Georgia's Daddy (7 page)

“Goin’ somewhere?” her father had asked as she came down the stairs. Though his voice had been carefully neutral, she hadn’t missed the knowing sparkle in his eye.

“I’m going to see Sam.”

“Hmm. Nice guy, that Sam.”

She’d raised her eyebrows. She didn’t think she’d ever heard him give praise to any guy she’d ever dated. Then again, boys seemed to have an annoying habit of displaying their worst flaws in front of a girl’s parents. At least, that had been her experience.

“Have a nice time,” he’d said without waiting for her to reply.

And she’d left, with a surprised smile on her face. She had to agree with her dad—Sam was quite nearly perfect. Not that he’d said that, exactly, but ‘nice guy’ was as close to that sentiment as she was likely to get from her dad. These days she awoke every morning with a smile on her face in anticipation of seeing him. She checked her cell phone often to see how long she had to wait until she could be with him again, and hearing that her dad approved, well, she hadn’t expected it, but it was icing on the cake.

“Howdy,” she called out as she spied Sam bent over the engine of his truck. It sent an electric thrill through her as she remembered the first time she’d seen him. If only she’d known then that things would turn out this way for them. They hadn’t been together long, that was true, but it just felt
right
.

Sam looked up, his face splitting into a grin as he caught sight of her. Even with oil smeared across his left cheek, he looked devastatingly handsome to her. “Hey. What are you doing here? Wasn’t I supposed to pick you up?”

“I got impatient,” she admitted.

“Imagine that.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but she was still smiling.

“I’m just changing the oil. I’m about finished here and then I’ll have to take a shower. That’s what you get for being impatient, naughty girl.”

A tingle ran through her, straight to her pussy. “I don’t mind waiting.”

“All right. Why don’t you go on inside? Gran just made some lemonade and I know she’d be thrilled to sit with you for a while.”

“Sure. And Sam?”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve got a little something there.” She pointed to his cheek.

“Oh, I do, do I? Come here and give me a kiss and we’ll be a matching pair.”

“No!” she squealed in protest. When he lunged for her, hands miming claws to catch her, she spluttered into laughter as she dodged him and escaped up the stairs and ran into the house, letting the screen door slam behind her. It didn’t do much to hide her laughter, though, and she saw Sam grinning at her from the other side.

“Ah, to be young and in love,” Gran called out, as though she’d been waiting for her. “Why don’t you come and visit with me in the kitchen, Georgia? I’ve just pulled some cookies from the oven.”

“I do love chocolate,” she agreed, sniffing the air appreciatively. Sam had gone back to the truck and she watched him for a second longer before following his grandmother into the kitchen.

* * *

Georgia genuinely liked Sam’s grandmother. They had gotten into a deep conversation about football, of all things, and she was so into it that she hadn’t even noticed that Sam had come into the house. She didn’t notice, in fact, until he’d showered and changed and was standing beside the table, waiting patiently.

“I’m just saying that as a Heisman winner, the Cougars are sure to win this year.”

“Well, he hasn’t won
yet
.”

“You just wait, darlin’,” she replied, patting Georgia’s hand. “And one more thing, and I’ll let you two get going. The new offensive coordinator comes from Mississippi.
Mississippi
, now.”

“Yes, and I know your Cougars think that means something, but frankly—”

“Okay, you two,” Sam cut in, chuckling. “Why don’t we save this for another time? Who would have known you were such a big football fan?” he commented as he pulled back her chair.

“Just another one of those surprises, I guess.”

“No kidding.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have known your gran was such an avid fan, either. It’s not like you mentioned it.”

“Oh, this one doesn’t care much for football,” Gran chuckled. “Arthur and I did our best to raise him right, but he was more into ice skating competitions than football.”

“Thanks, Gran,” Sam groaned comically as Georgia raised her brows at him. “You really know how to slay a guy before he’s gotten his foot in the door good.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Georgia teased. “I think the door’s already wide open.”

“You two have a good night now.”

