He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

by Dara Ames

  I made sure the door was locked before I went to take a bath and wash the kitchen smells out of my hair. Once I was clean, I gathered a load of my chef whites and started the laundry. Then I went to see what I could fix for my dinner. A bowl of Golden Crisp cereal looked wonderful to me and I quickly fixed a bowl full and carried it into the living room. I flopped on the sofa, picked up the remote, and flipped on the television, and found a rerun of House Hunters and tried to concentrate on which home the couple should choose to buy while trying not to think about Cody and work. I couldn’t think of one reason that Tabitha would have to lie to me or mislead me about the telephone call from Princess Alyssa. Cody just didn’t like being caught out and it hurt to know that he might have been playing me. He just didn’t seem the type, but there had to be some reason why he didn’t want anyone we work with to know about us. It wasn’t as if we were doing anything immoral or wrong. My musings were interrupted by my doorbell and since I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, I decided to ignore the summons, chomping on my cereal and determinately watching House Hunters.

  “Jennifer, you open this door right now.” Cody was knocking loud enough to summon the entire building!

  “No. You didn’t want to talk to me earlier; I don’t want to talk to you now. I don’t like the attitude you are showing me!” Yes, I know. I have a smart mouth at times. But my feelings were hurt that he’d failed to explain himself to me earlier and I wanted my pound of flesh before I would listen to him.

  “Jenn, open the door immediately… or else!”

  “That might work at the restaurant, but you are not my boss here, Mister. Go home. I don’t want to discuss your affair.”

  “Affair!” he repeated, and I heard something in his voice that I’d never heard before. Cody was beyond furious with me. I started crying. “Jenn, I don’t know what Tabitha told you, but nothing could be further from the truth. Please open this door, or I swear I am going to take my belt to your sweet butt.” I could just picture my elderly neighbor’s shocked face if she heard Cody threaten to spank me. She was a pioneer in the women’s right movement, and she would call the police if I didn’t quiet Cody.

  I jumped up and quickly unlocked the door. “Do you want Miss Grant to call the police, Cody? She would love to see you arrested for even threatening to spank a grown woman in this day and age.”

  “Sounds to me like someone should have given your Miss Grant a damn good spanking once upon a time!” Cody growled. His dark eyes were flashing with temper as he stomped into my apartment and firmly shut the door behind him. “I am not happy with you, young lady!”

  “I’m not happy with you, either.” I felt tears sting my eyes and I tried to blink them away. I did not want to cry in front of him and get accused of being all-emotional. However, I felt like crying when I thought of Cody making plans with Princess Alyssa. She was everything I wasn’t: tall, thin, long blonde hair, and oodles of money. She was model thin and she made good money posing for pictures. I hated her!

  “You have no reason to be unhappy, Jenn. That is what I am trying to tell you. Yes, Alyssa did call this morning and she did insist on speaking to me, so Tabitha put the call through. Alyssa asked me to escort her to a Valentine’s party and I said I had other plans. She was angry and slammed the phone in my ear. Once that call was over, I made a call and that is what Tabitha overheard. I have a good mind to fire her for spreading gossip, especially when she didn’t get it right.”

  “She didn’t know that what she said was going to upset me, Cody.” I felt as though I needed to defend Tabitha.

  “No, she didn’t, but I don’t like gossip.” He was frowning and I wondered if I’d made him so angry he was going to fire me. “I want to know why you didn’t finish your shift today? I came out to see you, and Reed said you tore out of the place as soon as he walked in the door. As far as I know, leaving before your shift is over requires my okay.”

  “I did not wish to speak to you, Cody. You were rude to me when I came to you. I was hurting and you told me to get back to work. I didn’t feel like working, so I left as soon as I was sure the kitchen was covered.”

  “As your boss, that is unacceptable, and I’m going to see to it you regret it. As the man who loves you, I find it unacceptable that you ran out without talking to me, and I am going to spank you for that.”

