His hand slapped down on the desk hard enough to make it jump and she stopped short. “Charlotte, there is a difference between what works on paper and what works in real life.”
She knew she should just stop while she was ahead, but she felt like he was treating her like some child who didn’t think things through. She had put a lot of time and energy into working this out, yeah sure it was only on paper, but he could at least hear her out.
She’d even offer to pay for some of the renovations with her unexpected inheritance if she thought he’d allow it, but she knew he’d shut that down if she tried. “I only wanted to see if it was possible, Sam. It’s not like I signed a fucking contract!”
“Don’t take that tone with me Charlie girl, unless you want to go over my knee!” Sam snapped back.
Her mouth dropped open, but she couldn’t ignore the surge of arousal that rocketed through her, soaking her panties and making her nipples harden into points. “I…you…you can’t do that!” she blurted, taking several steps back as she said it, just in case he was planning to do exactly what he’d threatened.
He got to his feet and moved around the desk like he was stalking her. Somehow, he got between her and the door, and then he was backing her against the wall and bracing his hands on either side of her to trap her right where she was. “You want to bet on that, kid? I’ll do it right here. Pants down and everything, imagine someone walking in and seeing you like that,” he said in a low threatening growl.
Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. A small pulsing had begun, centered low in her body and for a second, she was tempted to say, ‘yes please!’ but she couldn’t do that. “I didn’t give you permission to discipline me, Sam.” She hadn’t meant it to sound so cold, but the ice she was using to keep her emotions in check crept into her voice.
He stared at her and then slowly dropped his arms and took a step back. A shuttered look came over his face and all the passion vanished leaving a neutral expression she couldn’t decipher. He gestured towards the door. “Go on then. You know I’m not going to force anything on you. You want to be a brat and then say no, that’s on you. I’ve got work to do.”
She wasn’t sure what she’d been hoping for, maybe for him to spank her anyway, but whatever she wanted, that wasn’t it. He dropped into his chair and started flipping through the papers without looking up again. After a minute of standing there and feeling awkward, she slipped out the door and went home.
Chapter 5
Anxious. That one word described the rest of her day. She couldn’t settle down and relax. Every time she picked up a task, she’d get distracted and forget about it. Something felt off and nothing seemed to help. Over the course of the afternoon she tried every relaxation technique her therapist had ever taught her, and a few she made up on her own, but nothing worked so she turned her attention to the house chores she’d been ignoring.
She found her father’s last letter while doing the laundry. It had been completely forgotten until she checked the pockets of her jeans just before dropping them in the wash. She caught her breath when she thought about how close the letter came to being destroyed.
What if she hadn’t checked? His last words would have been gone forever, just like that. She was tempted to open it on the spot and read it fast just in case some other catastrophe came and snatched it from her hand, but in the end she just couldn’t.
She returned it upstairs and shoved it into one of her dresser drawers for safekeeping, and then promptly forgot about it as she went about straightening her room in a frenzy of manic energy. When she was finished with that, she looked for another task to keep her mind off of things.
She hit the grocery store in town just as a reason to keep busy, but it was something that needed to be done anyway. While she was there, she found other distractions, but eventually she ran out of things to do and headed home. When she pulled up in front of the house the sun was just beginning a slow descent beyond the distant mountains.
Carrying all the bags and boxes inside, and then starting a dinner that was a little more elaborate than what she would normally have cooked for herself killed some more time. As she took everything off the stove and turned the oven down to warm, she realized that she’d run out of things to keep her mind off the fight they’d had. Or maybe it wasn’t the fight but what he’d done towards the end.
The way her body reacted, was still reacting, to his threat was undeniable. All day long, no matter where she was or what she was doing she’d felt… naughty. Like she was in trouble waiting for Daddy to get home and punish her. But it wasn’t her father, Jimmy, who she pictured when that came to mind; it was Sam and his giant hands, calloused and rough from working.
She leaned against the counter and let her eyes close for just a second. One hand smoothed down over her t-shirt feeling the tingle that followed the touch and imagining Sam was the one doing it. Her nipples had been pressing hard against the inside of her bra all day and they ached now to be released from the bondage.
Her panties were damp and had been most of the day. Every time the scene in the barn had gone through her mind, they’d gotten a fresh soaking that left her squirming with embarrassment and feeling exposed in public as if people might somehow guess she was turned on.
And now dinner was done but she wasn’t hungry, at least not for food. What she wanted to do was go to her room and dig out a vibrator to relieve some of the sexual frustration that had been dogging her all day, but then she got a better idea. She’d made more than enough food for two, and using it as a bribe to get in the door, maybe she could smooth things over with Sam and work into some make-up sex.
She took a quick shower and changed her clothes. There was a pair of sexy red panties she’d just bought that afternoon that she hoped would make an impression. Since there was no way she was going to be able to get a comb through her thick curls while her hair was wet, she flipped it into a ponytail and headed to the kitchen to package up dinner. She pulled an old wicker picnic basket out of the pantry and it worked perfectly to carry the meal.
She was almost to his house when she noticed the warm glow of light coming through the open barn doors, and she changed course figuring it had to be him. Everyone else would be gone for the night and the gate would be locked by then. With the heavy basket bumping against her leg, she walked the length of the center aisle, pausing to pat the nose of a favorite horse now and then.
As she got closer to the open office door, the nervousness started to rise and she paused outside, wondering if it wasn’t too late to turn around. She bit down on her bottom lip, thinking hard about whether she really wanted to do this. She turned to go, and the corner of the basket bumped into a rake, sending it sliding sideways with a clatter.
“Hey! Who’s out there?”
She winced and sighed. “It’s um, just me, Sam,” she said as she poked her head around the door.
Both eyebrows went up in surprise. “What are you doing out here?”
“Uh, well…” She lifted the basket so he could see. “I brought dinner. I thought maybe you might appreciate a home-cooked meal and, well, I felt like I should apologize for this morning.” The guilty look on her face and the way her eyes slid away from his wasn’t feigned; she had an agenda, but she’d been steeping in guilt juices all day and that naughty little girl feeling was lurking.
“Dinner huh? What did you make?” He sounded cautious but interested.
“Lasagna, garlic bread, and little roasted potatoes. My menu variety isn’t huge but my skills as a cook aren’t bad, I promise.”
“Sounds good. I haven’t eaten since noon and I’m starving.”
