by Megan McCoy
“Does she?”
“Don’t care. Love ‘em and leave ‘em,” Ryan said. “I won’t fall in that love trap again. So what are you doing with Jess?” They checked in and headed out to the first hole. Mac thought about the question, what was he doing with Jess?
“She’s asked me to marry her twice,” he finally said on the third hole.
“Twice? And you turned her down both times? Wouldn’t that solve a lot of your problems? Keep her there for Sam and for you, I know you don’t mind having her around. I can feel the chemistry,” Ryan said.
“It would, but marriage. That’s a big step.”
“When are you going to meet someone? At a bar on random Saturday nights? When you did that, at least you had a chance, but you have a kid now. You going to go out running around all weekend?”
“Probably not,” Mac agreed. “Some days I think I’d like nothing more than to come home to my wife and son, and honestly, if Jess could adopt Sam too, that would be wonderful and I wouldn’t have to worry about his future. But then I think, how fair is that to her? She’s already talking about giving Sam siblings. I’m just now adjusting to one kid.”
“You would be good to her,” Ryan said.
“I’d have to blister her ass at least once a week to just keep her under control.”
“Like that would be a problem for you.”
“Well, yeah, a man has to do what a man has to do,” Mac said. “Honestly, bro, I just don’t know what to do. I’m not thinking about just me anymore, and making all the money I can as fast as I can. There are two other people in the equation I have to deal with, plus now, Kelly is in the mix.”
“I’ll handle Kelly for you,” Ryan said. “What are friends for?”
“I don’t have a clue what you mean by that, but I’m going to trust you and take her off my list of things to do and worry about, once she leaves.” Mac swung his club and they shouldered their bags and started walking again.
“Good plan, bro.”
Mac walked in to see Jess looking like a pissed off thundercloud. “Did you spend all my money?” he said lightly, trying to lighten her mood. He guessed the shopping trip hadn’t gone too well. “Where’s Sam?”
“I just put him to bed.”
“What’s wrong?”
Jess jerked her head toward the half bath and folded her arms, glaring at him as if something was his fault. Okay, so she and Kelly had a falling out or an argument and she was in the bathroom, see, he could read women. Ryan strolled in and Mac felt a little pressure leave his shoulders. Ryan could handle Kelly, if need be. Something told him he’d be dealing with Jess for a while.
Kelly came out of the bathroom just as Ryan came in, and said, “Mac, Ryan, did you have fun golfing? Jess, Sam and I had the best time shopping. I swear Jessie can outshop anyone I know.”
“That doesn’t bode well for my card,” Mac said, trying to pretend Jess wasn’t still glaring at him. What had he done? He hadn’t done anything, he knew, but for some reason she was taking her mad out on him, knowing he wasn’t going to put up with it and would be hauling her cute butt over his lap as soon as everyone left. She must need it and if she needed it, he was the man for the job.
“Oh, she got a lot of good bargains!” Kelly said. She came over and hugged Mac. “I will look forward to keeping in touch and watching Sam grow up. You take care of him, and your Jessie. She’s a doll.” Looking over at Ryan, she asked, “Walk me out?”
He watched her walk out. Did he like her? He wasn’t sure. Ryan seemed to and he was more than happy to trust his best friend’s judgement on her, because he knew he was totally on guard, and all papa bear. Was papa bear a thing like mama bear? He needed to go see the lawyer tomorrow and see what happens now.
Well, now, he was going to haul Jess to his bedroom and see if he needed to knock some sense into her cute little butt or what the deal was.
“March,” he told her. “Head to my bedroom.”
Oddly enough, she didn’t argue with him, just wheeled on her heel and headed up the stairs. He looked at the monitor and Sam slept soundly, arms over his head. Good.
Taking a deep breath, he went to the kitchen and picked up the handy wooden spoon and smacked his thigh with it. Dang, that thing did hurt. Good.
Ryan came in the door, “Hey, I’m going to ride to the gas station with Kelly and fill her car up for her. If she has time, might grab a tea or something, too.”
“Sounds good,” Mac said, not bothering to hide the spoon or react to Ryan’s grin.
