“No pouting, Katie Kat,” I say warningly. “Daddy doesn’t allow pouting.”
Her eyes flash at me, and she actually sticks her tongue out at me like a spoiled little brat. I’ve got her up in the air and over my knee in no time, sitting heavily on the hay bale as I drag her over my lap. I give her one hard smack, and she screams.
“Put me down, Darius Morrow. Don’t you dare!”
That earns her another few good cracks.
“Stop being so stubborn and listen to me,” I say, my hand hovered to spank again.
“No! I heard what I heard. You played these games with Tiffany.” She scissors her legs. “Put me down! Did she call you daddy, too? Hmm?”
I give her another sharp smack. “Stop being so petulant and listen to me.” She bucks on my lap at the next swat.
“Are you just going to spank me until I listen?” she says furiously. That earns her another spank.
I adjust her over my lap. “Yes.”
She finally slumps over my knee. “Fine, then,” she sniffles. “Fine! What do you have to say?”
Now we’re getting somewhere.
“I’m sorry she’s here. I wish she wasn’t. If I knew she was still as sour as a lemon I never would’ve brought you. In fact, if there was a hotel within twenty miles of here, I’d take you there right this very minute.”
She’s sniffling. “You would?”
I rest my hand on the heated swell of her ass.
“You’re damn right I would.”
“I just thought—”
“I’m not finished.”
She sighs, and her voice is softer this time. “Go on.”
“She’s my ex, and of course you know what that means; I don’t tolerate disrespect. But I never did anything with her like I’ve done with you. Once I brought up the daddy thing. And she called me a pervert and told me to fuck myself. And I knew she wasn’t the girl for me. That’s when we broke up.”
Katie sighs. “She said that? I’m sorry. What a bitch.”
I actually chuckle at that. “Yeah, baby,” I say. “Exactly.”
I lift her onto my lap and hold her against me. I take her chin between my fingers and lift her gaze to mine. “What we have is special, baby. I promise you. You’re special to me.”
What are we doing here? I hired her for a job, and I’ve crossed that damn line.
“But I… but you…” her voice trails off, and her eyes are on my lips. She looks summarily chastened and pleased. “I’m sorry.”
I bend my mouth to hers and brush my lips over hers. She sighs and places her hand palm-down on my chest. I wrap my fingers around the back of her neck, wild possession thrumming through me.
I want to conquer this woman. She’s shown signs of jealousy, and it’s inspired jealous thoughts of my own. I want her, all of her, and I don’t want anything to come between us. Not contracts or ex-girlfriends or fears about what’s next. She trusts me. I don’t want to betray that trust.
“Darius!” Gran shouts from just outside the barn. We break our kiss and scramble to our feet, brushing hay off of each other.
“Oh, there you two are!” Gran says with a wicked grin. She knows exactly what she’s doing. “I need some help stringing these lights up. I’ve got the ladder set up and did a few, but I’ve got lots more to do. Help an old lady?”
“No,” I say firmly. “I’m doing it for you. Don’t you dare get up that ladder again.”
Gran rolls her eyes. “I’m not going to fall.”
“Said literally every person who fell off a ladder, ever,” I say firmly.
She rolls her eyes at Katie. “Always a bossy one.”
“Tell me about it,” Katie mutters back.
I string up the lights while Katie works with Gran in the kitchen. We’ve tried telling her a dozen times or more that it’s her party and to let us arrange things, but honest to God she likes being busy. She likes doing things. So I let them, even though a part of me feels guilty.
Is it wrong that I’ve introduced them to each other like this? Will it hurt Gran when Katie goes home?
Will it hurt me? Jesus, I don’t want this to end. But how can a guy like me give someone like her what she needs? Have I been lying to myself all these years, telling myself that I don’t want to settle down, that I’m happy alone, and that I enjoy one-night stands and nothing more?
Or was it just that I’d never met the right girl?
That I hadn’t yet met... her.
I tear my gaze from her face, pushing these thoughts from my mind and focus on the task at hand. Lights are strung up in the back, music filters through speakers, and catered food lines tables. Katie and I go to our separate rooms to change quickly just before the first guests arrive.