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

"Nonsense. You have your whole—"

"Life ahead of me. Yeah, I know. That's what they tell me all the time. But there are things I want
to have now."

"Oh? Like what?"

There was a part of her that thought about Pete as a possible suitor, as inappropriate as that was, and that part didn't want to scare him away. On the other hand, if she told him
about her goal to have a husband and kids soon
, she
'd quickly find out if he qualified for her candidate list
. A list of one, she reminded herself. The men in school had been too young and immature for that kind of commitment. A man Pete's age would be so much better. Maybe he had an available friend?

That
idea
didn't appeal either. Pete's friends wouldn't be Pete.

"Oh," she said vaguely, "Things."

He nodded and quickly consulted the GPS unit on his dashboard. "We're almost there, I think."

* * *

Pete was both tired and invigorated when they got back to the office that evening. The sun was far from going down, despite the late hour, and he wanted to be out in it. While Jackie puttered about in the front office—Willa long gone as her shift was over—Pete gathered up his laptop and some charts and headed toward the backdoor, intent on setting himself up at the patio table outside.

He smiled at his nurse as he paused by the front desk. "You should be heading home, Jackie."

"Yeah. I guess." Her dark eyes were downcast. She seemed at odds with herself.

"Something wrong?"

She shrugged. "No."

"Spit it out, young lady."

Her head popped up and she glared at him. "Don't call me that."

The vehemence of her reaction took him aback. "Excuse me?"

"Don't call me 'young lady.' I might be young, but I'm a full-grown adult woman, not a teenager."

He didn't like being reprimanded, but something had obviously gotten her into a bad mood and she was taking it out on him. Pete tried not to take it personally. "Okay," he said, drawing the word out. "You're not a young lady. Got it."

"Don't forget it either."

His temper flared. "
That certainly sounds mature."

At first her brows came down into a frown, but soon they eased again as her shoulders drooped. "I'm sorry. I'm not being very nice."

"Maybe you're tired," he allowed.

"Yeah, but I'm not ready to go home yet."

It was Pete's turn to frown. "Why not?"

She shrugged again. "I dunno. I'm not, that's all."

A debate raged in Pete's head for a few moments, but he went with his gut instead of his brain. "Well, you can come outside with me for a while. I have some charts I want to update. You can help, if you like."

Her face brightened. "I can?"

"I don't see why not."

"Okay."

Jackie gathered a few things and followed Pete outside. He could smell her perfume on the breeze as they moved across the patio. He'd been entranced by it all day.
She was charming and gentle with the patients, and he could easily see how she'd fit in his life. But there was an age difference to consider, and his workaholic nature was not a fact he could ignore. He didn't know if he could offer a young woman like her anything she'd be interested in. She probably had a handful of young boyfriends poised to lavish attention on her.

They sat at the table, warmed by the sinking sun and cooled by the late spring breeze. The work was engaging and it took longer than Pete had planned. Or maybe he didn't want the evening to end. The light was too dim to see the files well
so
he put his pen
down and leaned back in his chair.

"Hungry?"

Jackie closed a chart and gave him a soft smile. "Getting there."

"I have some steaks in the 'fridge. Would you like to stay for an impromptu barbeque? We can work on these charts some more after dinner. Or are you too tired?"

"I don't mind working late. I like helping."

"Well, I can't keep you here and not feed you."

She laughed and Pete's heart beat harder. "Steak sounds good."

"Okay.
Do you mind if we eat at my house? I think the mosquitoes are going to chew us to death if we linger out here."

She didn't think about it for more than a second. "That's fine."

He stood and gathered up his files and computer. This might be a huge mistake, but it was only dinner. Food and more work, that's all. "
Come this way," he said in his best Bella Lugosi voice.

Jackie giggled and followed right along.

It turned out that Jackie was adept in the kitchen. She didn't know many fancy dishes, but the simple fare he intended for supper didn't faze her at all. As they cooked, they talked about Texas. He told her some stories about his childhood in Lubbock, and she told him more about her family's ranch. She was animated and proud
talking
about her kin
. Family was obviously important to her.

As they sat down to eat in his kitchen, around 9:00 PM, Jackie's cellphone played a piece of a song by Leann Rimes, "Nothin' Better to Do." Amused as Pete was by the choice of the ring tone, his amusement quickly fled as he listened to Jackie's side of the conversation.