“Enjoy yourself, buddy,” he said, and left. Shaking his head, Mac went up the stairs, to the bedroom where Jess sat cross-legged in the middle of his bed, almost shaking with anger.
Tossing the spoon on the bed, he crossed his arms and said, “So, what’s got you all worked up?”
“Her,” she said. “Just, her.”
“She seemed perfectly nice to me,” Mac said. “She isn’t someone we have to worry about.” He said it as decisively as he could, to reassure her. “Ryan talked to her, too. He says the same thing.”
“Men are stupid,” she said.
“Well, that’s something most women seem to agree on,” he said. “But why in this instance am I particularly stupid?”
“She wants Sam. She doesn’t have any other family. He’s her only relative, and face it, she’s not married and says she doesn’t want to be, so what’s the odds she will have her own baby?”
“Jess, you aren’t making any sense. At most she’s a couple years older than you are.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I can’t figure out what’s going on at all,” he said, feeling helpless. “Did she say something to make you think she’s going to sue for custody of Sam?”
“Oh, yeah, like she’d tell me,” Jess said, rolling her eyes and then looking down at the spoon. “And if you think you’re going to spank me with that, you have another think coming.”
Okay, so she needed some stress relief, and a good cry. Finally, he figured it out. See, he wasn’t as stupid as she thought he was. Well, he sure could manage that, because he needed a little stress relief himself and paddling her little butt while she was wailing, kicking and squirming, was almost as good a workout as going to the gym.
“Stand up,” he told her and was almost surprised when she scooted to the edge of the bed, and got off. Huh. Women. He’d really expected a fight. Wait until he pulled that cute little sundress up to bare her butt for the spoon. Then he’d get one, he imagined. If not, then once the spoon started to work it’s magic.
He tipped her chin up and looked into her flashing green eyes. She was sure worked up, all right. Time to work her down. “I am going to spank you with that thing, and hopefully you will calm down and talk like a rational person.” Okay, that was mean. But seemingly effective, as her eyes dropped. So he sat down and yanked her over his lap. Her body landed on the bed and he hoped that would help muffle the sounds of her coming sobs in case Ryan came home sooner than he thought.
He flipped her sundress up and looked at the barely there pink panties. “Honey, your butt is going to be much darker than those panties by the time I get done with it.”
She still didn’t fight and still didn’t protest. He smacked her bottom with his hand a few times, to warm up her butt before the spoon. She jerked the first time, then held still and said nothing. Oh, stoic was the plan was it? Half smiling, he continued to warm her up a little while she just pretended he was doing nothing and she was fine. He enjoyed his fiery little hellcat and realized that she needed that release, the endorphins, the good fight and the better cry.
He rubbed her bottom and felt her relax a little, did she think it was over? Oh, little girl, not by a long shot. “I am not going to tolerate this kind of behavior and you are going to figure out what happens when you act like a brat.” She hadn’t really been a brat, but still. It sounded good. Right?
Jess gave a half shriek when the spoon first landed. He gr
inned as she cut it off and seemed to force herself to be still. He could almost hear her thinking, ‘you can’t make me cry’. Oh, yes, he could and would, because she seemed to need it. He would push her over her edge this time. If she thought those other things were spankings, she would soon realize the difference. She needed some relief and he was going to give it to her, and to himself. Well, mostly for her, he assured himself. Because he was all manly and considerate like that. He settled into a four smacks on one cheek and then four on the other rhythm, high to low, that seemed to unsettle her a lot. The third set of four and she started to squirm. The next one, she was whimpering. So much for stoic, Jess, he thought. Then after a few more she was squealing, and kicking. ‘I’m waiting for the begging,’ he said silently.
“Enough,” she gasped out.
“We just got started, kiddo,” he informed her and she seemed to sag a bit over his knee. “You obviously need a good hard cry and I’m not stopping until I get you there.” That appeared to panic her a little and she began twisting on his lap. Okay, he enjoyed that view a lot. Two more sets of four on each pinking cheek, and the squirming and whimpering began in earnest.