And that was exactly Georgia’s intention, and she assumed it was Sam’s, too. He smiled sweetly at her as he opened the passenger door and let her in. But when he was sitting next to her, he asked a question that had her stomach knotting up almost instantly.

“How’d the essay go?”

The
essay
. She’d known there was something she’d forgotten! She would have smacked herself on the forehead, except that he was sitting right beside her and no way would she be able to play it off then. “Um… okay, I guess.”

“Yeah? Definite ‘okay.’”

“Uh, well… actually… I didn’t exactly start it yet.”

“No? What did you do then, exactly? Research?”

“Um…”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

She wasn’t meeting his eyes, but somehow she could still feel the heat from his stare. She swallowed hard. Why, oh,
why
did she suddenly feel like a little girl about to get a scolding? It didn’t help matters any that when he looked at her like that, when he got that ‘little girl, what did I tell you’ tone that she felt all of two inches tall.

“How much work did you do on it, Georgia?”

Yikes. No ‘darling’s for her tonight, it seemed. “I didn’t get very far.”

“How far is not far?”

This guy was not going to let up, was he? “Well, I got my title figured out.” Which wasn’t exactly true, either. She had chosen the title weeks ago when she’d decided to write the essay.

Sam let out a sigh, said, “All right then,” and started the engine.

It only took a minute for her to realize that they weren’t heading to town. “Hey, um, aren’t we going out to dinner?”

“Well, that was the plan. But I distinctly remember a deal where you’d get your essay done in order for us to go out. Since you didn’t, I guess I’m taking you home.”

Her mouth literally dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am very serious,” he said without looking at her.

“But… but that’s just… silly!” she spluttered.

“Is it? You didn’t seem to think so when we made the agreement, but since you didn’t keep your end, all of a sudden it’s silly?”

His voice stayed calm but Georgia’s rose despite it. “I thought you were just kidding!”

“Well, I reckon you know now that when I say something, I mean it.”

“Even when it’s stupid?” she burst out, annoyed. She was frustrated with the whole situation—with herself for forgetting to write the damn essay, with Sam for making such a big deal out of it, with the fact that a date she’d been so excited about apparently wasn’t going to happen.

“Georgia, I gave you specific instructions, and you chose to ignore them. There are consequences to that, whether you like it or not.”

He still hadn’t looked at her, and his voice was still reasonable, which in the face of her own ire just plain pissed her off. “Fine. Well, maybe we just shouldn’t see each other at all then.” Finally, she had his full attention. She smiled a gloaty smile as he looked at her.

“Is that really what you want to do?”

“Well, it’s apparently what
you
want to do. You obviously don’t care very much about me or what I want, so maybe we should just end things right here.” Feeling very proud of herself, she noted that they were pulling into her driveway. As soon as he stopped the engine, she reached for the handle.

“Just a minute now.”

She paused, smiling that cat-that-ate-the-canary grin as she removed her hand. She’d won. Yes, it had been a childish move, but she’d
won
, and in that instant victory tasted delicious. She would savor it, along with dessert that evening. “Yes?”

But when Sam spoke, his voice wasn’t pleading, or even reconciliatory as she’d expected. Instead, it was sort of… stern. “We had a deal. You understood that. You didn’t hold up your end, and you don’t get to be mad at me for your choices.”

Okay, a lot stern. “But—”

“Stop.
I’m
talking now.”

She pressed her lips together firmly, pouting.

“You might be confused about our relationship, so let me make this clear for you. You do
not
get to act out and play the brat just because you’re not getting your own way. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” she grumbled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

She glowered at him. “I said yes, Sir.”

“Very good. Now that you’ve been warned, you should also know that acting the way you just did will result in consequences.”

“Whatever.” She reached for the door handle and was about to open it when she felt his hand come down on her leg, giving her pause. Maybe this was it. Maybe he was going to apologize and tell her that he’d changed his mind.

“You know, I can’t say I’m overly fond of this attitude, little girl.”

That did it. She grabbed his hand and moved it off her leg. “
Stop
calling me that!”

