Page 9 of Ranch Rules

“That’s right.”

“Well, nice try, but there’s one thing you’re not taking into account. I didn’t sign any contract—remember?” She smiled, satisfied with her own reasoning. But when the two men exchanged glances again, she began to feel the slightest bit uneasy.

“That’s true. And I guess you’d be awfully upset about somethin’ like that,” Thomas said to the other man.

“Yes, if I was to hear about such a thing, I suspect I would. As it happens, I have an important business matter to tend to. It was nice to meet you, Natalie. Now, if you two will excuse me.”

Her mouth dropped open as he walked around the desk and left them alone in his office. This couldn’t be happening! The whole thing was so absurd it couldn’t possibly be real.

“Now that we’re alone, I believe we were discussin’ the matter of your punishment.”

She shook her head so hard she felt pieces of her hair come loose from her tidy bun. “No. This is crazy. I’m not going to let you touch me.”

“Did I tell you we don’t give Wi-Fi to the guests?”

“Yes, but—”

“I told you, and yet you argued with me, and ran off, yellin’ and causin’ a scene. That sounds an awful lot like disobedience to me.”

“Maybe so, but—”

“And here, we punish naughty girls for disobedience.”

Her eyes narrowed. If he thought she couldn’t out-reason him, he was about to get the shock of his life. “That might be, but I didn’t know... besides which, I’m not a child.” Okay, so it wasn’t as good an argument as she’d hoped to make, but he was currently rolling up his shirt sleeve and the sight was distracting for more reason than one.

“According to your license you’re not, but that scene I saw earlier calls your maturity into question.”

She felt her cheeks warm and didn’t know if she was angrier than she was embarrassed by his assessment. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have gone around yelling like that. But—”

“Glad we agree.” He grinned at her, pulled the chair back and took a seat, patting his knee meaningfully. “Now, are we goin’ to do this the easy way, or the hard way? I prefer the easy way myself, but either way, you’ll have a sore heinie when this is over. How sore is up to you.”

For a moment, she stood frozen, feet glued to the floor. This felt so much like a horrible dream only the deepest recesses of her mind could come up with, at first she wasn’t sure what to do. If it were a dream, even one of nightmarish proportions, she could put herself over his lap and see what came next.

But the other part of her, the part that knew the colors were too bright, and could feel the rapid pounding inside of her chest, felt sure she should make a break for it.

“Well? What’s it going to be?”

Natalie reached out and pinched her arm, hard. “Ow!” she exclaimed, though the pain should have come as no surprise.

Thomas regarded her with a scrunched forehead. “What are you doin’?”

“Just checking.” Then she turned on her heel and fled.

He didn’t chase her. She knew that, because she didn’t hear footsteps behind her. But when she reached the door she yanked the knob only to find Nate standing on the other side. He didn’t turn to face her, but she had no doubt that he knew she was there.

“You finished your ‘business matter’ already?” she sneered.

“The hard way it is.”

“This is so unfair. I—”

“I’m guessin’ as a lawyer you know how to follow instructions.”

She scowled at Thomas who was now standing beside the chair, watching her.

“I want you to close the door and come here. Then you will go over my knee and get the spankin’ you’ve earned. Now, I could drag you over here kickin’ and hollerin’—we both already know you can do that quite well—but if I do, then you’re gonna choose one of those to finish your punishment.” He pointed at the wall of implements.

Her mind raced, but as hard as she searched for a way out, she knew he had her cornered. Literally. Frustrated tears rose to her green eyes, but she brushed them away with the back of her hand. She would rather die than let him see and misinterpret them as fear. There was little that Natalie Winthrop was afraid of, and a so-called ‘bottom warming’ didn’t make the list.

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