Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 (3 page)

A smile flashed over his face as he
remembered
his late afternoon interview with the new nurse. She was a looker
;
that was certain. Tiny, slender, with bright brown eyes and a pirate's smile, he had to concentrate hard on evaluating her for her qualifications as a nurse and not those he'd attribute to
a romantic interest
.
Jackie…not Jacqueline, as he'd first thought. Jackie Journey. It was a good name. His office manager, Willa, told him that the Journeys were multi-generational residents of the area and had a big spread half an hour away. It would be a huge plus to have a local girl accompany him on his rounds. People would accept their new doctor a lot more easily.

It was getting late and he'd be starting early in the morning. He had several patients to see in the office, and then house calls in the afternoon.

The walk to his residence
usually
took about
two
minutes
but
he ran to avoid getting soaked in the heavy rain
. His big ranch house, a part of the property where the office sat, was
jumbled
with boxes and items
still
wrapped in moving blankets. Pete planned on
unpacking over time. It was more important to get to work.

After undressing, h
e crawled in between the crisp sheets of his big bed and drifted for a few moments, excited about starting the real work tomorrow, but tired from a long week of preparations. Jackie Journey would be there the next morning at 8:00. A smile curled his lips as he
considered
working with her. Yes, this new practice was going to be perfect.

* * *

Pete grabbed a second cup of coffee as he paced the short hall between his two treatment rooms and the reception desk. Everything was gleaming clean and white with sea blue trim. The place still smelled a bit like fresh paint, and normally Pete would have loved the sense of newness he got from the odor, but this morning he was getting too ticked off to notice. He glared at his watch. Where was she? This was a fine way to start off their working relationship.

By 8:20 AM, he was beginning to get worried so he dug out Jackie's employment application and dialed up the cellphone number he found there. She answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Miss Journey, this is Dr. Kaminsky. Are you alright?"

"Yes! Yes, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'm runnin
'
late this mornin
'
. I'll be there in, like, five minutes."

"Running late? Are you driving now?"

"Yes. But I'm goin
'
as fast as my car can go. I promise I'll be there shortly."

There was
an apology
in her voice, but not enough, as far as Pete was concerned. Did she think that the patients would be happy waiting for a tardy nurse to show up? Did she think her boss would?

"Why are you on the phone
while
driving, Miss Journey?"

"Because you called?" Although she didn't say it, her tone said
duh
, which irritated him further.

"Get off the phone and get your tail in
here
."

"I'm going ninety. I'm nearly there."

"Ninety? Ninety miles per hour! Goodbye, Miss Journey. I'll see you soon."
He quickly hung up, hoping she'd get back to concentrating on the road.
He couldn't believe she'd be talking on the phone while driving that fast—driving way too fast, as far as he was concerned. Not only was it a drivers' license losing offense to go so far over the speed limit, but it was just plain unsafe. She shouldn't be talking on the phone while driving at all.

Disappointment speared him while anger churned with the coffee in his stomach.
She was young, maybe too young for the responsibility of being a country doctor's nurse. It wasn't as though there was any backup for her. If she flaked out, he was left high and dry.

He'd liked her so well during their interview, too. Pete debated firing her on the spot when she showed up, but he made himself take several slow, even breaths to calm down. She was qualified. She was personable. She had history in this area. He'd simply have to teach her better work habits.

But how?

He pushed dark hair off his forehead and slurped at his coffee again.
There was little choice in the matter when it came down to it.

At 8:29, she walked in the door. A cool breeze followed her in, the post-storm sunshine around the door as bright as her smile.

He stood at the reception desk and frowned at her.

"Sorry I'm late, Doctor." Her smile faded as he continued to stare. "I got here as fast as I could. I'm not a mornin' person, you see, so…"
Slowly
, as she was met with silence
,
Jackie's shoulders slumped. "Am I fired?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh no. Please don't fire me. I really want this job!"

Pete
glanced
at Willa, who was trying to look busy with filing while listening to every word. "Come into my office, Miss Journey."

"Yes, Doctor."

She followed him down the hall and into his private office. He closed the door behind her and gestured to a chair across the desk from where he sat down.

