Page 43 of Forever His Brat

Sam cleared his throat and Katie did finally turn to look at him. Her look of polite interest changed to one of shocked dismay. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” He shook his head and pointed to the couch. “Take a seat, Katie.”

Katie frowned, narrowing her eyes as she side-stepped to put some space between them. Her posture bordered on defiant, and Charlie could practically see the words forming. Some variation of ‘You’re not the boss of me!’ Charlie would have guessed.

Charlie wasn’t entirely sure how that would have gone. These were uncharted waters, but she didn’t want to find out. She reached up and grabbed Katie’s hand, pulling her down onto the couch. “Don’t make it worse,” she whispered.

Katie grumbled and folded her arms across her chest, flopping back against the couch with a loud hmphing sound. “I’mallowedto be here.”

Charlie’s mouth dropped open for a second before she snapped it shut and kept it that way. There was no way she was going to comment. She couldn’t believe Katie would dare; it could so easily be checked.

“That so? Nick will be glad to hear that—oh, there he is.” Sam lifted a hand, waving it lazily as he pitched his voice to be heard above the noise. “Over here, Nick. I found them.”

Katie’s defiance dissolved like cotton candy in the rain. She spun in her seat and her eyes locked on her husband making his way across the room. She winced. “Uh-oh.”

Charlie couldn’t have said it better herself. She looked from Sam to Nick and back again. Suddenly she realized that they had willingly come to the one place where their Doms could go ahead and punish them in public.

Considering the circumstances, that was horrifying.

It was also… kind of exciting.

CHAPTER10

Charlie wasn’t fantastic at hiding things and Sam had picked up pretty quickly that something was going on. His girl was way too nervous whenever they talked about the trip into the city. He just couldn’t figure out if she was keeping something from him, or just worried about how it would go spending a couple days in the city with her new friend.

Katie, as it turned out, was even worse at hiding things. Nick knew almost the minute Katie asked permission and had just waited and watched. On day three he pulled Sam aside in the barn while they were fending off the voracious orphan calves so they could refill the feeder.

“So, how do you feel about this trip the girls are taking?”

Sam paused and straightened. “I thought it sounded like a good chance for them to bond and Charlie really needs to spend some time off the ranch. Why?”

Nick shrugged and then chuckled. “Just wondering what they’re up to. I know something’s going on with Katie. I can always tell when she’s keeping something from me.”

While he did his best to keep the hungry babies out of his way so he could work, Sam thought about it. He’d wondered if he was just imagining it but if Katie was also acting suspicious that wasn’t likely. “So, you think they’re planning something they shouldn’t be?”

“Yep.”

“Any idea what?”

“Not yet.”

Sam sighed and scratched a little one behind the ear before he moved out of the way and let them crowd around the teats for breakfast. It was normally a fun job, one he enjoyed doing, but now he barely noticed the cuteness.

He let himself out of the stall they’d been using as a temporary nursery. With the gate latched behind him, he leaned against the slatted wall. “Okay, so, I don’t usually police Charlie’s social life. I mean, since we got back together, she hasn’t had much of one, but in general I figure she’s a big girl. But—”

Nick tilted his head. “But?”

“Well, you said Katie’s a bit wild. Do you think she might have talked Charlie into something I should worry about?”

Nick rubbed his chin with one hand as he thought about it. “I’d say Katie’s main goal is usually to get in trouble. If she can think of some place for them to go that would annoy me, then that’s where they’re going.”

“You don’t think it would be anything dangerous though?” He frowned at the idea of Charlie getting hurt.

Nick hesitated, blowing out a loud breath. “Physically? Probably not. She’s learned that annoying me is only fun up to a certain point. After that I get mad and then she doesn’t get the attention she wants.”

Sam blanked on anything they could have planned that would fit that description. “I can’t imagine what they’re up to then. Think I should I tell Charlie I’d rather she didn’t go?” He was reluctant to do that.

They didn’t even have any rules in place that would cover telling her she couldn’t go. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d added a rule because of a situation that popped up, but he hated to do it without good reason.

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