Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 Read online

  She gave him the tiniest of smiles. "No, sir. I won't."

  He nodded toward the door and Jackie followed Willa out and started doing what she had planned to do at the office. She started nursing.

  * * *

  By noon, they were finished with the office visits and ready to have a quick lunch and start the house calls.

  They loaded some supplies into Pete's SUV and headed onto the highway toward their first call. Pete turned on the satellite radio and shot Jackie a grin. It was a very appealing grin, too. She sent one back his way, and watched him tap his palm against the steering wheel as he rocked out to something old and metallic.

  "So tell me about being Jackie Journey," he said, his eyes back on the road.

  "Um…there's not much to tell."

  "Oh come on. You must have some hobbies, some interests. This is going to be a long afternoon if we don't talk a little."

  "Yeah, that's true. Well, you know all the professional stuff."

  He nodded. "I'm more interested in the other stuff. Though, of course, if it makes you uncomfortable, we don't have to talk about it."

  Jackie wracked her brain trying to think of something interesting to say. She realized that aside from school and shopping, she didn't really do much that was worthy of conversation. "I'm pretty boring."

  "Okay," he said. "Well, tell me about your family."

  That was a fine idea. She had a big family, always something going on with them. "Hmm. I have three brothers and a sister. They're all older than me. Ace, Deuce, Queenie, and Trey, are their names."

  "Cards! That's wild."

  She nodded, catching herself when she realized he was looking at the road, not her. "Yeah, it's kinda neat. Our mother was a professional poker player. She named us."

  "She must be a fun woman."

  "She died when I was two."

  He gave her a somber look. "I'm sorry."

  "What about you?"

  Shrugging, he answered succinctly. "Lots of schoolwork and long hours studying, in my past. It's hard to get into medical school without really high grades. There aren't as many slots as there should be, so they're picky."

  "Do you have brothers and sisters?"

  "I have all younger siblings. Two brothers, Case and James, and a sister, Penny. My parents immigrated to the US from Poland a few years before I was born."

  "Poland! That's so cool. I've never been out of the US."

  He shot her a glance. "You're young. You'll travel."

  "Maybe. I hate being so young, sometimes." She tried not to pout, but she knew she wasn't particularly successful. "Everyone is older than me."

  "Nonsense. You have your whole—"

  "Life ahead of me. Yeah, I know. That's what they tell me all the time. But there are things I want to have now."

  "Oh? Like what?"

  There was a part of her that thought about Pete as a possible suitor, as inappropriate as that was, and that part didn't want to scare him away. On the other hand, if she told him about her goal to have a husband and kids soon, she'd quickly find out if he qualified for her candidate list. A list of one, she reminded herself. The men in school had been too young and immature for that kind of commitment. A man Pete's age would be so much better. Maybe he had an available friend?

  That idea didn't appeal either. Pete's friends wouldn't be Pete.

  "Oh," she said vaguely, "Things."

  He nodded and quickly consulted the GPS unit on his dashboard. "We're almost there, I think."

  * * *

  Pete was both tired and invigorated when they got back to the office that evening. The sun was far from going down, despite the late hour, and he wanted to be out in it. While Jackie puttered about in the front office—Willa long gone as her shift was over—Pete gathered up his laptop and some charts and headed toward the backdoor, intent on setting himself up at the patio table outside.

  He smiled at his nurse as he paused by the front desk. "You should be heading home, Jackie."

  "Yeah. I guess." Her dark eyes were downcast. She seemed at odds with herself.

  "Something wrong?"

  She shrugged. "No."

  "Spit it out, young lady."

  Her head popped up and she glared at him. "Don't call me that."

  The vehemence of her reaction took him aback. "Excuse me?"

  "Don't call me 'young lady.' I might be young, but I'm a full-grown adult woman, not a teenager."

  He didn't like being reprimanded, but something had obviously gotten her into a bad mood and she was taking it out on him. Pete tried not to take it personally. "Okay," he said, drawing the word out. "You're not a young lady. Got it."

  "Don't forget it either."

  His temper flared. "That certainly sounds mature."