  “No, you aren’t!” I told him, ready to argue. “I’ve put in so many extra hours covering for Reed that you wouldn’t dare raise a stink with me for leaving an hour early one day! Besides, it is your own fault that I left. You could have told me right then that Tabitha was wrong and that you weren’t really seeing Alyssa again. I was devastated, Cody.”

  “Did you tell me that? Did you ask me about the call? Or, did you come into my office spoiling for a fight before you had your facts straight? You could have asked me nicely, young lady, but instead, you judged me guilty and started throwing words at me, then wondered why I didn’t want to have the discussion at work.”

  I put my arms around myself. “I’m sorry,” I offered the apology. “I should have controlled my temper.” I looked at him, tears spilling from my eyes. “I judged you based on someone else; that wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.” When he said nothing, I managed to whisper, “I’ll understand if you want to leave and you want me to find another job.”

  “I am not leaving, and I am not about to let you quit work. I know of another way to discipline my woman.”

  I didn’t want to hear that, either. I just wanted to cry. “Not tonight, Cody. I need to be alone so that I can think.”

  “The last thing you need is to be alone right now,” he said with conviction. “Come here,” he ordered in a gruff tone, taking my hand and pulling me into his arms and hugging me. His kindness was my undoing. I gave in to the misery that had been bubbling inside of me since Tabitha mentioned Princess Alyssa and cried my heart out.

  Cody picked me up and carried me to the sofa and held me on his lap and simply let me cry. He waited until I quieted before he asked, “Why would you think that I would ever want to get back with Alyssa when I am with you, honey?”

  “She is everything I’m not.”

  “What do you mean by that?” His hand strayed lower and patted the curve of my hip.

  “She’s tall, thin, graceful, beautiful, and she has straight, long naturally blond hair, and big blue eyes.”

  “And she’s ugly inside. You forgot that. I don’t like her hair; I love your red curls. I love your curves, especially the curves that are meant to be spanked when you are naughty. You look lovely to me, and best of all, you are beautiful inside. Do you have any idea of how many hours you’ve filled in for Reed since his wife was diagnosed? You’ve helped me be able to keep him on, Jenny, and you’ve worked those extra hours for free, insisting I put the money on his check because they need it so much. Could you even imagine Alyssa doing that?” He swatted me and I felt it.

  “It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the only way I can help. I also get to be with you,” I reminded him.

  “You would do it even if that wasn’t an incentive, Jenny. You have a big heart.” He swatted me again. “Now then, tell me who you were comparing me to… and why. I don’t like learning that I’ve hurt you emotionally, no matter how unintentional it was.”

  “It’s an old hurt, Cody. Clear back in high school,” I was forced to admit, fearing that he would find me foolish.

  “I have a couple of those myself,” he told me, giving me a hug. “Share, kiddo.”

  I giggled. “You always make me feel better and I haven’t even shared the story with you yet.”

  He smiled, but patted my posterior, warning me to talk.

  “This kid in my English class was super cute, and he was a star basketball player. I tutored him so he could pass English, and we got to be good friends. He asked me to the Prom, and I was on cloud nine. Mom and I went shopping for the perfect dress and shoes and purse to match. I was so excited, and then I was in the girls’ room one da
y when a group of really popular girls came in and started talking about my date asking one of their group to the Prom. I was sure it was some mistake, and I came out, and while I was washing my hands, I told them that Tom had asked me to the dance. They started laughing and one of the girls said, ‘Why would he take you to the Prom when he can take Ellen? She’s pretty, and you are a redheaded fat cow!’ I went to Tom and demanded an explanation and he said he had his image to uphold. He took Ellen and I stayed home and cried all night. It felt like I was in high school all over again today, Cody. I felt as though I wasn’t good enough, and I was hurt. I know we aren’t kids, and it was wrong of me to think you are like Tom. I’m truly sorry and I hope you will accept my apology.”

  “I wish you would have come to me and told me how you were feeling, honey. Of course you are forgiven, but you did earn a good spanking today, didn’t you?”

