing out. He was many things but a chicken-shit-fool was not one of them. If a gorgeous woman comes to your home and asks you to spank her, you spank her. Period. End of story. And he really did want to— Lord, did he.
