Summer Vacation Page 4

  "Oh, the power of money," Joy said.

  "Yes," Seth said. "All our families were fairly well off. Still, my father took it out of my hide, and I know that Lyle and Shawn's parents made them pay back their portion. The princess got a slap on the wrist, even though it was her idea."

  "You went along with it," Tricia said. "Nobody forced you."

  "You're right. Nobody forced me. They just blamed me."

  "And, I got more than a slap on the wrist. My parents cancelled my trip to Europe, which was my graduation present."

  "True," Seth said. "No traveling. And no arrest record, either."

  The tension grew at the table, and finally, Marty cleared his throat.

  "Thanks for the food, Alicia. It was delicious. I'm going back to work."

  The others all did the same, carrying their bowls into the kitchen before heading back upstairs. Alicia scampered away in their wake, the noise of her cleaning drifting to the dining room.

  "I said I was sorry." Tricia lowered her head and stared into her almost untouched bowl of soup.

  "No, princess, you never did. You wouldn't speak to me after that night. You never even told me why you told the cops I did it."

  "Because I was scared. Everyone else had run off. We were the only two there. I panicked. Sue me, I was seventeen years old."

  "And I was only eighteen."

  "I told the truth the next day, didn't I? That's part of the reason they released you."

  "And that's supposed to make me feel better? Why wouldn't you talk to me?"

  The events of ten years ago flew by Tricia's eyes. She squeezed them shut and sighed.

  "Because you let it happen. I never thought it would get that far. But you let it. You should have put your foot down and stopped it."

  Seth stood and threw down his napkin. "You're right, I should have. I should have been more assertive. I should have taken things in hand instead of thinking that if I let you get away with your little stunt I'd get laid later that night."

  Tricia gasped, then closed her mouth tightly when he continued.

  "So, what I'm hearing is that you want assertiveness. So, tonight I'm going to do exactly what I told your father I would do. I'm going to spank your ass for your little temper tantrum last night. Be ready for it."

  He stalked from the room, leaving his bowl on the table.

  Tricia's chest rose and fell rapidly, her hands shaking. He wouldn't would he? In an instant she knew that he would. She jumped from her seat, hurried to her room and grabbed the keys to her father's car and her purse.

  Renovations be damned. She didn't plan on being in the house when Seth and his crew knocked off for the night. She would go to Seattle and stay gone until around midnight. That would put a crimp in his spanking idea.

  She went to the kitchen and told Alicia she was leaving, then hurried outside. The more distance she put between herself and Seth Watkins, the better.

  *****

  The house was dark when she pulled up. All the trucks were gone, except for Seth's. The car was loaded with packages, but she didn't plan on bringing them inside until the morning. She pulled into the garage and shut the outside door, praying that Seth had already retired to the guesthouse and didn't hear the whirl of the garage.

  She opened the door to the house cautiously. There were no lights on, and Tricia silently cursed Alicia for failing to leave a light on. Or maybe it was Seth who had done it. Maybe Alicia had left them on, and he'd turned them all off because she'd spoiled his planned fun.

  That idea made her smile. She'd walk into a dark house happily with the knowledge that he didn't get to do what he'd wanted to do tonight.

  She'd had a good day. She'd gone to the mall and bought lots of new clothes and shoes, and then she'd hit a bookstore, buying more than five hundred dollars worth of books that she was sure she would never read.

  Still, tomorrow she could sit at the table and go through them all again. It would give her something to do besides think of Seth.

  She couldn't believe that he'd told the prom night story so matter of factly to his workers. She herself had tried to forget the incident ever happened. It was the worst idea she'd ever had, and she was more than a little ashamed of her actions afterwards.

  But, she didn't let people know that. Instead, she'd fueled her own self-loathing into hatred for Seth, whom she blamed for letting it get out of hand. Now she had to face the music. Today's lunch had been humiliating.

  The way they'd all looked at her with accusing eyes. Sure it had been her idea, but she hadn't done it alone. Seth deserved some of the blame. But not all of it. And he certainly didn't deserve an arrest record, which would follow him for the rest of his life.

  She sighed as she made her way into the living room. Moonlight filtered in through the sliding glass door, and she could see the pool just beyond it. She was tempted to take a midnight swim. Maybe that would help her to sleep.

  Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and she headed for the stairs. She didn't want to turn on any lights, because she didn't want to alert Seth to the fact that she was home.

  She gingerly made her way up the stairs, laughing to herself about him missing out on his "taking charge," after his little speech. She'd just stepped inside the door to the bedroom she'd staked out when the light next to the bed came one.

  A strangled cry of fear left her throat. That fear quickly turned to anger when she noticed Seth lounging on her bed, his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him.

  "I was beginning to think you might not come home tonight. I was just watching some TV when I heard you pull up."

  "Get out."

  "I don't think so. I told your father that I was going to spank you for cussing at the clerks, and I meant it."

  "You have no right!"

  "Your father gave me his permission. I have every right."

  "I'm twenty-seven years old. You can't possibly be serious about spanking me."