  “Must you?” I asked, longing for a reprieve. The last spanking was so painful, and I didn’t want to suffer through that again. “I feel terrible, Cody.”

  “Yes, I know, sweet lady. You are embarrassed that you permitted your temper to get the best of you once again. A spanking will take away your guilt and you will soon feel much better.”

  “I don’t wish to be sore again, Cody! I have to go and sit through a boring meeting tomorrow morning with my Mom. All they have there are wooden folding chairs. Please, be forgiving this one time?”

  He loves me not!

  Chapter Five

  “You would lose respect for me, Jenny. No, a spanking is a must.” He lifted me once again and gently turned me over so that I was lying face down over his lap on the sofa.

  When he started to push up my robe, I reached back to grab the fabric. “Nooooo! Please, Cody! I’m not wearing anything under my robe!”

  “I warned you that the next time I punished you it would be on your bare bottom.” He captured my hands in his large left hand, and slowly pushed up my robe until my bottom was bared to his gaze… and to his hand. “You have a beautiful backside, Jennifer.”

  I knew he meant the words as a compliment, but I was embarrassed. The only man who saw my bare anything was my doctor, and that didn’t happen very darn often. Still, in all honesty, Cody had made love to me many times in my dreams. I felt no shame.

  “You left work early without express permission, but I am going to excuse you this one time since you have worked so much overtime it would be ridiculous and petty of me to complain over one hour. Please show me the simple courtesy of telling me the next time so I don’t look like a fool in front of the staff.”

  “Yes, Chef,” I immediately replied. Cody had a point. I took advantage of our relationship to do something I would never do elsewhere.

  “Thank you, Jenn,” he said, gently patting my derrière. “I wish I could take Tabitha over my knee, too, since her gossip caused this problem today. I don’t want to fire her, but it isn’t the first time I’ve caught her telling tales she shouldn’t have. As the owner of A Touch of Class, I can’t have her gossiping about patrons or employees in such a manner. Her actions reflect badly on the restaurant as a whole.”

  “I shouldn’t have reacted as I did.” I had to accept responsibility for my actions.

  “This is true, and I believe it is why you are bare-bottom across my knee right now; am I correct?”

  “Yes, Cody.”

  “You feel guilty, don’t you?” His words were soothing, as was the hands caressing my bottom cheeks.

  “Yes, I do feel terrible.” I saw no reason to lie. He would only spank me for that again, and once was enough, believe me.

  “I want you to lie as still as you possibly can, honey. This won’t be a severe spanking. Just a bit of a reminder to behave with respect for our relationship the next time we have a problem.”

  The spanking started then, and my bottom went from cool to warm very quickly. Cody wasn’t spanking me as hard as he did the other time, and I was very grateful. Still, the spanking went on and on and on… and I was beginning to think it was never going to stop. My thighs were spanked, too, and so were my tender sit spots. I was crying before Cody finally stopped and asked me the point of the spanking. I tried to sit up to answer him, but he didn’t permit that. He swatted me a bit harder and then repeated his question. I did my best to think of what I wished to say and Cody praised my efforts. He finally sat me up and then asked, “Have you had dinner, Jenn?”

  I tearfully pointed at the nearly full cereal bowl and Cody shook his head at me. “What is this? I should spank you again! Go and stand in the corner, young lady, while I find us something fit to call dinner.”

  I was sure he couldn’t possibly be serious about standing in the corner, but to my shock, he got up and marched me over to an empty corner and instructed me to hold up my robe to show my bare butt while I kept my nose pressed into the corner. I was assaulted by a cobweb first thing, and let go of my robe to wipe the mess from my face! Cody immediately gave me ten hard spanks on my sit spot and told me to keep my robe up or he’d give me another spanking. I tried to explain about the cobweb, and he had the nerve to tell me I should dust more often! I heard him in my kitchen, and it was all I could do to simply stand there while he was rummaging through my kitchen. MY kitchen! It was terrible, even worse than having my bottom on display. I hoped he wasn’t using the roast I intended to put in a slow cooker before I went to bed so that my Mom could take it to the luncheon after the meeting in the morning. I was going crazy, and once I even whirled around to march into the kitchen, but Cody shook a wooden spoon at me and I returned to the corner immediately.

