Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 (4 page)

Her face went scarlet, and Pete couldn't help but admire the innocent shock
there
. She was
twenty-two, but her behavior suggested a younger woman. "Y
eah
," she whispered.

"I won't have you take them down." He gestured toward the clear spot in the middle of the desk. "This was your solution to the problem, remember."

"
I reckon it was. Yeah, it was
." She twisted a lock of hair around
several times
, finally nodding and turning toward the desk. Rushing as though to get things over with as quickly as possible, she yanked her pants down to her knees and bent over the desk.

"Grip the far
side
of the desk."

"Okay."

"Good." He pulled her tunic up to her waist. She had a sweet, round butt. What he wanted to do with that butt…
Second thoughts shot through his head. He wanted her legs around his waist, to bury himself deeply in her and hear her soft moans. Instead, here he was poised to give her a punishment spanking. The whole idea was ludicrous. In fact, he started to pull her tunic back down, to tell her to get up and go home, when she spoke.

"Please, Doctor. Please, Peter. Spank me."

He tightened his jaw. "It's Pete," he said as he flattened her bottom with the palm of his hand. She was so petite, his hand covered most of her ass.

"Oh! Ouch!"

Pete wasn't sure how much to hold back. He knew that some women really enjoyed a little sting and he didn't know if that
described Jackie Journey. She said she'd never been spanked before, but maybe she meant punishment spankings
rather than the sexy kind
. In any case, he intended to make a point with the spanking. He didn't want her to misbehave that way again. He cracked his hand down several more times and each time she cried out softly. Her bottom was getting
hot to the touch
and she was rising up on tiptoe with each successive smack.

"No more tardiness, Miss Journey!"

"Yes, sir. Ow! Ouch!"

"Not even five minutes."
He rained the spanks with each word.

"Oh! Oh! No, sir!"

A percussive tattoo rang through the room as he swatted her.
"And you will not drive at ninety miles per hour. Not to get here or any other place. Do you understand?" His hand was getting a little sore and he could feel her trembling where he held her lower back down on the desk.

"Yes! Yes, I understand."

Five more smacks and she was gasping and groaning. "Do you promise?"

"Ow! That's enough. Oh, ow! Ow!"

"Promise, Jackie."

"Yes
, sir
, I promise! Please stop." There were tears in her voice
. H
e'd made his point. He gave her one more hearty spank and then released her.

"Done. Pull up your pants."

She lay gasping over his desk for several moments before she stood and shakily drew her scrubs back up. Fat tears rolled down her face and Pete's heart went out to her. She was being so brave. He couldn't resist pulling her against him for a hug.

It was a huge mistake in several dimensions. The first was that she completely fell into
heartfelt
sobs and tears against his chest, and the second was that he knew, without a doubt, that he
was going to make Jackie Journey
his wife
.

* * *

Snuggled up in her boss' warm, strong arms, Jackie could almost forget how she got there. Almost, but not quite; her butt was on fire, and tingly with tiny shooting pains. Now she knew what it was like to be spanked. It was highly unpleasant.
She didn't understand how Gabby took it. Of course, Gabby k
new that Ace loved her and hoped to help her improve herself.
That would make a huge difference. Plus, it hadn't escaped Jackie that there was something intimate about it. That was appealing all by itself.

Although love had not played a role in it,
incentive to improve
was the same motivation behind Dr. Kaminsky's spanking.
Certainly, the
reason
was clear, but there was more to the spanking; it
was significant in terms of her rap
p
ort with the young doctor. I
f Pete Kaminsky hadn't wanted her around he wouldn't have done it. He'd have pointed to the door and told her not to let the screen door hit her ass on the way out. She wouldn't have blamed him. She'd really screwed up by being so late.

The thing was, it had never been a big deal before. She was not schedule-oriented. If she showed up a few minutes late for classes, she made up for it by studying harder. When she'd been late for her nursing practicums at the hospital, she always had a good excuse. It was true that by the end of the term the nursing supervisor who was in charge of the practicum had given her a lower grade because of the tardiness, but she'd still passed the class with a B. Her family had long since gotten used to her being late for everything and they made plans accordingly.

This time, however, she'd crossed a line. Real life, the working world, wasn't like school. If she was late, someone else was adversely affected. Pete Kaminsky had made that clear.
Her aching butt was a testament to that.

Jackie vowed to herself that she'd try harder to get up on time. She was going to set her alarm clock earlier to allow for hitting the snooze button a few times.

