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on the sides, he smiled. I ve got plenty of room.
Of course, I ll be happy to pay you. I don t
expect you to work for free.
Don t worry about that. Helping Annie will be
payment enough.
The look he gave her sister could not have been
more hotly soulful. Lena could almost hear Annie s
underwear hitting the ground as she returned his
gaze. It also made her think of Jackson. Again.
Damn it, she didn t want to remember him looking
half-naked and hot, the way he had yesterday.
Perhaps visiting him at his place of business
would replace her half-naked image of him with one
less X-rated.
Where are you going, sis? Annie finally
thought to ask, her eyes still on her boyfriend.
I told you I need to go talk to the guy at
Yankee Elegance Catering. Straighten out our
misunderstanding.
Annie s face said, yeah, I ll bet, but her voice
chirped, All right. Ricky and I have everything
under control here. I ll collect the check from Mrs.
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Jakes and send along your goodbyes. She returned
her gaze to Ricky. You could almost feel the heat
radiating from the two of them, Lena thought.
I could use the keys, Annie.
Oh. Sorry. She tossed the keys to Lena. I
don t know what s wrong with me today.
Lena knew what was wrong with her sister, and
it was likely to get worse before it got better.
Sighing, she made her way back to Jeeves,
determined to keep her meeting with Jackson
Portsmouth strictly professional. But as she drove,
she wondered whether Jackson was a spanker.
None of that now!
She shifted, as her clothing suddenly seemed to
be tormenting her sensitive areas. She couldn t
shake the image from her mind of Jackson, tall,
dark, and hot, scolding her, then pulling her over
his lap. He d slowly remove her panties, still
lecturing her, and his hand would rub her bottom
before crisply smacking it. She wondered whether
he d spank one area lots of times in a row, to make
it hurt more, or if he would alternate cheeks. Would
he spank hard? Fast? Would he use his hand only as
a warm-up before graduating to, say, a wooden
hairbrush? The way Ken the soldier had?
God, she had to stop thinking about such things
before talking with him face to face!
Lena pulled up in front of Yankee Elegance
Catering s darkened storefront. Sidling to the door,
she peered through its window, noticing a light
shining in a back room. Should she knock? Should
she simply leave a note? Sudden panic at meeting
the man face-to-face had her digging for paper and
pen in her handbag. A note was safer.
Looking around for a surface to write on, she
decided the door would do. Beginning with, To the
owner of Yankee Elegance Catering, she had
almost finished her terse note when the door
opened wide. Falling through space, her arms
flailing wildly for something to stop her fall, she
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almost hit the floor before grasping a muscular arm.
The other muscular arm wrapped around her
ribcage, and his fingers brushed the outer edges of
one breast, sending fire-and-ice shivers through
her. Struggling to right herself, she growled, Let
me go.
I m trying to keep you from falling. Don t fight
me. Relax and you ll be upright in a moment.
Jackson s husky voice quieted her anxieties, and
she allowed him to help her into a standing position.
Once she regained her balance, she opened her
mouth to thank him, only to notice the state of her
clothing. Lena s face glowed with embarrassment as
she reclosed one of her blouse s buttons and pulled
down her hiked-up skirt. Staring at the pantyhose
twisted around her calves, Lena muttered,
Thanks.
I ve heard more gratitude from people paying
penalties to the IRS, Jackson said.
I didn t ask you to help me, she snapped.
I didn t ask you to come here.
Both glared at each other for a moment before
Lena sighed, Look, I came by because I wanted to
mend fences. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I
didn t know who you were at first. I felt spied on.
Once I learned your identity, I decided I d rather
you were a friend than an enemy, even though
you re the competition.
She noticed that his body language had relaxed
considerably. She also noticed that he was wearing
a form-fitting T-shirt and snug running shorts once
again. Uncontrollable feelings of desire welled up
inside her. Gulping once, she met his eyes.
Hesitantly, she extended her right hand. Shake on
it? she offered, bracing herself against the shock of
attraction she knew she d feel when their hands
touched.
He grasped her hand with his, gripping it
comfortably. I d be glad to. You are SweetKakes,
right?
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My business is SweetKakes. I m Karolena
Korhonen. Call me Lena.
And who s that harpy with the snapping towel?
Jackson s tone was light, but Lena stiffened with
outrage.
How dare you talk about my sister like that.
Her hands-on-hips stance demonstrated that she d
brook no criticism of her only remaining family.
How dare she attack me like a crazed
rottweiler. He half-stepped closer, his steely gaze
bouncing off her resolve like sunlight on a mirror.
Never one to back down from a fight when her
sister was involved, Lena moved in closer,
tightening her lips.
How dare you spy on me.
Get over it. I was trying to find SweetKakes,
not you. Your business is ruining mine. I know for a
fact you stole the Jakes party from me. That was
my job.
I didn t steal anything. Can I help it if Mrs.
Jakes called me? Besides, if you were better at what
you did, perhaps you wouldn t have clients bailing
out on you.
Better at ? Jackson sputtered. I ll have you
know I can cook rings around you. You re nothing
but a specialty caterer, emphasizing desserts and
little frou-frou tea sandwiches. I provide everything
from the appetizer to the finishing touches. The only
reason you re stealing my clients is that you
undercut my bids.
Oh, boo-hoo. Welcome to capitalism, buddy. Or
have you been a trust fund baby for so long that
enterprise is foreign to you?
I m nothing of the sort!
You drive a pretty fancy car for a caterer.
I earned every single penny that bought that
car. Besides, it s several years old. Running his
fingers through his hair, he continued, Why am I
even arguing this with you? It s none of your
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damned business which car I drive, how much
money I have, or anything else.
Well, if you knew how to work and make
money, you wouldn t be so upset with my
business s success. Lena crossed her arms.
For your information, I know how to work just
as well as you do. I m betting I work even harder
than you, so any success I ve earned is mine
alone.
As is any failure of yours, I m sure of that, she
retorted.
Abruptly, she realized that they were mere
inches apart, staring into each other s eyes, their
faces so close that they could bring their lips
together and
Best not to think about that went through her
mind as Jackson s mouth touched hers. Her
surprised gasp turned into a faint moan of pleasure.
His kiss, at first gentle, became firmer, demanding
that she part her lips for him. Electric shocks shot
through her, stopping to warm the pit of her
stomach, proceeding to her now-curling toes.
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