Her Old-Fashioned Husband (22 page)

“Why not?” he said incredulously. “It’s what we eat every day. Frankie, I want you to calm down right now.
You’ve sworn twice in the last couple of minutes
. I’m being lenient with you, right now. But
you’re wor
king yourself up into a state and i
f you don’t settle yourself down, I’m going to have to do it for you.
”

“I don’t have time to calm down. I’m cooking dinner. And
it’s
a mess,” she wailed.

Smack! Smack!

Tom gave her a short, sharp spanking over her pants as she stood with her hand under the cold water.

He stopped suddenly and leaning in close, kissed her neck tenderly.

“It’s not a mess. You’re acting crazy, woman. It’s just dinner.”

“It’s not just dinner. It needs to be perfect.” She was near tears, her emotions shot to hell.

Tom wrapped his arms around her from behind. “You’re trying too hard, sweetheart. You need to let things just happen as they happen, okay?”

Frankie took a deep breath. He was right. She was acting like a maniac.

“Now, I want you to
take a deep breath and
calm down. I’m going to go get some cream for your hand then wrap it up. Then I will help you with dinner, all right?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied.

“
That’s my good girl.” He patted her bottom as he left. “And keep that hand where it is.”

“Drat,” she replied, but she was smiling.

The last couple of months had been a real roller coaster for her. Her obsession with getting pregnant, their trip to the cabin, her visit to see Roarke. Yes, life had certainly had its ups and downs lately. But she felt she’d needed to go through everything to get to where she was now. Tom had always been the leader in their relationship, but lately he’d taken an even stronger role, particularly in the bedroom and she loved it.
             

They were both happier, and his relationship with Roarke, while still stiff and uncertain, was coming along.
And, they’d recently got the results from the specialist, there was no reason that when they both decided they wanted to try for a baby again that it wouldn’t happen. The specialist believed that the stress she’d placed on herself to get pregnant had probably slowed things down. Frankie had ended up crying in relief. Tom just held her, rocking her gently.

Her man. Her old-fashioned husband.

All in all, Frankie figured that while her butt might not have approved of her actions,
things had ended up happily.

Not perfect.

But she was fine with that. Because she wouldn’t change a thing.