My House, My Rules (4 page)

“Mommy, please?” Aaron called.

“I'm coming,” she said. “Just give me a minute, honey.” To build up enough courage to walk across there practically naked, she thought. She couldn't remember ever being this nervous. Jay probably wouldn't be interested in her when he got a
good
look at her. She had baggage, and it wasn't just on her giant ass. She glanced at him a little shyly. He was a looker. His hair was dark and cropped fairly close to his head. There was such a sparkle in those eyes, and they were a glorious, soft blue. Then there was the stubble that had tickled her when he kissed her, and not just her face. His abs were rock hard. She wondered what it'd be like to run her hands down that hard belly.

“Ooohhh!” she screeched as she felt a cool splash of water.

“Penny for them?” Jay asked from the edge of the pool.

Alex panicked for a split second, and then she ran and dove into the water so he wouldn't see. Wouldn't see her panic or the X-rated thoughts that brought it on.

* * *

“I'm c…c…cold, Mom,” Thom said, shivering after half an hour of swimming.

“Me too,” Aaron stuttered.

“Okay,” Alex said. “Time we went home.” She wrapped each of the boys in a big towel.

Jay found himself feeling strangely disappointed. “You sure?” he said. “They could get dressed, and we could rug them up in the living room with a movie.”

“Please?” Aaron shivered.

“Can we, Mom?” Thom asked through chattering teeth.

“You sure you're not sick of us yet?” she asked.

“I'm sure,” he said pointedly. “Now let's get these boys inside and warmed up.”

* * *

“This is a nice blanket,” Thom said, pulling the warm patchwork quilt around him tightly.

“So's this one,” Aaron said. “It's real warm.”

“My mom made them,” Jay said. “It's kind of her specialty. Now what are you two going to watch?”

“Do you have Spiderman?” Aaron asked.

“No, but I have a Harry Potter one, I think.” Jay hunted on the shelf to see what movies he had that would be suitable for kids.

“I don't like Harry Potter,” Aaron whined.

“Harry Potter's cool,” Thom said.

“Not to me!”

“He's tired, Thom,” Alex said.

Jay came up with a different movie that he hoped would pass muster. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid?”

“Yes!” both boys said together.

“Wine?” he whispered, not wanting to disturb the much sought after peace after the movie started.

“Please,” she said.

“Let's go out on the patio where we can talk,” he said, carrying the bottle in one hand and two glasses in another.

* * *

So what do you do for a living?” she asked. “Here in the city I mean.” She realized that she knew very little about him. Except for the fact that he'd grown up on a ranch.

“I'm an author,” he said. “I write crime novels with a twist.”

“Really,” she said. “What's the twist?”

He grinned. “They're crime novels…”

“I think we established that,” she quipped. “It's the twist I'm interested in.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I see the smart ass apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.”

“Language!” she said with a giggle. The wine was helping her to relax and let her guard down, and she was starting to enjoy herself. “Now stop hedging. The twist.”

“They're crime novels with a romantic thread of sorts.”

“Oh,” she said. That wasn't what she expected.

“My heroes are take-charge kind of guys,” he said carefully.

“Well, I guess that would be expected of cops and sheriffs. Crime-solving type people usually are,” she said. “And the heroines?”

“They're usually strong and sassy. The type to get into trouble at every turn.”

Alex suddenly had a weird feeling in the pit of her tummy. One that she couldn't explain. It was like a foreboding, but not. She had no idea what he was going to say really, and yet she was excited to hear it. “Oh,” she said. Okay, that was lame. The man was telling her about his very interesting career, and all she could say was ‘oh’, for the second time. She'd have to come up with something other than that, she thought. “So, your hero arrests the bad guys and saves the heroine right?” she asked.

“Yep. Right before he takes her over the knee for a good old fashioned spanking for putting herself in danger.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes like saucers. Okay, that ‘oh’ was intentional, because there just wasn't any other word that came to mind. Flashes of the fantasy she’d had while relaxing in the bath immediately sprung to mind, and she started to choke on her wine. She coughed and splattered in a very unladylike manner, and then when she finally got herself under control, she got lost in a fit of the giggles.

