by Jodi Bella
"This blushing quirk you have is nice. I like it. I'll have to think of more things to say to keep you nice and pink."
She was grateful when he took a step back and set the basket up on the table. She had the alarming feeling that he could quite easily make her completely forget herself and get lost in him. She'd have to remember to be careful.
"So, what's for dinner?" she asked brightly, following his lead by digging into the basket. Paper plates and plastic silverware emerged, followed by a Tupperware container of cold fried chicken, another of potato salad, and a bag of white grapes. There were two colas and a wine cooler, which Luke offered to her and she declined. There was also a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies, and a pile of paper napkins on the bottom.
They sat across from one another and dug into the fare in a companionable quiet. Alicia was surprised at how very easy it was to be with Luke, despite what little time she'd known him. There was no nervous urge to keep up a constant chatter or any inclination to avoid eye contact as they shared their meal. Although her fierce attraction to Luke made her a bit edgy, she also felt very safe and comfortable with him, as if she'd known him for a long time. It didn't make any sense, but that was how she felt. She hoped, a bit belatedly, that those feelings wouldn't get her into trouble. It occurred to her that going on a date like this with someone she'd met only a week before could actually prove dangerous. But when she met Luke's eyes as they finished their meal and dug into the bag of cookies, she just couldn't imagine anything bad about him.
They'd both been hungry and the conversation had lagged as they'd satisfied their appetites. Now full, Alicia sat back with an appreciative sigh and asked, "Did you cook that chicken and all by yourself, Cowboy?"
Luke laughed. "Nope. My mother fixed us the basket, actually."
"She's a fine cook. Those cookies were as good as my own recipe. I don't suppose she'd looking for a job, maybe in a new bakery?"
"No, I don't think she'd be up for that. She had a mild stroke back last fall and she has to be careful not to take on too much."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
He made a dismissive gesture. "She's got a lot of years left to pester me, don't worry," he complained good-naturedly. "But since my father's not here anymore I try to help her out as much as I can. The hardest part, really, is trying to keep her from working hard the way she's used to."
"When did your dad pass?"
"Over ten years ago."
Alicia nodded. "It must be a lot of work to run a farm, mostly by yourself."
He shrugged, gathering the Tupperware containers and returning them to the basket. "'Bout two years ago, I moved back home. Converted the old shed into a guest house of sorts. So I'm on site all the time and it's easier that way. Plus it's good for Missy…" He winced and stopped talking. She heard him mutter a quiet curse as he carried their trash to a can nearby.
"Who's Missy?"
"She's my niece." Now he made a full-blown hangdog face. "God, I'm sorry. I told myself I wasn't going to blurt out my whole life story to you tonight…"
"What are you apologizing for? Isn't this what people do on a date—get to know each other? I want to know about your life and the people in it. Don't be silly!"
He shrugged. "It's just that people tend to see the situation in a bad light. Missy's parents, my brother and his wife, died together in an auto accident a little over two years ago. I've been Missy's guardian ever since then."
Whoa. "Wow. You're raising her by yourself?"
He nodded, and she noticed that he was watching her reaction very closely, as if he expected her to run for the hills or something. "My mom's a big help, though."
"That's… wow. Lucky little girl."
His eyebrows rose and a slow, pleased smile spread over his face. "Thank you. No one's ever reacted that way before when I told them. It's always 'poor little girl.' I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd give anything so she could have her parents back, but I love her and I love having her in my life."
"How old is she?"
"Six. Oh, no, wait. Sorry. Six and a half. That's what she would tell you, anyway."
Alicia giggled. "Well, I'll look forward to meeting her." As soon as the words left her mouth, she winced inwardly. They'd just come out, without thinking, but as soon as she heard them she realized how presumptuous they sounded.
Luke winked at her and grabbed her hand for a squeeze. "I'll look forward to it, too." Alicia was grateful for the kind way he smoothed over her uneasiness.
"I've got to warn you first, though. I haven't dated almost at all since I took her in. And she liked to throw a fit tonight when I left her with her grandmother. She's a bit insecure and…well, possessive."
Alicia nodded. "That's understandable, given what's happened to her." She grinned at him, attempting to lighten the moment and assure him that this bit of news didn't frighten her. "Besides, I don't blame her for being possessive of you. She just has good taste, that's all."
He chuckled. "Well," he said after a moment of warmly studying her face. "You've been a wonderful date so far, not a bit bratty. Would you like a push on the swing?"
"Sure!" She followed him to the swings and let him boost her up onto one even though she certainly could have hopped up on her own. She smiled at him over her shoulder when he drew the swing back and pushed her forward.
Luke walked Alicia to her door at the end of the evening. She turned and looked up at him, feeling a bit awkward now, despite the pleasant evening they had passed getting to know each other.
Luke gave her a sexy grin. "I'd love to come inside and give you a nice bedtime spanking, but seeing as how it's our first date and all, I think we'd best hold off on that a while."
Her eyebrow rose. "A bedtime spanking? What's that supposed to be?"
"You've never had one?" he asked, sounded astounded. "Well, I'll have to remedy that… soon, but not tonight." He paused and put his arms loosely around her waist, grinning down at her as she looked up expectantly at him.
