Booked, Tried, and Punished

I love working here. Katahdin Books was one of the few independent bookstores left in the state thanks to soulless chain stores and the Internet. Our owner is very dedicated, a former English professor who ran away to rural Maine to write his novel and found himself in dire need of a regular paying job. He worked here back before the retail invasion and the Internet took over, and when the original owners decided to retire he found he loved the work and bought the business building it up into the shop it is today.

Since then he's done his best to make sure the people he hires are as passionate about the work as he is, and demands to know what sort of books we enjoy and our outside interests so that he can help tailor the store to a multitude of interests. He wants to make sure we have zeal for the subjects and makes us caretakers for them in the store. We all get space to pitch our favorites, be it an end cap display, a shelf in the section, or even a table if the season and subject jive.

Me, I was a young mousy-haired college student with a knack for plants, gardening, and an intense love of romance novels. My boss, Mike walked into the our little break room one day and saw me reading on my e-reader. It wasn't outright forbidden, but it was definitely frowned upon at work.

"What are you reading?" He asked with one eyebrow lifted.

We were always encouraged to talk about what we were reading and to share things we enjoyed with others as well as customers. This was not one of those books I'd shout about from the rooftops. I squirmed in my chair and closed the cover on the e-reader.

"Uh, nothing important." I said, far more meekly than I should have.

I looked up and saw the corner of his mouth lift. "Something spicy? I know romance can swing from conservative, boring, to some pretty heated stuff."

That was part of the problem. My boss, Mike Dunne, was a hot college professor type, and the fact was I was sort of imagining him as the main character of this very spicy, like five chilies spicy, erotic novella about a super-strict professor and awkward student of his that promised to do anything required to pass a course she was failing.

"Read me a passage." He put the books in his hand down before he turned and leaned back against the counter, his hands gripping the edge.

I felt my cheeks burn as I looked down at the e-reader. We did this sometimes, as a team exercise and to introduce the other employees to genres and authors they may not have read before "I don't know if you'd like it. It's set in the Regency period." I waved my hand at the cover. "It's not very good. I think I got it for free online."

"Try me, and Lily you and I both know the price of a book has nothing to do with the quality of the writing."

I looked up at him like a mouse frozen under a cat's gaze. He wasn't going to back down. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and reached for my book praying the battery had suddenly died in the time it had been on the table. The screen lit up with script. No such luck because of course fate would work against me here. I swallowed again and began.

"I cannot accept failure. My parents will turn me out with nothing. What would you have me do Master Grenville to not be put out?" Rosie said.

"You were one of the first group of young ladies admitted to this school and you were expected to comport yourselves with dignity and honor as any student should, yet you and your cohorts acted as if the rules do not apply to you."

Rosie swallowed and looked down at the broad expanse of the desk between them as she was scolded. She'd been enamored of Master Grenville the moment she had seen him. He was tall and broad shouldered with fair hair and the handsome bearing of a viking. She wondered if he were married and if he found her attractive or not.

"It appears you haven't even put your mind to listening to me now."

Rosie's head snapped up and she looked into his deep blue eyes and saw fire there. He was angry, but also more.

"I think you need a lesson, over and above the curriculum." He stated firmly and reached into his desk retrieving a stout wooden ruler.

Rosie's breath caught in her throat and did her most to not appear shocked. She'd heard of unruly boys being punished this way when they were caught out, but she was nineteen years of age, and a university student. Surely they didn't abide by corporal punishment any longer.

"You will complete the assigned work by the end of this week. That gives you three more days which is fair considering your other courses of study. However..."

Rosie swallowed again and coughed as it went down wrong.

"Would you prefer academic failure Miss Goodwin?"

I looked up at Mike who was paying close attention as I read. He looked at me and the corner of his mouth lifted again. He raised his eyebrows.

"Victorian pornography. I must say I'm surprised Miss Allard," he added, with a little laugh.

If my face were a stove burner the kettle would be ready. I felt very much like Rosie at this moment, under Mike's gaze.

"Have you read this book before?"

I cleared my throat. "Um, no."

"How many lashes do you suppose he's going to offer? For that matter, how is he going to demand them?"

I had a feeling I knew how but I didn't want to say.

"If I remember right, Regency era ladies wore heavy gowns with shifts and petticoats. Is a ruler going to do much through all that fabric?"

I nodded and looked down at the screen.

"So do you think he's going to ask her to disrobe, or the more humiliating act of throwing her skirts and petticoats over her head and take her from beneath?"