“You know what? That’s it, I’ve had enough. If you want me to stop calling you
little girl
, then stop acting like one. And there’s only one surefire remedy that I know.” Then he reached across the bench seat and pulled her toward him.

She felt a second of panic and tried to fend him off, but it was of little use. She was quickly hauled over-the-knee and staring down at the butter-soft faux leather of the interior. “Sam! No!” She smacked the seat in the frustration, then quickly realized that it might not be the best way to convince him to change his mind. “Please, Sam, don’t do this.”

“Sorry, we’re a little past that point now.” Then, without another word he pulled up the skirt of the cute dress she’d put on just for their evening out.

“
Sam
… don’t! If you do, I won’t forgive you!”

“Do you deserve a spanking?” he asked, as calmly as though it was the most reasonable question in the world.

Georgia took a deep breath, trying to sound calmer than she felt when she answered. “I shouldn’t have acted that way, but—”

“Then I guess I’ll have to risk it.”

“Sam—” Her protest was cut short when his hand landed with a loud crack on the back of her panties. “Ouch!”

He didn’t answer, except with another echoing smack to the middle of her rear. Then he followed it by another.

In no time at all Georgia felt her cheeks smarting. The last time, he’d spanked her on the seat of her pants and that had hurt badly enough. She’d had no idea that only removing one layer of clothing would make such a difference, but there was no denying that it did. A particularly stern spank had her yelping. “Sam!” she pleaded as she tried to move her bottom out of spankable range, frustratingly to no avail. “Please! It hurts!”

“Does it?” he asked, still so level-headed as he swatted her poor, defenseless rear. “Well, your attitude hurt me. I was looking forward to tonight too.” He punctuated his words with another firm swat. “But you didn’t do what you needed to do, so I had to bring you home.”
Smack
. “It’s not my fault, but you chose to give me attitude for it.”

“I’m
sorry
!” she squealed as another ass-stinging scorcher landed.

“Are you?”

“Yes!”

“Sorry for the way you acted, or for the fact that you’re getting a spanking?”

He’d paused her punishment for the moment and Georgia’s mind raced to come up with an answer that would keep her out of trouble. “Both?”

Swat!

She winced. That must have been the wrong answer.

“Your behavior is unacceptable, and I know you can do better than that. So this is a little reminder to be the lady I know you can be.” Another three quick, sharp spanks fell in rapid succession.

She was crying when he let her up. She swiped at her eyes angrily, not wanting him to see her tears. She was so ticked at him, she could hardly stand it. How
dare
he? She wasn’t his to just pull over his lap and spank whenever he felt like it, darn it!

“I know you’re ready to run off and have yourself a good cry. You can do that, but afterwards, you need to sit on that red, sore bottom and type that essay. Yes, Sir?”

“Yes, Sir,” she grumbled.

“Georgia…”

The edge of warning in his voice made her bottom twinge. “Yes, Sir.”

“Better. Now, before you go, there’s one more thing I want to talk to you about.”

She was happy to pout, staring down at her arms folded protectively across her chest, but when Sam didn’t continue, she ventured to look at him.

He smiled gently with her eyes on him. “Georgia, I think you’re a beautiful person, inside and out. Generally, you’re very sweet and kind, and funny as hell.”

She was leaning toward softening at the compliment, except that she sensed an annoying
but
coming.

“But you also have a tendency to procrastinate and act out when you don’t get your way.”

Georgia huffed loudly. “I don’t act
out
—” She stopped, her protest turning into a deeper pout when he arched his brows at her.

“My point is, I think a girl like you would benefit from stern discipline from time to time.”

“If you’re talking about more of what you just did, then no,
thank
you.”

“Only when you deserve it,” he teased, bopping her nose.

“I don’t like being treated like a child,” she groused. “I don’t even like it when you call me by those names—little girl.” She wrinkled her nose to prove her point.

“I don’t expect you to like the punishments. It wouldn’t really be punishment if you did. But what about after?”

“After?”

“Yes, when I pull you on my lap, like this.” He scooped her up and dropped her in his lap to demonstrate. “When I rub your back, and tell you that you took your spanking like a good girl?”