“Crutches or I carry you, only two choices you get—doctor’s orders.”
“Hm… you seem to use doctor’s orders when you expect to get your way.”
He smiled as he bent and slid his arms under her, one at her back and her bottom. She squealed as he stood, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck. Feeling her softness pressed against him turned his smile into a full grin. He was amazed that all those soft curves came in such a small package. She weighed next to nothing.
“You didn’t let me answer.”
“Nope.”
“Bossy.”
“I prefer assertive, decisive, confident… you’ll get used to it.” He set her down at the table set for two before going back to the couch for a pillow on which to prop her bum knee. After she was settled, he picked up a bottle of wine. “We’re having pasta, so I picked up a nice Sangiovese.”
“Okay,” she drawled slowly. “I don’t know what that is, but if it’s that wine you’re holding, I’ll try it as long as it’s sweet and red.”
He grinned at her. Flavored with sour cherries and an aged oaky flavor, the wine wasn’t exactly what one would call sweet. “Try it; if you don’t like it, I’ll get you some water.”
“I’m not much of a wine connoisseur. Give me a light beer or a fuzzy navel and I’m happy.”
“A peach wine cooler with spaghetti?” He made a face, wrinkling his nose in distaste as she laughed.
“Yeah, I guess that’s not too appetizing, huh?” she agreed as he went back to the stove, shaking his head.
“You look pretty comfortable in my kitchen, Dr. Baker.”
“Jared. Dr. Baker is my father as the old joke goes.”
“Your dad’s a doctor too?”
“Yes, as was my grandfather,” he answered as he served her, returning to fix his own plate before taking the seat to her right.
She was staring at the heaping mound of spaghetti and huge hunk of garlic bread.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” she smiled, suppressing a laugh. “I was just thinking that this would feed me for a week.”
He looked at her plate and then his. “I automatically fixed you what I give myself. I could eat two of those plates, small fry.”
“Do you cook often?”
“Unfortunately, no, I eat out a lot.”
“No wife or girlfriend?”
“I’ve never found the former, but I’m working on the latter as we speak.” He was watching her closely and knew the moment his words registered. Her eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks blushed a becoming shade of pink. “I’ve been so busy with work lately; there hasn’t been much time for dating, let alone a relationship. How about you? I don’t see a ring, so I’m assuming no husband. Is there anyone special?”
“Shouldn’t you have asked that before you bought wine and cooked dinner?”
“Probably,” he grinned, “but I’ll admit I already know you aren’t married. I pulled your file and also asked Marcy.”
Shaking her head ruefully, she made a tsking noise, again suppressing a grin. “There’s that boundary issue again, Dr.—”
“Uh-uh,” he said, waggling his finger in warning tease.
“Jared.”
“Much better, but you haven’t answered my question.”
“Um, remind me…”
“I asked if there was anyone special.”
She lifted her wine glass in a saucy salute before answering softly, “Not yet, but I’m working on the latter as we speak.” She boldly gave his words back to him and he laughed when her face ignited and the blush morphed into a fiery crimson as it suffused her face. Then she promptly put her hands to her heated face and shook her head, avoiding his gaze. “For heaven’s sake, I can’t believe I just said that.”
“I can’t either, sweet Stacy, but I’m so glad you did.”
* * *
For the next two days Jared was there morning and night, helping her however possible. He brought coffee in the morning and got her settled on the couch for the day. He also brought a few magazines and the newest Nicholas Sparks book when he learned she was a fan. After making lunch and leaving it in the fridge, he kissed her goodbye and warned her to stay off her knee. He came back in the evening around six, made her dinner, and spent the evening chatting or watching TV.
There was a repeat performance on Friday, except instead of TV, he challenged her to a game of Scrabble. Once she’d outlawed medical terminology, Stacy had trounced him with ‘zany,’ earning forty-eight points on a triple word score.
Before he left, he explained that he’d recruited Marcy to check on her over the weekend because he was on call. The good news was that because she had been resting—and following doctor’s orders—the swelling had gone down significantly. He allowed her to be up periodically with her crutches but if the swelling returned, it was back to ice and elevation. Promising to check in by phone and a carryout dinner on Saturday, if his schedule allowed, he’d kissed her thoroughly before saying good night.
He was a perfect gentleman the entire two days. Except for the kisses, which had been mind-blowing, entirely too brief and left her totally dazed and disoriented, he hadn’t made any advances. He’d said he was working on getting a girlfriend. What happened to that? Once his pique with her had passed, he had proven to be charming, intelligent, possessing of a dry sense of humor, which she loved, and was fun. They chatted easily about work and common interests, which to Jared’s surprise included college football. Stacy had scoffed, reminding him she was from the south and southerners, both male and female, were diehard fans. That ignited a good-natured argument over which conference was superior, the Big 10 or the SEC. Of course, Stacy had won hands down. He had no argument against the seven national championships for the SEC in as many years.