I wasn't getting off the hook, and I was pretty sure Mike was needling me intentionally about this. "I thought, maybe through the shift only."

"Is her maidenhead safe?" He added in a haughty imitation of an English accent.

It was my turn to swallow wrong and cough. I didn't know, but I knew mine was still intact, and not because I hadn't wondered about Mike like Rosie had about Master Grenville. "I don't know."

"You should bookmark that spot, it's time for Candice to take lunch." He smiled and turned picking up his books and leaving the break room. "You know I've thought about expanding the romance section to add a little heat. I may have found just the person to do that."

I took a deep breath and did as I was asked. I put my reader with my lunchbox and set it in my locker. I took another deep breath and noticed I was a little lightheaded and shook my head and got a drink from the water fountain before heading back to the sales floor to find Candice. When saw me she smiled.

"God I love that skirt." She said.

"Thanks. My mom bought it for me on her trip to Scotland last year. It's real wool and custom made so I have to be careful with it. It's so comfortable and cute." The skirt in question was a short kilt with a leather buckles and a large silvered pin. She agreed as she passed me heading to lunch.

Mike's questions stuck with me as I restocked books only getting a respite when I helped customers. It was Sunday and thankfully we closed at five o'clock. I couldn't wait to get out of here and read the rest of that chapter. I wanted to know how many lashes she was going to accept, but even more, I wanted to know if he'd take her, or even if she'd offer herself to him.

That was the sign of a book junkie. We put ourselves into them and experienced them from the inside. I don't think I've ever done that with a movie or TV show. Mike approached me while I was in the corner straightening out the shelves.

He bent down and whispered. "What's it going to be? I'm really curious. Do you mind sticking around after we close to let me know?"

Rather than flush I felt a little shocked that he'd been pulled in by the story. He almost seemed giddy about it.

"I guess I could, sure." I grinned at his silly expression as he shuffled off with a comical strut. My nerves lessened but I'd never seen Mike act like this before.

There was a little gossip about him still being single after falling over forty last year. Nobody at the store had ever heard him mention a partner and he didn't wear a wedding ring which led to the speculation that he might be gay. I didn't think so, call it intuition.

I took the spray cleaner to everything in the kids section, tables, chairs even some of the shelves. I don't know how these kids came in covered in such sticky stuff, but I assumed it was partly due to the sweet shop a few doors over. I know I'd been guilty of making a run over there for their chocolate covered gummy bears once or twice.

I looked up surprised when the lights went down which meant we were closed. I hadn't even realized the last hour had gone by while cleaning up. I heard Candice pushing the dust mop across the hardwood. I went and straightened the magazine rack collecting all the subscriber cards that had fallen out. I groaned at the magazines with ripped plastic wrap so people could look at them rather than buy them. I had a few I was able to sleeve back up and put back out. We were usually out by five-thirty if we weren't shoving customers towards the door at five.

Candace walked by with her coat and bag.

"Later Lily!"

"Later Candy." She usually let me get away with calling her that, but nobody else did.

I went out back to get my things and came out to see Mike locking up after Jill left. He walked toward the register and turned off all but the back row of lights, leaving the window display lit.

He turned and saw me with my coat and bag and gave me a strange smile.

"Let's go back to my office. If people see us walking around out here they're likely to come knocking on the door."

Sadly he was not wrong about that. It was strange to have people want us to open up for them to just pick up something. Mike said he learned early that people like that have no empathy for the staff and assume we lived there.

He turned in the hallway outside the office door and rubbed his hands together. "Did you read ahead and find out what happens to our intrepid Rosie at the hands of the dastardly Master Grenville?

"No I was busy all afternoon." I laughed.

His desk was reminiscent of every teacher I've ever known. Piles of papers, scattered books, and to top it off there was even an apple sitting on the side. The sight of that made me smile a bit. I set my things down on one of the chairs facing the desk and sat in the other crossing my legs. I reached into my bag and drew out the e-reader and opened the cover.

"Story time." Mike had set his elbows on the desk and his chin in hands like a kid and I laughed.

"You really want to hear this?" I asked incredulous, but smiling through it.

"Absolutely!" He sat back and set his elbows on the chair's arms weaving his fingers in front of him in a much more natural pose.

I shook my head and found where I'd left off.

"Would you prefer academic failure Miss Goodwin?"

"No sir, please. I must not or I will surely be expelled."

"Well then I think punishment is in order for your lack of focus and your laziness with regards to the assigned the work."