  At first her brows came down into a frown, but soon they eased again as her shoulders drooped. "I'm sorry. I'm not being very nice."

  "Maybe you're tired," he allowed.

  "Yeah, but I'm not ready to go home yet."

  It was Pete's turn to frown. "Why not?"

  She shrugged again. "I dunno. I'm not, that's all."

  A debate raged in Pete's head for a few moments, but he went with his gut instead of his brain. "Well, you can come outside with me for a while. I have some charts I want to update. You can help, if you like."

  Her face brightened. "I can?"

  "I don't see why not."

  "Okay."

  Jackie gathered a few things and followed Pete outside. He could smell her perfume on the breeze as they moved across the patio. He'd been entranced by it all day. She was charming and gentle with the patients, and he could easily see how she'd fit in his life. But there was an age difference to consider, and his workaholic nature was not a fact he could ignore. He didn't know if he could offer a young woman like her anything she'd be interested in. She probably had a handful of young boyfriends poised to lavish attention on her.

  They sat at the table, warmed by the sinking sun and cooled by the late spring breeze. The work was engaging and it took longer than Pete had planned. Or maybe he didn't want the evening to end. The light was too dim to see the files well so he put his pen down and leaned back in his chair.

  "Hungry?"

  Jackie closed a chart and gave him a soft smile. "Getting there."

  "I have some steaks in the 'fridge. Would you like to stay for an impromptu barbeque? We can work on these charts some more after dinner. Or are you too tired?"

  "I don't mind working late. I like helping."

  "Well, I can't keep you here and not feed you."

  She laughed and Pete's heart beat harder. "Steak sounds good."

  "Okay. Do you mind if we eat at my house? I think the mosquitoes are going to chew us to death if we linger out here."

  She didn't think about it for more than a second. "That's fine."

  He stood and gathered up his files and computer. This might be a huge mistake, but it was only dinner. Food and more work, that's all. "Come this way," he said in his best Bella Lugosi voice.

  Jackie giggled and followed right along.

  It turned out that Jackie was adept in the kitchen. She didn't know many fancy dishes, but the simple fare he intended for supper didn't faze her at all. As they cooked, they talked about Texas. He told her some stories about his childhood in Lubbock, and she told him more about her family's ranch. She was animated and proud talking about her kin. Family was obviously important to her.

  As they sat down to eat in his kitchen, around 9:00 PM, Jackie's cellphone played a piece of a song by Leann Rimes, "Nothin' Better to Do." Amused as Pete was by the choice of the ring tone, his amusement quickly fled as he listened to Jackie's side of the conversation.

  "Daddy!... Oh, I'm sorry. I was workin'." She fidgeted and turned away from Pete. "I know I should have called. I didn't think." Her voice tightened as she went on. "Don't boss me, Daddy. I'm grown." Jackie heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry you were worried! I'm sorry, okay?" Pete could see her shoulders tense as she got
angrier. "It's my life, Daddy." She stomped her foot. "Fine then, I won't stay under your roof, if that's the way you want it…oh! Oh! You make me so mad! I'll come home when I'm damn good and ready. You can't make me come home sooner!" With a pronounced poke, Jackie pressed a disconnect icon and stuffed the phone back in her purse. A blush suffused her face and she sat with surly carelessness.

  * * *

  Angry and feeling belligerent, Jackie threw out as polite a comment as she could muster. "Sorry."

  Pete eyed her, and she felt judged and found wanting. "You didn't call home when I asked you to work late?"

  "No," she told him. It wasn't like it was his business. "I'm a grown woman. I don't have to check in every time I want to stay out late."

  He arched a dark eyebrow at her and she bristled. It was too much that she was getting this treatment from Pete as well as her father.

  "You don't have to be polite?"

  She wadded up her napkin and put it on the table. "I am perfectly polite, thank you."

  "Leaving your father to wonder what's happened to you isn't polite, Jackie."

