Adored by Carolyn Faulkner Read Free Book Online Page B

past, especially since it seemed like a hurtful subject, “but I don’t keep score.  I’ll not let you drive around in a car that I think is unsafe, regardless of how much money you do or do not have at any given moment.”
     
    “Well,” she huffed, “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
     
    She was stiff as a board, looking embarrassed and wishing she were anywhere but here.  Sean reached over and laced his fingers with hers.  “I won’t take any money from you, honey.”  His tone said that the topic wasn’t up for discussion.  “But make no mistake, you’re going to pay in other ways for being so cavalier about your own safety.”
     
    That did not sound good to her.  Not at all.  Her rear was still stinging from the last time he’d decided she needed a lesson, and that was only two days ago.  She had let loose with a string of epithets at another driver who was dawdling a bit in the fast lane - and she wasn’t even driving.  Sean had let her know, unequivocally, that such outbursts were far from welcome.
     
     
    That was going to be a problem for her - a big problem.  She had a potty mouth.  A very uncouth potty mouth, and, for some reason, her usual laissez-faire attitude went out the window when she was riding, or worse than that, driving.  She could foresee a future for herself that comprised many, many days of sitting very, very uncomfortably.
     
    Suddenly she realized that they were on a much-too-familiar route.  They weren’t heading to dinner; they were headed towards home – either of theirs, since they only lived a couple of streets away from each other.
     
    “Hey, wait a minute!   Aren’t we going out to dinner?”  She hadn’t eaten since she’d sent Pam to grab her a big chef’s salad from the diner across the street, and that had been around noon.
     
    “After we take some time to address your misbehavior.”
     
    Tessa felt her expectations for the evening crumbling before her eyes. So not only did she have to sit on a bottom that was tingling in anticipation of what she knew was coming, but she also had to put up with her stomach grumbling loudly while they got there.
     
    This time they went to his house.  She’d only been there twice since they’d started dating.  He seemed to prefer her house for some reason, although she didn’t know why.  His was a gorgeous, big, classical one-floor log home, with an open floor plan and a kitchen to die for.  It was filled with what looked like brand-new stainless steel appliances that she’d drooled over every time she was there.
     
    He let her in first, following her closely and locking the door behind him as if he thought she might make a break for it - not that it hadn’t crossed her mind.  But she figured she wouldn’t get very far, since he was pretty buff, she was hopelessly out of shape, and she didn’t want to embarrass herself any more than necessary tonight.  Having him carry her back into the house, kicking and screaming – which she knew by now he wouldn’t hesitate to do - would definitely qualify as an embarrassment.
     
    She half-expected him to immediately begin to spank her, but as always, he seemed to enjoy proving her intuition dead wrong.  Instead, he took her into his arms and hugged her tight, then kissed her deeply; she instantly melted.
     
    Then he pulled back just a bit and whispered into her ear, “Go bend over the couch in the living room.”
     
    Tessa’s head came up, nearly clipping him on the jaw as it did so, and she stared into those deep, soulful brown eyes of his, finding absolutely no trace of mercy.  She had done wrong as far as he was concerned – which was all it took – and she was going to have to pay for it.
     
    She completely believed him when he said he would refuse to take any money for returning her automobile to a roadworthy state.  She knew two things for certain, though:  it would be a big chunk of change and she would pay every cent; he was going to