The Sheriff and the Mayor (5 page)

“I
like you half-dressed, too…but naked is even better.” Yet he looked pretty sexy
in well-worn jeans that hugged his body real nice.

They
sat down at the same time, although she winced and settled more gingerly than
he did. As he glanced in her direction, she said in chastisement, “You didn’t
have to add those few spanks at the end.”

He
gave her a sheepish look and picked up his sandwich. “Darlin’, it was just too
much to resist.”

With
a sigh, she took a bite. Her cowboy gave a sound spanking when he was disciplining
her for whatever reason, but he also liked to give her bottom a smack or two
sometimes “just because.” Mainly because he liked the sight of his pink
handprint on her creamy bottom, or so he’d said once. Those swats were never
hard and she really didn’t mind. But when they were given
after
she’d
already been spanked, they brought back some of the sting.

Moving
past that, she asked, “Are you going back to the ranch?” She didn’t want him to
go; yet she did. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she wanted today.

He
hesitated, looking torn. “I’d rather stay here with you. Keep you in bed the
rest of the weekend.” His shoulders slumped slightly. “But I should be pulling
my weight with the chores. Especially considering that Parker will be covering
for me on Wednesday.”

Wednesday
?
Oh, Wednesday!
She inwardly groaned. Now she
remembered the commitment she’d worried about earlier when she’d talked with
Rachel. “About that…” she began quietly.

As
if he hadn’t heard her, he said, “We’ll leave around seven. That’ll still give
us time to get to Kansas City and have a good long day.” He gave her a regret
filled smile. “Wish I could swing the night, too, but Parker will have to get
back to the ranch.”

She
studied her sandwich, trying to decide how to tell him her problem. First she’d
let him down by changing her mind about running for mayor another term. Now she
was going back on her word to spend a day with him. A day they both desperately
needed. But Rachel needed her, too.

He
must have finally sensed something was wrong because he asked curiously,
“What’s up?”

She
pulled in an anxious breath and met him eye-to-eye. “I…um…Rachel…”

A
furrow appeared between his thick eyebrows. “Rachel what?”

Just
spit it out!
Her stomach fluttered
with distress. “She asked me to help her with the picnic committee.”

He
frowned, clearly understanding that would take up even more of her time.
“Cassie—”

“Please
don’t be mad at me,” she pleaded. “She’s my friend and needs my help. You know
how intractable those old ladies can be. She thinks maybe I can help get them
to agree to try something new.”

“Every
blessed person on every committee wants your help.” His impressive chest rose
and fell with his frustration. “You can only do so much. You’ve got your
showing coming up to consider. You’re working on this house. And you’ve got
me
to consider.”

She
shoved her plate away, annoyed. Everyone, everything in her life seemed to be
demanding a piece of her. “I
do
consider you. I make sure I have time to
spend with you whenever you want to.” She fussed with her napkin and then
tossed it next to the plate. “I’m with you here Monday thru Friday every week.
And
usually
I’m with you at your ranch on the weekends.”

Now
she glowered at him, reminding him silently that he hadn’t wanted her to go
there this time. At least he looked uneasy.

“Okay,
you’re right. We’re together a great deal, but I can’t help that I want to be
with you every chance we get.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “But,
dammit, I remember how much time all of this annual community stuff took last
year. I hardly saw you the entire month of July.”

She
couldn’t argue with him about that because he was right. Because of the extra
demands on her time, they’d had some serious arguments last year. They’d had
some frantic making-up times, too. She tried to focus on those instead of how
she’d almost lost him. But she couldn’t stay out of these community plans. She
was the mayor. It was part of her job, at least that’s how she saw it.

“I
promise that I will try not to be involved with every tiny decision this year.”
She crossed her legs under the table, wished she could cross her fingers. She
knew how tempted she would be to get crazily involved. That’s the way she did
things: all or nothing.

She
tipped out her chin. “Besides, you’ll be more involved this year, too. You’re
the sheriff, at least for now. The town expects you to have a big presence in
the events.”

