“I have tried in the past,” she said, looking a little miserable. “The whole ‘give an inch, they’ll take a mile’ thing? Yeah, that’s my parents. The more I give in, the more they try to bulldoze me. It’s better just to go in blazing and then it’s clear where we all stand. Plus, I’d rather piss them off than have them piss me off. I’m sorry I did that to you, too.”

Jake hesitated for a moment, but the question had been in the back of his brain since last night, and he had to ask. “Would you have done the same thing if I was a Dom? Like, if you knew you were going to be punished for it, would that have changed things?”

Blinking in surprise, Sharon turned the question over in her mind as she studied his expression. She was trying to keep her focus on his face and not on his bare chest or the little drop of sweat that was currently sliding down it and how freaking hot he looked right now.

“I don’t think so,” she admitted. “I don’t deal well when I feel like someone is being judgmental about me and knowing I had a spanking coming, or any other kind of punishment, wouldn’t stop me from changing how I deal with my parents.”

“You would have thrown Brian under the bus too?”

There was something about Jake’s expression and tone of voice that made it seem like he was insecure or something. Which was not how she’d meant to make him feel and she was a little horrified to realize that she’d done so.

She was also touched by his sincere, thorough apology. It seemed like both of them had really had a chance to think through where they’d gone wrong last night. She and Kate had been right. He was a good guy.

“Probably not, but only because he wouldn’t have cared that I was making a scene,” she said, feeling a little bad that it sounded like she was blaming Jake for her actions. “Not that that’s an acceptable reason for me to have done that to you, and I realize that.”

“So, it’s not because he would have spanked you afterwards, or that you respect him more because he’s a Dom?” Jake’s expression was closed, almost nonchalant, as if he was trying to look like he didn’t care about the answer.

Aw crap. That was so, so, so not how she’d ever meant to make him feel. She stepped forward, reaching up to put her hand on his chest. His skin was warm underneath her hand.

“Definitely not,” she said firmly. “For starters, there’s no way he would have spanked me afterward. We don’t have that kind of relationship anymore.”

He raised a dark eyebrow at her, something sparking in his blue eyes. “Do we?”