Page 39 of Keeping His Brat

He tried to talk to her on the ride home, but her mind was all over the place. She was worried about him. Worried about her butt when he found out she’d been making changes on the ranch. But it wasn’t all negative emotions, she was also bubbling with excitement that he was finally home.

The hospital had insisted on wheeling him to the car when they left, but once they got home Sam had no problems getting out by himself. He walked to the door with no sign of weakness. Even the coughing had tapered down to just an occasional short paroxysm.

She was still nervous. “You’re not going straight back to work, right?” she asked, anxious as she followed him into the house.

“Not today. Today I’m going to spend time with my Charlie and later we’re going to talk about a few ideas I’ve been turning over in my head. Then tomorrow I’ll start back.”

“T-tomorrow? But you just got out of the hospital!” Her stomach sank and she fixed wide nervous eyes on him. “Shouldn’t you take it easy for a while? I thought maybe next week…”

He shook his head. “Naw, I’ve been going crazy stuck in that bed. I need to get out and work. Besides I’ll mostly be sitting in the office so don’t go worrying yourself about me.”

“But Sam …”

“I’ll make the days short. I promise.”

Charlie offered him a weak smile and dropped it. She felt like if she argued too much, he might get suspicious of why she was trying to keep him in the house. Most of itwasthat she was worried about him having a relapse. There was also a small bit of dread that when he did head over to the barn, he was going to be mad at the changes she’d made. One of them had been a pretty huge overstep.

Charlie was half owner, but Sam was the one in charge of the ranch. He was both the legal authority, and of course, the Dominant in their relationship. That meant she was probably going to be in deep trouble. It wasn’t the first time this had been an issue in their relationship.

She winced just thinking about the blow up they’d had when she’d made tentative overtures to sell some of their land. Eventually she’d realized he was right about it, but at the time she’d been convinced that her plan was solid.

And then there was the time when someone had pretended to be Charlie and called around about selling the whole ranch outright. Sam had eventually believed her when she’d denied doing it. They’d discovered who the real culprit was in the end, but it seemed like the ranch was constantly causing problems between them.

The first time was her fault. The second time wasn’t. Now she was stacking the odds against herself and regretting her decisions. But it was a future problem and not something to deal with today. Today was just for celebrating that Sam was back home where he belonged.

“Daddy, I figured you must be sick of hospital food and liquids, so I thought we’d do a nice dinner tonight. The hospital said you had no diet restrictions, so I was thinking… steak?”

Sam’s face lit up. “Charlie girl, I would kill for a steak right now. I’m so sick of soup and soft food.” His eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. “I suppose it’s too early to cook them now…” He let the words trail off with a dramatic sigh.

It was still pretty early in the afternoon, but the check-out process at the hospital had taken ages and neither of them had eaten yet that day.

Charlie snorted and rolled her eyes. “I pulled two rib eyes out of the freezer and put them in to marinate before I went to get you. They should be fine to start now. I wouldn’t want you to fade away from hunger.” She paused as she looked through the cabinets. “Maybe mashed potatoes with them?”

“Baked, please. Someone in the hospital kitchen things every meal has to have mashed potatoes. Flakes out of a box no less.” He shuddered as he pulled a chair away from the table, spun it around, and dropped into the seat casually.

He folded his arms across the high back and rested his chin on them, watching her as she poked around in the cabinets. She put a little wiggle into her step just to tease him. His company wasn’t the only thing she’d missed while he was gone.

“Potato flakes? You poor thing.” She turned and leaned in to drop a kiss on the top of his head. “You really have suffered, haven’t you?”

“You have no idea.”

Charlie heard a note of seriousness in his voice, and it ruined the lighthearted moment. She moved behind him to press against his back as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so glad you’re home. I missed you, Daddy,” she said softly against his ear.

“I missed you too, darlin’. I know this has been hard for you, for both of us really, but we got through it. Right?” He turned his head to brush his lips across hers.

The light touch wasn’t enough. She pressed in eagerly for more. His lips met hers and his tongue shoved into her mouth with an aggressiveness that made it clear how glad he was to be back home.

Sam took her breath away and the rising passion had her ready to skip the meal and go straight to the bedroom. When she pulled back, with regret, it was almost painful to break the connection.

“Are you… are you up to this? I mean after two weeks in the hospital I wasn’t sure…” She let the words trail off. It was like she was questioning his manhood or something.

“Oh, Charlie girl, believe me I’m up to this.” His words were confident and strong.

She listened for the breathiness that he’d developed along with the pneumonia but there was only the slightest sign of congestion. Still, she worried. “I don’t mind waiting a few days. So you can get your strength back.”

He growled and straightened in the chair. Suddenly he was on his feet and pulling her up against his chest. His hand found a hold in her hair and used it to tip her head back, so she was forced to look straight into his eyes.

“My strength is just fine now, darlin’. I admit there were a few days when even the sight of you sprawled naked on the bed couldn’t have gotten a rise out of me, but I’m fine now. If you’re all that worried about me, I’ll be happy to let you do most of the work—but believe me I’m more than well enough to make you scream my name.”

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