Beautifying Bernadette: A BBW Romantic Comedy (The Jackson Tribe Book 1) Read online

  Bernie bit her lip with a blushing smile and nodded.

  Ashley continued, “Also, any man who wants you, is going to have to work his ass off because you are worth it. You deserve to get the guy. You deserve to have your dreams come true. And if Levi is the one who can fulfill those dreams, then I suggest you track him down and throw yourself at his feet. He’s religious, right? Pull a Ruth; climb into his bed and fuck him, so he can’t wonder if you actually want him.”

  Bernie started giggling imagining showing up in his bed naked. She didn’t think she could ever do something so bold and drastic, but it was a funny thought. By this point, they had pulled into the empty parking lot at the club and next to Ashley’s car. “But, I don’t even know his number. I have no way to get back in contact with him. And besides, what would I say? ‘Sorry I was a psycho, want to give me another chance?’ Really?”

  Ashley shook her head. “No, I think ‘Sorry I overreacted—can we talk?’ would suffice. And, as for how, you happen to have an amazing best friend who has his number.” She texted it to Bernie’s phone.

  Call Or Text NOW Dingbat

  Bernie scrunched her face. “I’ll think about it.”

  “All right, you do that. I need to go home and take like twenty showers and then sleep until Monday morning.” Ashley air-kissed her and then hopped out of the car and into her neon green bug and sped out of the parking lot.

  Bernie was slower to move. She kept looking at the text in her phone and hovering over the number and then fidgeting and locking and unlocking her phone. Finally, before she drove off, she just texted him.

  It’s Bernie.

  And hit send before she could chicken out again. She drove home, making sure to stay within the speed limit. The last thing she needed was to get pulled over and one of his buddies tell him. She knew how cops worked in this town.

  Chapter Seven

  When she pulled into her parking lot, thinking how disappointed she was that he hadn’t texted back, she was surprised and elated to see the familiar truck sitting in front of the building. Levi was sitting on the hood. She parked next to him and got out sheepishly.

  “Hey… what’s a cool guy like you doing in a hot place like this?” She felt like an idiot and like the saying had gotten all jumbled, but he gave her a big grin and hopped off of his hood.

  “I was going to say what’s a hot chick like you doing in a cool place like this…”

  She giggled and then bit her lip looking at her feet and then up at his face. “SorryIKindaFlippedMyShit.”

  Levi gave her a serious look. “It’s okay, but I think I need to understand why you ‘flipped your shit.’ I need to make sure that I didn’t cross some boundary you had that I didn’t know about, so I can make sure to never do it again.”

  Bernie shook her head. “No! It wasn’t you at all! I was just scared and overwhelmed and panicking. It was not you. You’re like perfect, like Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way, and I only say practically perfect because I don’t know like all of you yet and there might be something hiding in your closet and I don’t want to be painted into a total perfect corner. I need room to find a need for improvement.” She gave him a cheeky grin.

  He impulsively grabbed her hands and pulled her towards him and kissed her forehead. “You, my dear Miss Douglas, are Mary Poppinsesque yourself. And cute. And adorable. And amazing.”

  She blushed and fought the urge to debate him on that. “So, you want to come up to my apartment and we can talk, I guess?”

  “That would be a great idea.”

  As they walked into the building, Pete walked up to them. “So, how are things going you two?”

  They grinned and held their clasped hands up to him.

  Pete nodded approvingly. “Then, I’ll add him to the list, dearie?”

  Bernie nodded happily and they walked to the elevator and then to her apartment. “Do you want some coffee or lemonade or something?”

  “Yeah, some lemonade sounds really good right now. It’s getting warm out there. Maybe summer is finally on its way for real.”

  After Bernie poured them both large glasses of lemonade, and grabbed some cookies from the cupboard, they went outside and sat on the balcony. Bernie had a cute hot pink metal table with teal deck chairs and a multi-colored striped umbrella. They sat down and Bernie nervously rocked in her seat, worrying her lip, and running her fingernails up and down her exposed arms.

