Of course, Evie had always suspected that her perfect little bubble would burst. No one got to be this happy without having to pay for it. So she already knew she’d have to fend off an attack from Victoria.
“You know he’s only with you so he can get his hands on your property,” she announced without so much as a greeting.
Of course, word had gotten out that the big house was hers, since her parents had started to renovate the cottage in preparation to move in. There were no secrets in a small place like Frostvale.
Evie chose to play dumb.
“Why would Asher want to get his hands on my property?” she asked, her eyes wide, even though her insides felt like they’d been cleaved in two. Once again, Victoria’s aim was deadly, hitting Evie right where she was most vulnerable.
“Don’t play coy with me,” Victoria spat, and Evie, her nerves taut with stress, breathed a small sigh of relief when she heard the back door open and close. Someone was here to save her.
“It’s no secret Gabe wants to expand the hotel. What better way to do that than to couple up with the owner of the matching property right next door?”
Evie felt the color drain from her face and gripped the countertop to steady herself. Could Victoria be right? Hadn’t Gabe told her himself he wanted to expand the hotel?
She sucked in a breath. No way was she showing her soft underbelly to this witch. “If that’s all he wanted, he could simply have asked me to sell.” Evie had never been more proud of how even her voice sounded.
“But why pay for what you’re putting out for free in return for a few orgasms?” Victoria asked with a mean smile. “And he is sooo good at those, isn’t he? I should know.”
For a moment, Evie’s mind was a blank. No witty comebacks, no wise retorts came to her rescue.
But Shepherd did.
“Get out of here, you vindictive bitch. You really are desperate, aren’t you? Gabe doesn’t want you. It’s about time you got the memo.”
Evie and Victoria both gasped. The latter’s face turned blood red, then a lethal rage twisted her features. She opened her mouth, and Evie had no doubt more vitriol was about to be spewed, but Shepherd was having none of it. He crossed the room, opened the door, and gestured for Victoria to leave. “Why would any of us want a scrawny, spiteful woman like you when we can have someone soft, beautiful and caring? Get lost and don’t come back.”
Obviously, no one had ever spoken to Victoria like that before. Her mouth gaped open, and for once in her life, she was lost for words. Shepherd took advantage of her shock to usher her out, then closed the door behind her.
“That was mean, Shepherd.” Evie tried to admonish him, but her voice was thready. Victoria’s words had hit too close,battering the self-esteem that was only just starting to be repaired.
“No, whatshesaid was mean,” Shepherd growled, pulling her into his arms and enveloping her in his warmth. “It was deliberately malicious and cruel and specifically aimed to hurt you. WhatIsaid, on the other hand, was nothing but the truth.”
“Maybe Victoria was telling the truth, too,” Evie said in a small voice.
Shepherd growled, pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped out a message. Then he stalked back over to the door, locked it, and flipped over the closed sign.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Evie asked. “It’s not closing time yet.”
“Doing what needs to be done,” he replied gruffly, grasping her wrist and pulling her into the back room.
“Sh-Shepherd?”
Pulling up a stool, Shepherd deftly maneuvered Evie across his knee, and before she could get her head around what was going on, he’d yanked both her leggings and panties down to her knees, effectively trapping her legs.
Evie let out a howl, more from shock than pain, when the first spank landed on her upturned rear. But the way Shepherd immediately soothed the smarting area by stroking his big hand across the small pain stole whatever objections she might have voiced.
Until he spanked her again, that was.
“Shepherd!” she shrieked, but the man clearly had his own agenda.
“This is punishment, little girl. Don’t you ever put yourself down like that!”
“But I wasn’t!” Evie squealed as another slap seared her heated flesh.
“Yes, you were. You accepted the nasty things Victoria said as truth. You allowed her to undermine our relationship and throw doubt on Gabe’s feelings for you.” He punctuated his words with more stinging slaps, and Evie’s eyes prickled, not from the pain but with remorse that she’d hurt him. She was just glad it wasn’t Gabe.
Except…