  "Oh, I'm very serious. You need to be a good girl and take it like a woman."

  "You...you....you...bastard!" She picked up a pillow from the chair sitting next to the door and threw it at him.

  He dodged it handily, then ran toward her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into the wall of his chest.

  "Don't you dare disparage my parents' names. The last time I let you get away with being a brat, I got arrested. As far as I'm concerned, this is payback."

  He turned to the chair she'd taken the cushion from and sat down, upending her over his lap in one quick movement.

  Tricia screamed and cried, beating against his legs as he pulled her skirt up over her hips.

  "When the neighbors call the cops you'll be arrested again!"

  "Doubt it," Seth said. "The houses are too far apart."

  Tricia knew that he was right. No one would hear her if she cried out for help. Plus, how embarrassing would that be? If the neighbors came what would she say? He'd spanked me? Would she tell the cops? Would they laugh at her?

  She'd stopped struggling as the ideas flittered through her mind. But then she felt his fingers in the elastic of her panties and that jolted her back into action.

  "No! No! No! No!" She squirmed around on his lap but it didn't matter. He pulled her panties down to her knees, using her own squirming against her to wiggle them down, then scissored his legs so that her own legs were caught in between his.

  The first strike made her cry out again. The slap bit into her tender behind and she felt the sting run down her legs.

  "Getting the picture, huh?" He slapped her ass again, and again and again and again.

  Tears sprang to Tricia's eyes. The slaps were harsh, and her behind began to throb.

  She felt as if she would fall, her position precarious as Seth continued to spank her bottom.

  "When we're done, you're calling that clerk and apologizing."

  He delivered several more smart smacks.

  "The hell I will."

  The
slapping continued, his hand connecting with her flesh, which smarted something fierce.

  "Oh yes you will! You'll be nice, and you'll make it good. Or I'll spank you again."

  Each word was punctuated with harsh slaps against her bottom. She knew that she must be red. The slapping must be leaving marks. Surely he could see that. Surely he would feel sorry for her. But still, Seth didn't stop.

  His hand continued to land on her bottom and finally, when she thought she would go crazy, she screamed out that she was sorry for what she'd said to the clerk. It wasn't his fault and she felt bad that she'd blamed him.

  Seth pushed her off his lap and then grabbed her wrist, heading toward the desk. He shoved the phone into her hand and picked up a piece of paper.

  "Here's the number. Call him, and make it good."

  "I already apologized to you."

  "It wasn't me you offended. It was him. Call him."

  "Seth, please." Her crying was under control but her bottom burned.

  "Do you want more?"

  "No!" She pulled against his hands, and felt anger sweep over her. She was the New York manager of a prestigious investment company. He had no right to treat her like this. People obeyed what she said, not the other way around.

  "Call him yourself!" She thrust the phone back at him, then squealed in surprise when Seth turned her toward the desk, swept it free of the papers and things she'd sat on it, then bent her over the side, lifted her skirt.

  She gasped when he bent down and picked up the hairbrush that was in the pile of things he'd just cleared from the desk.

  The spanking started immediately, the brush smarting against the strikes he'd left from his hand.

  "You'll call him and you'll be nice. Do you understand me?" The brush continued to fall and she stomped her feet and tried to get away.

  This wasn't happening to her. This was unbearable!

  The brush came down again and again and she cried out in frustration. Finally, when she thought she could take no more, she screamed, "Fine! I'll do it, I'll do it!"

  The spanking stopped immediately. Seth pulled her upright and she fought the urge to spit in his face.

  He reached down and picked up the phone and thrust it back at her.

  "Call him. And make it good."

  She took a few minutes to get her breathing under control. Then, resolutely, she dialed the phone. The clerk that answered sounded cheerful and happy, until she'd said hello.

  She could tell that he recognized her voice from the night before, and that he had no desire to talk with her.

  "I want to apologize to you," she said softly. "I treated you badly and it wasn't right. I'm sorry."

  He hemmed and hawed, obviously trying to think of a proper response. Finally, he replied, "thank you, Ms. Blackwell."

  She repeated her apology, then hung up the phone.

  "Satisfied?"

  "About what? That it took a spanking to make you see the error of your ways? I suppose I should be, but I'm not. I'll do it again, Tricia, so you'd better watch your ps and qs."

  He started toward the door and she turned to him, her voice soft.

  "I'm filing assault charges against you in the morning."

  He turned toward her, a smile on his face.

  "Go ahead. It was worth it."

  "You'll have to tell everyone that you were arrested because you thought you had the right to spank me."

  "And you'll have to tell everyone that you were a bad little girl, who was taken over a knee and spanked like a spoiled rotten little child. Like I said. It was worth it."

  He left in a hurry and Tricia sank down onto the floor, burying her head in her arms and crying. She thought she'd been so smart by staying gone from the house. She had no idea that he would be so persistent about the idea of spanking her.

  But why didn't she know that? Seth had always been a man of his word, even when they were teen-agers.

