Valentine's Cowboy (5 page)

“As far as I’ve learned, there’s no age limit for being a brat.” He punctuated the comment with two more biting swats. “You behaved like a child, not a grown woman. A sensible adult doesn’t attempt to slam a door on someone.”

He delivered two more hard swats that had her sucking in deep breaths. “She doesn’t threaten to do serious injury to a man’s pride and joy.”

Her bottom felt on fire. It burned, burned, burned. As did her face. It flamed in embarrassment. He was right. For some insane reason she’d opened the door, spotted him, and tried to slam the door against him, even though he had taken a step forward. If he hadn’t reacted so quickly, she’d probably have broken his nose. Then, horrified at what she’d done, she’d made the situation worse by lambasting him with threats to his person.

His hand rested on her tender bottom and she warily said, “I’ve never acted like that before. You-you…I don’t know. When I’m around you, I do crazy things. Say crazy things.”

Now his hand was moving in soothing circles, which made her feel warm and wet in a place not far from his fingertips. She clenched her buttocks and gasped in distress. “Are we done now? Can I get up?”

Sam stopped moving his hand over the sweet, warm bottom. It had been quite a spell since he’d given his sister a spanking. Other than Shelby, he’d only heated one other woman’s backside and she’d definitely deserved it. As had Valentine just now. In truth, he was worried about what happened next. Would she call the police on him? Would she tell his sister? Maybe he should apologize, pack his bags, and give some kind of lame excuse to Shelby and then go back to the ranch.

In response to her question, he helped her stand. Her hands flew around to rub at the sting on her bottom. And her gaze landed on his no-possible-way-he-could-hide-it aroused cock. He sat silently and waited for her to say something. What she said surprised the hell out of him.

“At least both of us are suffering.” She glanced across the small living room at the wall clock. “We’ve only got an hour to get to Lahaina. You made us late by…” She couldn’t seem to finish the sentence.

“By spanking you,” he helped her out.

She gave a tiny nod and looked way. “Yes.”

Relief swept through him. Oddly enough she appeared to accept what he’d done and try to get beyond it. A curious reaction, but one he definitely liked. “Guess we’d better go.”

She went to the breakfast bar and grabbed a small purse and her key. “What happened… It’s just between us, right?” she asked, leading the way to the door and locking it after he’d stepped into the outside hallway.

He gave her a reassuring smile. “I don’t kiss and tell. And I don’t spank and tell.” Spankings were private matters, given for acts of misbehavior or attitudes that needed adjusting. “Once it’s delivered and the lesson understood, the matter is forgotten in my opinion. Unless I have to deal with the matter another time.”

She rubbed her bottom again and he felt the stirrings of arousal. He usually preferred giving a spanking on a bare bottom. He hadn’t thought he’d survive doing that this time because he wanted her so damn bad. “Reckon you’ll be a mite uncomfortable during the ride into town.” With the tightness in his jeans now, he suspected he would, too.

To his amusement, she raised her chin. “I’m a ‘mite uncomfortable’ right now. I believe that was your intention.”

He nodded. “Not the sole intention of the spanking. I burned your butt to lesson you on misbehavior.” He pinned her with a questioning look. “I’m assuming the lesson was understood.”

Her small hands touched her bottom once more and she said sassily, “There is such a thing as talking to discuss a matter.”

He moved next to her, covering her hands on her bottom with his. She sucked in a breath and he felt a strong reaction as well. “But my kind of ‘discussion’ gets the matter dealt with in a way not soon forgotten.”

“Right. Not forgotten.” She slipped away from him. “How about you don’t do this again?”

He chuckled and tugged her into his embrace, unable to resist what he’d wanted to do ever since she’d launched herself into his arms the night before. Hold her. Smell her light flowery scent; feel the softness that was all her. And to his pleasure she didn’t resist. “How about you behave yourself?” he countered quietly, stroking her silky hair.

She moved against the hard ridge of his aroused cock. “How about
you
behaving yourself?” Then she eased from his embrace to walk down the short outside hallway, giving him an exaggerated and mesmerizing sway of hips.

Spanked and still sassy. He drew in a steadying breath. He could love a woman like that.

