Seeing Is Believing (7 page)

When she rounded the corner of her street
she was surprised to find his truck parked in front of her house. She pulled
into the driveway, waiting for the garage door to open fully before pulling
inside. When she came out he was waiting.

"You're early," she said, shaking her
head. "Why?"

"Because I missed you," he said with a
laugh.

"Ha! More like you're afraid I would
back out, and you wanted to be here early in case you had to talk me into
going."

His smile told her she'd hit the nail on
the head. "Don't
worry,
I'm going because I like Nancy
and Chester, not because of you. But I want to go inside and put some warm
clothes on first."

"You're not going to make me wait
outside, are you?"

"I'm thinking about it." She opened the
door and gestured for him to follow her. She changed into jeans and a
cable-knit sweater, making sure to put on a pair of flannel undies to fight
against the cold.

They had dinner at the Gross house, and
she was very surprised to find herself laughing and joking at some of the
things Reed said. She didn't want to like him, but as the meal progressed, she
found herself enjoying his company. He told stories of cases he'd worked on,
and how some cases were more interesting than others.

"Sort of like right now," he said with a
smile. Everyone laughed and he launched into another story about a divorcing
couple and the mischief they'd played on each other, and how he'd recorded it
as the wife's employee.

"They ended up getting back together,
which was one of the more satisfying cases I'd worked." As he talked, Leslie
glanced at Nancy,
then
realization dawned. Nancy knew
exactly who Reed was, and she knew why he was in Dante's Peak. This whole story
of coming to dinner and putting on a show for Nancy to help Reed keep his cover
was bogus.

She wanted to jump up and scream at
them, but she wasn't exactly sure what she would scream about. She was
pretending that she and Reed were together for the benefit of Nancy, who was
pretending she didn't know exactly why Reed was in their fair city. The whole
thing was pretty ridiculous, actually. But she wasn't quite sure how to broach
the situation, how to ease into the conversation without upsetting her friends.

She didn't care if she upset Reed. After
all, he was a jerk. Still, the whole situation
rankled
her and she wanted to say something. Instead she went through the entire
dinner, laughing at the appropriate times and putting in little comments that
made it seem as if she was enjoying herself, and wasn't mad about their
deception.

After dinner, she helped to clean up,
then
sat on the couch while Nancy and Chester worked in the
kitchen to pack a thermos of hot chocolate and some treats for eating during
the game.

"I know you hate me, but you could at
least pay attention to the conversation." There was amusement in Reed's voice
and she turned to him.

"I don't hate you. I despise you.
There's a difference."

His smile grew and when he leaned over
and put his lips right next to hers she refused to move. There was no way she'd
back down from him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction, she told herself.

"Keep telling yourself that. You might
actually begin to believe it." His breath was hot on her lips and sent chills
up her spine. "You like me because I spanked you."

"Humph, you're full of yourself, you
know it?" The fact he hadn't moved, that his face was still right next to hers,
made her madder. At least she hoped that was the emotion that was running
through her body.

"You needed spanking. It put some oomph
in your life, something to remind you there's more to the world than your cafe.
Something to help you interact with other people, males
specifically."

She snorted out a laugh and narrowed her
eyes.
"Really?
That's why you spanked me? I thought it
was because I was a bad girl." She pouted and put great emphasis on the last
words in the sentence. "You know, if you're looking to woo a woman, there are
ways to do it other than spanking."

"You mean like this?" He pressed
forward, his lips touching hers gently, she didn't push him away, and she
fought back the response that grew inside her. His lips were soft and warm and
he kept the kiss light, with just enough pressure to send a spark of desire
straight into her core. She balled her hands into fists, trying to concentrate
only on them, sending all her tension and feeling into her fingers, fighting to
keep from moaning and leaning into him.

He eased back just a little, their gazes
locking. She could read the longing in his eyes, the desire to reach out and
touch her. She sat ramrod still, staring at her. When he kissed her again her
stomach plummeted to her toes, making it even more difficult not to respond.
This time his lips were more demanding, the kiss more intense. His tongue
snaked out to taste her but she denied him entry, keeping her lips closed.

When he pulled back he looked down at
her as if she
were
an ice cream sundae, and he were
starving. She swallowed the desire to beg for another kiss, harder than the
last one,
then
she snarled at him.
"Don't
ever do that again."

His deep, sensuous laugh made her want
to slap him. "You liked it. And you needed it. In fact, you need more of it,
both kissing and spanking. It'll be good for you."

He strolled into the kitchen and Leslie
wanted to follow him, to smack his face and tell him she'd changed her mind and
would no longer cooperate with his little sting. Let him work from outside the
cafe, see how he liked that, and how much he could get done without access to
her backroom.

Then she traced her fingers over her
lips. She could still feel the warmth of his kiss, the soft touch of lips. The
craving intensified and she swallowed hard then shook her head to clear the
sensations. She wouldn't play his game, she wouldn't. He was a jerk who thought
he had the right to discipline her, and she'd didn't need him worming his way
into her life.

Besides, he would be leaving to go home
to Dallas after next week. Just let him try and kiss her again. He might get a
few swats of his own.

*****

On Saturday morning, Leslie went into
work at five a.m., wanting to get the jump on the baking before
Tambi
showed up for the day. It also helped take her mind
off Reed, something she'd been unable to do at home.

