The Intruder (11 page)

"It wasn't how I saw us beginning, either," she admitted. "I know you love me, Jake, and I know I was wrong today. I'll be more careful from now on."

"Thanks, baby. I couldn't bear losing you now that I've found you," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Am I permitted to seduce you now?" she asked hopefully.

"I really wish you would," he begged. "I want my wife so badly I ache, but if you're too sore, or too upset, I won't insist. It's your call, sweetheart."

"I ache, too, but it's because I need to feel forgiven, Jake."

He smiled and easily lifted her in his arms and carried her to their bedroom. Since they both wanted the same thing, there was no sense in denying either of them.

* * *

"You aren't to leave the office for any reason, Kari. Not for lunch, not in a group, not to run an errand for your boss. You are to stay there, inside your offices, until I come to pick you up. If something comes up, call me right away. Do you have any questions, or want me to repeat the rules?" he asked, his tone full of concern.

"I understand, Jacob," she smiled at him, and then said, "You've repeated the rules at least four times now," she teased lightly.

"I don't want to let you out of my sight," he admitted. "I really wish you would consider taking a leave of absence," he asked her once more.

"I don't want to lose my job, darling," she got up to get the coffee pot and pour another cup of coffee for him, and for herself, and to give her sore bottom a brief respite from the chair, which desperately needed a soft cushion. "Mr. McCrady took a chance on me when I was new in town and just fresh out of college, and I don't want to repay him by leaving him in the lurch. He has been so patient while I was ill, and I'm anxious to get back to work and prove to him that he didn't make a mistake by hiring me, Jake." She was repeating herself, too. "I promise I will not leave the office for any reason. I will order lunch in, or ask one of the others to bring me something. I won't run any errands, which is something I'm never asked to do anyway, and I will stay inside the office until you personally arrive to pick me up. If there is any problem at all, I will call you immediately. I don't have any desire to upset you or worry you, Jake, and I do not plan to earn another spanking for a very long time. My bottom is very sore, and I am delighted that my desk chair is very well padded," she added virtuously. "I'm not a child, honey; I understand the danger now."

Jake nodded. "I love you, sweetheart, and I'll try not to be controlling."

"We'll find our way," she leaned down and kissed him, and then started clearing their dishes. "Drink your coffee, please. I don't want to be late my first day back," she said in an exaggeratedly bossy manner that made him chuckle.

"You just sounded like Ma!" he teased.

"I love her to pieces," she admitted with a grin.

Jake locked the house tight and then drove his wife to work. Kari was surprised when he parked his car and walked her inside. She'd expected to be dropped off in front of the office, but that wasn't Jake's style. He took protecting her quite serious, and he wanted to see where she worked and see the office that was hers. Kari proudly introduced him to all of her co-workers, and then she knocked on Mr. McCrady's office door, and when he said, "Come in," she took Jake inside to meet her boss.

Jake decided he liked the older man, and he explained why he was concerned for Kari's safety. Mr. McCrady assured Jake that he would personally see to it that Kari wasn't left alone in the offices, and he promised to be wary of any calls from prospective new clients. He explained to Jake that he personally did all of the interviewing and then assigned clients to the account managers. Jake nodded in understanding, and when he kissed Kari goodbye a few minutes later he felt a bit better about leaving her at work. He thought her job sounded pretty darn boring, but he knew better than to tell her that. She loved her job.

Kari was relieved to settle into her office to work. She had a lot of work to do in order to get caught up, and she applied herself, stopping only to go to the break room to refill her coffee cup a few times, and to give her sore tush a break from sitting, even though her chair was well padded and normally as comfortable as could be. Kari discovered her mug was empty yet again, and she got up to go and get another refill. She heard someone crying, and peeked inside the break room to see that Violet was standing in front of the window looking outside and trying to hide the fact she was crying.

"Violet...? What's wrong; can I help?" Kari offered, shutting the door to the break room.

"No... I don't think anyone can help," she whispered sadly. "I've decided to divorce Jerry."

"Oh no...!" Kari said. "I thought your marriage was wonderful...?"