Chapter Three

Well, she took that well, he thought. It may not have been the best time to tell her what he did. Well, not all of it. He may have blown his chances, but what the heck. It was done now, so he may as well go ahead and tell her the rest. Jay ran a hand through his hair while he tried to find the words that wouldn't send her catapulting through the door with a child under each arm.

“You
are
serious?” she asked in awe, when she realized he didn't join in her laughter. “I mean, I believed you at first, but then when you got to the spanking part.”

“You're shocked,” he said.

“A little,” she said. “I guess I just expected you to do something more physical. More physical than writing.”

“Okay,” he said with a smile. She wasn't running away, so that was something, wasn't it? “Why's that?”

“You're kind of, well, you
are
very fit.”

“Thanks,” he said his smile growing. “I work out. Plus, like I said before, I just got back from my parents’ ranch.”

“So, a romance author, huh?” she said with a smile. “Different.”

“Maybe,” he said. “I like it. I like writing it, and they're not exactly romance novels. They’re crime novels, with some romance in them.”

“And spanking.”

“Yes,” he said. “You've heard of spanking romance, I take it?”

“Yes. Well, sort of. I have heard of it, but I don't really understand it. I've never really read one all the way through. I've read romances but not an actual spanking story.”

“Some people like a good spanking in a romance,” Jay said. “They find traditional romances kind of frustrating.”

“Oh?” she said. “How so?”

“Yeah, well, the hero forbids the heroine from doing something. Usually something dangerous or reckless. He threatens her with dire consequences. She totally ignores whatever he says. He catches her, saves her, and then the air is thick with tension.”

“Sounds about right,” she giggles.

“And then what happens?” he says. “She gapes in fear as he moves towards her menacingly.”

“What happens next?” she coughed, trying to get the croak out of her voice.

“He stands very close to her. Gets right into her personal space.”

“And?” Alex asked breathily.

“‘What am I going to do with you,’ he says. ‘I should take you over my knee and teach you a lesson you'll never forget.’” He could tell that Alex was affected. Her face was flushed, her eyes were wide and staring, and she could barely keep still. She was hanging on his every word.

“Don't stop now,” she said, when he paused.

He chuckled but continued. “‘You wouldn't dare’, the heroine says demurely, now that she knows she's in trouble.

“She doesn't argue back?” Alex asked curiously.

“Not usually, funnily enough. Not in the traditional romances. Sometimes, I guess. Anyway,” he continues. “‘You wouldn't dare’, she says.”

“And does he?” she asks.

“Nope. Grabs her in a firm embrace and kisses her punishingly… Seriously? You're really angry at someone and your gut reaction is to kiss them? How does someone kiss someone punishingly? You defy me and run off and try to catch an armed robber, and you're going over my knee. I will dare!” he said.

“Okay, then,” she said.

“In my books,” he clarifies.

“Are we just talking about your books?” she asked him, her eyes blinking nervously.

“What would you say if I said no?”

“I don't know,” she said suddenly, finding her non-painted nails very interesting. This was sort of an intimate discussion to have with someone you'd only just met. “I can understand the frustration you just explained,” she said. “I have
felt
the frustration you just explained, but why does the woman have to always be the one that needs to be saved?”

“She doesn't always. There are all kinds of relationships in the world, and there are other genres in spanking romance books, but that's what I write. That's what I feel.”

“Do people buy your books?” she asked.

“There are people who like to read that stuff. They find it, stimulating.”

“Stimulating?” she said a twinkle in her eye. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Do you?” she asked.

“Do I what?” he asked, shuffling in his seat uncomfortably. Hell, yes, he wanted to say, but he didn't want to scare her off before they'd even had their first real date.

“Do you find it stimulating?” she asked curiously.

“I do,” Jay said without breathing. He sat nervously taking in the silence. She deserved some time to process this, but he wasn't finding it easy to wait. Was she thinking he was some kind of weirdo?

“So do I,” she admitted so quietly.

Well, he thought. That was the last thing he expected.

