“What am I going to do, Keri? The wedding in this weekend, and I still don’t have a date! Todd’s going to think I’m pathetic!”

Sabrina Kyle leaned back in her chair and regarded her pretty blond friend and fellow co-worker, Keri Nolan, with something that resembled desperation in her blue eyes. How had she gotten herself in this predicament? she wondered. She was a college-educated professional, an independent, modern woman. But she was also a woman that had been recently dumped by her boyfriend, and right now, she wasn’t thinking very clearly.

For months, she and Todd had been planning to attend the wedding of a mutual friend. However, a few weeks ago, Todd, the man she had been dating for what seemed like most of her adult life had announced that he needed his “space.” He hadn’t needed that much space, however, Sabrina thought bitterly, just enough for him to start seeing another woman. Since then, she had spent most of her time either complaining to her friend or sitting home alone eating ice cream.

In truth, Sabrina would rather not even go to the wedding, but she had already committed herself. If the person getting married hadn’t been such a good friend, then she would have said forget it, but she just couldn’t do that. The bride had told her not to worry and simply come alone, that no one would care, but when Sabrina had found out that Todd was bringing his new girlfriend, she knew that there was no way she could go by herself. She wasn’t really interested in starting a new relationship right now, but she wouldn’t mind showing up with someone that would make her ex feel like a fool for dumping her.

However, finding a man with the qualities that would make her ex-boyfriend jealous had proved more difficult than she had thought. Her new “boyfriend” would not only have to be seriously handsome, but would also have to have a great job and a flashy car. Guys like that didn’t just fall out of the sky. And to make things more difficult, she’d been out of the dating scene for so long that she didn’t even know where to start looking for a guy. She’d thrown out her “little black book” years ago.



“You could always say that your boyfriend had a previous commitment and couldn’t attend,” Keri suggested, taking a sip of her diet Pepsi. “Or you could just not go to the wedding altogether.” Her gaze went from Sabrina to something over Sabrina’s shoulder. “Or...”

“Or?” Sabrina prompted.

Keri leaned forward conspiratorially, her lips curving into a smile. “Or you could ask him to go with you.”

Sabrina half-turned in her chair to see whom her friend was talking about and blinked in surprise when she saw Holden McKenna coming into the employee break room. Besides being one of the best marketing managers at the advertising agency where they worked, with his dark hair, athletic build and rugged good looks, Holden was also the most handsome. All of the women in the office had their eye on him, the married ones included. The guy just exuded pure sex. Sabrina would have certainly gone out with him before, if it hadn’t been for her long-term relationship with Todd.

Giving Sabrina and Keri a nod in greeting, Holden walked over to the counter on which the coffee maker sat. The pot was empty, and she watched for a moment as he went about making another one.

Turning back to her friend, Sabrina was careful to keep her voice low so that she wouldn’t be overheard. “I thought he was involved with someone,” she whispered.

Keri made an exasperated sound. “Where have you been, girl? He stopped seeing her weeks ago.”

Sabrina thought a moment. She could only imagine that Holden had been the one to do the dumping in that relationship because no woman in her right mind would give him walking papers. “Even so, I couldn’t ask him,” she said. “If he turned me down, I’d never be able to face him in our staff meetings.” Which was why she’d always made it a practice never to date anyone she worked with.

Keri only grinned. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you in those meetings, Sabrina. Trust me, he won’t turn you down.” Picking up her can of diet Pepsi, she pushed back her chair and got to her feet. With a wink, she was out the door, leaving Sabrina alone with Holden in the privacy of the break room.

Sabrina sat at the table for a moment before half-turning in her chair again to give her sexy colleague a covert glance. Perhaps Keri was right, she thought. Perhaps she should ask Holden to go to the wedding with her. He possessed all of the qualities she was looking for, including the great job and flashy car. And she was sure that seeing her on Holden’s arm would make her ex-boyfriend very, very jealous.

Still, she’d never asked a guy out before and she was extremely nervous about doing so now. She supposed she could try and drop a few subtle hints, but decided against it. She didn’t have time to take things slowly. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her bottle of water and pushed back her chair, making her way over to where Holden stood before she could change her mind. He was leaning back against the counter, reading the paperwork he’d brought with him while he waited for the coffee to brew, and he looked up at her approach.

