Page 44 of Under Daddy's Spell

Frustrated, she walked up to the chest-high counter, rose onto her toes in order to lean over it and get in his face, then lambasted him in his boss’s absence.

“I’m done playing the nice guy. The next time I find The Body Shop’s customers in my reserved spots, not just the handicapped, which is really despicable, I’m having them towed at the owner’s expense. Got it?”

“Yeah, Tessa, I got it. I’ve warned everyone, but I’ll do it again.”

“Thank you,” she replied as she dropped flat-footed, her anger defused somewhat at his easy capitulation. “I’ve gotta go,” she muttered. “I have four gallons of milk, seventy-two eggs, and a vat of butter to haul in from the south forty since that’s where I had to park my car.”

“I can help with that,” Seth offered, rising to his feet.

“No thanks, I got it.”

Her response was only slightly less snappish because she was still ticked off.

When she walked out into the stifling heat, she could have kicked herself for refusing his help. Acting the martyr didn’t hurt anyone except her. Her anger at The Body Shop collectively, and herself for being a fool, boiled with every plodding step of the three trips it took her to haul everything in.

As luck would have it, Seth was leaving as she arrived.

“Do me a favor. If you talk to your boss, tell him I’m busy tonight, so he shouldn’t bother picking me up at six thirty.”

“Um, you should probably call and tell him that yourself, Tess.”

“I tried,” she shot back, shifting the heavy milk jugs from one arm to the other. At least they were cold. “He didn’t answer, and I had to leave a message.”

After thesomething suddenly came upone-liner she had left him, it was little wonder he didn’t. Still, common courtesy said when you have a date scheduled with a woman you recently spanked—you call back!

“Never mind,” she bit out while making a beeline for her front door. “If he drives all the way to Elmwood for no reason when I’ve done my due diligence, that’s what he gets.”

***

IF JORDAN DROVE TOher house and knocked on the door at 6:30 as planned, she didn’t know it.Well, not until 6:35 when her phone rang, and again at 6:40.

Instead of being home to confront His Supreme Arrogance like a grown-up, she hid out at the mall. Standing him up should put an end to any ideas he might have of them ever being an us.

She didn’t doubt he’d be in her store bright and early the following day—and not for coffee. Let him. On Saturday, her shop filled up first thing with kids and their parents for her nine o’clock story hour. The crowd would distract her from his good looks and the Daddy Dom vibe she only recently identified he had going for him. He wouldn’t be able to charm her so easily and was far less likely to chew her out in front of the kids, and he definitely couldn’t spank her!

As she strolled through the mall, window-shopping but never going in and buying anything, her phone rang again at 6:45. Instead of letting it go to voice mail, she pulled it and looked at the screen. She had two notifications of missed calls, soon to be three. When the notice for voicemail number three popped up, she didn’t listen to any of them; she turned it off. Not volume down or to vibrate—phone off. ?

She didn’t want to see any texts that might weaken her resolve. She was d-o-n-e with him, which was sad because they’d started off with such promise.But she hadn’t learned from her past. A pretty face and initial charm tarnished quickly in her experience.

Dejected and feeling a little sick to her stomach, Tessa headed home about eight o’clock without getting dinner or taking part in the retail therapy that usually lightened her mood. Since it was heavy and dark as pitch, she didn’t have nearly enough money in her checking account for it to be effective.

Rufus’s effusive greeting when she walked in the door made her feel loved and appreciated, but she still wasn’t hungry. After letting him out, she climbed the stairs, dead on her feet from a long, hot, stressful week. Making it an early night and getting a full eight hours of sleep would be the best thing for her. She could face another brutally hot day, and Jordan, feeling rested, at least.

As she walked into her room, Tessa whisked her sundress over her head. She owned two, and this was the last of them. Despite the shop being a lot cooler, it was 101 outside at five o’clock. The loose dress was a lot more comfortable when coming and going from work and running errands, like to Costco. She was strongly considering replacing her blouses and skirts in the summer. But she’d need more than two and didn’t want to think about shopping for more, the expense, or even what she’d wear tomorrow for more record-breaking heat. Not now.

She twisted her arms behind her and removed her bra while simultaneously kicking off her sandals. Being free of the constricting underwire was almost as nice as the feel of the soft, thick, blessedly cool area rug beneath her bare feet.

Next came the scrunchie from her ponytail. Tessa shook her head and combed through it with her fingers, but that’s all she had energy for. She’d deal with the aftermath of not brushing it out tomorrow. All that remained were her panties, but she left them and put her knee on her bed, ready to collapse on it.

“You stood me up, brat.”

Tessa screamed at the voice in the darkness. Her arms came up to cover her bare breasts as she whirled to face the threat.

Rufus, who was still outside, must have heard because he started barking.

“It’s Jordan, Tessa. Let’s not freak out the neighborhood.”

She squinted, trying to find him in the dark. It wasn’t easy until he pushed away from the wall he was leaning against.

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