Page 2 of James

James held up his phone and replied, “I got an alert alittle while ago. There’s a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for the next couple of hours. Good thing we’re in here where it’s safe. And by the looks of it—” He glanced over his shoulder to both machines. “—we both have at least an hour before we’d want to leave anyway.” He stood up and stepped back from Laura.

She exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. What was it about this man that threw her off balance? She couldn’t identify how she was feeling. What was going on? She was an educated woman with a master’s degree in computer science. It wasn’t often she was at a loss for words. Somehow, he reminded her of those wonderful mythical men from her books.

Yeah right, like that type of man really existed. She had to admit, it had been her ex’s take-charge attitude that had attracted her, until she learned he wasn’t really a dominant as much as a demanding, demeaning asshole. Her sister’s late husband had been a sweetheart, but loving and supportive, but definitely content to let his wife take charge. Strong, sweet dominant men who enforced their authority without abusing it were figments of an author’s imagination and a reader’s wishful thinking.

As more loud thunder sounded, Laura jumped up and went toward the big windows up front, hugging herself as she watched the trees lash back and forth. James quickly came up beside her and said, “I don’t like the way that wind is picking up. Why don’t we stay in the back until the storm’s over?”

Laura eyed him suspiciously; unused to having a man hover over her like this. Once they’d gotten married, Jake stopped caring about her safety. He’d sent her out in worse weather than this for hamburgers when he hadn’tliked the dinner she’d made. “Why do you care?” she asked.

“I care because we’re stuck here together and I don’t want either of us to get hurt. Besides, the way I was raised, a man protects a woman. James Black,” he added, holding out his hand.

Before her mind had caught up with her body, she’d laid her hand in his and said, “Laura. I’m Laura Turner.”

He smiled. “Laura, nice to finally meet you, although the circumstances could be better. Now, I want you to step away from the windows. It’s not safe. Why don’t we sit down in the chairs?”

Laura took a step in the direction of the chairs and then stopped.Oh no! No, no, no!When she got divorced, she had promised herself she wasn’t going to let another man tell her what to do. She straightened her spine, lifted her chin up and said, “I’ll stand where I please.”

He didn’t say a word, but cocked one eyebrow.

“These windows will hold just fine,” she said. “It’s only a summer storm, so quit acting like you’re in charge.”

“I may not be your boss,” he said levelly, “but I don’t tolerate stubborn behavior. You’re being willful and not thinking about potential consequences.”

She scoffed. “The windows are made of safety glass. They’ve been through storms before.”

“The windows at the St. Louis Airport were made of safety glass, too. And the Goldsby Airport, and for that matter, the North Perry Airport, the Monroe Airport and the —”

“You’ve made your point.”

“Then let’s get away from the windows and go sit down.”

Laura didn’t have a good argument for that, so she huffed and stared deliberately out the window.

His reflection narrowed his eyes at her and muttered something under his breath as he turned away. It sounded a lot like ‘spanking’ to her.

She quickly followed him to the chairs. “What did you say?”

Two dark brown eyes zeroed in on her and without hesitation, he repeated, “I said, you could do with a spanking.”

Flustered, Laura put her hands on her hips and straightened her spine so he could clearly see he was dealing with a grown-ass woman and not a toddler. “Oh really, and who’s going to spank me?”

“I am, Laura. Don’t tempt me. I don’t make idle threats.”

She was once again at a loss for words. This was a page ripped straight from one of her books, brought to life. Did people really do such things? He had such big, callused hands. How would they feel?No, oh no, bad Laura, don’t go there!

Time to show him some backbone. “I will not stand here and listen to you threatening me,” she hissed.

He smirked. “Girl, I can see a flush on your cheeks and your nipples hardened.” He stared at her breasts before making eye contact again. “You may protest all you want, but you want a man to control you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, hiding the traitorous peaks, and fumed, “I most certainly do not. I don’t like being told what to do by anyone, especially not by… by acowardwho thinks because he’s bigger and stronger, he can just… hit…” But there, she choked and couldn’t finish.

His eyes softened immediately and he stepped back, holding up his hands in surrender. “Whoa. I think I misread some signals. From your taste in reading, I assumed you were in the lifestyle.”

Lifestyle?Laura’s mouth fell open. “B-but… Wh-what… Wh-why…” Against her will, she found herself asking, “Are you?”

He smiled widely. “Yes, I am. And when I see a beautiful woman endanger herself, I want to put her over my knee, flip up her skirt and spank her beautiful ass.” He came up to her and invaded her personal space. With his hand under her chin, he tipped her head back so their gazes met. “I know we don’t know each other and we’re not at a party, but we’re stuck here for a while. Clearly, this is something that interests you, so why not? If nothing else, it’ll take our minds off the weather.”

Was he insane? Was she? What other reason could there be for him to suggest such an outrageous thing? And when she should have told him to go to hell, why on Earth did she stammer, “I… I suppose it would.”

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