They hadn’t argued since the day of her injury, except for when it came to her showering alone. He had insisted he be with her since she was unsteady, at least while getting in and out of the tub, which she had protested adamantly. She wasn’t sure where this relationship was going, but she was damn sure it wasn’t going there yet. He’d rolled his eyes, proclaiming that he was a doctor and saw naked women all the time. She had countered, stating ‘you haven’t seen this naked woman,’ going on to make the point that he’d ‘checked his professional boundaries along with his lab coat at the door the day he’d stolen her car keys and with each subsequent good-night kiss.’ The compromise was that Stacy, while wrapped in a towel, allowed Jared to help her in and out of the tub. In the end, she was glad he did, because she had slipped a bit and tweaked her knee. If he hadn’t been there to grab onto, she would have fallen and injured who knew what else. Naturally, he had growled and given her a long-suffering glare that said, ‘I told you so,’ loud and clear.
True to his word, he’d checked in by phone throughout the weekend, including getting updates from Marcy who he’d said was in charge by proxy. Although she had been briefly noncompliant the first day, she had followed his instructions to the letter ever since for two reasons: she needed to get back to work on Monday, and because she didn’t want to tick off Dr. Working on the Latter before she had a chance to see where things might go. The first, she had readily admitted to Jared. The second had been told to Marcy in confidence.
He dropped by Sunday evening with Japanese carry-out and to complete, in his words, a ‘final looksee’ before releasing her back to work. Her knee, which was considerably less swollen, also felt much better. It still had twinges and occasional sharp stabs of discomfort, but it was manageable. He’d given her the okay as long as she kept close to her desk and elevated it, and most important, promised to use her crutches for at least another week. She had agreed to all his conditions and been declared fit to return to work with restrictions.
That night when he’d kissed her goodbye, he let out the heat until she felt she was going to explode into flames. Holding nothing back, Stacy realized he hadn’t been gi
ving all that he had in his previous kisses. His mouth devoured her until she lay breathless in his arms. Nibbling along her swollen lower lip, he teased her, nipping her tender flesh between his teeth and soothing the little sting with his tongue. After playing lightly for a bit, he kicked it up a gear, sealing his lips over hers, his tongue running along the recesses of her wide open mouth and driving deep as she surrendered to his possession. She was a defenseless recipient of his passion, easily giving ground and yielding all as he overwhelmed her senses. It was blissful. When he’d kissed her into such a state that she felt drunk on his kisses, he eased back, tapering his intoxicating kisses slowly. At long last, he raised his mouth and spoke softly against her lips, telling her what he wanted.
“I care for you, Stacy. I’d like to see where this leads.”
He expected her to speak coherently after that? Was he kidding?
Allowing her a few more minutes of recovery time, he continued. “What you’ve seen these last few days is what you’ll get from me. I’m usually laid back, easy going, and fun.”
“Yes, please,” she managed, finally putting lucid thoughts together. “I’d like that too, Jared, very much so.”
“I’m glad of that, but I’m not finished. You were right when you said I could be bossy, autocratic, and dictatorial. I’ll admit that’s another very real side of me at times. I know what I want and usually won’t take no for an answer, but I’m not unreasonable. I can listen and compromise, although if it comes to your health or safety, be prepared to lose.”
“Are you trying to scare me off? ‘Cause if you are, you’re doing an excellent job.”
He smiled sheepishly for a moment before continuing sincerely. “I know I can be intense sometimes, but I don’t want you to ever be scared of me, Stacy. I would never hurt you. I promise, you’ll always be safe in my arms.”
“You threatened to spank me!”
“True, but I see a spanking as an attention-getter more than anything. It lets you know I am serious about something you have or haven’t done that is important to me, or in the future, to us. Other than a hot bottom, you won’t be harmed by a punishment from me.”
“Punishment?”
“If it happens, and I expect it will, probably sooner than later, I would make up for it afterward with cuddles and kisses and steamy hot sex.”
“The making-up part sounds nice, but can’t we just talk about it like adults?”
“Of course, we would always talk like adults, but if I told you to do something and you put yourself in jeopardy by failing to do it, that would be blatant disobedience and would earn you a spanking.”
“Like the other day? You said if I was your woman you would have taken me over your knee.”
“Yes, it is exactly like that. I told you to stay put and you left without the crutches I was arranging. At the risk to your already injured knee, you walked out. If you parked in the rear lot as you usually do, that’s at least 500 yards, then drove home in rush-hour traffic in your manual transmission Jeep.”
“But you said it was fine.”
“No, I said it looked fine but we would needed to recheck in a week. Very often, injuries like small tears don’t show upon on the initial scans.”
“So I could still have a worse injury and have made it worse.” Her voice was quiet as she considered all this. She hadn’t know what risks she was taking.
“Now do you see why I was so angry and wanted to paddle you?”
“Yes, I guess I do, but it seems—” Her voice trailed off as she searched for the right word.
“Old-fashioned?”
“Yes, that’s it. The man lording over his woman, it’s like out of some medieval books I’ve read.”