  “Do you think you can behave now, young lady?” he finally asked from right behind me.

  “Yes! You didn’t touch my roast, did you?” I demanded, whirling to look at him, aggravated with the punishment.

  “You expected me to cook a roast in twenty minutes time, Jenn? I am good, but not quite that good.” He chuckled.

  “It’s just that I need to put it in my slow cooker tonight so that Mom has it for a luncheon tomorrow. I promised.” I looked at him, then stomped my foot. “That was mean, Cody. How would you like it if I put you in the corner and then went and messed around in your kitchen?”

  “You do that nearly every day, only it’s my office where I end up instead of the corner.”

  “I don’t mean work, Mister! I mean your own personal kitchen! Your own kitchen that is yours!”

  Cody actually laughed. “Come and eat before you manage to earn another spanking, honey.” He’d placed our plates on the dining room table, and then pulled out my chair for me to sit down. To my dismay, the pillow had been removed.

  “I can’t sit down right now, Cody!”

  “Yes you can, Jenny. You might not enjoy sitting, but you can sit, and you will sit until you clean your plate like a good girl.”

  I closed my eyes and gently made contact with the chair. My bottom was smarting, but it wasn’t as bad as the other spanking I’d had, and that was a fact. I picked up my fork and the first bite of the shrimp stir-fry was delicious. “Yum. You should consider a cooking career,” I teased him a bit.

  “This is healthier to come home to than a bowl of cereal, young lady.”

  I had to agree. After dinner we loaded our dishes in the dishwasher and then snuggled on the sofa and watched some tv. There was kissing as usual, and I could feel that Cody was holding back for some reason. I was more than willing to make love with him, and I had no doubts or reservations. I tried to urge him further each time he kissed me, but Cody practiced restraint. I was afraid he didn’t really find me attractive, but my tender tush reminded me that thinking in that way would only earn me more punishment. Still, my body ached for fulfillment.

  “Why do you stop, Cody?” I asked, frustrated.

  “The anticipation is making the wait worthwhile, my love.” It wasn’t long after that that Cody left for home. I had a difficult time sleeping that night. My body ached for his touch, and I couldn’t help worrying about what
he would decide to do about Tabitha. I didn’t think it was fair for her to get fired because I overreacted. But, there was nothing at all I could do, either to see her fired, or to see her safe from punishment of any kind. It was Cody’s decision. I relaxed, and it was nice to know he was in charge, not me. I closed my eyes and slept.

  I was nervous when I parked my car and went inside the restaurant the next morning. I still didn’t want Tabitha to get into trouble, but if I knew Cody, he would call Tabitha to his office as soon as she arrived. A couple of our prep people were there and after washing my hands and donning gloves, I got right to work. It wasn’t long before Tabitha arrived. We wouldn’t open for an hour, but she had table assignments to work out, as well as her other duties. Cody joined us in the kitchen a few minutes later and after saying hello to those of us prepping food before lunch service started, he asked Tabitha to come to his office.

  She was in with Cody a long time, and when she emerged, she appeared shaken. She flashed me an angry look and started in my direction, but Cody reached her before she could say anything. “If I could have everyone’s attention, please?” He walked over to stand beside me and then winked at me. “I think that it is time that Jenn and I shared our little secret. We’ve been dating each other, and would have been doing so a long time ago except for my rule against employees’ dating each other.” He actually looked embarrassed, and my face had to be red, too. “The simple truth is that we fell in love. We’re going to do our best to keep our personal lives out of the restaurant. If anyone has a problem, speak up. If I have learned one thing, it is impossible to make a rule and expect it to hold up when two people fall in love.”

  “Does this mean that you and Jenn will want Valentine’s Day off?” the newest hire asked of Cody, and it was plain to see that it was going to upset his plans if he couldn’t have the evening off as Cody promised some time ago.