“No, Mac, please!” she said it entirely too plainly and coherently for him to think she really meant it. “Come on, that’s enough!” her voice began to rise and he knew she was truly feeling it. “Stop! Ow, Mac! No more!”
“Somehow I don’t think you are in any position to be giving orders,” he said, and reached to the elastic on her barely there pink panties and yanked them down to her thighs while she scrabbled on the floor and reached back to try to pull them back up. “No! No! Mac! Not that!”
“Yup. All naughty girls get spankings on their bare bottoms. Works wonders on the attitudes and helps the brain focus,” he said firmly, while eyeing the gorgeous pink splotchy bottom. She did have one magnificent ass. Soon to be magnificently red if he had anything to do with it.
He didn’t know if it was psychological or not, because those panties couldn’t have been any protection at all, but the next set of four made her squeal, squirm, kick and try to cover her bottom with her hand.
“Your little hand isn’t in trouble, just your naughty bottom.” He smacked her palm with the spoon. “Keep them out of the way, so I can give your bottom what it needs.” Her hand wavered a few times, but finally she put it in front of her. That took some courage, he knew.
“I’m done,” she sobbed out.
“Oh, no you aren’t,” he said. For some reason, his voice seemed to affect her as much as the spanks. Changing it up, he went to two on each side, and one right in the middle where she would feel it every time she sat for a few days.
Yeah, that was working. He felt her jerk every time her sweet little sit spot got spanked.
“Think you’ve had enough?” he asked when her sobs were so hard it seemed she could barely catch her breath.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she managed to choke out.
Well, he needed to be the one to decide that. “Few more,” he told her.
“No, please,” she sobbed. “No.”
He didn’t listen to that, but smacked each now swollen almost rosy red globe four more times, then twice on her upper thighs and that made her screech, so he stood her on her feet in front of him, noting her panties were down on one ankle. He liked that look. Holding both her hands in one of his, he made her stand between his legs while she tried to free her hands, wiggled and went up on tiptoe, apparently trying to shimmy the burn out. Good luck with that, he thought. “Stand still,” he said, firmly, even though he rather enjoyed watching her do the dance of a well and properly spanked girl.
“I can’t,” she sobbed. “It hurts, it burns.”
“I know,” he said. “You feel that burn and…” Oh hell, he couldn’t do that. Standing up, he pulled her into his arms, and rubbed her bottom for her. She melted against him, sobbing and hiccupping and sniffling. Her legs were trembling, so he held her tightly for another minute, then sat back down pulling her onto his lap to let her lean against his chest and recover. Women were odd. If someone had done that to him, he didn’t think he’d be seeking comfort from them. But she cuddled up on his lap, after a few whimpers when her bottom hit his denim covered legs. She had to be sore and was probably still burning. And crying. She sobbed against him and he could almost feel her relaxing in his arms. Finally, she seemed to have cried herself out and he could swear she was falling asleep. Good, she probably needed it. Making a sudden decision, he stood, up, with her in his arms, and she barely seemed to notice.
Pulling the duvet back with one hand he laid her down in his bed, and said, sternly, “Little girls with well spanked bottoms need an early bedtime. Sleep well.”
Hearing a whispered, “Yes, sir,” he kissed her forehead and flipped the light off on his way out. What was it, four in the afternoon? He’d see how long she stayed there.
Walking down the hall, he checked on his son, who was starting to stir from his nap, so he picked him up, changed him and took him downstairs with him. “You ready for a bottle, little man? I need to figure out when you can eat real people food. You in the mood for some hot wings and fries?” He heated the bottle and they went in and sat in the rocker by the window. Sam gave him a smile and he reached for the bottle. “Getting to be a big boy, are you? Going to hold your own bottle?” He wasn’t quite strong enough yet, it wouldn’t be long. “I love you, little man,” he told him. “What do you think, should we marry your Aunt Jess? Let her be your mom forever?”
“I don’t know if she’s going to want to be with you after that ass blistering you just gave her,” Ryan said, as walked in from the hallway.
“How long have you been back?” Mac asked. “I figured you and Kelly would be gone longer.”
“It was about half an hour,” Ryan said. “And I came in to hear some epic wailing going on.”
