Page 3 of Forever His Brat

But these were Sam’s friends, or at least Nick was, and it felt strange. Nick was also clearly a Dominant. If Sam hadn’t already told her she would have seen it in the way he interacted with his wife. She wasn’t sure why that should make a difference, but somehow it did.

So, she let them clean off the snow and only snuck small looks as she heard Nick guiding Katie into the living room. She could see, if she leaned back, that he’d settled her in an overstuffed chair in front of the fireplace.

She went to join them, a mug in each hand, but Nick met her halfway there and reached out to take both mugs. “Thank you. We can both use this. My old beater doesn’t have the best heating system and that last hour we were both like to freeze, even with it blasting.”

He turned as he talked and moved back into the living room. His socks made soft whooshing sounds on the new carpeting as he brought the hot chocolate to Katie.

He hesitated before handing it to her and gave the room a skeptical look. The room still had that ‘new’ smell from the fresh paint and carpeting and maybe he was picking up on that. He frowned. “Be careful, Katie. Use both hands,” he warned as he gave her the hot mug.

“I’m notthatclumsy,” she retorted as she held the mug to her chest, hugging it for warmth. Charlie noticed shewasusing both hands though.

Nick snorted. “Never said you were, but you’re shaky from the cold and I don’t want you making a mess.”

‘Fine, Daddy, but I’m not the one who dropped an entire cake face-down on the floor last week.” Katie shot him a smug look.

Nick narrowed his eyes as he took a seat. “No, but youwerethe one who jumped out of the pantry and shouted ‘Boo!’. You startled the hell out of me—which iswhyI dropped it.”

Katie shrugged. “Soyousay. Always blaming things on me. You dropped it, it’s your fault, boss.”

“Sure, girl. Just let your mouth keep writing checks your ass is going to have to cash later,” Nick retorted.

Charlie couldn’t hold back the giggle. She felt a sudden relaxing of stress. Thiswasgoing to work out, she could tell. The two were obviously madly in love with each other, and the D/s chemistry was full of sparks that anyone could see.

She hadn’t missed the fact that Katie called him Daddy either; that was another thing to be relieved about. She liked being able to relax with Sam after hours and more and more it was harder not to let the dynamics of their relationship show.

Charlie had to be vigilant during the day when all the hands were around; after hours she didn’t want that added stress. She saw in them people who would understand because they had the same kind of structure. She approved of Sam’s choice, so far anyway.

They both turned to look at her when she giggled. Katie grinned. “Sorry, we’re just a little silly sometimes.”

“Well, one of us is anyway.” Nick chuckled. “I appreciate the hot coffee, Miss Charlie. My hands have been numb with cold for an hour.” He nodded towards the fireplace. “That’s a big help too.”

“There’s nothing like a fire to make you feel warmer. Just seeing it helps, I’ve always found,” Charlie agreed. “So! I have fresh baked cookies if you’d like some. Or I could make you a sandwich if you’re hungry?”

She suddenly realized that these were the first actual guests they’d had in the house, since they’d moved back in. It was different from the workers who came by to ask questions from time to time. She wasn’t really used to being a hostess. The urge to ply them with food and drinks was instinctive.

Nick shook his head. “We ate at—”

“I’d love some cookies!” Katie cut him off as she straightened. Her hot chocolate sloshed ominously, and she brought it to her mouth to take a sip before it spilled.

Nick sighed. “Wedidjust eat at our last stop, but Katie is always up for cookies. Not much of a sweets person myself but I can usually manage a cookie or two.”

“That’s great because I baked alottoday.” Charlie was saying as she ducked back into the kitchen to grab the big plate. It was heavy and overloaded with cookies. Katie’s eyes widened and practically danced with glee when she saw the pile.

“You can havetwo,” Nick said quickly as the plate was settled on a small table within reach.

Katie gave him a huffy look, and then took three. They began to banter back and forth again as Charlie took a seat on the sofa and watched them. She couldn’t help but wonder if she and Sam sounded like that when they were together.

As if he’d heard her thinking about him, the back door opened and sent a blast of cold wind through the house. The flames flickered and briefly surged as he slammed it behind him. He was stomping the snow off his boots when Charlie hurried to greet him.

He gave her a distracted smile as he focused on brushing off the thick layer of snow. “It’s really coming down out there, and now it’s turning to ice.” The explanation was unnecessary since he currently looked like some kind of mobile snowman.

She moved in to help, grabbing a stiff-bristled brush from the hook by the door. She began with his back, removing the snow and ice in firm strokes. “I was getting worried when it took so long for you to come back.”

“I wanted to plow over to the cabin now so they wouldn’t have any trouble. While I was there, I thought I’d get a fire going. It’s always a nice welcome and they might need the extra heat, especially if the power goes out. The way the ice is sheeting down I wouldn’t be surprised if the electric lines took a hit.”

That was one of the perils of living so far from town. They probably lost power at least once or twice a winter, and sometimes it took a few days to get things running again. It wasn’t much fun, but they were prepared for it.

She winced, and an involuntary shiver ran down her back. The big house had a generator, just like the main barn did. Their bedroom suite also had its own fireplace. It hadn’t been used in years, but she’d had it cleaned and checked during the renovations so they should be warm enough if the electricity did go out for any length of time.

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