Birches, Cowgirls & Angels

Chapter Four-2

“Why don’t you calm down, go home, relax a little. When you see things a little clearer, then we’ll talk about how we’re going to manage the stables so everyone can be happy.”

“If you think I’m working with you, you’re crazy.”

She tried to storm out, but Jake grabbed her again and held her back.

“You’re not going anywhere, Ms. Plover, until you settle down.”

“I am not a child.”

“But you’re acting like one.”

“You’ve said enough.” She jerked again, but with no results. She was no match for Jake’s brawn.

“I need your cooperation, Amanda, or the deal is off. You’re out of the stable altogether. And I will do that if you rile me now.”

“Oh, so you might be riled,” she said with defiance ringing in each syllable she spoke.

“Seems to me you’re too big for your britches.”

She laughed, smugly. “I’m not wearing britches today.”

“Yes, I see you’re not. And isn’t it a blessing that you’re wearing a skirt. It’ll make my job that much easier.” He still hadn’t let go of her hand, and he wasn’t planning to.

“What job?”

He didn’t reply in words, but instead, pulled her two steps toward an available chair, and plopping down on the seat, Jake pulled the fiery blonde over his lap.

“You are not going to spank me, Jake Colton!” she shouted. Her entire body jerked as fiercely as she could, which only made Jake hold on tighter, his left arm firmly clutching her about the waist.

“Humm, Amanda, you’d better think before you speak—and you might just want to hold your tongue, the walls in this place are paper thin. That is, unless you want the embarrassment of an audience.”

“You bastard!” she cried, lowering her voice as she did, although the fire behind her words was no less intent.

She was flailing with her fists, her legs kicking madly. To avert a complete mutiny, Jake managed to overtake her hands gathering them in his broad left palm and pressing them tightly to her waist, while he kept her legs subdued with his right thigh going over both limbs. It was an odd position, but it served his purpose. Having her reasonably secured, he moved on to his target of the next few minutes—her tight, round ass. To his advantage and her distress, she’d been unwise enough to wear a short skirt to this rather sad meeting. Jake only needed to flick it up with his hand to have it above her cute behind.

Though the target was small, Amanda’s two ass cheeks were as fine as any he’d ever seen—all the prettier in their nearly naked state, a tawny pink with two dimples at the top. The way they flexed sparked a lusty shock wave through his body. She might be a cowgirl at heart, but she had no problem wearing a sexy pair of thong panties. The one-inch band of material was sunk deep into the cleft of her ass, so as far as Jake was concerned, her bottom was naked.

Oh my! he sighed to himself just before his hand came down with its first firm crack. This was going to be his pleasure. He couldn’t wait until her ass was blushing like a western sunset. Laying the first smack on her left cheek, he quickly struck up a vigorous rhythm pelting her behind as hard and as fast as he could.

While Jake tenaciously continued his task, Amanda struggled to keep from crying out. That must have been hard since this had to be hurting—hell, it was hurting him, too. If he’d only had the presence of mind to grab a ruler from the old blackboard at the side of the room, or taken off his belt, he could have gone on for quite some time with the benefit of a decent implement. But since he hadn’t planned to spank the obstinate Ms. Plover, he had to suffice with his palm, making the maximum impression before he had to stop. Choosing to concentrate on the fairest, most tender, fattest flesh of her two globes, he laid one nasty strike right on top of the last, and his efforts produced the desired effect. Her flesh was soon hot and burning; and though for the first two or three minutes, she struggled even harder to get out of his grasp, for the last several he could sense that her nasty spirit was finally falling away, with some of her enthusiasm for a vigorous fight flagging.

Jake spanked her as well as he knew how given the circumstances. And when he felt she’d heard his message with resounding clarity, he stopped and pushed her from his lap.

On her feet again, Amanda was quick to push her skirt back over her ass. And while she was momentarily flustered, Jake could sense another tirade about to spew from her lips.

“Hold it, not a word,” he warned as his eyes bore into hers. “You’re not going to shout and you’re not going to make a scene, and you’re not going to walk out on me until I’ve said my piece.”

She seemed to wilt under that threat. “Why should I care? You’ve taken from me what I love. As far as I’m concerned, I’m pulling out. You can have it all. Find another partner and I’ll be out of your hair in a week—that is, if you’ll give me that long.”

“You keep talking like that, you’ll go back over my knee,” he warned.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? For me to leave, sell out, give you and your investors the stables?”

“No, it’s not what I want. No one wants to stomp on your dreams and take what’s yours. You’ve got a great vision for the stables that no one around here has had, it’s refreshing to see it.”

“Well a lot of good it does. I work my butt off and it doesn’t matter.”

He shook his head exasperated. “Now, listen to me, young lady, you can’t go talking that way. You’re a damn fine horse trainer, no one’s disputing that. But as far as managing that business, you need help; and that’s exactly what you’re going to get. Birch Valley is still your stables, maybe only by a thread, but it’s still yours. And you hold the key to having it, or letting it slip from your grasp. Half of your problem, Amanda, is your attitude.”

“My attitude?”

“Yes, your attitude,” he sighed wearily, knowing that this conversation wouldn’t get any better until he’d totally come clean. “You might as well understand the truth right now. I wasn’t going to tell you because I wanted to spare your feelings, but since you’re so f*****g cocky, you’re going to get the whole of it. And you’re going to listen, and you’re going to let it sink in.”