Sabrina nervously tucked a strand of silky brunette hair behind her ear and gave him a smile. “Is that about the Condor Athletics account?” she asked, glancing at the papers in his hand.

He nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “You did some good work on that, by the way. They really liked your stuff.”

“I’m glad.” Her hand tightened on the bottle of water she was holding; if guys had to go through this every time they asked a girl out, then she truly felt for the opposite sex. “I...uh...I was wondering if you were free this weekend.”

Her voice was breathless, the words coming out in a rush, and for a moment, Holden said nothing. He’d been attracted to the beautiful graphic artist from the day he’d started working at the ad agency, and had wanted to ask her out any number of times, but she’d been involved with some guy. Now, here she was, trying to ask him out.

She blushed, the color staining her fair cheeks a rosy tint as she continued. “A friend of mine is getting married and...”

Her voice trailed off suddenly, and he found himself prompting her. “And you don’t want to go to the wedding alone?”

At that, her cheeks colored even more. “Well, not really,” she admitted, and then quickly added, “But I’ve been wanting to ask you out for awhile. It’s just that I was always involved with someone else, and so were you, and, well, now neither of us is, so I thought the time might be right.”

Sabrina wanted to groan when she realized how lame she sounded. She hadn’t wanted to come off as sounding desperate, but she had. So much for being able to face him a staff meetings without embarrassment, she thought.

Abruptly, she realized that Holden was grinning. “Sure, I’d love to go with you,” he said.

She blinked. “You would?” she asked. “I mean, that’s great! I’ll stop by your office later and we can go over the particulars, if that’s okay?”

Holden agreed that it was, and then watched as Sabrina Kyle walked from the room. Tall and slender, she had curves in all the right places, and his gaze was drawn to her rounded ass as if by a magnet. The female bottom had always been one of his favorite parts of a woman’s anatomy, and beneath the long, flowing skirt she was wearing, he could tell that Sabrina had an exceptionally nice one. And to top it all off, the way she had gotten all shy when she’d asked him out was a definite turn-on. It was that unique combination of bold and demure. He liked that in a woman.

Returning his gaze to the papers in front of him, Holden tried to concentrate on the words printed there, but all he could think about was the beautiful artist and his upcoming date with her.

Outside the room, Sabrina stopped for a moment, her pulse racing. She hadn’t thought that Holden would agree to be her date, especially since she’d made such a mess of the asking, and she couldn’t help but smile. For the first time since she and Todd had broken up, she was actually looking forward to going to this wedding. Seeing her with Holden McKenna would definitely make her ex jealous.

She felt a momentary twinge of guilt. She knew that it was wrong to use him just to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. But she quickly shook off the feeling. After all, she hadn’t made any particular promises to Holden. She’d never even used the word, “date,” when she’d asked him out. She would be nice to him, of course, but he was there to be arm candy, nothing more. And besides, there was nothing to say that she couldn’t enjoy herself with Holden while making her ex jealous at the same time.

Sabrina was just putting on her earrings when the doorbell rang on Sunday afternoon and she hurried to answer the door. Holden McKenna stood on her doorstop, dressed in a dark suit and looking incredible handsome. For a moment, she simply stared at him. Damn, but he looked hot, she thought. Todd was going to kick himself when he saw her walk into the wedding with Holden on her arm.

She smiled at him. “Come in. I just have to get my purse.”

As she spoke, Sabrina turned and walked into the living room. Accepting her invitation, Holden let his gaze follow her as he stepped inside. She had on a short, sexy dress and strappy high-heels, both of which showed off her long, shapely legs to perfection, and his mouth curved in appreciation as he watched her bend over to grab her purse from the couch. Her ass looked absolutely spectacular in that dress. As a matter of fact, everything about her looked spectacular. He hoped things went well on this date because he wouldn’t mind seeing a whole lot more of her.