  Levi gently reached over and put a hand on each arm. “Calm down. It’s okay. I just want to hear what was going through your mind and heart earlier. I need to understand.”

  Bernie looked at him anxiously and took a deep breath, letting it in and out, and again, until finally she felt like she could speak without shaking. “I don’t really know. I liked the spanking you did with your hand, I mean it hurt, but it also felt good. Like really good.” She blushed and he smiled, encouraging her to continue. “But I think the other one… confused me. It startled me because I wasn’t doing anything bad, you seemed so serious, there wasn’t anything sensual about it, and well, it really hurt. Like a lot.”

  Levi tried hard not to laugh, but his mouth quirked a little. “It was a spanking, they are supposed to hurt. But—” He put his hand up seeing she was about to interject. “But you’re correct that it was more serious than the other one I gave you. That’s because I find the type of words you were using to describe yourself incredibly offensive. My parents have spent decades helping girls, woman, to view themselves as beautiful and competent and amazing, and you were just tearing yourself down. I needed you to know how seriously I take that.”

  Nodding, Bernie twirled a stray hair with her finger and shifted her weight from one sore butt cheek to the other. “My ass is still tender but, I’m not as grumpy now. I just don’t understand my feelings. I was kind of scared, kind of sad, and…” She looked down at her hands and worried her lip.

  Levi smiled. “Kind of turned on?”

  She nodded slowly and then emphatically with a shy smile.

  “That’s understandable and perfectly acceptable. It’s normal to feel uncertain and confused. You’ve probably been taught your whole life to never let a man hit you or boss you or push you around and, knowing that it both turns you on and hurts, is probably not easy to swallow.”

  Bernie nodded, relieved that he understood. Hesitantly, she asked, “So, if your parents have spent their whole lives investing in girls and helping them have self-confidence and all that, how do they feel about their son hitting girls—or do they just not know?”

  Levi chuckled. “They know, and my dad services my mom in the same way, so they aren’t exactly shocked.”

  Bernie’s mouth dropped. “Your parents are kinky? Damn. I guess that makes sense since they have so many kids. Something had to be keeping their attention, right?”

  “Well, not kinky as much as practice domestic discipline, I mean they might be kinky, but we don’t generally talk about their sex life. But, I sure know that when Mom is overwhelmed or overworked, she and Dad slip out. When they come back, she is a lot more relaxed, and prefers to stand and serve everyone else or sit on his knee.”

  Bernie couldn’t imagine her parents kissing on the lips, let alone other stuff.

  She spoke softly. “I think that’s really cool. I mean, that your dad cares about her so much and that they have such a close relationship. But back to us. I don’t know why I got so overwhelmed and scared, but I did, and I can’t promise that won’t happen again. I couldn’t control it. I just knew that I couldn’t function and needed it to stop. I needed space.” She looked at his face, stricken and ashamed. “I guess you don’t want to waste time on such a l—”

  Levi started to rise and she gripped the sides of the chair. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Let me try this again. I think it would be really… hard… to be in a relationship with someone who has such an irrational reaction to something she said she wanted. And I understand if you want to walk away and never look back.” />
  Levi sat down, proud of her for rephrasing her words, but his heart breaking at the lies he knew she was battling in her heart. “I have no intention of walking away, at least not unless you are walking with me. Maybe we need to institute some safewords.”

  Bernie jumped up at this one. “No way! I am not going to be some lame ass who earns a spanking, and then safe words her way out. I genuinely think that is something I would be tempted towards, to bratting, and then when it came time to pay the piper, tossing out ‘red’ or something. And I don’t want to do that to you. It’s not fair. It wouldn’t be fair to me either. If I can’t handle the fire, then I need to stay out of the kitchen. If I am going to write checks my ass can’t cash, then I just won’t open up the bank account.”

