How Cassie Got Her Grind Back (13 page)

Bunny put a hand on her shoulder, but Cassie held up the other hand, halting her from speaking.

This was not how he wanted to introduce her to his sadistic tendencies. But even though it meant she might walk away, he owed her complete honesty and openness. “Yes, I gave her one hard swat across the derriere with a leather strap, with Joseph’s approval.”

She gulped and then firmed her jaw. “Did you enjoy it?”

He closed his eyes for a second, knowing this was it. They’d never even had a chance, thanks to him. “Yes.”

She picked up her purse from the table and slung it on her shoulder. “Right. Thank you for being honest. I need to go home.”

Grace touched her shoulder and said, “Cassie, don’t do this. Don’t make this mistake. You don’t understand.”

Cassie held up that staying hand again, without looking at her friend. “I need time to process this. You’ll ride back to Morehead with your brother?” she asked of Ivan, who sat in stoic silence and then nodded.

“Cassie, please,” Bunny pleaded softly, after checking with Joseph. “Please let me tell you the rest. It’s not what you think.”

Cassie shook her head as she rifled in her purse for her keys. “What I’m thinking right now is that I’ve been dominated by men all my life. I’ve been talked down to, ordered around like a servant, told what to do and what not to do, lied to, cheated on, and I might’ve been spanked as a small child, but at least none of them ever wanted to
beat
on me. I’m not ready to cater to a man who wants that, much less to inflict pain for his own pleasure.”

Samson caught Ivan’s eyes and said, “Go with her. She shouldn’t be alone right now.”

Cassie shook her finger. “No. ‘Alone’ is exactly what I need right now, and I don’t need you
handling
this situation.”

Samson reached for her hand, but she backed out of his reach. “But you’re upset. I’m thinking of your safety, not bossing you around, Cassandra.”

“The two of you are a package deal. That wouldn’t be fair.” Her chin wobbled, and hurt filled her eyes before she slipped through the crowd and hurried toward the door. Even mad at him, she was still soft hearted.

Grace hurried off after her, while Samson reeled, attempting to process the last couple of minutes. When she returned, she said, “Mike said he would make sure she got into her car and on her way safely.”

Samson turned to Bunny and counted to ten as she quailed before him and Joseph, not looking afraid so much as worried on his behalf. Bunny took Samson’s hand in her smaller ones and said, “Sir, I’m very sorry. I didn’t bring up what happened between us my first night at the club. I was explaining about Master Joseph’s clicker,” she said, glancing her husband’s way, including the title in there like she was hoping there wasn’t a punishment spanking in this for her. “And she must’ve extrapolated on what I said and drew her own conclusions. She point-blank asked me if you had ever spanked me. And…”

Joseph stroked her shoulder. “And you can’t tell a lie to save your soul.”

“I’m sorry. So sorry. I can go see her tomorrow or call her. She’ll let me explain once she’s calmed down.”

* * * *

Halfway home, Cassie wanted to turn the car around and go back. The timing for her hissy fit couldn’t have been worse, and she’d seen the regret in Samson’s eyes, along with the reluctant honesty. But the mental image of Samson laying a strap across Bunny’s bum made her cringe, and she kept going.

There were lots of things she wanted in life, but
that
wasn’t one of them. And it wasn’t even the fact it’d been one of her friends he’d spanked or the fact Bunny had probably been in some state of undress when it happened. Cassie wasn’t completely naïve. She could guess at how things worked. But if that was something he needed to feel fulfilled, she’d be damned if she’d stand by and observe him “servicing” other women and getting off on it.

She turned onto her street and saw the reflection of rear tail reflectors on a familiar dark blue Lexus parked in front of her house. It was Bill’s car. Turning around was looking better all the time. Pulling closer as she prepared to turn into her driveway, she noted the driver’s seat appeared empty. That could mean only one thing.

“Damn it.” He’d taken the liberty of letting himself into the house. “Why didn’t I take his key or have the locks changed?”
Because of the kids
. It’d been a decision made with them in mind. They needed their dad as much as they needed her, and she’d decided after the divorce was final that he could come by as needed, to see them. She’d regretted the decision immediately because he was over more than he needed to be, even for meals, until she’d given him a hint that the phone worked well, too.

He was in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of wine from the bottle he’d just opened. He grimaced after taking a sip. “How can you stand this sweet, fruity crap?”

“Well, for starters, it needs to be refrigerated first. I happen to like it, and I don’t need to justify it to your rarified tastes, Bill. And since when do you just help yourself to whatever you want around here?”

Bill drained the glass and shrugged. “Since I own this house.”

She blinked and arched both eyebrows at him. She so wasn’t in the mood for his shit. “Excuse me? What are you trying to say?”

“Merely a reminder I paid off the mortgage on this house before we divorced and didn’t force you to agree to sell it so the kids would have a place to live and to come home to after college, if need be. I could buy a larger house, which would include space for them, and then you’d be left in a tight spot if I decided it was time to sell, wouldn’t you?”

“My work around here all those years had value, and you didn’t accomplish paying off the house on your own, Bill. And don’t make it sound as if you gave me the house. I make mortgage payments as per our contracted arrangement. Are you backing out of that agreement? Tell me right now what it is you’re saying.”

Bill smirked and waved his hands at her as though he was placating a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Calm down. I’m not saying anything of the sort. I was merely pointing the fact out. Don’t get your panties in such a twist.”

She craned her head to look in the den, remembering he’d had a date with him that night. “Where’s Brittany? Was it past her bedtime? Did she have homework?”

“She got tired. I’d forgotten what a bitter bitch you can be sometimes, Cass.”

Her dentist had told her it was bad to grind her teeth, but that nickname drove her nuts—and Bill knew it.