"I thought so, too, until yesterday." Violet turned to look at Kari and said, "Do you remember when I told you at the Mall I needed to hurry and get home because Jerry would be upset...?" Kari nodded. "Well, I hurried a bit too much and I got a speeding ticket, and it made me even later getting home, and Jerry..." she started crying again.

Kari went into the bathroom and came back with a tissue for Violet. "Was he very angry?" Violet nodded. "Because you were so late?" Kari questioned, trying to understand the problem.

"No. He said the baby was good, and he enjoyed the time alone with him. He was upset over the speeding ticket. It was my second one this month," she confessed.

"Was he angry about the money?" Kari guessed again, and was surprised when she shook her head 'no'.

"Well, he wasn't happy about the money... or the fact that our car insurance is going to go up... but that wasn't the main reason he was so angry with me."

"He doesn't want you to have an accident and get hurt..." Kari said in a soothing voice, knowing full well that Jake would be upset with her if she got two speeding tickets. He took her safety seriously, and she probably wouldn't be able to sit down once he got done telling her how he felt about driving irresponsibly. "Ohhhhhh," she whispered, looking at Violet. "What happened, Violet? Did he scold?"

"It was worse than that, Kari. He... he... he struck me," she whispered, her face turning scarlet with embarrassment. "I never thought he would abuse me, but he did!"

"Did he use his fists on you?" I was confused. Why would a man who was concerned about his wife being injured because of speeding hurt her? It didn't make sense.

"No," she said, and then said, "He treated me like a child and spanked me. I'm too sore to sit down today!" she confided. "Kari, I never thought Jerry was the type of man to do something so awful."

"Violet, did you talk to him about this?" I asked.

"No! I told him to get out before I called the police and had him arrested. I locked myself in the baby's room until he left. I don't want to talk to him."

"If you talked to him, Violet, he would probably tell you that he spanked you because he loves you."

Violet looked at Kari and said, "What? How is that loving?"

"Jake says that a marriage can't survive without loving discipline. Jerry didn't really hurt you, did he? I mean, he turned you over and spanked your bottom, but he didn't hit your face, or strike you with his fist... He scolded you and said he didn't want you hurt in a car accident, right?" Violet nodded. "If you wouldn't have run to the baby's room, he probably would have held you afterwards and told you how much he loves you... enough to spank you when you earn a spanking."

"You don't think a spanking is abusive?" Violet asked me.

"No. I think it's another way of showing love." Kari waited a minute or two and then said, "Violet, if I got a speeding ticket, I can almost guarantee that Jake would make sitting impossible for a day or two." Kari smiled at Violet's shocked expression. "In fact, he would spank for my going shopping for over four hours and leaving my cell phone in the car... after I was told to go straight home and get some rest."

"Oh my! You're sore, too?" she asked.

Kari nodded. "I am assured I am very much loved, and I am guessing that you are very much loved, too, Violet. Why don't you call Jerry and talk to him. Give him a chance to tell you that. Crying and thinking of divorce isn't nearly as much fun as making up and knowing that you are tender because he wants to protect you."

Violet swiped at her eyes and nodded. "I'll call him, Kari. Oh, please, don't tell anyone else. I'm so embarrassed!"

"Now that I can understand and appreciate. I don't want anyone to know either." Kari quickly filled her coffee mug, added creamer, and then hurried back to her office.

A short while later, there was a tap on her door and Violet came in, smiling happily, the sparkle back in her eyes. "I had to come and tell you that you were right, Kari. Jerry said to tell you 'thanks' from him, too. He said he was planning to give me today to calm down, and then he was going to come and turn me over his knee again and spank me until I listened to him! I'm so grateful that isn't going to happen now," she giggled. Kari reassured her she was happy she could help, and Violet went back to work, a happy smile on her face.

Kari was busy until she looked up to see Jake standing in the doorway. One look at his face told her that he wasn't pleased. "Come with me now, Kari," he said firmly.

Chapter Eight

"What's wrong, Jake?" Kari asked, getting to her feet.

"Darles knows you work here," Jake said shortly.

"But, how...?"