Sabrina turned back to find Holden watching her, and she felt herself blush as they walked out to his sports car. The wedding was being held in Napa, an hour north of San Francisco, and the drive gave her and Holden plenty of time to get to know each other. Holden, she learned, had earned both his undergraduate and graduate business degrees at Berkley, something which made him even more attractive. Todd may have a great job, but he hadn’t gone to a college nearly as prestigious as Berkley, nor did he have a master’s degree. She only hoped she could somehow work that into the conversation with him. If she even talked to her ex-boyfriend, that was.

They arrived at the country club well before the ceremony began, giving Sabrina plenty of opportunity to look for Todd and his new girlfriend as she and Holden mingled among the other guests before taking their seats. Todd, however, was nowhere to be found, and she began to think that perhaps her ex-boyfriend had had the decency not to show his face. But she should have known better, she realized, as he and his new girlfriend arrived a few minutes before the ceremony began. They sat a few rows ahead of Sabrina and Holden, and as if drawn by a magnet, she felt her gaze lock on them and stay there during the entire ceremony.

Beside her, Holden couldn’t help but notice that Sabrina wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to the bride and groom. In fact, she seemed to be more interested in watching the other guests, and he wondered what had her so distracted.

Holden didn’t give it much more thought, though; maybe Sabrina didn’t really know the couple getting married that well. It wasn’t until they went inside for the reception, however, that he began to think it was more than that, for Sabrina all but ignored him from the moment they sat down at their table, her attention focused on a table on the other side of the room. Every once in awhile, she would turn and put her hand on his sleeve and give him a huge smile, but then, just as quickly, she would go back to watching the other table. He followed her gaze, trying to see what had caught her attention, but he didn’t see anything that unusual. Several times, Holden tried to engage her in conversation, but it quickly became apparent that she wasn’t interested in talking to him. Which made him wonder with no small amount of irritation why she had even asked him to accompany her to this wedding at all.

Then, as if just remembering Holden, Sabrina turned to him after dinner and suggested they dance. He regarded her for a moment in silence, his mouth tightening. His first instinct was to refuse her offer, but he quickly thought better of it and decided to give her another chance.

The music was slow and romantic, and though their bodies seemed to fit together perfectly, Holden could tell she wasn’t really into it, and so he led her back to the table after a few more songs. He was just about to suggest they leave when one of the other guests came up to them. He recognized the man from the table that Sabrina had been focused on. A California surfer-type, the guy was tall, though not as tall as Holden, with blond hair and hazel-green eyes that went briefly to Holden before settling on Sabrina.

“Sabrina,” the man said. “I wasn’t sure if you would come. It’s good to see you.”

The change that came over Sabrina was so obvious that Holden couldn’t help but notice. Especially when she reached for his hand and stepped closer to him, clinging to him as if they were madly in love.

“It’s good to see you, too,” she said, giving the man an overly bright smile. “Todd, this is Holden McKenna; Holden, Todd Carson.”

Holden extended his hand to shake Todd Carson’s, but before either of them could speak, Sabrina continued.

“Holden’s an executive at the ad agency,” she said.

Todd’s eyebrows rose as he studied at Holden. “Really?” he said. “So, how long have you two been dating?”

Holden glanced at Sabrina, about to tell Todd that this was their first date, but she answered before he could do so.

“We’ve actually been seeing each other for quite awhile,” she said quickly, looking pointedly at Holden.

Holden’s eyes narrowed at the lie, and though he wanted to refute it, he knew that he couldn’t, not without making a scene. Besides, it had become obvious that this Todd guy was an old boyfriend. He must have dumped her or something because apparently Sabrina was trying to make him jealous. Holden felt his jaw clench as he realized that he had been wasting his time on this date. Sabrina had never been interested in him; she just needed a good-looking guy to use against her ex. Holden wasn’t used to being treated as an accessory, and he definitely didn’t like it.

“You two met at work, then,” Todd was saying. “Is it serious?”

Again, the question was directed at Holden, and he opened his mouth to answer, ready to blow Sabrina’s little plan out of the water, but before he could do so, she interrupted him. Releasing his hand, she took hold of Todd’s instead.

“Why don’t we dance?” she suggested, not even bothering to give Holden an apologetic look as she led her old boyfriend out onto the dance floor.

