Lessons for Lexi (9 page)

She limped across the room and to his
bathroom quietly. Lexi blinked as the harsh fluorescent light assaulted her
eyes as soon as she flicked it on. She was immediately confronted with her nude
reflection. She looked exhausted, but relaxed. The tension around her eyes and
forehead was gone. JT was better for her complexion than Botox. She flinched
and turned sideways to view her backside. He might be great for her complexion,
but he was murder on her ass.

Her backside wasn’t as embarrassingly
red as it had been the night before. It was still a healthy shade of pink and
there were some red marks, especially when she’d been hit with the belt, but it
didn’t look like it was going to bruise.

She decided would have to talk to JT.
If she was going to have a relationship with him, he needed to lay off the
discipline. Once or twice was fine to experiment, but she wasn’t getting yanked
over his knee or made to stand in a corner every time she said a dirty word.
She rubbed her bottom and turned in surprise as the bathroom door opened.

“Doesn’t look that bad,” JT appraised
her bottom lazily. He caught her by the waist and pulled her close. “Did I
bruise anywhere else I can’t see?” He nuzzled her neck and she laughed.

“If you take a shower with me you can
check.” Lexi let out a laughing shriek as JT picked her up to carry her in the
shower. She decided she would talk to him about the discipline thing later.

***

JT slid Alex a look from the driver’s
seat as he took her back to Althea’s home. He had a few things at the office to
do, but when he was done he was returning to see Alex. He was keeping her.

JT had felt guilty ever since Alex’s
first spanking over how his desire was cheating on Faith.
His
Faith, who’d been with him for years.
They were comfortable together,
though it seemed they rarely saw each other anymore. But they were a good
couple. Sure, he’d had other women on the side, a fact that Faith knew and
overlooked. But with Alex, it felt different.

It took one night of living out every
fantasy he’d ever had with Alex to make him realize that good wasn’t good
enough. He wanted more. He wanted what he had with Alex.
The
night before had been the best night of his life.
Alex’s mix of
inexperience and enthusiasm had been refreshing and arousing. The fact that he
got to discipline her was the icing on the cake. He was looking forward to the
next time she broke the rules very much.

Unfortunately, Alex still didn’t know
about Faith and Faith didn’t know about Alex. He was hoping he’d be able to end
things with Faith quickly before Alex ever found out. She wasn’t due back in
town from her sales conference until the following day, but he hoped they’d be
able to end things amicably with her. They’d had a good run, but she couldn’t
live up to the fantasy that was Alex.

He snuck another look at her. It was a
shame she’d had to put clothes on. He’d waited until the last possible minute
to let her. She was wearing the same outfit he’d made her strip out of the
night before. The thought of her undressing got him going again and he shifted
uncomfortably.

JT sighed as he reached Althea’s house
and they pulled into the driveway. “How long do you have to be at this thing?”

“All day, we’re making center pieces.”
Alex sighed and focused on the horizon. “Will you come by later?”

“Someone has to keep an eye on you.” He
caught her hand and tugged her towards him to give her a long thorough kiss
before pulling back. “I’ll come by as soon as I’m done at the office.”

***

Lexi had a dilemma. She wanted to be
pretty for when JT came back, but she didn’t want to be so pretty that she gave
herself away. She compromised by pulling her hair back tight and tucking her
ears underneath it so they didn’t stick out. The conservative hairstyle helped
to tone down the brightness of her hair. She compromised by wearing only
lipstick and a simple sundress that she’d picked up on a WalMart clearance
rack.

“Please tell me you aren’t developing a
crush,” Raj asked her from where he was splayed out on her bed, watching her
primp.

Lexi toyed with a bobby pin. “Why would
you say that?”

“I haven’t seen you have this much fun
getting dressed up since your last court date.”

Lexi smoothed a stray hair. “That judge
was cute.”

“I’m being serious Lexi,” Raj met her
eyes in the vanity mirror as he sat up. “Getting involved with JT Hussner is an
incredibly bad idea.”

Lexi stared at the vanity table in
front of her and didn’t respond. A few days ago, she would have agreed with
him. But after the night she’d had with JT, she was hooked. His gentleness in
bed, coupled with his harshness earlier had her feeling strangely connected to
him.
Almost protected by him.
Which
seemed strange, because if anything, she needed protecting from him.
But
it was almost as if he had done what he’d done to her because he cared. “It’s
fine. Nothing is going on.”

“Then where were you all night?”

“I told you, I went to see a friend.”
She turned around. “You guys got the pot plants moved, right?” If she never saw
those horrible things again, it would be fine with her.

“Yeah,” Raj stood. “Pennypinch moved
them to just off a hiking trail on the 3
^rd
acre out. JT will never
find them.”

Lexi shifted on her still sore bottom
and let out a little whimper. Sitting all day was going to be torture. JT told
her that he’d hold her personally responsible if he found anything on the
grounds. She wasn’t fully comfortable, because technically, where they moved
the plants had been on the grounds, even if it was highly unlikely to be found.
Unlikely wasn’t enough when the safety of her backside was at stake. “Do they
have to be on the ranch?”

“They’ll be gone soon enough.
Pennypinch is planning to hit Hemp Fest in Tucson next week.”
 

“Thank god,” Lexi pushed herself up
from her chair. She was still walking with a slight limp. Both the punishment
and the sex had left her muscles sore. She walked to Raj. “You’re not really
going to wear a ‘Got Crabs?’ T-shirt to this thing
are
you?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Raj, it’s for the ladies auxiliary
party planning committee.” She picked up one of her pillows and gave him a
gentle whack. “For once, live up to your stereotype. Go change into something
tight, preferably shiny.”

