Page 22 of Everything Christmas

“Or when I got plastered and came home drunk on prom night.”

“Honey...”

“Or the time I climbed up on the roof to rescue my cat.”

“How old were you when that happened?” he asked, but then he held up his hand. “No, wait. I don’t want to know.”

“I guess Dad was right when he said I was a handful.”

He’d only had a small taste of what her parents had, and he picked up on that already. “How in the world have you made it to the ripe old age of...”

“Twenty-seven,” she helpfully supplied.

He huffed a little laugh. “You deserved every one of those spankings and then some. Your poor parents; you must have given them fits.”

“Yeah,” she breathed with a deep sigh. “They were saints. What about your ex? Was she as much trouble as I was? And still am, evidently?” she quickly amended.

“Not at all. She rarely broke the rules and was on board with our arrangement or seemed to be. I think she enjoyed the novelty of the dynamic, but she wasn’t submissive. One day when I got home, she was gone. All I got was a terse letter saying that she loved me but couldn’t live under my thumb.”

She studied him for a moment. “I’ve had a taste of that myself. You can be bossy. And arrogant, controlling, dictatorial—”

“I get the message.” Suddenly weary, he moved to the couch beside her. Leaning back, he brought his hands up to run them through his hair, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. But he still held the spoon and dropped it as if it scalded his skin.

Merry felt the same as Hanna. How had he misread her so badly? It must be him and his weird demands. Maybe he needed to see a professional and find out what was wrong with him.

“Reese, you didn’t let me finish. Aside from being all those things I mentioned, you can also be very sweet. Like when you doctored my hands and even when you pulled up my pants in the kitchen. You have these endearing glimmers that are really quite irresistible. For some women, that alone would make the spankings worthwhile.”

She blushed furiously when he glanced her way.

“I can’t believe I just admitted that.”

It took all his willpower not to break into a grin at the endearing sight of his rosy-cheeked elf, especially when she embarrassed herself. “Irresistible, huh?”

“Yeah, but don’t go getting a gigantic head. You know you’re attractive.”

“Is that why you’re always watching me when I run?”

“Of course. I’m not blind—or a nun.”

Laughing, he pulled her into an affectionate hug. “So, do you want to give us a try to see where this might go?”

“Do you mean dating or spanking?”

“Both, but we would start out slow and get to know each other.”

“With you in charge?”

“Yes, but I promise I’m not the hard-ass I pretended to be in the past few weeks. We would set some ground rules, of course.”

“Like what?”

“No climbing ladders, for one.”

“I can live with that. My hands are really sore. What else?”

“Basic courtesy, open communication, and respect. Things important to building a strong, lasting relationship.”

“And that’s what you’re looking for? A relationship?”

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