Read Online Old Enough To Know Better by Carolyn Faulkner - Free Book Online

got up and went over to her freezer and opened it, taking out the ever present pint of Ben and Jerry’s, this time it was Strawberry Cheesecake, and came to waggle it under her nose.  “I happen to know that the Ben and Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, Vermont gives tours and free samples!  I’m surprised you haven’t already made your pilgrimage.”
    She couldn’t help it.  She smiled.  She didn’t want to, but she smiled.  But she also stopped eating, and there was still food on her plate.
    It was Finn’s turn to raise an eyebrow as he held up a spoonful of food and her mouth remained stubbornly closed.  “I want you to finish this serving, Catherine.  I didn’t give you very much and you look like you haven’t had a good meal in days.  You’ve lost weight just since the last time I was here.”
    He was right, damn him, but how did he know that?
    “Because I notice you.”
    Had she asked that question out loud?
    Her mouth was still closed.
    “You have a choice,” he said carefully.  “You can either sit there and eat the rest of what’s on your plate, or you can sit there with a sore bottom and eat the rest of what’s on your plate.”  Finn met her eyes calmly.  “Your choice.”
    So much for not being able to be mad at him.  She stood, nearly knocking down the snack bar chair in the process.  “You cannot spank me.”
    He stood, much more slowly and deliberately, saying, “I’m sorry, honey, but that ship sailed five or so days ago.”

 
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Cat put her hands on the counter in front of her, leaning in towards him, not the least intimidated, which he loved.  “No, it did not.  You just spanked me.  I didn’t give you permission to do so.”
    Finn assumed the same position, leaning towards her, and said, “You hadn’t given Clint permission the first time he spanked you, either.  And you slapped him across the face for it, too.  So I consider myself in very good company.”
    Her jaw nearly hit the marble countertop between them, and just as quickly, her eyes filled with tears and she turned away from him, hiding her face with her hands.  “Go away.  Please, just go away.”
    “No way in hell,” Finn growled low under his breath, reaching her in two long strides and taking her in his arms, folding her right into them until she was all but lost against the sheer bulk of him.
    Dear God, it felt too good to be in his arms.  She didn’t want it to feel so good.  It was wrong to like it so much when it wasn’t Clint’s arms around her, which only made her cry that much harder.
    She was breaking his heart.  It was pulling into several disjointed, disabled bits right there in front of her, and she didn’t even know it, nor did she much care, apparently.  He could only hold her tighter, but not too much so, just enough to let her know that he was there, and she was safe.
    He wanted to take her into her bedroom and lay her down on the bed, to soothe her in the best way he knew how, with his body – his lips and tongue and cock.  But perhaps that was just the fact that his libido was incessantly piqued around her.  All he had to do was let a fleeting thought of her float through his mind and he was instantly and painfully erect.  It was embarrassing, because it never happened to him with anyone else, and, when he slept with other women, he was always thinking of her.  He’d even made the rookie mistake – once and only once, of course, never, ever again – of accidentally groaning her name aloud, when the girl he was with was named Linda.
    Needless to say, he’d never seen her again.
    And he hadn’t seen many women anyway.  That wasn’t his style.  Oh, he wasn’t a monk, especially when he was younger, but as he grew older, he’d poured himself into his work more so than anything else.  That alone – the monetary success he’d enjoyed in his line of work - had made him a target of the opposite sex, to say nothing of his size and good looks,