Holden scowled as he watched Todd take Sabrina in his arms. He was so angry that he didn’t know whether to storm out onto the dance floor and confront her right there, or whether he should just leave. But before he could decide, a voice intruded on his thoughts.

“They do look nice together, don’t they?”

Holden turned his head to see that an older lady had come up beside him to gaze fondly at Sabrina and Todd.

“Sabrina and Todd went together for years, you know,” she continued with a smile. “We all thought they would be married by now.” She let out a sigh as she turned back to Holden. “But it’s good to see that Sabrina has moved on. And with such a good-looking young man, too.”

Before Holden could comment, the woman moved off, leaving him to ponder her words. Watching Sabrina gazing so adoringly at Todd, it was obvious that she hadn’t moved on at all. But that did not excuse her actions. What she had done was just wrong, and she had picked the absolutely worst person in the world to do it to. That decided it for him. He would leave, but not before he let her know what he thought about the way she had treated him.

Clenching his jaw, Holden forced himself to wait for Sabrina to finish her dance with her ex and return to his side. Which she did reluctantly, he noticed as he watched her linger on the dance floor with the other man for a few minutes. When she finally came over to where Holden stood, her cheeks were flushed with color that had nothing to do with dancing, he was sure.

“We need to talk,” he said curtly, taking her arm and hustling her toward the door of the ballroom.

For a moment, Sabrina was so surprised by Holden’s actions that she could do no more than go wherever it was he was taking her. Once in the hallway, however, she hung back.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Somewhere we can talk in private,” came his terse reply as he led her down the hall and into one of the empty ballrooms.

She rounded on him as he ushered her inside and closed the door behind them. “What can we possibly have to talk about that we couldn’t discuss at our table?” she asked, a bit peeved that he had dragged her from the ballroom, especially since things had been going so well with Todd. She had come just to make him jealous, but her plan seemed to be working even better than she had thought. She had detected more than a little sexual sparks between them as they’d danced. A little bit more work on her part and it was likely that Todd would be going home with her instead of his new girlfriend.

Holden folded his arms and glowered at her. “How about the real reason you asked me to come to this wedding with you?”

Sabrina was taken aback for a moment. Surely Holden couldn’t have suspected, she thought. “I...I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, lowering her gaze to smooth her silky slip dress.

“Like hell you don’t!” he shot back. “You never had any intention of treating this like a date. You brought me here only to make your ex-boyfriend jealous, and I don’t like being lied to or used, Sabrina.”

She felt herself flush, and lifted her chin. “That’s not true!” she told him hotly.

“No?” he countered. “Then why did you spend the entire day ignoring me and almost falling over yourself to keep an eye on him?”

Her color deepened as she wondered with some embarrassment if she had been that obvious. “I didn’t!”

“Come on! Everyone here knows what you were doing.” His face darkened. “I came with you today with every intention of getting to know you, Sabrina, but that’s no longer even a possibility, not after the way you’ve acted.”

“I didn’t mean...” she began, only to stop herself when she saw the look on Holden’s face. What difference did it make if she told him the truth? she thought. Besides, she did feel bad about using him. And he already knew, anyway, so she supposed that the least she should do is apologize. Granted, she hadn’t been very honest with him, but she hadn’t realized he’d get so mad.

“Okay, you’re right,” she said awkwardly, not sure exactly what to say. “I did ask you to be my date so that I could make Todd jealous. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have used you like that. I’m sorry.”

“Not half as sorry as you’re going to be,” he told her.

Holden advanced on her as he spoke, and Sabrina nervously took a step back, her eyes darting to the door. “What...?” she began, but he grabbed her arm and started to lead her over to one of the tables before she could get the words out.

“Holden, what are you doing?” she asked again, her voice suddenly trembling.

Scowling, he swung around to face her. She hadn’t realized until that moment how tall he was. “I’m going to make sure you think twice before using some poor unsuspecting guy the next time you want to make your boyfriend jealous.”

Before she could ask what he meant by that, Holden sat down on one of the straight-backed chairs and dragged her over his knee. The breath came out of her in a rush and Sabrina automatically tried to push herself upright, but a firm hand on her back held her in place.

