Page 4 of Keeping His Brat

His left eyebrow rose. “Youguess? Didn’t I just say something to you last night about it?” He’d tried to text her from his office in the barn, because he needed her to take his truck and make a run into town, only to find she’d left her phone sitting on the counter, as usual, when she’d gone up to check the renovations on the big house.

And then of course when she’d returned to the small cabin they shared, she hadn’t bothered to check for messages, so he’d ended up having to drop everything to go do it himself. It wasn’t exactly an emergency, but it could have been.

When he’d told her that someday therewouldbe an emergency and she’d regret not having her phone, he hadn’t realized it would happen quite so soon.

“Yes, Sam—” A sharp look from him had her backtracking fast. “Yes, Daddy.”

It was always Daddy when she was in trouble. It was a reminder that he was in charge. He was the boss and she had to obey him.

The rest of the time it was optional, though it had become a habit for her to call him that whenever no one was listening. She’d actually slipped up and done it a few times when people could hear too, but he expected people had taken it as a joke, or sarcasm. Charlie was known for both.

But when she was in trouble it became part of the routine. Anything but Daddy, or maybe occasionally Sir, just added to the punishment, but he did allow a slip or two as long as she corrected herself immediately.

“Good, then you know why you’re in trouble,” he said.

She looked down and nodded with a soft sigh. “I wasn’t trying to get in trouble.”

He couldn’t help chuckling. “Sometimes that’s just how it works, darlin’.”

There were times when it was obvious Charlie was pushing to get punished. Some part of her just seemed to need it now and then, but generally when that happened it was her mouth that got her spanked. She’d be snippy or rude, snapping at him until he shut her down and then she’d end up across his knee getting the brat spanked out of her.

When it came to real problems, things that would hurt him or make him deeply angry instead of just annoyed, those were rare, and he knew she tried hard to avoid them. When they did come up, he could see his disappointment reflected in her own eyes. She was fine with getting in trouble on purpose but when it happened by accident, she felt guilty.

That guilt would eat away at her until he absolved her of it with punishment. It wasn’t always a spanking, but spanking was often part of it. The pain helped the lesson sink in, but it was over quickly. For more serious offenses he liked to add on other things that would draw the punishment out.

This was a serious offense.

“You ready for the first part of this punishment?”

Charlie frowned, she shifted nervously in his lap. “First part?” She had a habit of pretending she didn’t know what he meant so he’d spell it out.

“Yep, you didn’t think I was going to let you get away with just a spanking, did you? Oh no, little girl, you’re in alotof trouble.” His eyes locked with hers and he let her see the sternness in his gaze.

She drooped, dropping her eyes to break the contact. “Oh.”

She wanted to ask what he was going to do to her, he could tell. But she didn’t so he left it a mystery as he pulled her face down across his lap and settled his large hand on the back of her pajamas. “Anything else you want to say before we get started? Any other excuses?”

She was silent but after a second, she shook her head. It was a wise move because at this point anything else would probably just dig her in deeper.

“Good girl. I do want you to know one thing before I paddle your butt. Look at me.” His voice was hard; the order was clear, and she twisted to look over her shoulder at him. He stared hard at her for a second.

The nervous look in her eyes went along with the tightness in her body. Her bottom lip was rolled under, and her teeth had been gnawing at it. She looked exactly like a little girl about to be spanked and it tugged at his heart.

Not that he’d let that change his mind, but now that he was no longer so angry, he did feel some sympathy for her. The early mistakes had led to an impossible situation where she’d had no choice but to put herself in danger. He understood that leaving the poor animal in pain wasn’t an option and he wanted to make that clear.

“I’m proud of you.”

She jumped, giving him a startled look that was almost comical. “Huh?”

He understood the surprise, given the situation. She was, after all, about to be punished. He patted her backside gently.

“Most people would have given up and left her there to get out of the storm. They wouldn’t have risked what you did. That caring heart of yours is one of the reasons I love you. I’m furious that you risked getting crushed by a panicking animal ten times your size, but I’m still proud that you dived in to help instead of leaving her.”

“Does that mean we can skip the punishment?” she asked hopefully.

“Nope. It means I’m not adding on a bunch of extra punishments for risking your life. You’re being punished for forgetting your phone, again, and for not coming straight in with everyone else when the storm started kicking up.”

“That doesn’t soundtoobad?” still sounding hopeful.

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