  She gave Levi an angry look because he started laughing halfway through her tirade and, when she was done, he teased her. “How many clichés can you come up with in one speech, sweetie?”

  She pouted and stamped her foot. “I am serious! This isn’t some fucking game to me!”

  He shook his head at her language, but there were so many other things to deal with, he didn’t comment on it. “Okay, first off—” he pulled her into his lap, then continued, “there that’s better. I like to be able to hold you while we talk so you don’t get all jumpy.”

  She kept pouting, but didn’t try to get up and just gasped a little when her ass connected with his thigh.

  “Now, a safe word doesn’t mean that you don’t get discipline for naughty behavior or that you’re taking control of the situation. It just allows me to know that you have needs. It can mean pause, it can mean something is going on that I am unaware of, and I am open to discussing an ‘I need an alternative right now,’ so if you cannot handle being spanked, I am sure I can come up with something equally unpleasant for you.”

  Bernie nodded uncertainly. “I don’t want to be in charge, though. I want to trust you. I…”

  Levi tapped her lips with his finger. “Shh… I am still talking. Okay, what I was going to say is that we are just getting to know each other and we are jumping into all of this really quickly, so it makes sense that you would be nervous and uncertain. You don’t know me or how I respond or if I am safe. So, it’s perfectly acceptable, and probably wise, to give ourselves some boundaries so that we are being safe and slow down a bit.”

  Bernie felt relief and sadness at his words. She vowed in her head to never actually use a safeword. “Okaaay… like, yellow and red?”

  “Those seem the easiest to me, but we can do something else if you prefer.”

  Bernie shook her head. “No, those are fine. So, since we decided and it’s ‘all good,’ do you need to go home now?”

  Levi grinned. “Are you trying to get rid of me? I was thinking we could make grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cream sundaes and just watch a movie and sleep. Neither of us got a lot of sleep last night, but I would like to hold you while we sleep.”

  Her heart melted and a smile covered her face. She nodded eagerly. “I have everything for grilled cheese and for sundaes too! How did you—oh yeah, you cleaned my kitchen last night. Oh! That reminds me I need to move my quilt to the dryer.”

  She hopped up to move the quilt. Levi went into the kitchen and started cooking bacon, and, when she was done, Bernie laid out the cheeses and buttered bread. They snuggled up on the couch deciding on The Princess Bride. Bernie fell asleep before they even got to ice cream. Levi carried her to bed and fell asleep with his arms around her.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning since they had both fallen asleep before nine o’clock, Levi woke up at 6:00 am and went to the kitchen and started coffee in the pot. Knowing his parents were always up early getting ready for the residents, he dropped a text to his mom.

  Do you have room for another at lunch?

  She responded almost immediately

  Depends. Is she pretty?

  He laughed as he texted back

  Breathtaking.

  Good. Then you’re both more than welcome. We are having pot roast, and Dad is hoping you and the guys can help him after lunch—the alarm is acting up again.

  Levi groaned, but smiled shaking his head. That damn “alarm system” was constantly on the fritz, but Dad’s theory was that, with so many sons, they should be able to figure it out. Sadly, none of them had any skill in electrical issues. But he let her know he’d be happy to look at it. Then, filling two mugs with coffee, he went to check on Bernie.

  She was snoring and had drool covering the side of her face, but he thought he’d never seen anything so cute and sweet. He waved the cup back and forth under her nose and she woke up groaning.

  “Jaaaaaavaaaaaa.”

  He put the coffee on her nightstand and then crawled behind her and pulled her so that she was partially sitting with her back pressed against his chest and stomach.

  “So, sweetie, I wondered how you would feel about going to church and family dinner with me this afternoon. My brother is the pastor of The Community Church; you know the one on Route Seven? It’s not a huge church, but they have good music and he isn’t incredibly boring. And the prize for making it through is my mom’s cooking. You will be very well fed. And, I am sure everyone would love to meet you.”

  Bernie woke up fully at this, but glared at him.