Rosie swallowed again, knowing what he wanted. Would she survive the shame of knowingly trading her virtue for survival. That's what it came down to, either standing up for herself and finding a way to get by on her own, or succumbing and making a better life for herself.

I looked up to see Mike stand and come around the desk.

"Enough?"

"Oh no, please continue." He came around the desk to sit next to me leaning on the arm of the chair with rapt attention.

I looked down and found where I'd left off.

Rosie lifted her face and jutted her chin with a defiant air she didn't feel. "I am not afraid of punishment. I will accept what you give me for another opportunity."

Master Grenville's lips twitched as the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Very well." He looked her in the eye, a hawk staring down its prey, before raising his hand and making a gesture at her dress.

Rosie felt very much the prey frozen under his gaze. He cleared his throat at her hesitation, his brow drew into a sharper regard. Rosie felt the heat rise in her face as her hands moved of their own volition to the buttons on her dress. She stared down at the desk as she pushed the sleeves off and stepped out of it. Her face was warm as she decided what to do with her dress as there was nowhere to put it.

"You may set it there." He pointed to the end of the desk with the ruler now brandishing it like the weapon it was.

She stood still her hands in front of her.

"Continue." He prodded. "You'll get no benefit from your petticoat."

Rosie reached for the tie at her bodice and undid it, shrugging out of the undergarment. "Surely," she thought, "he would allow her to keep her shift for modesty, though nothing about this could be construed as modest, barbaric was more like it." She placed the petticoat over her dress and returned to standing in front of the desk. She lifted her eyes to see Grenville leering at her in her shift, his eyes roaming over every inch of her. "Perhaps," she thought, "he did find her attractive."

Master Grenville walked around the desk, his step deliberately slow until he stood next to Rosie. She did not look up at him but kept her hands clasped in front of her, her eyes unfocused.

"You are twenty years of age?"

"Nineteen sir. I will be twenty in June."

"Twenty is a nice round number. That should suffice. I am not out to injure you, I'm solely interested getting your attention. Step back and take the edge of the desk."

The heat not only blossomed in her cheeks, but deep in the well of her womanhood."

I squirmed in my chair a bit and glanced up to see Mike listening raptly, his own legs crossed at the knee.

Rosie did as she was bid and prepared herself for that first strike by biting down on her lip. She waited pondering the shame of it but it hadn't come.

"Your shift Miss Goodwin." His voice was deeper and rougher to Rosie's ears but the sound of it sent the heat inside her twisting with an ebb and flow of its own.

"Master Grenville! Surely you'll allow me the thinnest of modesty."

"You wish to make this harder on yourself?" His question was delivered lightly, but held an ominous note. Rosie thought a moment and remembered how formidable he was and bent to gather her shift in her hands. She brought it up slowly and drew it over her hips and bundled it at her waist holding it with one hand and leaned forward taking hold of the edge of the desk again. She wasn't sure, but thought she'd heard him let out a low groan. "Very well."

Rosie heard the man step to the side. She bit her lip in anticipation of the first strike and it landed a moment later. She gasped as the shock jolted her. It stung, but it was not lasting pain. The next struck the right side, Rosie drew ragged breaths, but her pride refused to let her cry out. She began to think that was instigating him to strike just a bit harder as she counted them off in her head. She didn't break until the eleventh, a tears streaking down her cheeks, a whimper escaping her lips. She heard his breath, ragged and shallow as he performed the punishment. When the twentieth lash had passed she opened her eyes staring down at the tears that pooled on the wood. She took a deep breath and flinched as she felt his hand slide over the heated skin he'd just abused."

I squirmed, feeling all the heat Rosie was experiencing and likely more at reading this scene to Mike. I glanced over and saw his eyes were unfocused, the angle of his mouth is how she expected Brian Grenville's looked at the moment, stern but excited. I returned to where I'd left off.

"That should do Miss Goodwin. I assume you will take it upon yourself to complete your work in a timely fashion in the future. I would hate to have to resort to this again." His hand moved to the other cheek and stroked the stinging, heated skin.

"Would that you sounded sincere in your claim." Rosie said as she dashed the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. The ruler crossed her skin again and this time Rosie did let out a cry.

"Impertinence, Miss Goodwin, will be treated with more punishment. Do you accept that fact?"

What was he asking? Would she willingly submit to him again if he deemed it necessary for her misdeeds?

Another crack of the ruler made her flinch. "Answer me." He demanded.

