by Allysa Hart
“Hey, sweetie. We will be out in a minute.” Keith’s words echoed down the hall as he chased his errant wife.
“Sure you will.” She would be surprised if she saw them again before bedtime.
Her phone vibrated as she swaddled the baby, hopefully, for a good night of sleep. Picking it up, she giggled at the message on her screen.
Knock. Knock.
With a smile from ear to ear, she shot a message back. Who’s there?
Wooden shoe
Wooden shoe, who? Her interest piqued. As the queen of knock-knock jokes, it was rare for her to hear one she hadn’t told a million times.
Wooden shoe like to go out again?
She laughed out loud at his corny joke, mentally adding a point on her ever-growing list of why she should date him. LOL. How did you know I love knock-knock jokes? And, yes, I would. Today was great. Thanks for being so flexible with my last-minute nonsense.
It wasn’t nonsense. It just worked out, and I’m glad it did.
Her face heated. I’m glad it did, too.
Have a great night, beautiful. I will be in touch.
Plopping down on her bed, she stared at the last text like a lovestruck teenager. He made a habit of calling her beautiful, and she’d begun to really like it.
He sent the last text without thinking and cringed as he thought about how it would be perceived. He was taking liberties using a term of endearment. He did not want to scare her away or push her into anything she wasn’t ready for. Their short time together had proven to him that once she was his, he would not be able to let her go.
Even though he’d not had the chance to stop his ex from leaving, his entire life had changed that day. He packed up his truck, went to a hotel, and never looked back. His family had taken care of selling everything, including the house, and he got himself transferred to a new city and immersed in work. It took a long time for the hole to close, and he had not fully healed until he’d stopped running. Moving back to town had provided the final closure he needed. He wanted to help Katelyn get to that point, but he wasn’t certain how. Death and divorce were not the same thing. His gut feeling was to swoop in and take over, showing her what she was missing. He wanted to love and spoil her, to take care of her every want and need. He had to quell those instincts and take it slow. Rushing this could ruin everything and send her running in the opposite direction. He wanted to pull her closer, not risk pushing her away.
Pacing his apartment, he replayed the date in his head. No, not a date. He had promised her they were just friends. But he could not stop his mind and body from desiring her. He thought about the way her curly red hair cascaded over her shoulders, waiting to be pushed behind her ears to reveal a milky-white neck begging to be kissed. Friends, dammit, just friends. For now, at least. She liked him, that much he knew. When she relaxed, they had a great time together. Her laugh was infectious, almost childlike. He could get addicted to the sound. He could get addicted to anything and everything Katelyn Summers.
Flopping into his La-Z-Boy, he turned on the television to drown out his thoughts. The attempt failed as everything seemed to remind him of the stunning redhead. Her adorable smile and cute freckled face turned something inside him. The urges she evoked in him were almost alarming. He needed to protect her, make the sadness disappear from her eyes, show her she could be happy again and that there was life after heartbreak. Something he knew all too well. He’d missed out on so much when he shut himself down: relationships, experiences, family time, everything. He avoided it all because it killed him to see everyone so damn happy when his soul was crushed. Meeting Katelyn and finally moving home had been the turning point he needed.
He wanted to be that for her, but he didn’t know how. Everything inside him wanted to storm her heart like a SWAT team making a drug bust, but what if he was wrong? Overwhelmed with thoughts of her, he realized he hadn’t had these feelings for his ex-wife. He’d loved her, but he had not harbored the possessiveness and protectiveness he could feel brewing for Katelyn. What about the sassy little brat had him reeling?
Katie skipped to the door when Jeff announced himself. Over the past couple of weeks, he had become a frequent visitor in their home, and ringing the doorbell was a thing of the past. Lunch dates and movie nights had become her new normal, and she enjoyed every minute of it. She loved to sass and tease him and watch his eyebrow quirk or lip twitch. So far, he’d made one reference to his method of dealing with naughty girls, but he hadn’t taken it any further. Each time they got together, it was harder for her to suppress her Little side, especially when he was such a nurturing Dom. No matter how hard she tried, she did not trust him to understand that side of her yet. It was a huge point of contention between her, Keith, and Rose. They constantly reminded her she needed to be open and honest with him. He deserved that from her. She knew but wasn’t ready. Or maybe she was afraid he would accept her for all she was, leaving her no more walls to hide behind.