"Miss Journey, I don't want to fire you, but it is outrageous for you to show up nearly half an hour late for work on your first day."

Her neck bent as she hung her head. Her long, graceful neck. Pete caught himself and
frowned at her harder.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't do well in the mornin
'
. I like to stay up late and then the alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button a few times. Pretty soon half an hour goes by and I'm late."

"Well, I can't have a nurse who has so little regard for the patients. It's very rude of you to keep them and me waiting."

"I didn't see any patients in the waitin
'
room when I came in," she pointed out.

"They'll start coming in at 9:00. But that's not the point. You kept me waiting, too."

Jackie bit her lower lip and her eyes dropped. It looked like she was debating herself about what to do or say next. Finally, she looked him in the eyes. "What if I promise never to do it again?"

"That's not good enough."
He'd fired her. Why was he sitting here talking to her about it? Pete was torn by a desire to help her to keep her next job by giving her a stern talking to
,
and
making
sure she was regretful enough to make it possible for him to give her
back
the nursing job
in
his office again.

Something about her appealed to him, irritated as he was at her behavior. But that didn't address the situation. No, it didn't solve things at all.

Chapter 2

A look of stubborn resolve tightened
Jackie's
shoulders
as she sat across from him, twirling her long dark hair on
one
finger
. "Punish me."

Pete
was sure he hadn't heard her right. "I beg your pardon?"

"Punish me. I deserve to be punished for bein
'
thoughtless and rude.
"

"Yes, but I think firing you is a
n adequate
punishment, don't you?"

She leaned forward and put a hand on his desk. "Please, Doctor Kaminsky. Please. I really want this job. It's perfect for me."

"Your enthusiasm is a little late, Miss Journey."

"Spank me."

Pete felt like his jaw hit the floor right about where his stomach was already lying. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Her voice was firm. "Spank me. Then I'll be punished but I won't have to lose my job."

Childhood memories spun through Pete's brain. Oh, he knew how his father dealt with him and his brothers and sister as kids. They got spanked when they were willful, thoughtless or disobedient. And he suspected his mother wasn't spared the rod either. She sometimes had a grimace upon sitting down, followed by a wistful, dreamy look. He didn't even want to think what that was about.

Maybe Jackie Journey needed a spanking. Maybe she could learn to behave after the judicious application of a little corporal punishment. It was not the best way to start off any kind of relationship, however.

"Do you realize what you're saying, Miss Journey? Are you really asking me to spank you?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He was flustered but he kept it to himself. The idea of spanking her appealed to him on many levels. It would teach her a lesson. It would allow him to keep his nurse. And, although it wasn't a noble reason, it would give him access to her very desirable behind.

"Have you ever been spanked, Jackie?"

"No
, b
ut I can take it. I don't want to go home unemployed."

He'd never spanked a woman
for punishment, though he had
spanked
during sex more than a few times. And that was the problem. He associated spankings of grown women with sex, something that he could not engage in with his employee. Pete didn't know if he could separate the two. His attraction to Jackie was undeniable. It would have been a real pleasure to have met her under other circumstances and then enjoyed some hot
nights
together. Reality drowned that cat, though.

"No."

"Oh please? Please give me this chance to make it right. Then we can start over. I promise I'll never be late again."

Her begging was getting to him.
It was a risky proposition. "It's against the law. It could be construed as sexual harassment."

"I won't sue you! I want a job, not a lawsuit! Please, please, please?"

Her family had a good, honest reputation in this county. They weren't known as people who engaged in lawsuits. Pete really wanted to have this work out. "Okay."

Eagerness made her voice vibrate. "You mean it? You'll spank me?"

He couldn't help but smile, though his lascivious thoughts made him feel guilty, too. "Yeah. We'll move on after that.
"

"Great!" She stood quickly, but hesitated as her knees straightened. "So…I…um…"

She wore bright blue scrubs with little white clouds on them. Pete quickly considered their options in his small office and decided on something traditional.
He stood and rounded the desk toward her.

"Lean over the desk and pull your pants down."

"Pants?" Her voice became a whisper. "Down?"

"You asked to be spanked, Miss Journey."

"Yeah, well… I know. I didn't think about…"

"Are you wearing panties?"