"Yes sir!" She cried. His hand moved lower and Rosie felt shock as his fingers delved between her legs. He dragged his fingertips along the damp skin he found there.

"It would appear it wasn't as harrowing an experience as you might have expected." His voice was hoarse. Her shock gave way to excitement as his fingers continued exploring, her own breathing becoming ragged and shallow. She pressed backward and was surprised to hear him chuckle softly. "No, not harrowing it all." His fingers pressed harder causing Rosie to moan.

Shame left her as Rosie reacted to the pleasure welling inside her, the heat was at a rolling boil and she was doing her utmost to keep from letting it spill over. She knew if he didn't stop that was exactly what would happen, but she didn't want him to stop. His hand stroked the stinging cheek as his other hand stroked her sex. Rosie began to rock against his hand, small moans escaped her throat.

"Are you chaste?" He gasped.

"What?"

"Have you lain with a man?" His voice rough.

Rosie wasn't sure what answer he would prefer more. If she were still chaste then he certainly wouldn't defile her. Would he? If she was not, would he think her a whore? She wondered which way to answer before deciding.

"I am not." She replied hoping he would see that as a sign that she was wanton because in this very moment she was very much wanton for him. His hands disappeared, and she worried that he was disgusted by her admission though it was a lie. She began to rise but he grabbed her hip and she felt something larger press against her. She felt herself part to accept him, he went slowly, a kindness she was thankful for as he was large and she unaccustomed.

"Dear Lord in heaven Miss Goodwin." He gasped.

She pursed her lips to keep from crying out as he retreated and pushed forward again. He began to take short strokes and she felt herself relax around him. He penetrated even further as he backed and took longer strokes. Soon he was driving himself into her with abandon. He reached up and took her shoulder keeping her in place as he plunged into her grunting with the effort. Rosie felt the swirling heat building deep inside her. Her pleasure reached its peak and her climax took hold making her body spasm, a long moan escaped her lips as she lost control. He plunged into her one last time and she felt warmth spreading throughout as her own spasms subsided. She felt him twitch inside her as his seed drained into her.

I groaned audibly at that word, seed, and shook my head. I glanced at Mike whose eyes had gotten a far away look, his lips pursed in a determined expression. He was breathing quicker by the rise and fall of his chest.

"Miss Goodwin. I dare say you were a pleasure to punish this afternoon. I hope that you understand your ability to not fail will be determined on how you apply yourself in the future." Grenville slipped from her and she felt her thighs drip with the wetness of their joining as she grasped with both hands for the desk to right herself.

"Master Grenville, if you feel I have done anything to deserve just punishment again, I will accept it with alacrity. Rosie used her shift to dry her thighs before reaching for her petticoat and began to dress.

I stopped and looked over at Mike. His far off gaze focused on my lap where the e-reader lay. His eyes slid up to meet mine and he stood and walked around his desk to face me.

"You know I'm not a fan of those devices Miss Allard, yet you brought one into my bookstore."

His voice was husky and stern. I found tilting my head back. "I'm not selling them to people. It stays in my bag in the break room. Books are heavy and I have plenty of school books to haul around all day." I found myself getting defensive like Rosie.

"Yes, despite that you choose to bring it here knowing my wishes." He reached into his drawer and pulled out a wooden ruler. The sight of it propelled me back into the story. I glanced up from it to see the huge bulge in the front of his jeans for the first time since he stood. I swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in my throat. "I've been thinking of curating a section of erotica to put in with the romance category and had hoped you would be amenable to assisting me with that. I'm not certain I should give that privilege over to someone who can't adhere to my desires."

"But I would be the perfect person for that." I defended myself. I dropped my e-reader in my bag and stood to beg him to let me take this on for him. Our eyes met and peripherally I watched him pick up the ruler and stand it on end, his hand propped across the top of it. In that moment it struck me that we were role playing the scene from the book. I've had a crush on Mike almost since the first day. He was so cool, loved books of all kinds and always engaged me to talk about what I was reading. He wasn't overly tall, but was well built and still towered over my diminutive height.

"Please. Let me do this. I can find good books for this. Books we can sell without having to hide them under the counter." I pleaded.

"What shall we do about that?" He nodded toward my bag. "I would hate to have my wishes continually ignored. You've been an exemplary employee. I don't want to have to terminate you."

I felt my mouth go dry and my eyes widen. He was asking permission to proceed and I felt myself getting wetter by the moment. I decided in the moment to play it out and see where we ended up.