Either way, she was practically crawling out of her skin with nerves about her upcoming girls’ weekend. Rose had to attend a conference in another state, and they had decided to make a road trip out of it. Hiding her Little was a lot of work, and keeping it guarded from Jeff meant she had kept it to herself with Rose and Keith. She could not even remember the last time she had called them Auntie and Uncle. Now, she was going to have a whole weekend with Rose. A weekend where she was free to be fully immersed in her Little. Jeff was staying to help Keith with Noah because the wooden floors in his house were being refinished. Both girls knew it was an excuse for them to have a man’s weekend, but it didn’t matter. Her baby boy would be taken care of, and the Little girl inside of her would get some much-needed nurturing.
Taking a running leap, she launched herself into Jeff’s arms.
“Whoa, babe, be careful. You don’t want to start your trip with a visit to the ER.”
“I’m fine, Mr. Worrywart. I knew you would catch me.”
Jeff kissed her on the nose before letting her slide down the front of his body. “Someone is excited to get away, huh?”
Katie looked around the room innocently. “Who might that be?”
“Very funny, sassypants. I have to stay here and babysit Keith while you get to go have fun.”
“Babysit me? I think you have that wrong, buddy.” Keith’s voice came from somewhere behind her.
“I don’t care which one of you is taking care of the other, just take care of my baby boy.” She stepped back and pointed at both men, raising her eyebrows in mimic of their oft worn expression. “Hear me?”
Neither of them responded because they were busy laughing.
“I’m serious!” She stomped her foot and balled her fists, only encouraging their hilarity. She was already slipping deep into her Little space.
Rose came down the hall, rolling a suitcase behind her. “What’s all the racket? The baby is asleep!”
The men sobered.
“They are laughing at me because I told them to take care of Noah.”
“No, we are laughing because you are too damn cute for words.” Jeff smirked. “The bossy thing just doesn’t suit you, babe. Sorry.”
“You’d better keep reminding her of that, Jeff. She forgets, often.” Rose smacked her butt as she walked by, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Jeff was a Dom, and he knew Rose and Keith lived the lifestyle, but they had never discussed her dynamic with them, choosing to keep to herself for a while longer. Slightly selfish, but there were still a lot of people within the dynamic who didn’t understand the Little side, or the fact that her family members were also her disciplinarians, and she worried what his opinion would be. In the past few weeks, she had come to realize one thing. While she wasn’t ready to move on quite yet, she wanted a life with the man standing in front of her. A future she had not been able to picture for a long time had been visiting her dreams, but would the truth chase him away? Would she ultimately have to choose between him and them?
Keith too
k the rolling case from Rose. “Is this the last bag?”
“Did you get the brat’s?” Rose teased with a wink toward Katie.
Anger rising at the way she was being treated in front of Jeff, Katie scowled.
“Already loaded,” Keith announced, heading toward the garage.
“Do I get another hug before you leave me with him for three days?” Jeff asked, thumbing in Keith’s direction. Taking a deep breath, she let him wrap her in his tight embrace. She nuzzled his neck and breathed in his cologne. He always smelled so crisp and clean, a mix of spicy soap and fresh linen.
Keith came back in and lifted Rose off the floor with his hands gripping her butt. “I’m going to miss you. You behave,” he growled at her.
Rose rolled her eyes. “It’s not my behavior we have to worry about.” Simultaneously, they turned toward Katie. “She’s the one who needs all the warnings.”
“Ugh, let’s just go.” Glaring, Katie stomped away.
“Good luck with that.” Keith chuckled before the door to the garage slammed behind her.
Buckling her seat belt, she took some deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm her fury, which had escalated from simmering to boiling over. Keith and Rose knew her worries about letting Jeff in on this side of her life, and they had all but screamed it at him with their actions. The anger exploded out of her as soon as Rose sat down in the driver’s seat. “You were doing that on purpose!”
“Doing what?”
“Being all intimidating and dominant and swatting my bottom in front of Jeff. You were doing it to get his attention. You know how I feel about telling him about my Little side and our relationship. You know I’m not ready. Both of you know! How dare you?” Her voice rose with each word until she was practically yelling.
“First off, you need to lower your voice and take a deep breath or you will be starting this trip with a smarting bottom. I was being myself, little girl. I did not act any differently than I usually do, and you know it. I think the problem is you are afraid he will start asking questions, and you will finally have to be honest with yourself and him.”
