Page 34 of Moon's Promise

His lips quirked up in a smile. Regardless of how long King and Evie had been married, he never let her eat alone with him when he stopped by to catch up with her.

Putting his plaguing thoughts behind him, he relaxed to enjoy their lunch.

They were still chatting when the woman who had been choking rose from the table. Her wince caught his attention, and when she would have passed by their table, Moon stood up to block her.

“Did I hurt you when I did the Heimlich?”

“I’m just a little sore. I’m sure it will go away.”

Moon frowned when Larissa took a step away so fast she bumped into a chair someone was sitting in.

“Excuse me,” she apologized then turned back to him.

“Maybe you should go by the ER and get checked out,” he suggested, staring at her.

Why was she acting so jumpy? Her reaction to him made no sense. He might have acted like an ass at the DMV, but he couldn’t understand why she had jumped back when he moved close to her. Did she think he was going to examine her?

“I’m good. Thank you. It’s only natural I’d be a little sore.”

Inexplicitly, Moon felt a spurt of concern for her. “You should be checked by your doctor. I could have hurt you.”

“I would know if you damaged anything.”

“Not unless you get checked out by a doctor. You may need an X-ray—”

“I don’t need an X-ray. I’m breathing fine.”

“I’d feel better if you saw a doctor,” he insisted. Next time, he would mind his own business. What if she sued? “I’d be willing to pay for you to be checked out by a professional.”

Moon knew he had fucked up when the woman’s eyes narrowed on him. He had just talked himself into a lawsuit if he had hurt her.

Before he could retract the offer, Larissa set her to-go container down on the table and pressed her fingers to each side of her ribcage. Then she took deep, strong breaths.

“There you go. All done.” She picked up her container again. “I’m good to go. Nothing is harmed. I’ll probably have some bruising, but nothing that will keep me from performing my normal activities.”

Moon gaped at her then started to get angry. Was she making fun of his concern for her?

“Now you have your medical opinion, free of charge. May I please get past you?”

Moon sat back down, his hands itching to turn her over his lap to administer a spanking he reserved only for women who had had been intimately involved with him and who had the wherewithal to know they had pushed him to give them the punishment.

Thankfully, the woman moved away while he was still debating whether it would be worth it to be arrested for assault.

Evie’s soft laughter drew his gaze.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You.” Evie used a napkin to wipe the corner of her eyes. “You’re dying to spank her, aren’t you?” She nodded to his hands on the table, where his fingers were rubbing the underside of his palms. “That’s always a dead giveaway.”

Flattening his hands on the table, he glanced toward King, who he could see wasn’t appreciating the turn in conversation. “You can quit giving me the death glare. I’ve never spanked Evie. Give your wife some credit. Evie is smart enough not to bring it up if I had.”

King’s clenched jaw loosened when Moon saw her hand move under the table to rest on King’s thigh.

“I was only an observer when Moon handed his punishments out, never a recipient,” she told her husband. “My question is: what got you upset?”

“She was mocking me,” he ground out.

“Ah … and you didn’t like that.”

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