Finally, he continued, whispering into her ear: "A bedtime spanking is for good girls, so they go to sleep feeling all warm and fuzzy. I'd put you over my down. Then I'd spank your pretty little bottom a bit, just till it got a little pink and warm. And I'd tell you that you were a good girl and a fun date and that I enjoyed your company tonight and wanted very much to see you again. And then I'd kiss your forehead and tuck you into bed… How does that sound?"
A shiver ran up Alicia's spine. "G-g-good, I guess."
Luke chuckled. "You guess?" He shook his head as if disappointed. "Well, like I said, I'll have to show you sometime—not tonight though, 'cause it's only our first date." He met her eyes and laughed again. Arrogant cuss, she thought. Meanie, using her own words against her like that and knowing full well that she wanted to experience this bedtime spanking thing of his right now.
"Relax, angel," he assured her. "I promise you, there will be lots of bedtime spankings in your future."
He pulled her into a tight bear hug that she decided was a nice conciliation prize. His hands were linked at the small of her back, right above her backside, but he made no move to touch her there, even though she arched her back and thrust her little behind out. Why, oh why, had she said no spankings on the first date? She didn't even think he was going to give her a little love pat!
Luke removed his arms from Alicia's waist and framed her face with both hands. He lowered his mouth to embrace hers, kissing her with a dizzying leisure and meticulous, plundering thoroughness. She whimpered with her desire as she hung onto him, hungrily returning his kiss with thrusts of her own small, pink tongue. He dallied with her a while, running her silken tresses through his fingers and sucking lazily on her pouty bottom lip. When he finally pulled back from her, she opened her eyes slowly as if awakening from a wonderful dream. She licked her swollen lips and felt shyness steal over her under his stark gaze.
That was when he caught her off guard with two quick, playful swats to her skirted behind. He gave her che
ek one final peck, warned her in a husky voice to lock her door when she got inside, and turned with a wink to descend the steps.
Chapter 3
Over the next three months, Alicia and Luke grew closer. They saw each other at least twice a week or more and spoke every day on the phone. Alicia found herself waking up in the morning and her first thoughts were of the handsome cowboy.
Things were really going well between them. Alicia had met, and quickly befriended Luke's mom, and they planned for her to finally meet Missy the weekend following the three month anniversary of their first date. Her only complaint was that despite some gentle love pats, and an occasional swat or two, Luke hadn't given her another spanking yet. Each time she saw him, Alicia found herself strung as tight as a coil, anxiously anticipating a spanking that she longed for and never came.
Of course, there were lots of threats from him, including two serious ones in which he promised her a "real" spanking if she wasn't more careful. One of these warnings came after the second time he discovered her habit of not wearing her safety belt. That time, he'd promised her a good whipping with his big, wide, leather belt if he caught her without the safety harness again. Just the idea of being whipped with a belt, when she'd never been spanked with anything other than a man's hand, was enough to get her to remember that safety belt.
The second threat for a real spanking had been more recent, when Luke had taken note of all the extra time she'd been putting in at the bakery. It was running her down, and she wasn't getting enough rest or the right kind of food to eat, when she even paused long enough to refuel. Her sister and a few friends had offered their help, but she kept declining. This was her dream—the dream that her ex-fiancé, Damon, had always told her wouldn't make it. And she had to prove that it would. And, in her mind anyway, she had to prove it by herself.
She wasn't as daunted by his threat to spank her over working too hard as she was by the whipping threat over the seatbelt. She even went so far as to tell Luke that she doubted he could give her a "real" spanking, as he put it. Spankings turned her on, and she didn't see how he could use a spanking as a deterrent to her behavior. His eyes had turned steely when she'd told him that, as if he was readying already for the challenge and he'd said calmly, "There is more than one kind of spanking, Alicia Marie. I'm quite sure that I could give you a disciplinary spanking that you would not find erotic or sexy in the least. And, you can bet on it that if you don't ease up on yourself soon, you're going to find out just exactly what I mean."
Little did she know, her time to find out was fast approaching…
It was a humid, sticky evening in late August and Alicia was still at the bakery, even though she had closed the shop down at four. Now past seven, she was still laboring over the twenty dozen cookies she had promised the Red Cross for the hospital blood drive. Though she knew that the free cookies were going to a good cause, and that it was also good for business because the bakery's name would be on display and her goodies would be getting tasted, she was beginning to regret her last minute contribution. Of course, she hadn't been able to get any of her part time help to stay and work with her, since she'd only agreed to this yesterday and only asked her workers with a day's notice. Her sister was out of town for the week on business. She'd even called two of her girlfriends, but neither had been home. So, she'd plunged in on her own.
The jingle of the bell on the shop's front door cut through her inner thoughts and she tensed with alarm, thinking she had surely locked that door when she'd closed up the shop for the day. Cautiously, she peered around the side of the wall between the kitchen and the shop display area and saw, with relief, that it was only Luke standing inside the door.
Her relief quickly changed to concern when his blue eyes fell on her. He looked so angry, for a minute she was frozen in her spot.