“Really?” he asked, relief washing through him.

“Yeah,” she said. “I find the fantasy of it, well, very titillating. But, and it's a very big
but
,” she giggled at her own pun.

“What's funny?” he asked.

“Not this,” she said. “It was something else I thought of.”

“Your
butt
?” he asked.

“Yeah. I get the sexy turn on part,” she had another gulp of her wine. “I don't know how I'd feel about being spanked for real. I don't like rules. Not for my kids and not for myself. They can be stifling.”

“But necessary,” Jay said.

“We manage,” she said.

“This might not be the time to discuss specifics,” he said. “We may just have to agree to disagree. For now.”

“Maybe,” she said. “You're talking about spanking your wife or girlfriend because she displeases you.”

“That's being flippant. I would
not
spank my wife or girlfriend if she wore a dress in a color I didn't like or anything silly.”

“What kind of things are we talking here?” she asked. “Give me an example.”

“Okay,” he said. “Say, I asked my wife or girlfriend a straight out question, and she lied to me.

“Why?” she asked. “Why'd she lie?”

“Doesn't matter why she lied. A lie is a lie.”

“Hmm,” she mused. “Give me another one.”

“Okay. Say we agree on a rule that she stick to a budget. She has money to do whatever she wants with, but she goes over that amount on something silly.”

“If her name is on the account, she can spend the money on whatever she wants.”

She was very cute in her indignation, he had to admit. He could see her standing in the corner trying desperately to talk herself out of trouble. “It's about deception and dishonesty.”

“Well, I think that's just plain old nitpicking,” she said. “If it was me, I wouldn't agree.”

“If that's the choice you make for yourself, then yes, maybe that's the choice you need to make for you.” His voice was laced with disappointment. “This is the way I believe it should be, for me. The person that I marry one day will need to want to live in this lifestyle with me. If you can't live like that, then I guess you would need to be in a relationship that allowed for whatever you needed.”

“Hmm,” she said. “I get it. You want to be the king of the castle.”

“I wouldn't put it like that,” Jay tried to explain. He filled both their glasses. “I feel that it's my job to be the keeper of the family. To make sure everyone has what they need and to make sure everyone stays safe. This isn't a power trip. I would love my wife and children more than anything else in the world, and when I lay down the law, it's because I have their best interests at heart. I will expect to be obeyed, need to be obeyed, so that we can all have peace at home.”

“Why can't you be equal partners with your wife or girlfriend?”

“I will be,” Jay took a moment to think. This was harder than he thought, trying to put this into words. “It's about someone having the final say.”

Alex frowned. “Well, good luck with that. I like to be self-employed myself,” she said, more airily than she felt. “Look it's getting late, I really should be getting the boys home.”

“Okay,” he said. “I'll give you a hand.”

“It's okay. I can manage,” she said testily.

* * *

She reached the living room all set to tell the boys they were leaving and found both of them snoring. Great, she thought. She tried to wake up Thom, but he was dead to the world. That was usually the perk with having such vibrant and inquisitive children. By the time nighttime came it didn't take much for them to crash. The swim obviously tuckered them out completely, because it looked like it would take a bomb to wake them up. With a frustrated sigh, Alex tried to lift Thom. She almost got him off the sofa, but he was way too long, and asleep he was a deadweight. Before she knew what was happening, Jay had scooped him right out of her arms.

“I can manage!” she said in a loud whisper.

Jay rolled his eyes. “Just go and open the door, and I'll bring Thom over and then come back for Aaron,” he said. “It'll only take a minute.”

“I said I can do it,” she said, trying to wrestle the sleeping child out of Jay's arms.

“I'm helping!” he said in a quiet tone that brooked no argument. “For once in your life just do as you’re told.”

Alex's body betrayed her, her tummy twisting with excitement and sending spirals of pleasure lower to her very core at his words and the take-charge tone of his voice. How could something that seemed so sexist and wrong affect her body like that? Or her mind for that matter? She couldn't deny that it did affect her like that, though. There was a minuscule part of her that wondered what it would be like to have a man like Jay.