  Guilt and anger made her hands shake. Who was he to lecture her? "What business is it of yours?" The chair clattered unsteadily on the hardwood floor as she rose to leave. "I'm not hungry, and my Daddy says I can't stay out and play anymore." She could hear the disrespect and scorn in her voice, but she couldn't hold it back. Treating her like a child was getting old fast, and she was more than a little embarrassed that Pete had witnessed it. She wanted to get home and punch her pillows. Pete halted her with a hand on her wrist as she made to leave. "What?" she snapped.

  "Are you going to apologize to your father?"

  "I already did."

  "It sure didn't sound like you meant it."

  "So? I did it. He'll calm down. He always does." Maybe that was the problem. He always let it go rather than teaching her a lesson. She knew she needed those lessons, but at the same time, she wanted to get her way. She was an adult and Jackie wanted to be treated like one rather than a naughty child. Pete's hand on her wrist wasn't hurting, but she wanted to leave. Pulling against him did no good, however. "Let me go."

  Pete's frown was dark and dangerous and Jackie's breath halted. Apparently, being in trouble was going to come from two sides.

  Sternly, Pete said, "You're acting like a spoiled brat, Jackie."

  "What's it to you? You don't care about me; it's all business to you!" The moment she said it, she wanted to take it back. She was being venal and childish. The truth was, she was tired, hungry and embarrassed. Guilt over worrying her father nagged at her like a toothache. Accusing Pete of being unfeeling was lashing out at the wrong person. The person who was guilty of wrongdoing was her. She pulled at her wrist again to no avail. "Please let me go."

  Pete rose from his chair and pulled her toward his family room. Her high emotions got in the way of observing the room well, but she glimpsed an oriental carpet on the hardwood floor, and cardboard boxes in every corner. A royal blue club chair sat at the edge of the carpet, and across from it was a blue and yellow patterned couch. It was the couch that Pete made for with Jackie in tow.

  "I'm going to teach you a lesson, young lady," Pete said, his emphasis unmistakable.

  "Look, Pete, I'm sorry. What I said was uncalled for. It was mean. I didn't mean it."

  "You are full of bad behavior tonight, Jackie Journey. If your father won't teach you some manners, then I will."

  She yanked against the hand the continued to restrain her wrist. "What are you goin' to do?"

  "Spank you."

  Jackie's heart skipped a beat. The spanking earlier in the day had hurt! Another one on top of it was going to be excruciating. It didn't matter if she deserved it. "Come on, Pete. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Okay? We don't have to go there."

  "Oh yes we do." He sat down on the sofa with a flump and pulled her over his lap. "You've obviously been getting away with murder for years. Time you paid the piper."

  Jackie struggled against him, trying to ignore the small thrill of happiness that shot through her. This was not the kind of intimacy she wanted with Pete Kaminsky! A little voice told her, however, that it was better than no intimacy at all. Still, it was going to hurt, and the fact that he was pulling down her scrubs again made it humiliating, too. That had a weird appeal as well. It was something that she didn’t want to examine, and the first whack on her rump took all her attention off her confusion and right onto her butt.

  "Ouch! Pete! Ouch! I'm sorry!"

  "You were disrespectful to your father, Jackie."

  "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry!"

  He smacked her several more times and her bottom smarted fiercely. "He was worried about you and you threw his love right back in his face like a spoiled brat."

  "Okay! I did! Yeah, I did! Ouch! Ow!" The pain was intensifying and she squirmed. She knew she should just bite the bullet and take it. He was right about her disrespecting her daddy. Leo didn't deserve that. But she knew he wouldn't hold it against her. He loved her even though sometimes she was out of line. Several more spanks on her butt made her squirm harder and tense up tight as a stretched rubber band.

  "You disrespected me, too," Pete pointed out as he whaled on her behind. "I've treated you with nothing but respect." Whack, whack, whack. "Respect that you are not reciprocating."

  Her rear was on fire, and his hand was traveling down the tops of her thighs making them spark with heat and pain, too. "Please forgive me! I was mad. I didn't mean it."

  "Grow up, Jackie! If you don't start acting like an adult, no one is going to treat you like one."