Raj sighed and heaved himself off her
bed to go to his room and change his shirt. Lexi gave herself another final
look in the mirror. She wasn’t as blindingly pretty as the pictures on the
billboards, but she was a vast improvement over what she had been. With a final
pat to her hair, she bounced out the door off to wait for JT to arrive.

Twenty minutes later, she was still
waiting. She sat at the table, struggling to tie a ribbon around a bunch of peonies.
Seven other women were there and they were taking turns grilling Lexi about her
background.

“Who are your people, dear?” A frizzy
haired woman in her mid-fifties peered at her suspiciously from across the
table.

Lexi tensed. “What do you mean?”

“Your face.
I swear I’ve
seen it before. Who’s your family?”

“No one
special.”

“Where are you from?”

Lexi kept it vague.
“New England.”

The woman shook her head. “No, that’s
can’t be it. Where did you go to college?”

“Nowhere
you’d
know.” Lexi gave the woman interrogating
her an
apologetic smile and shrugged. “I might just have on of those faces.”

The woman did not appear to be
impressed with her pedigree. Lexi sighed and continued to struggle with the
ribbon. The front doorbell rang and her heart quickened. “I’ll get it.” It was
a relief to leave the table and she was hoping it was JT anyway.

It wasn’t. Instead, it was a blond,
trophy wife type. The woman pushed her way in before Lexi could even open the
door the entire way. “I didn’t know Althea got a new housekeeper.” She gave
Lexi an almost disdainful look as she tossed her wrap at her. “Put that away
would you. I’ll show myself in.”

Lexi turned on her heal and went to
dump the woman’s shawl off on the front closet floor. “Oops,” she muttered as
she stepped on it on purpose. It had been a long time since she’d taken such an
immediate dislike to someone.

She went back to her seat, only to find
the new arrival occupying it. She sighed and crossed the table, being forced to
drag a chair up to the brown haired woman who’d grilled her earlier.

“Hello Faith,” Althea addressed the
woman from her seat at the table. Althea was strangely good at making the bouquet
centerpieces they were working on. When Lexi had asked, she’d laughed and
stated she’d been doing them since she was a girl. She knew what they were
supposed to feel like.

“Why, Ms. Hussner,” Faith’s voice was
syrupy sweet. “How did you know it was me?”

“Your perfume dear, I could smell you
from the driveway.” Lexi choked a little and the frizzy haired woman let out a
giggle.
 
“Nothing
against it of course.
I’ve just been extra sensitive since the loss of
my vision.”

“Of course,” Faith
responded
,
her voice less sweet. She locked eyes with Lexi. “So who’s the new
girl?”

“That’s Alex, she’s my companion.”

“Oh?” Faith looked around.
“Probably a good idea, with you living in such a large home and
all.
Of course, when you decide to move out, JT and I are ready to step
in and take it over for you.”

Lexi tensed at the mention of JT’s
name.

Althea expertly curled a ribbon and placed
the finished bouquet on the table. “I already offered it to JT. He turned me
down.”

“What?” Faith shook her head. “I’ll
talk to him about it.” She gave an admiring glance to the sitting room they
were working in. “If we’re going to start a family soon, this is where I want
to do it.”

“I wouldn’t be changing the drapes just
yet dear.” Althea let out a small smile, “I find I’m enjoying it much more now
that I have Alex and Radford.”

Lexi gave a weak smile at the
complement, but her heart wasn’t in it. JT was starting a family with someone?
After the night he’d just had with her?” Her fingers trembled and she dropped
the bouquet on the floor. “Sorry.” She bent down to retrieve it and let out a
tiny squeak of pain. Her backside was still killing her. Only, now it was no
longer slightly arousing. Instead, it was infuriating.
 
He hadn’t done it because he cared. He didn’t
care about her at all. He was just a kinky freak who was cheating on his
girlfriend with the help. That thought was too much. Lexi shot out of her
chair. “Excuse me a minute.”

She ignored Raj’s look as she hurried
from the room. No one else even noticed she was gone. Lexi took the stairs two
at a time and had just made it to her bedroom door when she ran into the last
person in the world she wanted to see.

“Figured I’d
find you up here.”
JT crowded against her as she turned the knob to her door.
“Great minds think alike.” He started to follow her in and Lexi shoved him.

“Stay the hell away from me.”

“Excuse me?” JT shoved his way past the
door she was trying to close in his face. “What’s gotten in to you?” He caught
her wrist and started to drag her closer. Lexi yanked it free and then, when he
grabbed at her again, slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

The sight of her palm print on his face
was incredibly satisfying. JT’s jaw was tense and his eyes were furious. She shrieked
as he caught her by the elbow and yanked her towards the bed. “Let me go!”

Instead, he sat and yanked her across
his lap. “I can’t even leave you alone for an hour without you needing an
attitude adjustment.” He flipped up her dress and started to yank down her
panties.

“I’ll tell your girlfriend.”

Her panties stopped at mid-thigh.
“What?”

 
“What? Forgot about Faith?
Because
you certainly forgot to tell me about her when you were fucking me.”
JT’s grip loosened and she shoved herself off his lap, yanking her panties up
and her dress back into place. Her stomach was starting to burn with pain.

“How did you know about her?”

Lexi’s stomach clenched again. “So it’s
true.”

“Look, Alex, I meant to tell you.” JT
raked a hand through his hair and Lexi’s heart broke at his admission. “Just,
things got a little out of hand last night. I was planning to talk to you about
it today, before she got back.”

“Back?”

“She was at a conference.”

Lexi crossed her arms, her chest tight.
She was relieved that she didn’t have any tears. Instead, her stomach, which
hadn’t acted up in days, twisted in knots. “She lives with you?”