She'd fully expected him to try and worm
his way into her home after the football game on Friday, but he hadn't. In
fact, he'd suggested to Chester that they drop her off at home before taking
Reed back to their house to pick up his truck. The suggestion had surprised
her, and when she'd gotten home she'd checked the street every few minutes for
half an hour, fully expecting him to drive up.

The thought of kicking him to the curb
had filled her with glee, but he hadn't shown up, and she'd finally gone to
bed, thinking he'd gotten the message she wanted him to get. Because that's
what she wanted, right?

Leslie sighed heavily,
then
threw more flour onto the counter. If that's what she
wanted, why couldn't she stop thinking about him? She found out, though, that
even though she was baking, something she truly loved to do, her idea to get
her early and work him out of her system wasn't going according to plan. Reed
was still on her mind, the memory of his kiss still fresh in her mind.

She tried as hard as she could do push
it away but it just wouldn't work. She was going to have to get rid of him, for
good. Now she just had to figure out the best way to do it. She'd already put
together three batches of cinnamon rolls, using dough she'd made up on Friday,
several pies and cakes, and a few batches of cookies when
Tambi
arrived, with Reed following right behind her.

"You're not needed," she said, then
gasped when the pained look on
Tambi's
face let her
know that
Tambi
thought she'd been talking to her.
"Not you, sweetie, him.
We can handle today alone, Reed. Go
home."

Tambi
hurried to the
far side of the kitchen, and Leslie heard the words, "lover's spat," as her
friend passed her.

"There's no reason for you to be here
today, truly." She turned back to the counter, rolling out the dough for an
apple pie. She didn't want him here today, didn't want the feelings he was
arousing in her.

When he put his hands on either side of
her hips she inhaled sharply,
then
pressed harder on
the rolling pin in her hands. "Stop that."

"Are you mad because I didn't come
calling last night? If I thought you would have let me in, I would have come.
But you said you didn't want me to kiss you again, remember?"

Oh, she remembered. And she didn't want
him to kiss her. She didn't want him to touch her.

"I mean it. Leave."

"No." He moved to the other counter,
where already baked goods were cooling, and sniffed heavily, sighing in
appreciation.
"Smells delicious."

Leslie turned to him, her anger growing
with each second. She was tired of his little game, tired of him being here. He
was a complication she didn't need in her life. She hefted the rolling pin in
her hand,
then
decided it would be too much, so she
reached for a wooden spoon. While he continued to study the pastries and
goodies she'd made that morning, she crept up behind him and swatted his ass
with the spoon, savoring the sound of it hitting his jeans and the loud cry of
surprise that escaped his lips.

She knew his shock was only reason she
got off two more swats in quick succession before he jumped back and grabbed
the spoon. They struggled for control of it, both of them pulling until he
jerked it from her hand.

Leslie backed up, then picked up a
second spoon and waved it at him. "Get out of my kitchen. Get out of my cafe.
There's not another shipment due until Monday and you have absolutely no reason
to be here."

"Keep your voice down. We don't need
Tambi
learning our secrets, do we?" He advanced on her. She
expected to see anger boiling under his skin, but instead there was amusement
in his gaze. "Give me that spoon."

"No. I mean it, get out." She waved it
at him like a fencing sword and he brought up his own spoon, waving it in the
same fashion. The spoons met, the sound of them slapping together filling the
kitchen. They danced around each other, Leslie's anger building as Reed laughed
and struck out with exaggerated moves.

She lunged for him, hoping to slap the
spoon against his ass once more. Instead he grabbed it, throwing it on the
counter before grabbing her around the waist and propelling her to another
nearby counter. He put a foot on the rung,
then
hoisted her up onto his thigh, holding her with one arm.

The first crack of the spoon against her
thin slacks made her scream out in anger. By the fourth one she was yelling at
him to stop, but the spoon continue to land.

"What is going on?"
Tambi's
voice sounded from the doorway, and when she gasped, Leslie thought she would
die of embarrassment.

"Just a little spanking," Reed said,
bringing the spoon down repeatedly on her backside, the sound of it slapping
her ass filling the kitchen. "Someone needs an attitude adjustment this
morning."

"Get your hands off me you big creep!"
Leslie cried out in frustration, which grew by leaps and bounds when
Tambi
laughed softly.

"I suppose you two are having a lover's
quarrel, so I'm just
gonna
...um...go...um...up
front."

Leslie refused to scream at her to stay,
refused to show any sort of weakness. Reed gave her two more swats, then
stopped but didn't let her go.

"Are you going to behave?"

"Are you kidding me?" She kicked at him,
screaming when the spoon hit her ass cheek. "You deserved it and I'd do it
again!"

"I guess that means I need to hide all
the wooden spoons in here, huh?" He released her so suddenly that she almost
fell. She wheeled on him, ready to lash out but he'd already walked across the
room, scooping up the spoon she'd used to swat him and then strolling from the
kitchen as if nothing had happened.

She stared after him, shock filling her
system. He'd spanked her in front of
Tambi
. What was
next? Or did she want to know? First her friends had set them up as dinner
dates, pushing them together, and now
Tambi
had seen
him disciplining her like he had the right to. The situation was getting way
out of hand.

After washing her hands, Leslie hurried
to the door separating the kitchen from the main part of the cafe.
Tambi
was there, waiting on a full house, mostly people who
were stopping by for a quick bite to eat before heading to Amarillo for the
day. That was the usually weekend situation. The tourists showed up to travel
to Blade, and the locals went to the big city to do some shopping.