He
scowled. He hadn’t wanted to take over as the temporary sheriff when Harold
Jenkins had been forced to retire for health reasons. But he’d been the best
person qualified for the job. He’d been the top deputy for several years before
he’d resigned to focus on the ranch. Still, he probably would have turned the
town council down, except she’d done some fancy persuading to get him to agree.
Not that she’d minded bribing him in a very unconventional way. She’d been more
than agreeable to letting him have his wicked way with her as payment. And he
could be
very
wicked. She squirmed in her chair just thinking about it.

“Yes,
you should be squirming around. I’m tempted to burn your butt all over again.”

She
watched him flex his right hand on the tabletop, his spanking hand. This was a
particularly sore subject with him: all of these community events. They
strongly disagreed on the importance of them. But she wasn’t going to take
another spanking just because he was irritated about the matter.

Standing,
Cassie grabbed her plate and carried it across the kitchen, dumping her
sandwich in the trash. As she looked at him, she reached back to put a hand on
her bottom. “This butt is
not
going over your knee, cowboy. Your hand is
not
smacking it anymore today.”

He
drew in a breath, grinding his teeth, and then pushed his chair back to stand.
Clearly he wasn’t hungry anymore either. “I think it’s time this cowboy went
back to his ranch.” He pinned her with a bold look. “I need my shirt.”

She
bristled. He knew she would be standing there naked then, the rat!

“Fine!”
She jerked it off, sending a couple of buttons flying, and then tossed it at
him.

One
of his eyebrows lifted as he looked toward the buttons. He picked up the shirt
and tugged it on, buttoning what he could. “You’ve sure got attitude out the
wazoo today.”

“And
you
don’t?” she countered.  She heard the sass in her tone and felt badly
about the buttons and the sort of temper tantrum. Disgusted, she stomped across
the kitchen and faced the only free corner in the room. “Five minutes. I’ll
stand here five minutes for the attitude thing. Okay?”

Once
more she felt the heat of his gaze staring at her. She quivered as if he’d
caressed her. The fire went out of her…at least the fire of irritation. Warmth
had built low in her body and she was ready all over again for him to take her,
however he wanted, so they could have make-up sex. She was clearly obsessed with
the man. Or just with sex with him. She sighed.

Suddenly
he was behind her, his big hands cupping her butt cheeks. “Damn, darlin’, I’m
sorely tempted to bend you over and ram my dick into that sweet ass until you can’t
take it anymore.”

The
words and the image he invoked made her heart race. She glanced back at him,
her braid brushing her back. The sight of his hands on her bottom and the heat
in his gaze, made her mouth water. Then she saw him fighting his desire and
disappointment washed over her. “But you’re not going to do that, are you?”

Regret
filled his expression. “I can’t. My brothers really do need my help.” He gave a
sheepish grin. “And you’ve about worn my cock out. I need to recover.”

He
removed his hands and when she started to follow him from the corner, he shook
his head. “You were right the first time. I think you need five minutes in the
corner to get your head straight.”

Now
she glared at him. “I was kidding.”

“I’m
not.” He turned her back toward the corner and sent her into it with a sharp
swat on the bottom. “At least stay there until I get out to my truck. I want to
leave with the vision of you standing here all nice and naked. Submitting to
your man.”

“Sometimes
I wonder why I ever considered taking up with you,” she grumbled. “I’m an
adult. I’m a responsible person in the community. I shouldn’t be letting you
turn me over your knee or letting you spank me.”

She
glanced at him. “I shouldn’t be letting you put me in a corner.” Okay, she’d
stormed over here first all on her own.
Stupid, stupid, stupid
.

He
studied her sadly, with concern. “You can step out of that corner. And I’ll
never put my hand to your butt again, if that’s really what you want.”

Her
heart thudded and panic tore through her. Her eyes misted. “Are you…are you…”
She couldn’t get the words out. Was he walking away from her? Had she finally
gone too far?

“Sweetheart,
I’m backing down from my wishes. I’m not willing to lose you just because—”

“I
don’t want to lose
you
for any reason,” she said bluntly. “I don’t want
to change anything about you…about us.”

She
faced the corner. “I’ll stand here until you honk from the driveway, okay? Just
don’t stop…stop loving me.” Why was she acting like a crazy woman today? Maybe
she was PMSing. Perfect.

He
groaned and walked back to her. “I’ll love you until they put me six feet
under.”

She
relaxed at his quiet vow. Then he surprised her by reaching between her legs,
sliding a finger along her instantly aching lips. She shivered all over.