  "Ow! Can't you stop, please? Ow! Owie! Ow!" The last few spanks landed on the juncture of her butt and thighs and hurt worse than anything that came before. She squealed with the blows. When he stopped, she was gasping and sobbing, tears streaming down her face. Her rear felt like raw hamburger.

  "You can sit up now."

  Remembering how good it was to be comforted after her first spanking, she kicked off the scrub pants that hung around her ankles and curled into a sitting position straddling his thighs, with her face on his shoulder. He made a thick noise in his throat and shifted in his seat, his arms going around her. "I'm sorry," she blubbered against his neck. "I don't want to be a brat."

  He rubbed her back, sliding his hands down to her throbbing rear and then quickly back up to her waist as though the fire in her butt would burn him, too.

  "Okay, Jackie. You need to think before you talk. You can't treat people so badly and expect them to keep forgiving you over and over again. Eventually, their patience is going to run out."

  She nodded. He smelled so good and felt so firm against her hot face. His shoulders were broad and strong. Jackie thought about the strength in his spanking arm and imagined how sexy and taut his thick biceps must be. She wished she could see.

  "I'm sorry, Pete. I'll try. I promise."

  "Apologize sincerely to your father, Jackie. He didn't deserve your bad behavior."

  "Yes, sir. You're right. I feel bad about it."

  "Good. Then we've accomplished something here." He gripped her hair and raised her head so that she'd look into his eyes. "Don't make me spank you again, miłość."

  His expression was stern, but his eyes searched hers. Jackie couldn't tell what he was looking for, and wasn't sure he found it but he released her head. She snuggled back against him. "What does miłość mean?"

  "It's not important. No more bad behavior, though. Got it?"

  She squirmed against him and he grimaced, taking her firmly by the waist and putting her next to him on the couch. Jackie's eyes were drawn to the thick bulge in his jeans. She knew what that meant and a trumpet of triumph pealed in her head. Trying to act nonchalant, she got off her sore behind and pulled on her scrubs. If she happened to wiggle her nearly bare rear in his general direction, well, that couldn't be helped, could it?

  "You'd best get on home," Pete told her, his voice low and strained.

 
"Okay. I'm sorry about dinner…and everythin'."

  "I'm sure it'll go better next time," he told her, rising from the couch. He made a little grimace and a tiny frown remained behind though his face cleared.

  "Next time?"

  Pete cleared his throat. "Yeah, well…we'll see."

  Jackie put a hand on his chest to see how he'd react. She was being an awful flirt, something she was good at with younger guys, but it felt dangerous and titillating with an older man. "I'd like to have dinner with you, Pete."

  He gently set her away from him and turned toward the kitchen. "Go home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be another busy day, Miss Journey."

  Apparently, that was it for the night. She gathered up her purse. "I really am sorry."

  He nodded, one side of his mouth quirking up in the hint of a smile. "Be good. Drive safely. Don't be late tomorrow!"

  She smiled. "Yes, sir."

  Chapter 3

  After apologizing to her daddy back on the ranch, Jackie spent a few minutes talking with a friendly nurse at the main nursing station at the twelve-bed Hudspeth hospital in town. Sonora didn't need a bigger hospital and it was a warm and caring place to go if you had to be hospitalized. Jackie had brought files and x-rays to the hospital as part of her job and stayed a little while to talk to one of Pete’s patients. Mr. Nesbit was grateful for the company, thanking Jackie profusely before encouraging her to go enjoy her Friday night in town.

  Knowing that she was going to be in Sonora that afternoon, Jackie had brought a little bag of clothes to change into so she wouldn't have to appear at the local tavern in her scrubs. She changed in the hospital restroom before she left and drove the short distance to the popular cantina, Carlos' Carniceria.

  It had been a year since she'd been there, and remembering her twenty-first birthday party, spent drinking beer in the bar, brought a smile to her face. She recalled how her big brother, Ace, had cautioned her about alcohol, but didn't make it sound like she should become a teetotaler either. He was known to knock back a few beers if the mood struck him, too, but he wasn't a person of excess and cautioned her to be in control of herself as well.