“The only reason—the real reason everyone wanted to fire you outright is because of your damned stubborn temper and your bitchy attitude. You’re a pain in the neck to work with—and frankly there aren’t too many who even like you. I’m about the only one who’ll defend you. I know you’re a hell of a lot more than all that uptight bravado, but you’ve got to lighten up, turn on the charm, Mandy, or you’re sunk in this county. You sweeten up, you might just get everything you want. You don’t, you’ll lose it all.” He couldn’t have been more candid or sincere.

Amanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Every word he spoke stung like a nasty old bee sting. Her bottom still hurt like hellfire but her feelings weren’t far behind. Even worse was getting a tongue-lashing from Jake Colton. Everything he said was true, and beneath her stunned expression and the hard look she managed to maintain, she was embarrassed to have her failings so rudely pointed out. She would never admit it to Jake, but she deserved every second of this scalding attack. It had been a hard three years and she hadn’t handled it well. She knew she’d been a b***h, that the stress had made her just plain crabby. She hated that trait in herself, but she’d found no way to stop.

Funny, this was the first time anyone had bothered to tell her to her face how they felt.

“Are you hearing what I’m saying?” Jake finally asked—she seemed completely stoic and unfeeling.

“Yes, I’m hearing. How could I not?” There was still an edge in her voice that shouldn’t be there.

“Amanda, that’s just what I’m talking about. Your sass, your sarcasm. Let down your guard.”

“I don’t know how!”

“Well, maybe I’ll have to teach you.”

She scowled a little.

“Get it straight, hon, from now on, there will be no pouting, no angry outbursts, no cold shoulder to Hank—or me. No general bitchiness. You do your job with a smile on your face. That’s going to be the best way to thaw those old critters who hold the leans on your property. And trust me, if you don’t lose the edge, I will take my belt to your bottom and blister that heinie with twice the effort I did today. Is that clear?”

She couldn’t answer.

“Is that clear?” he repeated.

“Yes. It’s clear.” She was starting to melt inside, the cold steel seeming to dissolve as though it had never been there at all, until all that remained was what was very deep in her heart, a weak-kneed and frightened little girl.

“Good.” He’d been on such a roll with his lecture, and realizing he was finished, he didn’t quite know what to do.

Of course, neither did Amanda. She stood motionless before him, becoming aware of the curious silence between them, and little things, like a fly annoyingly buzzing her face and then Jake’s; and the grating sound the of ceiling fan loping lazily overhead. More importantly, she became aware of her feelings—and the rife intensity that whole weird scene seemed to spawn. Though she should be spitting fire as she so often did, what she felt was certainly not anger—there wasn’t a speck of anger anywhere in her system.

It had to be Jake. It had to be the way, above his fury, his righteous indignation, and chauvinistic pomposity, he really seemed to care—and more than care, seemed to be adding a degree of lust to the mix of emotions that, taking her off guard, made her speechless and vaguely aroused. Thirty seconds of silence, her flustered brain finally began to think again. She had to leave.

“Listen, I have work to do. I need to go.” She moved to the table, as Jake watched her stuff the wasted reports into her portfolio.

Though there were a few details he needed to arrange, and arrange soon, Jake didn’t bother to call her back. She’d had enough, and so had he. Seeing her leave the town hall with a good deal less swagger in her sexy hips, he had the feeling she’d be in tears by the time she reached her truck.

***

Midge and Cissy giggled as they heard Hank spell out the new line of command at Birch Valley Stables.

Amanda was already out working horses, having decided to miss the morning meeting. This left just the two girlfriends, Hank and Stanley—part trainer, part vet to share the news of the stable shake-up.

“Amanda is going to concentrate on training the horses,” Hank explained the unexpected change. “And I’ll take care of managing the stock. You’ll keep doing your work the way you usually do, but you’ll answer to me—or Jake Colton if he’s here.”

“Jake!” Cissy exclaimed. Though there had been rumors that Amanda had been “relieved” of her management role at the stables, this was the first Cissy had heard anything about Jake being involved.

“Yes, your cousin,” he nodded.

“He doesn’t have time for this.”

Hank fixed her with a stern expression. “That’s not really your concern, is it?”

She backed off. “No, I suppose not,” she said in a voice that sounded like a pout.

“Fine. Then let’s get to work.”

Two hours later, Midge was in the stable alone tossing hay. Her mind was absorbed in the changes at the stables. Already the mood had seemed to lift with Amanda out on her own. In fact, Amanda had been quite pleasant when Midge saw her earlier that day. Maybe this was exactly what she needed—a little less responsibility. But what would this mean for her job—two men overseeing the stables, not one frustrated and overworked tigress?

When Hank approached Midge from behind, the tempting brunette was so engrossed in her thoughts that she seemed to jump a foot when he put his weighty hands on her hips.

“You surprised me,” she said turning around, finding him so close that she had to back away to be comfortable.

He was smiling broadly.

“Just checking up on you.”

“Oh, that’s right. It’s your job now.”

“Shouldn’t make any difference between us,” he said.

“I don’t see why it would,” she agreed. Her heart was pumping feverishly, her body wanting to fall into his. If anything, this new arrangement, putting him in such a position of authority, made their budding relationship even more intense.