“She needed a good cry,” Mac admitted.
“And you don’t mess with Jess. What the woman wants, you give her,” Ryan laughed.
“You get it,” Mac said.
“I gotta admit, I never saw you being with her, but the last couple days despite all the stress, well, I could see.”
“I’m sorry you walked in on all this,” Mac said. “Not the hanging out in bars, chasing women weekend you were looking for, was it?”
“Hear me complaining?” Ryan sat down on the couch. “I’m looking forward to seeing Kelly again. Wouldn’t have met her, if not for you. I grabbed some steaks earlier. Want to grill out and drink beer?”
“Sounds great,” Mac said. “Not sure if Jessie will be joining us or not, but if she does, don’t mention her ass whooping.”
“Here I was looking forward to teasing her unmercifully,” Ryan said. “Paddled a few asses in my time. Just like with sex, for some reason, they always want to talk about it after.”
“I doubt you would be her go to person for that discussion,” Mac said. He put the empty bottle down and put Sam over his shoulder for a good burp. “If you want to grab his chair thing there, we can go out to the patio. Start the charcoal, have a beer. I need one.” There were still some salads left from the other night so Mac figured with the steaks, they had supper covered.
Ryan picked it up and they headed through the kitchen to the patio.
“He has his mom’s eyes,” Ryan said.
“He does,” Mac agreed. “His dad was a big guy, six foot three and Sam’s going to take after him there, I’m sure.”
“Poor little kid. He had a rough start, but sure seems like a happy rug rat now,” Ryan put the seat away from the grill and set it up for Sam to sit in and play.
“He’s happier now, last few weeks and so am I. It’s very reassuring to come home and have a peaceful house and not having to worry if I’ll have someone to watch him in the morning when I have to go back to work again.” Mac sighed and looked over at Sam. “I’m making some big plans in the next while. Money has always been my main priority and, yeah, I want to give him the best lif
e I can, but I want to be there to share it with him.”
“Dilemma,” Ryan agreed. “Where’s the matches? In the kitchen?”
Jessie stretched, winced at the soreness in her bottom and thighs and rolled over on her stomach. Where was she? Oh, yeah, Mac’s bedroom. Why? He’d spanked her and put her to bed? Yeah, he had and no, that did not make her smile. Much. Did it? No. She reached back and rubbed her bottom. She’d better have some decent bruises back there from what he did to her. What time was it? Turning her head, she looked over at the clock. Eleven o’clock. Her eyes flew to the monitor in the corner. Sam was zonked out in his crib in fresh pajamas. Mac had done daddy duty all evening. Was he sleeping in her bed? She sniffed his pillow and smiled. Smelled like him. Her stomach growled and she realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She felt too tense and too worried to do more than pick at the salads she and Kelly had ordered for lunch. She did not trust her and the more time she spent with her, the more worried she got. And she was a horrible person to think that, because wasn’t she the one thinking, just a few short weeks ago, of marrying Mac to divorce him and move out with Sam? Kelly might have fantasies too but that didn’t mean she’d act on them. However, she really didn’t like Kelly for no good reason. However, for some reason, despite the pain in her butt, she felt a little better. The tightness in her chest was gone. Probably because of her crying? Yeah, that was the only thing she could think of. Rolling over, she bit her lip not to cry out. That wooden spoon was so going in the garbage tomorrow.
Realizing she was still in her sundress, she tried to work up the energy to go to her bedroom and change. Or maybe she’d just get up and put on one of his T-shirts and get back in his bed. Then her stomach growled again, and she sighed. She wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep with her stomach giving her grief. Besides, she’d slept well over six hours already. Not certain what time she went to bed, had been put to bed, she stretched under his covers. His bed was much nicer than her bed was. She needed to change that. Get herself a decent bed. There went her brain again. Was she really thinking of staying here long enough to need a decent bed? No. He’d either marry her or she’d move out. When that was decided, she wasn’t certain, but that was the thought right now. If she couldn’t be Sam’s full-time mom, then she needed to go home before he would remember he was attached to her. Whatever worked best, was best, for Sam.