I lowered eyes. "I would hate that too." I looked up hoping my expression matched my words and not the heated lust that was beginning to burn inside of me. "I'll do whatever you want."

He took the ruler and tapped it on the desk lightly and gestured towards my skirt. I glanced down and back up, shock registering on my face. He was serious about this, but I didn't want him to think I was going to make it easy for him.

"Mr. Dunne?" I swallowed.

He smacked the ruler on the desk. "The skirt Miss Allard." He leveled a cold gaze at me that was only stoking the fire in me. I looked down and began working the buckle loose on one side and moved to the other and let it slide down my legs. I stepped out of it and folded it before laying it on the desk. Mike stepped around the desk and looked me over as I stared down at the top of the desk. I wore a pair of navy tights and had a pair of loafers on. As he stood there I decided to step out of my shoes and kicked them behind me towards the chair.

"The tights as well Miss Allard." He added as soon as the shoes were out of the way. I glanced at him wide eyed but didn't want for him to respond and pulled them down keeping my panties in place and tugged them off and set them on my skirt. I heard him push the chair away. "Step back and take the edge of the desk." I did as he asked.

I may be slim and have small boobs, but I have a terrific ass. I'd been told as much by a number of guys over the years and it was a point of pride that I kept in shape with yoga and pilates when I found the time.

"The panties as well Miss Allard, or would you prefer this be harder than it needs to be?" His voice was low and gravelly now. It was do or die time. This whole scene was too much and I wanted what Rosie got as much as Rosie had. Without standing I reached up and slipped the panties over my hips and pulled them down stepped free and set them on my tights before resuming the position. I knew I was visibly wet, and unlike Rosie I was sure, I was shaved so he would be able to see it clearly and I was nearly ready at the thought of it.

"You're twenty years of age?"

"Twenty-one." I replied softly.

"I don't think your offense is enough for twenty-one lashes, but I do need to impress upon you that my wishes are not to be taken lightly. Ten lashes should suffice."

I wondered if he was going to pull his swings when the first hit landed with a loud snap and I hissed at the sting. Another landed on the other cheek, and he went back to the first moving slightly so as not to hit the exact spot again. I counted them off to myself and felt myself dripping as my breath came in short gasps. I didn't tear up but if he'd kept going there were no guarantees.

"That should impress upon you the fact that if I wish something done my way compliance should be without question." His voice was harsh, and I hardly think he was holding it together like Master Grenville had. I'm not sure the sight of my rosy ass and dripping pussy weren't having that affect on him, but I'd like to hope so.

"I get it, leave the e-reader at home." I replied with as much sarcasm as I could muster. The ruler stung me again and I yipped at the suddenness of it.

"That sort of rudeness could end up with you being disciplined again in the future."

Damn I hoped so, this was hot as hell. I was afraid I'd come the moment he touched me, and oh I hoped he was going to touch me or I was going to lose my mind.

"Yippee." I let the sarcasm drip from my voice and the ruler cracked loudly against the other cheek.

"Ow!" That one hurt a little, probably because my ass was already beaten. There was a long moment where I wondered if he was going to continue. I stayed bent over in hopes. He must have noticed and I felt a tentative touch, his hand was hot and his fingertips slipped lower. I nearly leaned into him but I wanted to keep the scene going. I was flattered that he was acting so shy now. His fingers found their mark and I inhaled sharply. He stroked the lips of my pussy rubbing the moisture he found into me. My breathing was ragged as he made that heat in me swirl with his fingers on me. Unlike the author who neglected Rosie's clit, Mike found mine it and gave it several strokes making me moan. I thought my legs would buckle if he kept it up. Suddenly the hand was gone. I was about to turn and look over my shoulder when I heard him moan around something and I realized he'd taken his fingers into his mouth and I felt myself shudder at the thought of it. I bet if I sat on his desk and spread my legs he would tongue lash me to multiple orgasms. The hand was back a moment later, questing for my moans.

"You don't seem to be too damaged from your punishment."

"Mm, mmm." I vocalized in the negative as he ran his fingers between my lips and began circling my clit.

"Are you on the pill?" His voice was strained, nearly choked with lust. I noted with surprise that he didn't ask if I still had my maidenhead, a little grin played across my lips as his hand disappeared.

"Yes," my voice was barely above a whisper. There was a responding jingle of a belt buckle and a zipper behind me.

"May I Miss Allard?" He asked.

"If you don't, I'm going to have to sit on your desk and rub one out while you watch because I am too close."