“It comes from being under the thumbs of macho assholes all my life. What did you come here for?”

Bill took another sip of the room-temperature sangria and winced before pouring the full wineglass into the drain. “I didn’t intend to get you riled up.”

“And?”

He tilted his head and assessed her, from her high heels to the top of her head, as he crossed his arms over his chest. She stood there, waiting.

I could’ve turned around and gone back to the Pony. I should’ve heard the guys out.

“Bill, do you remember us having a talk a couple of years ago, about how there were some visits that could be handled over the phone rather than you just walking in the house?”
My house.
“What is it you want to say?”

He let out a long breath and then gave her a crooked little smile, his eyelids sliding to half-mast as he stared at her breasts. “I was seeing you in a new light tonight.” He shook his head and shifted his stance to lean against the kitchen counter. Her ick-meter ticked up when she realized he was attempting to inconspicuously accommodate an erection. “You were never this spirited when we were married.”

“You just told me I was a bitter bitch. Which is it?”

He firmed his jaw as he gazed at her. “I’ve had time to think about our situation.”

“Our situation? Which situation is that? The one where you committed adultery? Or the one where you abandoned me when I was facing surgery? Or by ‘situation,’ are you referring to the fact I’m doing fine making a living without you? I’m not your doormat anymore, and I don’t know what’s going through your head,” she added, flicking a glance at his boner, “but it’s not happening.”

He licked his lips and smiled crookedly. “We were a good thing, once.”

She scoffed. “You have a selective memory.
You
had a ‘good thing, once,’ but you blew it.”

“Fine. I’ll give you time to think about it. You’re here alone, which tells me you struck out with Cutters One and Two. Maybe there’s a reason why, besides that they’re losers.”

Cassie shook her head and gestured to the door. “Please go home. And leave your key on the table by the door. You could’ve given me a heart attack if I hadn’t seen your car parked out front.”

He shook his head. “The deed on the house is still in my name. What if there was an emergency?”

She didn’t feel like arguing anymore. She had to remember her kids were his kids. It wasn’t as if he’d ever come in and hurt her, and being a dickhead wasn’t a prosecutable offense.

He walked out of the kitchen, and before he closed the front door, he called out, “You were looking fine tonight, Cass.”

Shaking her head, she filled a glass of ice, pondering his change of tune, and poured herself a glass of the sangria. Was he high? Stupid?

I wouldn’t take his sorry ass back, even if he was the last macho asshole on the face of this planet.

She put the bottle in the refrigerator, and after making sure the house was locked up securely, she took her glass into the living room—
her
living room.

She’d botched her reunion with Samson and Ivan, and now she had Bill’s unwelcome visit to worry about.

“Nope,” she muttered as she slipped a DVD in the player and got comfortable in her recliner with her fluffy blankie and the remote. She had the day off on Sundays and no respect for sleep. An
Outlander
marathon would cure what ailed her tonight.

Startled awake by the ringing of her cell phone, Cassie blinked in confusion at the blue screen on the television in her living room.
Her eyes felt sandpaper-ish as she felt around on the side table for her phone, nearly knocking over her wineglass in the process. “Okay, okay, okay,” she muttered to the insistent ringing. “Hello.”

“Hi, Mom. It’s Joseph. Did I call too early?”

“No, no,” she said, sitting up in the recliner as she looked out at the dim sky. “Is everything okay? What time is it?”

“It’s a little after six. You’ve always been an early riser so I thought it would be okay to call.” He paused and then chuckled. “Oops. I forgot your class reunion was last night, wasn’t it? So were you out all night?”

“No!” she said with a giggle as she shuffled into the kitchen. “It was a lot of fun, but I wasn’t out late. What about you? Have a hot date last night?”

The scent of the French roast coffee aided her still sleep-muddled brain. At work she served coffees, teas, lattes, mochas, espressos, but at home, she preferred a simple, fragrant cup from her good old Mr. Coffee coffeemaker.

Joseph snorted softly over the line. “Mom, you know better. Once I get my ducks in a row, I’ll think about dating. Until then, I’d just be wasting time and resources. If she’s out there, as you say she is, then she’ll understand about my goals.”

“Hey, it was worth a try. So are you counting down yet?” Joseph was finishing up the last of the credits he needed to graduate from the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Dallas.

“You know I am. Listen, Mom, I’ve decided to move back to Divine after I’m done here in December, to help out with the family business.”

“Is that what you truly want? Don’t make a decision like that because of me, you hear me, Joseph? I’ll not have you wasting your degree—”

“Hardly, Mom. Yes, I’ll love being able to eat your cooking more than just once or twice a semester. That much is true, but it’s not the only reason.”

“You know you’re always welcome. I’ll have your room ready.”

Another amused sound came over the line. “Mom, I’m not moving back home. You and Dad taught me great money management skills and how to survive on my own. I’m not like all my cousins, who expect to live at home until they get married and get a down payment on a house for a wedding present.”

She laughed, thinking he wasn’t far from the mark about her family. “Thank goodness! Although I wouldn’t mind if you stayed here until you find someplace permanent.”

“I need my independence, and so do you. Besides, I can’t bring all my hot dates home to my mother’s house. They’d think I was pathetic.”

“I thought they were all on hold until your ducks are in a row.”

“I meant that, but I’m not a monk either, Mom.”

He’d been so focused for the last four years she was happy to hear him talking about having a little fun, too. “I know, I know. But remember there will always be a place for you and Tamara in my home. Always.”

That was the main reason she’d pushed the arrangement she and Bill currently had. He held the note on the house, and she made payments directly to him, so the kids would always have the home they grew up in to come back to.