Not Really the Outdoor Type(6)

“You’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you?” he demanded.

She stared up at him, mouth open. “Wh-what? No!”

He lifted a brow. “No one could screw up this much unless they were doing it on purpose. What, is this is your way of trying to get back at me for something you think I did to you in high school?”

What the heck was he talking about? “You really need to get over yourself. I barely even remember you from high school, much less anything you might have done.” She tried to yank free of his grip, but his hand only tightened on her arm. “Let go of me. Unless you don’t want me to pick up these stupid things.”

“Oh, you’re going to pick them up, all right,” he growled. “After we get something straight.”

Kendall frowned, about to ask him what he meant by that when Jason suddenly bent her over at the waist, his strong arm holding her in place.

She craned her neck to look at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Helping you focus on you work,” he ground out.

“Focus? What?” she began, only to let out a startled little, “Oh!” of surprise when she felt him give her ass a hard smack. “What are you doing?”

“I told you,” he said, giving the seat of her tight jeans another smack, harder this time. “I’m helping you focus. Since you said you didn’t make all those mistakes on purpose, I have to assume that means you’re not paying attention to your job. Maybe a spanking will help you keep your mind on what you’re supposed to be doing.”

Jason punctuated every other word with a sharp slap. Even through the jeans, the spanks stung, and Kendall found herself letting out a cry of protest after each and every one. She couldn’t believe he was actually spanking her. She was adult, not some child he needed to discipline because she’d been bad.

She squirmed in his grasp. “Let me go, damn you!”

She didn’t know if it was her shrill demand, or if he simply thought she’d been sufficiently punished, but just as quickly as the spanking had begun, it was over, and she was upright again, Jason’s tall form looming over her. Speechless, Kendall cupped her stinging derriere in her hands and stared up at him in disbelief.

“Remember that spanking when you’re having trouble keeping your mind on your work next time, or I’ll do it again” he warned.

Kendall opened her mouth, then closed it. Great. Now, she probably looked like a Copper Canyon river trout. Dammit.

As if the spanking had never happened at all, Jason picked up the rack she’d knocked down, then began scooping up the little floaty things and putting them back in the correct bins.

Kendall stood where she was, watching him work and trying to decide if she should leave. But for some reason, her feet wouldn’t move. After a moment, she kneeled down to help. Not that she could think of one good reason why she should help him. After what he’d just done, she felt like picking up the plastic balls and pelting him with them instead. Then again, maybe not. That’d probably be a spankable offense in Jason’s book. Not that he was ever going to get the chance to spank her again because right after she finished picking up these stupid little balls, she was quitting.




What the hell had he been thinking, spanking Kendall like that? He’d be lucky she didn’t run to the cops and report him for assault.

Knocking over the rack of floats was the last straw, though. Between coming up short on the register, arguing with a customer about hunting and marking the leather gun cases with the wrong price, he’d had enough of her incompetence.

But a spanking? What was he, a damn caveman?

No, just a guy who’d had a girlfriend in college who liked him to spank her for being “naughty.” Yeah, well warming a woman’s ass during some roleplaying fantasy was completely different than doing it for real, especially when it was one of his employees.

He stole a look at Kendall as he fished for a float that had rolled under a shelf. She was focused on picking up the red and white balls, her face unreadable. He knew he should apologize for spanking her, but right now he wasn’t sure he trusted himself enough to speak. He was still too pissed off.

Thankfully, the phone rang. He normally wouldn’t have answered it since it was after closing, but he practically vaulted over the counter to grab it before whoever it was hung up.

“Outdoor Outfitters.”

“I was afraid you’d already be closed. A few of my buddies and I are looking to sign up for one of your fly-fishing tours.”

Jason reached for the mouse and opened the computer’s calendar program. “Um, yeah, sure. When are you looking at going?”