Page 16 of Ranch Rules

Thomas regarded her with unblinking blue eyes that were more than a little unnerving, especially given the silence that followed.

She swallowed hard. “I guess not.”

“I guess not,” he echoed.

“Well... in that case, I guess I don’t have much choice. You know, you lose points when contracts are signed under duress.” Without another word, she reached for a pen and with quick, determined movements she signed the paper with a flourish.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, and she had the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh.

“I still think it’s barbaric,” she asserted, rebelliously tossing the pen on the desk and looking to see if he would say anything. She could see at once that Thomas was a man who missed little, but he did let her little act of defiance slide.

“Maybe so, but some people like barbaric. And others need it.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does. You might see it one of these days, if you’re of a mind to try. Now, let’s try this again. Let me show you to your room.”

Knowing they would be leaving the room, Natalie had no desire to try to take those stairs with her clothing puddled around her legs, but when she reached for it, a soft, commanding “Leave it” made her stop.

“But... I thought... I can’t just... like this.” She gestured helplessly to her current state.

Thomas arched a dirty blond brow at her. “Are you forgetting the first rule so soon?” He made a show of looking at her bare bottom. “Your bottom is still a little pink, but it could take a lot of teachin’ yet if you find you need another lesson.”

She scowled at him, then stepped out of the puddle of clothing so that she would be able to move quicker and made a beeline for the door. She could feel Thomas behind her, but she did not turn or acknowledge him in any way. When she threw the door open, she glimpsed Nate out of the corner of her eye, probably waiting to get his office back, and she ignored him, too.

I’ve faced worse than this, she told herself, fighting to keep a blush from her cheeks as she made her way through the hall. She fought to keep her eyes straight ahead and ignore the sounds of activity around her. The Keller case took three days in court, running on less than nine hours of sleep spread over four days. If I can do that, this is easy. Small potatoes.

Of course, little sleep or no, at least she’d been allowed to wear clothes. But Natalie forced that thought from her head and focused on getting up the stairs as quickly as possible. She could feel eyes on her. She knew that she was not escaping unnoticed and finally could not fight the humiliation that colored her body head to toe. It took strength to keep moving, to keep her gaze from wandering, even to stop from looking back at Thomas. She couldn’t do any of those things, or she feared she would collapse into a puddle of embarrassed tears right there on the staircase.

When she finally burst into her room, she didn’t think she had ever felt more relieved, no matter what she’d tried to tell herself to make it through her walk of shame. She would have thrown herself on the bed and sought solace in her pillow if Thomas hadn’t come in right behind her.

“Basic amenities in the room, minus Wi-Fi.” To his credit, he didn’t sound amused at her expense, which was the only thing that kept her from hurling the first thing she could get her hands on in his direction. “Wake-up calls are at five-thirty and in person.”

This got her attention. “You mean someone’s going to come to my room at five-thirty?” She was aghast. “Why?”

“We find that alarms can be turned off, whereas no one has managed to find my off switch yet.” He winked at her.

Was he flirting with her? It didn’t seem possible given what had just taken place, but then again, she was still standing in front of him half naked. “I suppose it’s okay if I get dressed now?” She struggled to keep the acid out of her voice and only partially succeeded.

Thomas nodded.

Natalie went over to her bag and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of her most comfortable yoga pants. Without delaying for another moment, she quickly pulled them up over her naked, still stinging bottom. Being clothed returned a bit of her dignity, and she sighed with the relief of it.

“Why did you agree to stay?”

She hesitated. Though she had just signed a contract that demanded complete honesty, she could not bring herself to admit that the people she worked for thought so little of her they would condemn her to being spanked for an entire week against her will. She made a mental note to peruse the job openings at other law firms as soon as she got somewhere with cell reception.

But Thomas was still looking at her, waiting for her answer. Just then, Natalie realized that some of her hair had fallen out of her bun and she busied her hands with smoothing it back. “I’m not a quitter,” she said at last. “I like to see things through to the end.” That had to get her more points than admitting that she had no choice... right?

He gave a single nod, though his face betrayed nothing of what he might actually be thinking. “Well, I’ll see you in the mornin’. I hope you get a good night’s sleep.”

“Wait just a second,” she said as he turned to leave. “Um, I was just wondering... I mean, the contract said every guest—” if that’s what you call it, she thought, “gets a... um... liaison?”

Thomas’s smile flashed. “Yeah, that’s not exactly the right word, is it?”

“No. Did you think ‘enforcer’ sounded too strong?”

“Well, now that you mention it I thought ‘ranch wranglers’ sounded better, but I was outvoted.”

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