Chapter One

In Hot Water

 

Cissy Riverton was headed for trouble. Sauntering from the ranch house toward the stables of Grey Gulch Ranch, she cocked her head sassily and rolled her hips in a nonchalant manner, which suggested she hadn't a care in the world. At that very moment, she didn't. Unabashedly innocent, looking more like a sixteen-year-old kid than a woman of twenty-which she was-Cissy could be the poster child of untainted virtuosity when a prim attitude suited her fancy. Her short red mop of curls framed a petite face, great wide blue eyes, and a broad, happy mouth. The body below was shapely, her breasts small, her waist slim, and her ass quite generous-though not out of proportion to the rest of her. She could look gracefully demure or vampish depending on her mood; but, regardless of any pose she struck-for any reason, legitimate or devious-her body communicated exactly what she wanted. And since Cissy Riverton was a conniving schemer and a shameless flirt at heart, she used her body well.

At the moment, she was looking for Garth, who was visiting Jake-her cousin once removed. (The removed part was a bit of a joke between them-the rock solid Jake Colton might have been removed in theory, but he was hardly removed in practice, having played a very substantial role in Cissy's life for the past five years.)

"Well, well, well," she heard Jake's familiar drawl, just as she ambled through the stable door. Though her eyes might naturally move toward Garth, the county's dreamy young sheriff whom she'd been dating for several months, they settled on her cousin's scowl instead. "Just who I was looking for," he droned on. Something simmered beyond his cool exterior, and as the lanky cowboy pulled himself upright with his green eyes focused keenly on his redheaded cousin, he drilled her with the question, "Want to tell me where you've been?"

"Where I've been?" Though she was hardly ready for an interrogation, her brain worked fast-after all, she'd had lots of practice. Her eyebrows knit with puzzlement as a beautifully contrived blank expression filled her guileless features.

"The question is pretty direct, Cis, answer it."

"Oh, hon, you are steamed," she read him rightly, seeing his mood shift quickly from sarcastic to severe.

This was worse than Cissy had expected and her brain was in high gear.

"I've been around," she quipped, in an attempt to remain clueless about the charges he might have against her. "When, exactly, are you talking about?"

"How about the middle of the night?"

Oops! She could hardly hide her surprise. He knows. Damn how could he? There weren't enough gears in her brain to handle this overload.

"I'm sorry, Cis," Garth stepped forward, his face so sorry-looking and sweet. "It's a small town, you ought to know that. People are basically nosey."

"It was just one night."

"You're on probation," Garth went on, sounding rather grim for the mild-mannered young man he was. She'd always liked his gentleness, the way she could sweet-talk her way around him, run her hands over his sandy buzz cut, kiss his cheek, purr in his ear-he was so easy. But maybe not now. He struck a formidable looking pose, which was pretty enticing all by itself. Made him even more appealing-in a weird sort of way that only Cissy would understand. Garth Branch was as solid as her fuming cousin behind him, just shorter and stockier, his muscles bulging from his official sheriff's short-sleeve shirt. Now, however, she wasn't sure if there was enough sweet-talk in her to soften his forbidding stance. Of course, it didn't help that Jake stood behind him like the original man of steel. "Driving without a license, violating your probation with midnight rides. You weren't very discreet about it," he shook his head, appearing both amazed and saddened by her foolishness. "I'm going to have to take you in."

"What?"

"'Fraid so."

"But...."

"But first, your cousin has a few things to say."

Cissy turned her attention back to Jake, immediately thinking that she should turn tail and run.

Reading her mind like a book, Jake held her fast with his razor sharp eyes. "Don't even think about taking off, Cis. I'm gonna blister that ass of yours before you get out of here, and running would only make it worse."

"Now wait," she turned to Garth, imploringly, unsure which man should hear her plea.

The Sheriff shook his head. "Take it, Cissy. It'll go a whole lot easier for you with the judge."

"The judge! You're not going to tell the judge!"

"If he thought you had your cousin watching you a little more attentively, he might not revoke your probation. That is, unless you want to spend the next six months in jail?"

"You, you...." she seethed. Though her eyes were leveled on Garth, they quickly moved on, focusing directly on Jake. "You arranged this, didn't you!" She bolted toward her cousin, only to have him capture her by the wrist. The way he towered over Cissy's small frame and held her off, there was no way she was going to strike, kick, hit, punch, or do any of the other things that immediately came to mind. Actually, her anger short-circuited any reasonable response-as it usually did. If she'd been sane at all, she would have held off, taken her licking and been done with it, without the fight. As it turned out, she got more than a simple paddling-and this one would hurt for a lot longer than a half-hour afterwards.

"You're getting punished by me, brat!" he grimaced. "Your promises are worthless. You give me the old song and dance about how you've reformed, how six nights in jail taught you 'a lesson you'll never forget'." His eyes narrowed into tiny points of light, hardly a color to define them at all. "I've been played the fool for the last time." With Jake pointing his index finger in her face, Cissy shrank back as best she could, though she had little space to maneuver. "Consider your freedom revoked. You may, just may, avert jail with this punishment, but you'll think you're in jail by the time your penance with me is done."

"C'mon, Jake, please."

"Get me the paddle, will you Garth?"

The lawman moved to the back of the stables where a strap and wooden paddle hung on pegs. They'd been hanging there for thirty years having blistered many a young behind-and a few older ones. As far as Jake Colton was concerned, they'd keep their place as long as he had anything to say about Cissy Riverton's behavior. There'd never been a woman in his memory who needed it more than his bratty cousin.

Finally, letting go of her wrist, Jake gave her a gentle shove toward the old workbench. "Drop your pants."

"Jake! But..." her face twisted dolefully-as though he were truly wounding the young woman.

"Now!"

"But Jake, Garth's here."

"He can see your ass, too. That way he can assure the judge that the punishment was done properly."

Her glassy eyes pooled with tears that were about to drizzle down her cheek. Seeing the despondency in her face, the young sheriff was moved, and about to turn away.

"You can stay right here, Garth. Cissy plays a good game. The sooner you understand that, the better off you'll be."

Pressing her forward toward the bench, the fretting Cissy was still searching for some means out of this catastrophe. Here she'd been trying to woo the Sheriff for two months, and now her bastard cousin was going to humiliate her right in front of him.

She toyed with the buttons on her blue jeans, thinking hard. Unfortunately, there wasn't much room for manipulation here. Any plea she'd try would land with a hallow thud, and she'd only make Jake more pissed. She struggled for an answer, but none came in time to save her. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes-as though she could close out the entire ordeal-she pushed the denim off her hips and leaned over the unyielding wood. She was going to take this paddling ass-naked whether she liked it or not.