"Let's go, honey. It isn't safe for you to be here right now," Jake's voice was stern, and Kari didn't argue with him.

"I need to tell Mr. McCrady," she said quietly.

"I already spoke to him, sweetheart. We're leaving right now." He took her arm and marched her out of the offices and Kari wanted to cry. She tried to hide the fact from Jacob, but he was too perceptive, at least where she was concerned. Once she was safely buckled in, he reached across the seat and took her hand. "I'm sorry, Kari. I know this is hard on you, and I blame myself."

"Why? It's not your fault, and if you tell me that you started it all by dropping into my apartment, may I remind you that I might have died if you hadn't... and even worse than dying, my darling, would be not meeting you at all! I love you, and right now I'm acting like a big baby, feeling sorry for myself! I'm pouting!" she made a face, even as she reached into her handbag for the packet of tissues she kept inside. She took one out and dabbed at her eyes.

Jake couldn't help chuckling, but he said, "I love you, too, sweetheart, and once this is all over, I'm going to take you on a real honeymoon."

"Really?" Kari asked.

"Really. Where would you like to go?" he asked of her.

"I don't have a clue," she admitted.

"I have a few places I don't want to go," he frowned. "Would you like to go to Paris... or Rome?"

"No. I would rather do something right here in the States. There are so many wonderful places I've never been. I'd be perfectly happy with a cabin in the mountains, Jacob."

"Which mountains?" he asked with a grin.

"I don't care, just as long as I'm with you," she told him, meaning every word.

"I'll surprise you, then," he said with a smile.

"That will be fun," she nodded in satisfaction, and then asked, "Where are we going, Jake?"

"Nevin and Kelly Wintrow own a farm; it was Kelly's grandparents' and she inherited it a couple years ago. No one is living in the house right now, and you are going to stay there with Kelly until I deal with this situation and put Darles behind bars."

"How did you find out that he knew where I work?" she asked, and felt a twinge of fear when Jake's face reflected his outrage and anger.

"He sent me a message." Jake wasn't about to tell Kari that the message was delivered via email, and contained an attachment of photos of her sitting at her desk working. Darles had someone in the next building shooting photos through the window... The camera could just as easily have been a gun! Jake was crazy with fear until he got to her office and pulled her out of there. Darles knew he was a cop... and that put the rest of his family in danger, too. He'd warned all of them to be especially careful, and insisted his sister come home from school. Jenna wasn't happy, but Jase went to bring her home, and if she didn't settle down and stay with Ma, Jake was going to put her over his knee and straighten her out fast... if Jase didn't beat him to it, and that was likely to happen if she cursed at him the way she did Jake when he called her to tell her to get packed up.

"Jacob Tobias, do you remember a conversation we had about honesty and not keeping me in the dark for 'my own good'? I'm not a child, and you are hiding things from me..."

He looked at her, and then nodded. "I just want to protect you, but you're right, sweetheart. You have a right to know what is going on, especially since it concerns you and your safety. That bastard Darles had pictures of you sitting at your desk working. They were taken this morning. He emailed them to me... along with the reminder that the camera could have been a gun. He wants you alive."

"To sell me," she shuddered.

"Or abuse you to hurt me," Jake said quietly. "I want you to be extremely careful, Kari. You need to mind Kelly, and let her do her job. She'll keep you safe as long as you do what she says."

"I'm not exactly helpless myself," Kari informed him. "I might not be a police officer, but Dad made sure I took some self-defense classes."

"I hope it doesn't come down to that, sweetheart," Jake said. "I'm going to catch the bastard and put him away. I have enough evidence to make the charges stick, and we have a warrant for his arrest. All you need to do is stay out of sight. Can I trust you, sweetheart?" he asked meaningfully.

"Implicitly," she nodded. "Don't even let your mind stray where it's going," she warned. "I do not need another spanking for any reason ever again!" she assured him, her voice emphatic.

"Pretty sore, huh?" he asked sympathetically.

"Oh yeah!" she admitted, her cheeks turning a bright pink with embarrassment.

"That doesn't make me happy," he told her. "Do you believe that?" It was important to him that she not fear him, or think him an ogre.