"Daddy!
... Oh, I'm sorry. I was workin'
." She fidgeted and turned away from Pete. "I know I should have called. I didn't think." Her voice tightened as she went on. "Don't boss me, Daddy. I'm grown."
Jackie heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry you were worried! I'm sorry, okay?" Pete could see her shoulders tense as she got angrier. "It's my life, Daddy." She stomped her foot. "Fine then, I won't stay under your roof, if that's the way you want it…oh! Oh! You make me so mad! I'll come home when I'm damn good and ready. You can't make me come home sooner!" With a pronounced
poke
, Jackie pressed a disconnect icon and stuffed the phone back in her purse. A blush suffused her face and she sat with surly carelessness.

* * *

Angry and feeling belligerent, Jackie threw out as polite a comment as she could muster.
"Sorry."

Pete eyed her, and she felt judged and found wanting. "You didn't call home when I asked you to work late?"

"No," she told him. It wasn't like it was his business. "I'm a grown woman. I don't have to check in every time I want to stay out late."

He arched a dark eyebrow at her and she bristle
d
. It was too much that she was getting this treatment
from
Pete as well as her father.

"You don't have to be polite?"

She wadded up her napkin and put it on the table. "I am perfectly polite, thank you."

"Leaving your father to wonder what's happened to you isn't polite, Jackie."

Guilt
and anger
made her hands shake. Who was he to
lecture her? "What business is it of yours?" The chair clattered unsteadily on the hardwood floor as she rose to leave. "I'm not hungry, and my Daddy says I can't stay out and play anymore." She could hear the disrespect and scorn in her voice, but she couldn't hold it back. Treating her like a child was getting old fast, and she was more than a little embarrassed that Pete had witnessed it. She wanted to get home and punch her pillows. Pete halted her with a hand on her wrist as she made to leave. "What?" she snapped.

"Are you going to apologize to your father?"

"I already did."

"It sure didn't sound like you meant it."

"So? I did it. He'll calm down. He always does."
Maybe that was the problem. He always let it go rather than teaching her a lesson. She knew she needed those lessons, but at the same time, she wanted to get her way. She was an adult and
Jackie
wanted to be treated like one rather than a naughty child
.
Pete's
hand on her wrist wasn't hurting, but she wanted to leave. Pulling against him did no good, however. "Let me go."

Pete's frown was dark and dangerous and Jackie's breath halted. Apparently, being in trouble was going to come from two sides.

Sternly, Pete said, "You're acting like a spoiled brat, Jackie."

"What's it to you? You
don't care about me; it's all business to you
!" The moment she said it, she wanted to take it back. She was being venal and childish. The truth was, she was tired, hungry and embarrassed. Guilt over worrying her father nagged at her like a toothache. Accusing Pete of being
unfeeling
was lashing out at the wrong person. The person who was guilty of wrongdoing was her. She pulled at her wrist again to no avail. "Please let me go."

Pete rose from his chair and pulled her toward his family room. Her high emotions got in the way of observing the room well, but she glimpsed an oriental carpet on the hardwood floor, and cardboard boxes in every corner. A royal blue club chair sat at the edge of the carpet, and across from it was a blue and yellow patterned couch. It was the couch that Pete made for with Jackie in tow.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson,
young lady,
" Pete said, his emphasis
unmistakable
.

"Look, Pete, I'm sorry. What I said was uncalled for. It was mean. I didn't mean it."

"You are full of bad behavior tonight, Jackie Journey. If your father won't teach you some manners, then I will."

She yanked against the hand the continued to restrain her wrist. "
What are you goin
'
to do?"

"Spank you."

Jackie's heart skipped a beat. The spanking earlier in the day had hurt! Another one on top of it was going to be excruciating. It didn't matter if she deserved it. "Come on, Pete. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Okay? We don't have to go there."

"Oh yes we do." He sat down on the sofa with a flump and pulled her over his lap. "You've obviously been getting away with murder for years. Time you paid the piper."

Jackie struggled against him, trying to ignore the small thrill of
happiness that shot through her. This was not the kind of intimacy she wanted with Pete Kaminsky! A little voice told her, however, that it was better than no intimacy at all. Still, it was going to hurt, and the fact that he was pulling down her scrubs again made it humiliating, too. That had a weird appeal as well. It was something that she didn’t want to examine, and the first whack on her rump took all her attention off her confusion and right onto her butt.

"Ouch! Pete! Ouch! I'm sorry!"

"You were disrespectful to your father, Jackie."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry!"

He smacked her several more times and her bottom smarted fiercely. "He was worried about you and you threw his love right back in his face like a spoiled brat."

"Okay! I did! Yeah, I did! Ouch! Ow!" The pain was intensifying and she squirmed. She knew she should just
bite the bullet and take it. He was right about her disrespecting her daddy. Leo didn't deserve that. But she knew he wouldn't hold it against her. He loved her even
though sometimes
she was
out of line
. Several more spanks on her butt made her squirm harder and tense up tight as a stretched rubber band.