“What do you think your doing?” she demanded, craning her neck to look at him. “Let me up!”

“I’m teaching you some manners,” he ground out. “Something someone should have done a long time ago.”

As he spoke, Holden smacked her upturned bottom with his hand, and Sabrina let out a startled yelp of surprise.

“Oh!” The man was actually spanking her! she thought in disbelief. “Let me go, or I’ll scream!”

His hand came down on her other cheek, harder this time. “Go ahead,” he said. “I’ll let you explain exactly what you did to earn yourself this spanking to whomever it is that comes in. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be the wedding photographer and this can show up in the album.”

Sabrina felt herself blush at the thought of someone finding her draped over Holden’s knee and being spanked. But before she could think of a retort, Holden resumed her punishment, letting loose with a flurry of spanks that had her “ohhhhing,” and “owwwwing,” and struggling to free herself, to no avail. The thin slip dress she wore provided little protection from the barrage of smacks, and her bottom felt like it was glowing underneath the silky material. The embarrassment was almost worse than the actual spanking. Almost, she thought, but not quite. How could one little spanking sting so much!

Then it was over and Sabrina was back on her feet, Holden towering over her. She glared up at him, her hands cupping her sore bottom.

“I can’t believe you did that!” she hissed.

“It was no more than you deserve for what you did,” he told her, and then glanced at the door. “Make our excuses; we’re leaving.”

She stared up at his handsome face, wondering if he had suddenly gone out of his mind. “I’m not going anywhere with you!” she sneered. “I’ll get a ride with someone else.”

He lifted a brow. “Like Todd?” he asked. “I’m sure his new girlfriend wouldn’t mind sitting in the backseat.”

The words hurt more than she wanted to admit and she found herself blinking back tears. “You’re hateful!” she whispered hoarsely.

“No, I’m just honest. Something you obviously know nothing about,” he said. “Look, you can do whatever you want. I’ll wait outside for five minutes. If you want to ride with me, you can, or you can find another way home.”

Holden brushed past her and left the room. She hurried back to the ballroom, but when she glanced in the direction of Todd’s table, she saw that he and his new girlfriend were nowhere to be found. She looked around, trying to see if she recognized anyone else, but didn’t.

She almost swore in frustration. She couldn’t take a cab; it would probably cost two-hundred dollars. So she really didn’t have much choice. She’d have to drive home with Holden. Hurrying across the room, Sabrina found the bride and groom, and quickly congratulated them on their marriage, saying that she and Holden had to leave.

Holden was waiting for her with the car door open. She didn’t say a word, but simply got in and closed the door. Neither of them said a single word all the way back to San Francisco. Painfully aware of Holden beside her, Sabrina sat with her arms folded and stared blindly out the passenger window. All she had wanted to do was show Todd what a mistake he’d made by dumping her. Now, she was going to have to work with a guy after possibly the most embarrassing event in her life. What if Holden told other people in the office? She blushed red at the thought.

Sabrina let out a sigh of relief when they pulled up outside her apartment. Wanting nothing more than for the awkward date to end, she hurriedly unlatched her seat belt, but before she could even get it undone, Holden was out of the car and coming around to open the passenger door for her.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door, you know,” she said tartly when he fell into step beside her.

“Of course I do,” was his reply. “I’m a gentleman.”

On the doorstep, Sabrina turned to face him. “A gentleman wouldn’t have spanked me!” she told him. Her bottom still stung!

Holden’s mouth quirked. “He would if the lady in question deserved it.”

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to think of a retort, but nothing came to mind, and so, she had to settle for rummaging in her handbag for her key. Thrusting it into the lock with more force than necessary, she pushed the door open and went inside without another word. Turning, she would have closed the door behind her, but was surprised to see Holden still standing on her doorstep.

He lifted a brow. “No goodnight kiss?”

In answer, she slammed the door in Holden’s face, only to hear his mocking laugh as he turned and walked back to his car.

Damn him! Sabrina thought. She had never met a more irritating man in her entire life. And then, as she stood there, leaning back against the door, the same horrifying thought again occurred to her as she realized that she would have to face Holden McKenna at work the next day. She knew there was a reason that she never dated co workers.

* * * * *

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