Without saying a word, he turned and locked the door behind him. He had a large paper bag in his hands and she could smell that it had food in it. Her stomach growled loudly at the wonderful aromas, reminding her that she hadn't eaten lunch today.
"Hi, Cowboy." She greeted him with a smile as he approached her. She hoped she didn't sound as unsure of herself as she felt. Something was definitely wrong, she could tell by the way Luke was acting. "What're you doing here?"
"I was looking for my date for the evening," he drawled lazily. He set the bag on the counter in the kitchen, turned towards her, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe you've seen her, cute little thing with long blond hair and green eyes."
"Did… we have a date tonight?" Alicia guessed, although she feared she already knew the answer.
"Yes, we did."
"Oh, no. Luke, I'm so sorry! I got all wrapped up in these darn cookies and I must have forgotten."
"Mmm-hmmm." He frowned at her. "What did we say about you working all these hours, Alicia Marie?"
"Luke, you don't understand! This is my business! I have to be here, it's my responsibility! I can't just walk away when there's work to be done and no one else to do it."
He sighed. "Why didn't you call someone to help you?"
"I tried." He looked at her doubtfully. "I really did try this time! But no one is home." She stomped one foot in frustration. "I'm afraid this time I may really have bit off more than I can chew."
"What is it you need to finish?"
She hesitated. "Um, twenty dozen chocolate chip cookies by eight a.m. tomorrow."
His eyebrows rose. "That's a lot of cookies in a little bit of time."
"They're for the Red Cross Blood Drive at the hospital. They only asked me yesterday."
He shook his head.
"It's for a good cause! And it's good publicity for the bakery and will get people to try my products! How could I have said no?"
He was still shaking his head, but he held up his hands now to ward off her defenses. "Okay, little lady. This is what we're going to do. And I don't want to hear a word of argument from you. You and I are going to sit down and eat this dinner I brought us from the Hong Kong Garden, where you were supposed to meet me…"
"I'm really sorry, Luke…" Alicia whispered, pressing her eyes closed.
"Forget about that. It's not important. I was just worried about you when you didn't show up. We'll talk about that later, though. Like I said, we're going to eat, and then you can show me what to do to help you get these cookies baked. Later, when the work's all done, I'll drive you home and we'll talk about your work schedule."
"Okay."
He looked surprised that she wasn't offering some argument, but he didn't say anything. He opened the sack of Chinese food instead and they sat beside one another on stools to eat.
The meal was shared mostly in silence and Alicia couldn't help but wonder what lay in store for her later that night. She tried not to dwell on it, though. Instead she thought about how different Luke was from Damon. Damon had never troubled himself so much as to even show support for her dream. While here was Luke, ready to tough out a hot, sweaty night baking cookies to help her achieve it.
It took a little work to teach Luke to bake cookies, but he got the hang of it fairly quickly. It surprised Alicia how quickly the time went as they worked side by side. Before she knew it, all twenty dozen were baked and they were boxing up the last of them. A glance at the clock made her grimace; it was already ten o'clock and they still had their talk to get through.
She glanced at Luke out of the corner of her eye as they set the last box on the counter. "Thanks for helping me, Luke. Who knows how long I would have been here if I'd had to do all this alone."
"All you ever have to do is ask me, Alicia, and I will be there for you. No matter what."
She looked down at her shoes and swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I'm not used to that, you know. Damon never would have even poked his head in here tonight if he'd been in your place. He probably would have just gone home from the restaurant in a huff when I didn't show up."
Luke's voice was quiet, but there was an unmistakable ed
ge to it. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you, I'm not your ex-fiancé, Alicia."
She shook her head and met his eyes levelly. "No, you're not. I know that."
"Good."
"I have my car here, you know," she said after a moment had passed. "You don't have to give me a ride home. Maybe we could just talk tomorrow…"
He shook his head and his eyes were determined when he turned to look at her. "I'll just follow you over then. I want us to discuss this once and for all, tonight. And, besides, I don't like the idea of you walking into your building by yourself so late at night."
Alicia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his last comment. She knew she should be glad that he was concerned about her, but she'd been an independent, self-reliant woman for a long time now and comments like that were hard to swallow.
"Okay. Just let me get my purse."
The drive over to her apartment seemed to go by much faster than usual. When she pulled her little Escort alongside Luke's truck, he motioned for her to stay inside the car till he came and opened the door for her. She sighed, but let him have his way. He squired her inside the building, looking around the dark, dimly lit lot with obvious distrust.
When they got inside her apartment, the door was locked immediately behind them. Luke turned to her and pinned her with a serious look.
"Why don't you go and get changed for bed?"
Her eyebrows rose. They hadn't slept together yet, and he certainly didn't look like he had any intention of doing that tonight. But she didn't think it would be wise to question him, so she shrugged and agreed. It was late anyway, and she'd just be going to bed when he left.
When she came back into the living room wearing a long sleepshirt, Luke was sitting on the couch waiting for her. She moved to join him, but he shook his head at her.
"What?" she asked.
He pointed one slim finger to a corner of the room, which she then noticed he had moved a potted plant from. It was now a bare, empty corner. She glanced from it to him, frowning.
