Read Online Punishment with Kisses by Diane Anderson-Minshall - Free Book Online
Authors: Diane Anderson-Minshall
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yes, yes, I just got locked out and didn’t want to wake anyone. Is Father up?”
“No, Señor Caulfield has not risen today. I’m preparing breakfast.” She pointed to the newspaper on the stoop. Of course, Father doesn’t even get his own newspaper off the porch.
“Great. Let’s keep this between us.” I grabbed her and pecked her cheek, an impulsive thank you for keeping my secret.
Maria seemed bemused. She probably knew what a hard-ass Father could be more than anyone.
*
Flush with my sexual conquest, I put on my bikini and marched down to the pool. Screw Cynthia and Ash, I thought. It was my pool, too. I wasn’t going to let our spat the other day force me back into the imprisonment of the house. I didn’t need Ash’s invitation or permission, not that day, not when I was emboldened by my night of passion.
Ash and her friends were already out by the pool. Their conversation went from a loud chatter to hushed whispers. Geesh, she couldn’t even share a fucking conversation with me? God, some days I hated my sister.
I ignored them, spreading my towel out across one of the lounges before massaging some sunscreen onto my skin. I finally muttered my hellos a few minutes later, while I was dipping my toes in the surprisingly cold water. Normally I’d spend a half hour slowly wading in deeper and deeper, gradually getting used to the temperature, but not that day. I tossed a pool mattress in the water, held my breath and dove in. It was shocking. Any element of sophistication I might have displayed was quickly undermined by my ungainly struggles to board the floatation device. Every time I’d capture it and try to shove it under my ass, I would end up falling over backward splashing and sputtering while the mattress popped up on the other side of me, rising like a missile from the water. I finally managed to flop my body onto the float with all the gracefulness of a sea lion flinging itself onto a dock. I lay there panting, so loud that I almost drowned out the commotion of Ash yelling over my head at some newcomer. My back was to the gate and I didn’t even bother turning to look at what was sure to be another of Ash’s conquests—why would I care who she’s whoring around with now? But I couldn’t help overhear her tantrum.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” Ash was practically yelling. “I told you I don’t want to see you again. I can’t believe you’ve come to my home.”
“But—”
“No buts, a no is a no, you got that?”
“It’s not what you think. I’m here for Megan.”
Ash cut the woman off again, but this time the voice had a tint of familiarity to it so I swirled around on my pool mattress just in time to see Shane standing there, red-faced, holding my purse.
Damn. For some reason it had never occurred to me that even my one-night stand might know Ash. It was a crushing blow. My knight in shining armor had already been her knight, had already been in her. I was always second, never number one. Maybe that’s why Shane had noticed me, what she’d liked about me, what attracted her to me, my resemblance to Ash, however slight. Oh, my God, what if she was just with me because Ash told her no and I was as close as she could get to the real thing?
I felt the heat flushing my cheeks and wanted to disappear. I was frozen in place, afraid to move for fear I’d catapult myself back into the water. Then I could feel all eyes on me and I decided maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. In fact, I wished I could just melt right there like the wicked witch of the Wizard of Oz. As a liquid I’d run right off the mattress and become indistinguishable from the water around me. Before I could process it all though, Shane shoved my handbag at Ash and turned and ran.
“Wait, Shane!” I shouted, trying gallantly to go after her but instead just falling off my float and ruining whatever decorum I had left. By the time I swam out of the pool, climbing up the stairs at the shallow
“No, Señor Caulfield has not risen today. I’m preparing breakfast.” She pointed to the newspaper on the stoop. Of course, Father doesn’t even get his own newspaper off the porch.
“Great. Let’s keep this between us.” I grabbed her and pecked her cheek, an impulsive thank you for keeping my secret.
Maria seemed bemused. She probably knew what a hard-ass Father could be more than anyone.
*
Flush with my sexual conquest, I put on my bikini and marched down to the pool. Screw Cynthia and Ash, I thought. It was my pool, too. I wasn’t going to let our spat the other day force me back into the imprisonment of the house. I didn’t need Ash’s invitation or permission, not that day, not when I was emboldened by my night of passion.
Ash and her friends were already out by the pool. Their conversation went from a loud chatter to hushed whispers. Geesh, she couldn’t even share a fucking conversation with me? God, some days I hated my sister.
I ignored them, spreading my towel out across one of the lounges before massaging some sunscreen onto my skin. I finally muttered my hellos a few minutes later, while I was dipping my toes in the surprisingly cold water. Normally I’d spend a half hour slowly wading in deeper and deeper, gradually getting used to the temperature, but not that day. I tossed a pool mattress in the water, held my breath and dove in. It was shocking. Any element of sophistication I might have displayed was quickly undermined by my ungainly struggles to board the floatation device. Every time I’d capture it and try to shove it under my ass, I would end up falling over backward splashing and sputtering while the mattress popped up on the other side of me, rising like a missile from the water. I finally managed to flop my body onto the float with all the gracefulness of a sea lion flinging itself onto a dock. I lay there panting, so loud that I almost drowned out the commotion of Ash yelling over my head at some newcomer. My back was to the gate and I didn’t even bother turning to look at what was sure to be another of Ash’s conquests—why would I care who she’s whoring around with now? But I couldn’t help overhear her tantrum.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” Ash was practically yelling. “I told you I don’t want to see you again. I can’t believe you’ve come to my home.”
“But—”
“No buts, a no is a no, you got that?”
“It’s not what you think. I’m here for Megan.”
Ash cut the woman off again, but this time the voice had a tint of familiarity to it so I swirled around on my pool mattress just in time to see Shane standing there, red-faced, holding my purse.
Damn. For some reason it had never occurred to me that even my one-night stand might know Ash. It was a crushing blow. My knight in shining armor had already been her knight, had already been in her. I was always second, never number one. Maybe that’s why Shane had noticed me, what she’d liked about me, what attracted her to me, my resemblance to Ash, however slight. Oh, my God, what if she was just with me because Ash told her no and I was as close as she could get to the real thing?
I felt the heat flushing my cheeks and wanted to disappear. I was frozen in place, afraid to move for fear I’d catapult myself back into the water. Then I could feel all eyes on me and I decided maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. In fact, I wished I could just melt right there like the wicked witch of the Wizard of Oz. As a liquid I’d run right off the mattress and become indistinguishable from the water around me. Before I could process it all though, Shane shoved my handbag at Ash and turned and ran.
“Wait, Shane!” I shouted, trying gallantly to go after her but instead just falling off my float and ruining whatever decorum I had left. By the time I swam out of the pool, climbing up the stairs at the shallow
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