“What
are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.

“Spread
your legs, Cassie Anne.” As she obeyed, he found her pulsing clit and lightly
pinched it, driving his middle finger inside her. “I want to give you something
to think about as you stand here when I leave.”

Heat
spread through her, yearning. “Like when you sometimes say, ‘I’ll burn your
butt so you really have something to pout about?’”

“Sort
of like that, yes,” he said huskily. “Only this will be better, more enjoyable
for you.”

True
to his word, he brought her to climax in just a few strokes of his amazing
finger. While she shook from the force of it, panted, he pulled out and left
her barely able to remain standing.

“Did
that help settle you down?” he asked from across the room by the doorway.

“Yes,
oh yes,” she whispered on a tremble.

He sucked
in an unsteady breath. “I really wish I could hang around, but I can’t.
Really.” He hesitated. “But I’m looking forward to Wednesday.” And then he was
gone.

She
put her head to the corner and thought about the man she loved with all her
heart. If only she could give him what he wanted….

Wait!
She hadn’t told him about Wednesday!

Darn,
darn, darn
. Maybe she’d spend the
rest of the day in this corner, try to come up with a way to either soften the
blow to Dalton…or find a way to tell Rachel she couldn’t meet that day. Both
were going to be disappointed with her.
Darn!

Chapter Four

Cassie
sat in her car in the crowded parking lot of the First Baptist Church for
several minutes, debating whether or not to actually go inside. She and Dalton
didn’t come every week, but she hadn’t been here without him in … well, since
they’d become a couple. It felt strange to be here alone. But he’d been busy at
the ranch and had no time for church, her, or anything beyond his ranch chores
this weekend.

She
frowned in annoyance, but quickly shoved that emotion away. They both led
hectic lives, had responsibilities. She could survive a weekend without him.
Except he’d come to see her yesterday, so she wasn’t completely
not
seeing him this weekend. His surprise visit had been both good and bad. She’d
relived the “good” moments in the shower over and over last night. And, oh yes,
some of them had been
very
good. But she’d avoided thinking about the
“bad” moments or how their time together had ended.

She’d
woken up frustrated, for a number of reasons. It had been too long—okay, only a
couple of days— since she’d woken up in his arms. There was no better way to
start a day, in her totally biased opinion. Restless, she’d decided to come
here. But now she wasn’t sure about her decision. It just felt wrong. Maybe she
should go back home and work on finishing up her bedroom. Or she could…

Someone
tapped on the passenger window.

She
gasped in surprise, heart pounding. As she recovered, she found Rachel smiling
at her and lowered the window. “You about scared me to death.”

“Sorry.
I was just glad to see you. I wasn’t sure you would come today without Dalton,”
Rachel said.

The
chance to escape—that was a bad way of putting it, she supposed—was gone.
Cassie forced a smile. “I should have stayed home and worked on the bedroom.
It’s still something of a mess. Or I should have finished up another painting
for the showing.” Why was she babbling? She drew in a steadying breath. “But I
was feeling kind of antsy this morning. Guess I’m missing him. So here I am.”

Rachel
stepped away; looking all pretty and perfect in what Cassie thought was a new
dress. Maybe she needed to work in time to go shopping for some new clothes.
That had never been a high priority for her.

With
a sigh, she pushed the thought to the side for another time and rolled up the
window, and then pushed open her car door. She reached back across to the other
seat for her over-sized shoulder bag-catch-all. When she shifted to get out of
the car, she got a strange feeling. A sense that she was going to wish she
hadn’t come here after all this morning. She almost groaned because of it, but
held it inside.

“A
bunch of us are throwing together a potluck dinner at the reverend’s house
after church.” Rachel made the announcement bluntly and looked determined. “You
should come, too. You don’t need to worry about bringing anything. There’ll be
plenty of food.”

“I…”
What? She really didn’t have a good excuse for not going. With Dalton busy, she
just couldn’t get her enthusiasm up for doing anything else. How sad was that? 
“All right.”

Rachel
came around the small car and slipped her hand into the crook of Cassie’s arm.
Her usual peppy mood returning, Rachel barely waited for her to shove the door
shut before she began tugging Cassie toward the church steps. “Karen and the
reverend have some interesting ideas for a few of the community events this
month. I’m sure you’ll love them.”

