Page 40 of Keeping His Brat

He punctuated the words, which were said in that sexy low voice he always used when he was showing her who was boss, with a hard smack to the back of her jeans. “Any questions, Charlie?” The tone made it clear it wasn’t rhetorical. It demanded an answer.

Even through the thick denim she could feel the heat of a perfect handprint forming on her ass. Her panties soaked through almost instantly. She swallowed hard and licked her bottom lip. “I—no, Sir.” She paused and looked over at the steaks she’d pulled out of the fridge. “Well, one actually … before lunch, or after?”

He chuckled and right on key his stomach rumbled, loud enough for her to hear. Being in his arms had stirred up the desire for his touch, but thinking of food had reminded her of the other kind of hunger. The one that said her body, and she suspected his, needed food.

“Lunch first, we’ll let it settle while we catch up a bit. Then tonight, Charlie—” He stopped to give her a wicked smile. “—tonight, you are all mine.”

It was perfect. She wanted that. And the guilt she felt knowing she was probably going to be in trouble the next day, well, she pushed that aside. Sam’s ‘no sexy fun after punishment’ rule meant she was definitely not inclined to confess and miss out on what he had planned for the night.

Besides, there had been only that gentle interlude after he’d first gotten sick. Her body craved something rougher now. After over two weeks without his body, she deserved a night of fun before he found out what she’d been up to in his absence.

“Let me just get those steaks started then,” she suggested as she slipped out of his arms.

Chapter 12

Sam had never missed his little cabin so much in his life. The peaceful serenity of the nights with Charlie in his arms and no one to bother them was something he’d taken for granted. Until he’d ended up in the hospital.

He’d never been able to settle there. The nonstop noise, people coming in at all hours of the day and night to check on him, and worse the way it was never entirely dark made sleeping difficult. They had medication to fix that, of course.

They had treatments for everything. If he coughed, they gave him something. If he wheezed, they gave him something else. When he was nauseous or dizzy, yet another pill arrived to fix it. And they all had their own little side-effects. That was the ‘fun’ part.

In the end it got him through the bad times when he was miserable. Eventually the sickness worked its way through his system, and he started to feel human again. It took longer than he expected and for a couple of days it had been hard to keep up a good front for Charlie.

But there was no medication to fix the loneliness or the way he missed her. It had been hard to keep her away. His job, as her Daddy, was to keep her safe and that meant keeping her stress and worry low. He hated having to tell her to go every night, when what he really wanted was for her to curl up in the hospital bed and sleep there with him.

The ranch was the least of his worries through it all, but it did make a handy excuse for sending her home. And it wasn’t a lie anyway. One of themdidneed to be there to supervise. He also didn’t want her falling behind on her schoolwork. His first idea that she could work on it in the room with him had quickly been discarded.

Charlie couldn’t be in the same room and concentrate on anything but him. It was partly his fault too. When she was there, he wanted to hold her, to talk to her. It was almost more frustrating to have her there but lost in her laptop as she tried to get some work done.

It was best he kept her at home as much as possible. But it left him with long hours and nothing to fill them but the body aches and pains. He had few visitors aside from her. Men that worked on the ranch had swung by to check on him a couple of times on their way home, but he didn’t really have much in the way of friends—aside from Charlie.

Sam was used to working, staying busy for most of the day. All the downtime had him antsy and ready to snap at anyone who talked to him. It was probably good that he slept so much for the first week he was there, or he would have pissed off the whole nursing staff. As it was, they’d come to an uneasy truce.

He let them do their work without complaining. In return they didn’t try to cheer him up with nonstop chattering while they were in the room. He even, after a lot of arguing, gave in and agreed to call for help when he needed to go to the bathroom. It was either that or use a urinal and then call them to empty it—which seemed worse somehow.

But he got through it. The infection in his blood cleared up. The pneumonia took longer and some of the treatments weren’t a lot of fun, but eventually he was on the road to mending. They kept him a couple days longer just to make sure everything was in order, and then the hospital gave him his walking papers.

He'd never been happier to leave a place in his life. There had been an irrational fear, right up until they drove away, that the doctor would come running out and stop him from going. It left him tense and eager to leave, but once they were on the road he finally sat back and let out the breath he’d been holding.

Charlie didn’t talk much on the ride home. He wasn’t surprised; after all it had been a lot for her to deal with. His attempts to engage her in conversation didn’t get very far, but she seemed to be happy enough to be bringing him home. Finally, he gave up and turned on the radio.

Sam didn’t really listen to the soft rock, but it filled the silence. He retreated into his thoughts. There were a lot of things to consider, and in the long empty hours in the hospital he’d made a number of decisions. In a way the time had been good for him.

Normally the days flew by so fast, always busy and full. He would consider making changes, but then somehow never found the time to implement them. Being so sick had been a game changer. It had forced him to contemplate his life and where he wanted it to go.

He loved the ranch, but there was more to life than working all the time. It wasn’t all about the ranch either. Filling his days with horses and cattle had been fine when he had nothing else, but now he had Charlie. He’d come to see things more clearly.

He’d thought they might start the conversation but with her being so quiet he decided to wait until he got home to discuss it all with her. He wanted her opinions on all of it. Even if he was the boss, she was his partner and a damn smart woman. Aside from that some of the decisions were for partners to make together.

He wasn’t going to put it off either. That’s how things ended up staying the same. It wasn’t enough to think ‘Oh, this would be a good idea’ if it never went further than that. So, first day home he was going to sit her down and spill out everything he’d been working through his head.

The needs of his body overwhelmed him and thwarted his plans.

He hadn’t expected that. But the idea of a good juicy steak was irresistible. And then Charlie herself. “Damn, I’ve missed you, Charlie girl,” he said, watching her as she slapped the steaks into a pan.

She shot him a look over her shoulder, teasing with her eyes. “I’m going to let you show me how much you’ve missed me.Soon.”

Time couldn’t have passed fast enough at that point. It was all he could do not to wolf down the meat and then carry her off to the bedroom like some caveman. He forced himself to take slow bites, savoring the flavor. “Have I told you lately what an amazing cook you are?”

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