I felt the head of his cock press against my lips and they gave way to him slowly.

"Jesus." He said softly as the head of his cock worked into me.

It felt incredible as I opened to allow him in. He backed off and pressed forward taking a little more of me. He repeated that until his hips met mine.

"Mmm, that feels so good." I said under my breath and arched my hips a little.

"Don't or I'm never going to last." He pleaded holding my hips steady. That thought of him breaking character and being so close brought a smile to my face.

"Please proceed at your own pace sir." This time it was his hand that landed on my ass making me yelp and giggle. A moment went by and he began withdrawing his cock and sank it back into me slowly, deliciously. This pace was going to kill me if he kept it up. Thankfully he began to pick up speed as he drew back and thrust into me setting a rhythm. I moaned at the feel of him grasping my hips pinning me to him. I felt his hand reach around my hip and began stroking my clit again and I nearly lost it. He kept thrusting as he drew tight circles on it and I felt my mind leave my body as the heat swirled deep inside my belly.

"Fuck!" The first shock hit me and I felt my body shudder as the orgasm flowed out from my center, my muscles clenching with each spasm. His fingers never let up on my clit as he plunged into me one last time. I felt the warmth of his orgasm fill me. His cock twitched a few times. He was gasping for air nearly as much as I was. I felt him pull out, a warm flood followed and I heard him scuffle around and come back and he began mopping up the mess.

"Sorry." He said, shame colored his tone

"I'm not." I laughed. "Though you did go off script." I stood and found him standing, cock out and a box of tissues in one hand, a wad in the other he'd just used to wipe me down. I tugged a few free and began wiping his cock clean. "You forgot to ask if I had lain with a man before."

"You're a virgin?" His eyes went wide as saucers.

"Well, not any more." I grinned.

"Oh God what have I done?"

"I'd say you deflowered the maiden Master Dunne, and a fine job you did of it." I raised up on my toes and gave him a quick kiss before walking around his desk to toss the tissues.

"Jesus, I didn't know, I meant, I thought..." He looked horrified.

"Easy Mike." I came around the desk and stood before him. "I am on the pill, have been for a couple years, it helps with uh, other things." I grimaced and put my hand up to his cheek. "You asked, I consented. Thank you for being mindful of that."

He still looked surprised and I glanced down. He had still been hard afterward, but he was losing his erection. "I'm not going to lie. I've had a crush on you since you hired me. What was it two years ago? When you started to play, I was curious where you were headed."

"That story was such a turn on, it wasn't even very good, like you said, but that visceral reaction to the action is undeniable. I figured if you rolled your eyes at me I was going to play off the ruler as a joke."

I turned and picked up my panties and began wiping myself down again. I turned and tossed the tights into my bag and walked up to him and tucked the panties into his jeans pocket and tried to wrestle his cock back into his fly but my handling it may have been counterproductive. He chuckled and wrangled it back into his boxer briefs. I turned back and bent to pull my shoes out from under the chair.

"God you've got a terrific ass." He said wistfully.

"Thank you. Have you been enjoying it long?" I asked, flashing him a big grin.

"Probably not long after I hired you, but you were nineteen, I was your boss, it wouldn't have been appropriate to say so."

I opened my eyes wide. "Was? You're still my boss, right?" I was worried some line had been crossed and he was going to terminate me because we'd just had sex in his office.

"Yes, I mean, of course. I've been thinking more about what I said earlier, and I think you're the perfect person to handle adding a little heat to the shelves."

"Just tell me that wasn't my interview or I'll die." I added dramatically, hoping that I just hadn't willingly taken the casting couch option to improving myself.

"Of course not!" He was obviously shocked that I said that as I was for thinking it. "I'd made the decision long before we closed."

I laughed. "Easy Mike, I was joking. Besides, you don't have a couch in here for me to be made into a star." I winked and he laughed.

I gathered my skirt and began buckling it back up, the wool was a little abrasive against my ass likely due to the spanking I took, and it made me smile. I'd never really thought about that particular kink as something I'd be into, but there's something visceral about it that got me really excited. I was starting to think about what authors I'd like to feature.

"What are you thinking about?"

I glanced up surprised I'd gotten lost in my head. "Authors, sub-genres," I smiled, "which books we have I could start with that are already what I'd call mildly spicy."

Mike smiled. "All this talk of spicy is getting me hungry. I was thinking of the Thai place down the street."

"Is it any good?"

"We can find out." He grinned.