Shocked by the thought, he shook his head. Dr. Valentine Hart might take a spanking with grudging acceptance, might be the sexiest woman he’d run across, but they were worlds apart otherwise. It was the whole Venus vs. Mars thing. Besides, he had more than enough unsettling things to deal with in his life. He didn’t need to take on another woman, another relationship—an impossible relationship.

* * *

Valentine stood next to the port railing of the whale-watching catamaran and was nearly blinded by the sunlight bouncing off the brilliant blue water. Her stomach fluttered with the slight sway of the boat, but she managed to half listen to Dale vent his frustration about Sam and the ranch. Her attention was more focused on the big cowboy standing at the opposite railing and talking to his sister. Poor Shelby looked as upset as Dale. Evidently Sam had decided to resume attempting to get her to change her mind, to get her to see things his way. He didn’t look all that happy either.

“Why can’t he accept our decision?” Dale questioned, scowling across the boat at his future brother-in-law. “He’s always run Shelby’s life. He needs to let go.”

She didn’t like Sam’s persistent digging away at Shelby’s resistance. She feared he would end up winning the battle and end up coming between his sister and Dale. She couldn’t and wouldn’t allow that to happen, even if she had to go nose-to-nose—okay, nose-to-shoulder—with him about the matter. He’d no doubt tell her it wasn’t any of her business, which was partly right.

Remembering what he’d done earlier when she’d shown a flash of temper, she felt certain he would even spank her again for trying to interfere. But she genuinely liked Shelby and Dale. They deserved to build their own life in the way they wanted it. Interfering for their sake would be worth risking another embarrassing session over his hard lap.

“I’ll talk to him.”

“It’s not your problem, really. I just needed to vent.” Dale looked uneasy, but relieved at the same time. “He’s pretty stubborn.”

No kidding.
“So am I.” Normally she didn’t like angry confrontations, but she was fighting for the underdog here. Sam Thompson would learn exactly how stubborn she could be. “I’ll convince him later today to take me with him on a drive to Hana tomorrow. I’ve read so much about how pretty the drive is and I’m dying to do that.”

Dale’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know.”

She gave him her most confident smile. “The matter is settled. I hear the drive to that side of the island is a nice long one. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss the ranch problem. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”

Then she turned away to look across the water for signs of whales. Maybe she should slip one of the throw pillows into her tote bag tomorrow. She just might end up needing to sit on it on the way back from Hana.

Chapter Three

He was kissing her toes, slowly moving up her leg, kissing every inch of the way. She moaned in pleasure and anticipation. His mouth stopped at…

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The dream fell away and Valentine’s eyes flew open. Her heart pounded. Disappointment swept through her. She would wring the neck of whoever was pounding on the door. Now that she was almost totally awake she couldn’t see her dream lover, not even when she squeezed her eyes closed and tried to concentrate on his face.
Darn
! How could she relive the experience in daytime fantasy if she couldn’t recall who had starred in the dream?
Double darn. Double, double darn
!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

“Valentine? Are you ready to go?” Sam yelled, sounding impatient. “Valentine?”

Sam! Oh jeez
! In a panic, she rolled over to look at the alarm clock. Rolled over and right on off the side of the bed. She landed with a hard thud on the carpet and bumped the side of her head on the nightstand. “Owwww!” she yelped, reaching for her head.

“Are you all right? What the hell happened in there?” Sam questioned anxiously. “Valentine!”

She scrambled to her feet and hurried to answer the door. “Sorry,” she said breathlessly, rubbing her head. “Guess I forgot to set my alarm. Give me five minutes.”

He stood there, brown eyes widening, and then darkening as he stared at her sleep shirt. “
Hot, hot, hotter
? Makes me curious.” His voice had thickened, dropping into the seriously sexy area.

His crooked grin and the intensity of his look made her shiver. Then she recognized that sexy smile, that intense look.
Her dream lover
!

She backed quickly away, disgusted with her subconscious.

Then she glanced down at her shirt, not recalling which one she’d even put on last night. The words
Hot
were printed over each breast and
Hotter
was printed in a much lower place. He appeared to be trying to see through the shirt at the particular place. She groaned. Was this man ever going to see her in something decent?