She snuggled in deeper against Dr. Kaminsky—Pete. Her tears had turned into hiccoughs and sighs, and it seemed easier to control her racing emotions. Well, mostly. Pete Kaminsky was warm
against her body, his arms sheltering, and the feeling of his chin resting on her head was comforting rather than a reminder of how petite she was. In fact, she was kind of glad to be petite for once.

He smelled good, too. Like coffee and spicy cologne and clean man-skin. Of course, she hadn't spent much time in a man's arms, but she knew that Pete's scent was uniquely his own. Jackie pressed her nose against his
shirt
a little more and felt his chest rising and falling steadily.

"Shh, now," he said softly as she shifted against him. He started to release her, but she let out a sob and burrowed
,
and his arms tightened around her again.
Much better. This was the kind of comfort she could get used to. Even if it meant a spanking to bring it on.

Of course, he wouldn't go around hugging her all day. He was her boss. In fact, she knew she was breaking some kind of rule about fraternizing with her employer. Maybe that was a mistake.

The nursing job was important to her, and she wasn't going to mess it up. This medical practice was the only one this side of Sonora, and she didn't want to have to travel all the way to the city to work.
Plus, it was a small practice working with patients whom she'd known all her life. She loved this area and its open vistas and snaky highways with the cattle just beyond the barbwire fences
and alfalfa growing in patchwork fields
.
No, this was the job for her and she was going to deal with the inconveniences that entailed.

Pete smoothed her ponytail down her back, and Jackie sighed with pleasure.

There was a tap at the office door, and Pete pulled away abruptly. Jackie's first instinct was to follow him and snuggle up against him again, but the tapping was louder the second time.

"Dr. Kaminsky? Doctor?"

He cleared his throat. "Yes, Willa?"

The doorknob rattled and Jackie quickly took a step back. It wouldn't do to have the older woman see her standing too close to their employer.

The door opened and Willa stuck her graying head into the office, looking around with bright, curious eyes. "Mrs. Greely is in a treatment room, Doctor. And your next appointment is in the waiting room."

All professional demeanor and cool calm, Pete
nodded. "Thank you, Willa."

Willa didn't turn away, but stood staring from the doorway.

"Ahem," the doctor said, sounding a trifle irritated
as
he turned toward Jackie. "Jackie, you need to go do the vitals."

She nodded, curiously unhappy about walking away from him. "Yes, Doctor."

"And, Miss Journey…"

Jackie turned back. "Yes, sir?"

"Don't be tardy again."

She gave him the tiniest of smiles. "No, sir. I won't."

He nodded toward the door and Jackie followed Willa out and started doing what she had planned to do
at
the office. She started nursing.

* * *

By noon, they were finished with the office visits and ready to have a quick lunch and start the house calls.

They loaded some supplies into Pete's SUV
and headed onto the highway toward their first call. Pete turned on the satellite radio and shot Jackie a grin. It was a very appealing grin, too. She sent one back his way, and watched him tap his palm against the steering wheel as he rocked out to something old and metallic.

"So tell me about being Jackie Journey," he said, his eyes back on the road.

"Um…there's not much to tell."

"Oh come on. You must have some hobbies, some interests. This is going to be a long afternoon if we don't talk a little."

"Yeah, that's true. Well
, you know all the professional stuff."

He nodded. "I'm more interested in the other stuff. Though, of course, if it makes you uncomfortable, we don't have to talk about it."

Jackie wracked her brain trying to think of something interesting to say.
She realized that aside from school and shopping, she didn't really do much that was worthy of conversation. "I'm pretty boring."

"Okay," he said. "Well, tell me about your family."

That was a fine idea. She had a big family, always something going on with them. "
Hmm. I have three brothers and a sister. They're all older than me. Ace, Deuce, Queenie, and Trey, are their names."

"Cards! That's wild."

She nodded, catching herself when she realized he was looking at the road, not her. "Yeah, it's kinda neat. Our mother was a professional poker player. She named us."

"She must be a fun woman."

"She died when I was two."

He gave her a somber look. "I'm sorry."

"What about you?"

Shrugging, he answered succinctly. "Lots of schoolwork and long hours studying, in my past. It's hard to get into medical school without really
high grades. There aren't as many slots as there should be, so they're picky."

"Do you have brothers and sisters?"

"I have all younger siblings. Two brothers, Case and James, and a sister, Penny. My parents immigrated to the US from Poland a few years before I was born."

"Poland! That's so cool. I've never been out of the US."

He shot her a glance. "You're young. You'll travel."

"Maybe. I hate being so young, sometimes." She tried not to pout, but she knew she wasn't
particularly
successful. "Everyone is older than me."