She’d been attracted to Jason in high school because he’d seemed so much more masculine than the other guys in her class, even at eighteen. For some reason, though, the men she’d dated since then were the complete opposite of Jason. Was that why none of those relationships had worked out? Because none of her boyfriends had been man enough to spank her?
She groaned. How could she be a modern, independent woman and submissive at the same time? The two should be mutually exclusive, shouldn’t they? The hell if she knew. The one thing she did know was that she couldn’t walk away from Jason. If she did, she’d regret it the rest of her life.
Switching off the television, she tossed the remote onto the coffee table and went into the bedroom. Pulling on jeans and a T-shirt, she slipped her feet into a pair of sandals, then grabbed her purse and hurried out the door.
Jason lived in a log cabin home on the lake just outside of town. Pulling into the driveway, she parked beside his SUV and got out. But instead of knocking on the door, she stood on the porch. Now that she was here, her courage began to falter. Confronting Jason had seemed like a good idea back in her cozy cabin.
She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
When he didn’t answer right away, Kendall was tempted to run back to the car and speed off before he ever knew she’d been there. But that would be cowardly. She reached for bell again when the porch light turned on and the door opened.
Jason was dressed in jeans, his feet bare, his shirt unbuttoned and his dark hair damp from the shower. Kendall didn’t think she’d ever seen a guy look sexier.
“Kendall.” He clearly sounded surprised to see her. “Come in.”
Wishing she could calm her pounding heart, Kendall stepped into the entryway. The house might look like a log cabin on the outside, but inside it wasn’t rustic at all. In fact, it was surprisingly contemporary.
“Can I get you something?” Jason asked, coming up behind her.
Kendall turned to see him buttoning up his shirt. She stared at his washboard abs and muscular chest as if transfixed by them. It was all she could do not to reach out and run her hands over him.
“No, thanks. I’m fine,” she said. “Actually, I came to…” To find out if these crazy things I’m feeling for you are real. “Get you up to speed on what’s been happening at the store the while you were gone.”
Not exactly how she’d planned to start the conversation, but it was better than staring at him like a lovesick schoolgirl. “I think you’re going to need to order some more of those meals in a bag. We sold a lot of those.”
Meals in a bag? God, that was lame.
Jason folded his arms to regard her curiously. “I was kind of surprised to see you at the store when I got back.”
Kendall shrugged. “I know you needed someone to watch the store, so…”
“I appreciate it. Thank you.”
She toyed with the shoulder strap of her purse, waiting for him to continue. Unfortunately, Jason made no further attempt at conversation. Which meant it was up to her.
Kendall took a deep breath and plunged in. “That wasn’t the only reason I came back to work. I…I was worried about you.”
“Sheriff Atwater told me.”
She blushed. Crap. What had the man told Jason? “He probably thinks I’m an alarmist.”
Jason’s mouth quirked. “An alarmist would have called in the National Guard.”
Kendall laughed. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
“You didn’t need to worry about me, you know,” Jason said. “I was fine.”
“But I didn’t know that then. I kept imagining all sorts of horrible things. If you knew how worried I was…”
He frowned. “Wait a minute. Did I miss something? Because the other night you couldn’t stand the sight of me.”
“I know, but you just spanked me and…” Did he know how hard he was making this? “I was mad at you, okay? But when you didn’t come back when you said you would and I thought something had happened to you, I realized how much I cared about you.”
Jason said nothing. Unfortunately, his expression gave nothing away, so she had no idea what he was thinking. Then again, maybe his silence was answer enough. Maybe he wasn’t as interested in her as she was in him.
Her eyes burned. Crap. Now, she was going to start crying. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come…”
She started for the door, but Jason caught her arm. He used his other hand to tilt her face up to his. What she saw in his eyes made her catch her breath.
“I’m glad you came.” His voice was a husky caress in her ear. “I’ve been driving myself crazy these past couple days trying to come up with something I could do or say that’d make you forgive me for spanking you. All I could come up with was the promise that I won’t do it again. Please tell me that’s enough.”