“Sit. Think cold showers. Think icy rain. Think celibacy.” She motioned him toward the living room.

As she sped back to the bedroom and slammed the door, she heard him call out, “I’m not interested in any of those things, darlin’. But I’ll be thinking about that shirt all day, wondering.”

Five minutes later, true to her word, Valentine dashed out of the bathroom. In record time she’d taken care of personal things, gotten dressed, applied minimal makeup, and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. He looked stunned as she smiled smugly and grabbed the tote bag she’d prepared the night before.

When he stood from the sofa, she again thought about her plan for the day and reconsidered shoving a throw pillow into her tote. But she didn’t want to explain why she wanted to take it. Besides, there was always the chance he would be reasonable and listen to her without seeing this as interference. A chance he wouldn’t decide to apply his hand to her now twitching bottom. She was pretty certain that was a slim chance.

He glanced back at the sofa, following her gaze. “Did I drop something?”

“No!” she answered quickly and moved toward the door, not wanting him to even think about what she’d been looking at. “So, are you ready for the drive? It’s a long one, from what I’ve been told. But definitely worth the time.”

He followed her out the door and down the stairs to a Jeep he’d rented. “I’m okay with the drive. If I stayed here today, Shelby wanted me to go shopping in Lahaina for a new suit. Not getting one. I brought my own and I can’t see a good enough reason to waste money on another one.”

She stopped beside the Jeep, not necessarily waiting for him to open the door, but trying to figure out how to climb inside gracefully. At five-foot-five her legs weren’t all that long. As if he understood her dilemma, Sam opened the door and before she could figure out what he was doing, he scooped her up and set her on the high seat. She smiled. “Thanks. I was working on how to get in without falling on my face, or my bottom.”

“If you’d grow a little, you wouldn’t have these problems.” He chuckled and went around climbing in the other side. “About that bottom…I take it you’re okay today.”

“Yes, thanks for asking,” she told him in annoyance. She didn’t want to spend another second talking about the spanking he’d given her. “I’ll try and work on that whole growth thing, although I think it might be too late. Except for adding on more unwanted pounds.”

His gaze fairly sizzled as he flicked the ignition and grinned her way. “Darlin’, there’s not any unwanted pounds on that frame of yours. Not that I’ve been able to see.”

Heat flamed up her cheeks and his grin grew bigger. He hadn’t actually seen her completely naked, but he’d seen enough of her bare. She sat back and focused on the beautiful resort grounds, anything but think about what he’d said. Or think about how much she’d like to see him completely naked.

* * *

Sam enjoyed the drive, even though he hadn’t thought he would. Valentine had talked almost nonstop ever since they’d left the resort in Kaanapli. She knew the name of nearly every tree and flower they passed and took great delight in sharing her knowledge. She’d also boned up on some Maui history, which she also relayed to him with enthusiasm. It seemed she had a real thirst for knowledge and he appreciated that, since he did as well. She also liked to discuss things with others. To his surprise, he’d found himself sharing tidbits in return about the Flint Hills area in Kansas and joining in a discussion about Maui.

They were just driving northeast on Highway 36 out of Kuau and traffic had picked up a bit as they headed toward Hookipa Beach Park when her cell phone sang merrily in her tote bag. With a frown, she pulled it out, glanced at the display, and tossed it back into the bag unanswered. Whoever had called definitely upset her because she fell uncharacteristically silent.

“A problem?” He didn’t want to pry but the distress in her expression worried him.

She looked out the side window away from the ocean she’d been watching so excitedly. Her shoulders slumped. “Business.”

“Ah, I understand. Sometimes you just can’t escape it.” He concentrated on the traffic. “I’d like to go just one damn day without having to worry about the ranch.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her stiffen. “You okay?” What had he said to provoke that reaction?

She seemed to gather her thoughts and turned to face him. Tension knitted her brow; sadness filled her eyes even though she gave him a smile. “Remember that famous line ‘I have a dream’? Well, I have a dream.” She hesitated, then finally went on. “I want to expand our business by purchasing a bed and breakfast. I’d like to use it to host workshops and retreats for women recovering from bad relationships.”