Cassie
quietly sighed again. She should be glad that the new minister and his wife
were settling into the town and getting actively involved in what happened
here. And she was, really. But somehow she knew that her life was going to get
even busier, more complicated after this afternoon. She would have to take a
firm stand, let everyone know that she could only do so much. She was
not
Super Woman. Between her duties as the mayor, working on remodeling the house
she’d inherited, getting ready for her first show, and trying to spend as much
time as she could with Dalton… Well, she was stretched pretty thin.

“You’re
going to be so…” Rachel rattled on, dragging her through the people mingling in
the vestibule, determined to get them to the usual pew near the front that her
friend sat in with her family.

“I—”
Cassie attempted to interrupt, but was ignored.

Giving
up, she just let Rachel continue with her excited prattling. She nodded and
smiled at the many familiar people they passed and quietly followed along. She
hardly heard a word of what was said. All she knew was that in spite of her
efforts not to, she would end up getting even more involved in things. Dalton
wasn’t going to be happy about it.

As
she took her seat and waited for everyone else to as well, she straightened her
skirt and drew in a calming breath. She was the mayor. Part of her duties was
to be involved in community happenings. She didn’t need to feel guilty about
that, and she hadn’t until lately. Until Dalton had become obsessed with
wanting her to cut back. Actually, he’d wanted her to give up being mayor
because he wanted to focus on
them
. He wanted her to live with him
full-time, to marry him. She just couldn’t take that big step. Yet.

His
pushing her was making her draw away even more from the idea and from him. She
felt weak doing so and she hated that. Dalton Reede was a good man. He’d
suffered in a bad marriage, too. Not with physical and mental brutality like
she had, but he’d suffered. The difference was that he’d healed and was ready
to move on with his life. He was ready for a family. She was, too…sort of.

Aside
from all of that, as another important figure in the community, Dalton should
understand her position and duties. He should get involved with one or two
events, too, but he seriously balked at doing so. He constantly protested that
he was only filling in until another qualified man was found for the sheriff’s
position. And he’d reminded her over and over again that his
real
job
was being a rancher.

She
worried her lip. Were they drifting apart? They disagreed on so much these
days. She’d gotten spanked more lately than she had in months. Burning her
bottom almost seemed to be his answer to everything they didn’t agree on. Okay,
she’d had a bit of attitude recently. Still…

“Are
you all right?” Rachel asked, facing her and studying her in concern, her brow
furrowed.

Cassie
blinked back tears that were threatening to fall and forced another smile. “I’m
just tired. I didn’t sleep well.” Huge understatement.

Rachel
gently patted her hand and looked sympathetic. “I never sleep well when Jim’s
gone.”

She
didn’t want to talk about Dalton not being with her here, or her not going to
the ranch with him this weekend. Actually, she didn’t want to talk at all. Her
heart pinched. So she just nodded toward the pulpit where the reverend was now
standing, hoping her friend would focus on the service.

***

Lifting
his hat to swipe at the sweat on his brow, Dalton tried not to breathe in too
deeply of the hot, humid air. It had to be over a hundred degrees out here. And
the humidity was well over fifty percent, probably closer to seventy percent.
Kansas in the summer was a killer. He was getting too old for this, even if he
was only thirty-six. At least his body thought that today. His life would be a
hell of a lot simpler if he had a desk job.

He
shifted in the saddle, tried to get some of the kinks out of his sore back.
Frowning into the distance, he remembered how much he’d hated actually working
a desk job. He’d tried that in Dallas while he was still married to Brittany,
still trying to save his marriage. Complete waste of time and money. He would
never put himself through that torture again, meaning working in an office. He
sure wanted to try marriage again…with Cassie. But he was beginning to think
that would never happen.

Craig
rode up next to him, appearing every bit as worn out as Dalton felt. They
looked across the field toward the last of the cattle trucks unloading another
dozen steer. That made fifty new ones today. Now that they were here, he and
his brothers needed to get them settled in, get the vet to come out here and
check them over.