  “No talking before coffee! Hard Limit!”

  As she grasped at the cup and started sipping it, she let his request funnel through her brain.

  He laughed heartily, but wisely kept his mouth shut while she drank.

  After a few minutes, she looked at him slightly less bleary eyed. “You want me to meet your family? Isn’t this like insanely soon? What will they think if you’re like ‘So this bi—, uh… girl that I met because she was speeding and then I spanked her ass, well, yeah, we’re going to bring her around the family now?’ That seems like a bad plan. Why don’t you just go and I’ll stay here? I mean, I don’t want them to think badly of you.”

  Levi rolled over and pulled her into his arms, making sure not to spill her coffee, and held her close. “I will say every day for the next hundred years if I need to. You are beautiful. You are talented. You are funny. I am proud to call you my girl. And, I assure you, that all my family cares about is that I vouch for you. As long as you don’t hurt me or any of them, we’re golden.”

  Bernie melted a bit at that. “Oh, okay… I guess I could do that.”

  Then a thought occurred to her. “Church? I haven’t been to a church since the last time I went home to visit. I don’t have anything to wear—is it one of those places where the women are like covered head to toe? I’m kind of a floozy when I’m not at work and all of my work clothes are super boring, and my hair! I mean it will take forever to get it right. Oh dear, what time does it start because I need a really long time to get presentable if I am going to be meeting your family and people at your church.”

  He could tell she was mildly hyperventilating, so he lightly swatted her thigh.

  “Ow! What was that for? I didn’t even do anything.” She scowled at him indignantly, but it really didn’t hurt at all and just made her pussy clench.

  “Chill out. Church is casual. My family is casual. I am wearing jeans. It doesn’t start until eleven, so we have time. And actually, I need to take you by my place first so I can get some fresh clothes. “

  Brightening a little, she grinned at him. “So, I get to see your place?”

  “Yep, but I’ll warn you it’s not as fancy as this. I have a small house, basically a cottage; two bedrooms, bathroom, and a lot of land.”

  He glanced at the clock. “It’s barely seven o’clock now, so we have more than enough time for you to get ready. Then, we can to run by my house and still get to church with plenty of time to spare. Let’s leave about nine-thirty just to be safe.”

  He mused to himself. That will give us time to fool around at my place if we need to.

  Bernie leapt off of the bed, leaving her empty mug on the nights
tand, and raced to the bathroom. He could hear the shower running within moments and the faint beginning of a slightly off key version of Mary Lambert’s Secrets. Chuckling, he got up and took her cup to the kitchen, and set about making some eggs and toast. He figured it would take her thirty minutes max to shower and get ready since he’d told her the plan.

  He could be wrong.

  And he was.

  At eight o’clock, still hearing the shower running, he knocked on the door. “Hey, are you okay in there?”

  Bernie jumped, dropping her razor she was using to devoid herself of any hair on her body. “I’m good. I’ll be out soon.”

  Levi shook his head, but walked away.

  When she finally came out forty-five minutes after that with a towel wrapped around her head and another around her body, he looked at the clock and teased her. “When you said you were going to take a shower, I didn’t realize you were going to wash every hair on your head individually.”

  She stuck out her tongue and let her hair down and shook droplets of water on him. “It takes time to be beautiful.”

  He growled, wiping droplets off of his face and grabbed her, pulling her against him, getting his shirt wet, yanking the towel up in the back and giving her a couple sharp teasing slaps to her damp bottom. The sound was more sharp than the pain, but very satisfying to both the giver and receiver.

  She squealed and giggled and he kissed her wet face and let her go.

  “But, seriously, Bernadette, we have forty-five minutes before we need to be in the car and your breakfast is ice cold now.”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, you can eat it, don’t worry about feeding me today. I’ll be so excited and nervous I probably won’t even be able to get anything down.”

  She quickly turned and went down the hall to her room in case he had anything he wanted to say.

  He did.

  He followed her.