  And he knew, as she did, that she wouldn't call the cops, and she wouldn't press charges. If word of this got out it would be humiliating. She'd rather take the spanking and get on with her life than allow people to find out about it.

  But she'd find someway to get even with him, she knew that. By the end of the summer, he'd be sorry that he'd taken this job.

  Chapter Three

  For a week, Tricia managed to steer clear of Seth. Her bottom had ached for two days straight, and she knew that he knew that.

  He'd given her looks that said he was glad that she remembered the "lesson" that he'd taught her that night. The worst part about the whole thing, though, was that he had no fear that she'd file charges against him.

  She wanted him to have that little inkling of doubt, but it was nowhere to be found. He was as arrogant as ever.

  He hadn't pushed the issue with her, though. He'd been polite at meals and had avoided her when others weren't around. Which had been just fine with her. At first.

  The more time went by, though, the madder she got. What made him think he had the right to punish her like he did? Just because her father had told him it was all right? She was a grown woman. She had her own life, and there was no way she was going to allow something like that to happen again.

  Ideas for revenge against him reared up, and then quickly backed down. Each one of them seemed too harsh. She'd thought about stealing one of his trucks, but it smacked of the incident that had gotten them in trouble in the first place.

  She'd thought about sabotaging the work after they were gone, going through and pouring paint on walls, or ripping down drywall. But that would just keep him there longer, and she couldn't stand that idea.

  She'd thought about locking him out of the guesthouse, or telling Alicia to take the rest of the summer off so that she couldn't cook for them, but that would be a punishment to herself, too. She loved Alicia's food.

  Finally, she decided that she would do something that, hopefully, would drive him crazy. She decided that she would host a party for her friends, and not invite him. A small snub. Just enough to let him know how little he meant to her.

  She put her plan into effect with relish, inviting all their high school friends who still lived in the area. She decided to have the party a week from Saturday, which was not quite two weeks after the spanking.

  After most of her friends said something about children, she'd decided to turn the party into an afternoon barbecue. That, she decided, would hit Seth really hard. All their old friends, with their families, and he wouldn't be invited.

  She was just putting the finishing touches on the menu with Alicia on the Friday before when Seth came into the kitchen, a smile on his face.

  "Everything's coming along," he said. "You want to come upstairs and inspect the two rooms we have done?"

  "Of course," she replied. "That's why I'm here, right? To be your boss?"

  He'd just grinned in reply, and she'd swept from the room in front of him, ignoring the bark of laughter that came from Alicia's throat.

  Upstairs she inspected the rooms that were done. She hated to admit that he'd done an absolutely beautiful job on them. The crown molding was perfect, and there wasn't a seam in the paint anywhere.

  "Your crew is very good."

  "Yes, they are. They work hard for their money, and they're very talented. I'm thinking of giving them a few days off next week, just to show my appreciation for all they've done."

  "I think that's a splendid idea. You should take the time, too. And get out of here."

  He laughed. "Sorry, but this is my home for the summer, remember?"

  "What exactly is wrong with your house?"

  "Flooded. I had some pipes burst. They're replacing the flooring."

  Her eyes narrowed.

  "You're having someone else replace the flooring in your own home while you work here? That seems highly unlikely. I would think that you would want to be there, to supervise your own renovations."

  "I trust the man I have over there."

  "Enough that you haven't eve
n gone over to check on things?"

  "I've checked. I don't have to check in with you when I leave here. You don't worry about my house. You just worry about this one."

  She nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, by the way, I'm having a party on Saturday afternoon. Please make yourself scarce. It might be a good time to go and check on your house."

  The grin he gave her unnerved her. Did nothing bother this man anymore? The only time he'd seem remotely rattled was when he was spanking her. And that was for something she'd done to someone else, not to him.

  She'd swept from the room before he could answer, then went to her own, firmly closing the door and not coming downstairs until it was time for dinner. When she did, she found the house empty, with a pasta salad in the refrigerator ready for her to eat for dinner.

  She scooped out a healthy portion and wondered where Alicia was. It was early on a Friday, though, and sometimes she went home to be with her family. She'd been working with the Blackwells for their whole marriage, and had started in her twenties, which meant she was now in her fifties.

  She had children graduating from high school and about to start college. Alicia had been proud to tell her that Tricia's father was paying for her children's education, and Tricia had smiled. Her father was generous to a fault, that was for sure.

  She ate her dinner in front of the TV, wondering where Seth was. Usually at dinnertime he'd come to the house, fix a plate and go outside to eat. Today, he didn't even do that. Tricia couldn't shake the feeling that he was up to something, but she wasn't sure what.

  Then, she decided that she was worried about nothing. She should just count her blessings that he was gone, and she didn't have to stare at him tonight. The TV droned on and she felt loneliness seep into her bones.

  This house was huge. Way too big for one person. And she hated to admit it but even Seth's company was preferable to the silence that reined over the TV noise.

  She finished her dinner and went upstairs, picking up one of the books that she'd bought last week. She drew a bubble bath and settled into it.