Weariness
weighed heavily on him and there was still so damn much to be done. Adding to
his stress was the fact that he knew that he really didn’t have time for his
temporary job as sheriff. But he’d agreed to do it until a new man could be
found. The trouble was he didn’t think the town council was looking all that
hard for his replacement. They were too focused on all of these community
things coming up this month. He’d be glad when all of it went away. Except that
would probably only happen if Jim won the mayoral position. This only had a
snowball’s chance in Hell of happening now that Cassie had decided to run for
another term. The people liked her.

Hellfire
and damnation!
He swore under his
breath and captured his brother’s attention.

“Still
upset with your woman?” Craig asked knowingly. Both of his brothers still wondered
why she hadn’t come to the ranch this weekend.

He
didn’t want to talk about her or their problems. “I was thinking that since
things have been quiet in town maybe I could take a couple of days off. You
need me here at the ranch.”

“We’ll
survive without you.” Craig rolled his shoulders against the obvious tight
muscles there. “Think maybe you could work half days and help us in the
afternoons? Other than Wednesday, of course.”

Craig
blew out a breath. “I’ll admit you planning to take that day off comes at a bad
time for us. Especially since it means Parker will be gone from the ranch,
too.”

It
had been a last minute decision to get these new cattle that Dalton’s brothers
had bought at auction a few days ago delivered earlier than they’d planned on.
The auction place had called while he’d been in town with Cassie, wanting to
bring them out today. He and his brothers had thought they would have until the
end of the week to get all the fences mended and everything else ready. But
Parker had agreed to the early delivery and it was saving them almost a
thousand dollars. It had been a good business decision. But it sure complicated
everything.

Dalton
made a tough decision. “I’m going to cancel the plan, call Cassie tonight. She’s
busy anyway and will probably be glad to hear it.”

He
didn’t want to change their plans. He’d been looking forward to the day away
with his woman, but he didn’t feel like he had a choice. Unfortunately, he had
a feeling she really would be happy not to have to squeeze it into her
schedule. At least he’d gotten that impression when she hadn’t responded when
he’d told her he was looking forward to their day together just before he left
her yesterday.

He
heard the cattle bawling in confusion, in frustration with their new situation.
Dang if he didn’t feel like bawling, too. He was confused about where he and
Cassie really stood these days. The sex was good, as always. Still… Frustrated
didn’t even come close to how he felt.

“You
really think that’s a good idea?” Craig asked, although he sounded relieved.

Pulled
back from his musings, Dalton gritted out, “No.” He scowled. It was a damn bad
idea. “But my first duty is to this ranch.”

He
watched the truck pulling out of the field as Parker closed the gate. “I’ve got
a duty to the town as well.” He heard the bitterness in his voice and was
pretty sure his brother had heard it, too.

He
gave a small flick of the reins and his horse headed off toward the cattle.
Most of them had finally found a spot to settle in and graze on the grass. A
few wandered toward the pond. Oddly, as he rode toward Parker, he wondered what
Cassie was up to today. Was she still working on that bedroom she’d been
painting? Yellow. Not what he particularly liked. Or was she working on another
leather painting for her showing? She’d told him she needed to get at least
another six or so finished.

Was
she missing him as much as he missed her?

Maybe
he should go see her tonight, tell her in person that they would have to change
their plans about Wednesday. He also needed to tell her that he probably
wouldn’t be spending much time with her this week. She wasn’t going to like him
not staying the nights with her. He didn’t like the idea either, but that’s the
way it had to be for now. It worried him.

***

By
the time Cassie turned onto her street it was already getting late. The sun was
headed down; the sunset breathtaking with its mix of oranges and pinks. She was
too tired to enjoy it, though. Her brain hurt from thinking too much today,
from trying to stay on top of all the ideas being tossed around, and all of the
new plans. She still hadn’t fully absorbed it all.

Besides
that, her feet hurt. She was ready to kick off the high heels and ready to
change into her cutoffs and T-shirt. She’d been anxious to get home and finish
setting her bedroom to rights now that the painting was finished. It had been a
long day. At least she hadn’t had time to mope around about missing Dalton.

Dalton
. Her stomach knotted and she turned into the
driveway, barely noticing that the neighbor’s son had mowed her yard. She still
hadn’t figured out how to get out of the day-trip Dalton had planned for
Wednesday. With as awkward as things were between them now, she didn’t look
forward to this conversation. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She knew
this was special to him and it should have been to her as well.