“I thought you were cooking something fancy tonight.” Jace looked down at the plate of reheated chicken fettuccini Lily Mae placed in front of him. “Not that I’m complaining. I could eat your cooking every day.” He winked. “Especially if I got to have you for dessert.”
Jace expected her typical giggling response, but instead Lily Mae turned away.
“You all right, babe?”
“Fine,” she said. “Just a little tired.”
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” he joked.
“No,” she said. “I think I’m about to get my period.”
“Already?” Jace put his fork down. “It’s not time for it yet, is it?”
“Sometimes it’s irregular.” She still had her back to him, and Jace stared at her. She turned her head, looking back at him. “So if you had special plans for us tonight, it’ll have to wait.”
“I understand,” he said, and decided to change the subject, attributing her mood to women’s issues. “Did you get much done in town today?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I went by ma’s house. The furniture looks great with the paint and the floors. I picked up those bolts from the hardware store.”
“Did you mail those letters like I asked?”
There was a clatter as the salad bowl she’d picked up fell to the floor. Jace rose from the chair and walked over to kneel beside her.
“Clumsy,” she was saying, and there were tears in her eyes.
“It’s just salad, Lily Mae,” he said gently. “There’s more in the garden.”
“Yes,” she said. “I mailed the letters.”
He touched the back of his hand to her face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
She stood suddenly, and he stood with her. “I’m fine. Just not feeling well. Mind if I go lie down?”
“Of course not. When you wake up later, we need to talk, though.”
She visibly tensed. “About what?”
“We need to get to California within the next couple of weeks. Time’s running out to clean out that townhouse. I figured we’d fly up there late next week, rent a truck, and drive back. It’d be fun—a road trip. I’ve never been to Los Angeles. You can show me around.”
“There’s not much to see,” she said.
“Not much to see in L.A.?”
“I guess what I mean is not much I want to see again. I don’t have the best memories of that place.”
She was dumping the spilled salad down the trash compactor in the sink. Even with her back to him, Jace could see that she was still tense.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out to massage her shoulders. “I know you were lonely out there and got yourself into some money trouble, but surely your memories weren’t all bad out there? You built a career, right? You must have made some friends, business contacts. I think it would be interesting to visit your old stomping grounds, meet some of the people you knew there.”
She all but whirled on him. “Why?” Her tone was vehement, strained. “If you have something you want to ask me, just ask, Jace!”
He held his hands up, backing away. “Hey, hey… Did I say I was asking you anything? What the heck is wrong with you, Lily Mae?”
“Nothing,” she said. “But I… I left that place for a reason. Los Angeles isn’t Memory Lane, Jace. Stop expecting me to stroll down it, especially not with you.” She brushed past him as she made the statement and took her seat at the table. There was a frown on her pretty face.
“Do you need a spanking, baby? If you don’t mind me saying so, you’re wound tight as a clock. And I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, so if a good cry will help, I’m more than happy to oblige.”
In recent weeks, Lily Mae had confessed to Jace that the spankings he’d given her, while humiliating and painful, had allowed her to release emotions she’d pent up for years. Tears had been a luxury in her old life; even when she’d shed them they were rarely cathartic because there had been no one to comfort her. With Jace, correction followed by tears and his comforting left her feeling grounded and relaxed.
Jace had told her that as far as he was concerned, a spanking to relieve tension could be as good for their relationship as a spanking to provide the correction her submissive heart craved.
“All you have to do is ask, Lily Mae,” he’d said, and she had, twice. But now as he offered this time, she shook her head.
“No, Jace. I don’t need a spanking.” She stood from the table. “I think what I probably need to do is lie down. I’m just not feeling well.”
“You want me to make you a cup of tea or something before you lie down?” he asked. Jace realized how used he’d become to making the woman he loved feel better, and seeing her so inexplicably low had him feeling helpless.
She turned to him with a sad smile. “No, Jace. I’m just tired. Just let me have a little space, okay? What I need right now is an early bedtime.”