“Not so unusual, honey. As a matter of fact, this type of relationship has had a resurgence in recent years. Couples are becoming more traditional in their relationships, which keeps the roles well defined and expectations clear. I think it makes for stronger bonds between two people. Furthermore, and this is a big one, I wouldn’t be lording it over you. I don’t want to be your superior or your lord and master; that isn’t my intention at all. I’m talking about defined rules, expectations, and consequences for your actions.”
“And spankings.”
“Yes, although that is the least of this.” Jared brushed a tendril of hair from her cheek as his eyes searched her face. “If this is something that you can’t deal with, I’ll understand. We can put this aside and go back to what we were before.”
“Which was what exactly?”
“Passing acquaintances, I suppose.”
“More like colliding acquaintances.”
“I’ll try not to tackle you any more in the future. I promise.”
“Much obliged.” Stacy’s brief smile faded, replaced quickly by a frown. Her thoughts had so frequently turned to him over the past two years and he had been a near constant in her mind in the last few days. Ever since he’d mentioned spanking her, she hadn’t been able to get that idea out of her head either. The image of being bared and placed over his knee freaked her out a bit, at the same time making her tingle in all of her wonderfully naughty places. Each time, like now, she found it surprisingly erotic, and wasn’t that bizarre?
“Where have your thoughts gone, Stacy? You have a faraway look in your eyes.”
She flushed, the heat spreading fast until her cheeks were burning and her ears felt singed. “I think I’m willing to try it your way, Jared.”
“You are?” He let out a pent-up breath, looking at her in surprise as if unaware he’d been holding it.
“Thought I’d cut bait, didn’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“You know that saying, fish or cut bait?”
“Sorry. I don’t know what that means.”
“My daddy used to say it when I had trouble committing to something. He was telling me to take it or leave it, whatever it was. Does that make more sense?”
“Yes. You’ve decided to fish.”
Nodding, she smiled softly.
He took her mouth in another steamy kiss that once again left her breathless. They cuddled and kissed on her couch for the rest of the evening, then gentleman Jared called it a night, much to her regret. Before he left, what he whispered in her ear caused her heart to melt as much as her panties, and she fell just a little bit in love with him.
“Be ready next Friday, sweet Stacy, because as I’m sure your daddy would say, ‘I’m fixin’ to start courtin’.”
Chapter Two
The following Friday they had their first official date. Her knee was still sore, so dancing was out. Many of the other activities he’d recommended in the area would also have to wait until she was healed up, like the Detroit Zoo (only minutes from her apartment; she had never been), and the Henry Ford Museum with its outdoor historical village. There was a spring festival this weekend but walking in the late season snow that still covered the ground would have been difficult too. There was always a movie, but then they couldn’t talk. He’d said to leave it all up to him, telling her only to wear a dress and be ready at six o’clock.
He’d picked her up in his silver BMW, the sweet ride she’d drooled over before. After he’d handed her into the low-slung vehicle, he buckled her in—a nice touch—giving her legs an admiring look which had Stacy glowing and hiding a small smile.
“Nice car,” she said as he pulled out of her lot.
“Yeah? I was thinking about trading.”
Stacy was instantly deflated, hoping to ride it with the top down when the weather warmed up.
He must have seen her look because he asked with an amused smile, “Disappointed?”
“Yeah, it’s a sweet ride.” Rolling her head against the leather headrest, she smiled at him as she thought of going off road in Miss Scarlett. “I love to take my top off and go 4-wheelin’.”
He choked on a laugh just as she realized how that sounded. “Take the top off my Jeep, Jared. Get
your mind outta the gutter. The wind blowing my hair all over and the sun warm against my skin feels awesome. Why would you sell it?”
“It doesn’t do well in the snow and when Marc and I go ice fishing we have to take my truck. It’s a pain covering all the cargo when it snows or rains.”
She hadn’t heard a word after ice fishing. How boring would that be? “Do you mean you go out on a frozen lake and cut a hole in the ice, drop a line and wait?”
He laughed at the disbelief in her voice. “Sounds boring, does it? You’ll be surprised to know, that’s exactly what we’re going for. Our work can be hectic so it’s nice to get away and do some kind of mind-numbing activity every once in a while.”
“I think you’ve got a winner then if that’s what you’re going for.” She leaned her head back and let out a fake snore.
“Funny girl, don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.”
“I don’t think I’d like going out on the ice. Every minute I’d be scared about falling through. I’ll pass.”
“We don’t just fish when we go up north. We take our snowmobiles too.”
“Now we’re talking.”
“What about skiing or snowboarding?”
“I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to give skiing a try, or tubing.”
“So you’re an outdoorsy girl?”
“No, but I’m fascinated with the snow.”
“You’d like the cabin. It’s quiet, relaxing, there’s a big fireplace and it’s nice to come back to after a long cold day playing in the snow.”
“It sounds romantic.”
“Yeah, but I’m usually up there with Marc so we leave romance out of it.”
She snickered at that, and he grinned. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
They rode in silence for a while. Stacy’s thoughts were filled with a romantic getaway for just the two of them. He was moving things along faster now. Although she was a little nervous, she didn’t mind it at all.
Sweet Salvation Page 6