Katie tightened her arms around herself and let out a huff. “You have no right to stick your nose in my business. You are being manipulative, and I don’t like it.”
“And you are being snotty, and I don’t like it. I guess we are even. As far as having no right? I beg to differ. You are and always will be my Little girl, and I have every right to stick my nose where I need to make sure you and my nephew are taken care of. You gave me that gift when we all signed the adoption papers last year. I love you, and so does your uncle, and we are not going anywhere. Now, can we enjoy our road trip and cut the ’tude?”
Katie stared out the window, keeping her scowl firmly in place. She was being overly sensitive, but she couldn’t help it. And now her trip was ruined. Falling into her Little space was getting harder by the minute. The car jerked to the side of the road and jarred to a stop, and she gripped the door handle and center console in surprise, turning to Rose with a questioning glare.
“I do not deserve this behavior from you, and, frankly, I do not want to deal with it, so go sit in the back seat. When you are ready to be my pleasant girl again, you can rejoin me in the front.”
“I am not moving to the back seat. Just drive.”
Rose’s face colored with frustration. Before Katie knew what was happening, Rose threw off her seat belt, flung her door open, and walked around the car. She flung open the passenger side door, leaned over and freed Katie’s seat belt of its buckle, got a tight grip on her ear, and took away her choice to obey.
A sharp pain coursed through the side of her head, and Katie saw the error of her ways. “Owie, Auntie, Owww. Let go. Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” she yelled, grabbing Rose’s wrist to lessen the pressure on her poor abused ear. It didn’t help. Rose was on a mission to restore the natural order of their relationship, whether Katie was willing yet or not.
“I’m sad our trip is starting out this way, but this is your own fault. You will sit in the back and think about how you would like the rest of our time together to be spent. You have already earned yourself a spanking to remind you of who is in charge around here. When I decide you are ready, you will be allowed to move back to the front seat. Until then, you will stay silent and consider your atrocious behavior.” She opened the back door before landing a few sharp stinging swats to Katie’s bottom. “Get in.”
Rubbing her poor ear, Katie obeyed, and Rose buckled her in. Neither spoke another word as the car pulled back onto the road and the trip resumed.
After fifteen minutes, Katie wanted to cry. Silence was difficult for her when she knew her Tops were upset. Rose expected her to be Little and free all weekend, and she wanted to, but she felt herself wavering back and forth between Big and Little. Her feelings for Jeff were Big, and being able to deal with them in her Little space was impossible. Deep down, she knew she needed to relax and trust her Auntie and Uncle who loved her and would never do anything to jeopardize her relationship with Jeff.
Being alone with her thoughts always did terrible things to her emotions. Tears tracked down her cheeks as she considered how awful she had been. Everything Rose said was true. She and Keith never turned off their dominance in front of Jeff, and it had never bothered her this bad before. She was falling in love with him and with each passing minute she felt more and more vulnerable. She was scared, but it wasn’t Rose’s fault, and her friend and Auntie did not deserve to be subjected to a bad attitude because Katie couldn’t get a grip on her feelings and make the big moves to advance her relationship with Jeff. “I’m sorry, Auntie,” she said in a small voice.
Rose’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror, and she cocked an eyebrow. “Sorry for what, exactly?”
“I am sorry for my attitude. You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
Rose kept her gaze on the road and did not respond. Katie sighed, knowing the apology was not as expressive as it needed to be. “I was nervous about how Jeff would perceive your words and actions toward me, but that is not your fault, it’s mine. I’m insecure about my needs, and I haven’t been open with him about all of this because I am just too scared to lose any of you.”
Finally, Rose’s eyes met hers in the mirror again, and her gaze softened with a reassuring smile. “Was it so hard to express your feelings in a respectful way instead of acting like a brat?”
“No, Auntie.” Properly chastised, she had a hard time keeping eye contact.
Rose nodded. “Good girl. I forgive you. There’s a rest stop in five miles. I need to get some gas, and you can come back up front, all right?”
Just as promised, they soon pulled off the busy highway. Rose shut the motor off and got out, but Katie stayed put, still feeling pretty embarrassed about her earlier behavior. She watched Rose round the car to her door. It was opened a lot more gently than the previous time, and before she knew it, she was unbuckled and locked in a tight hug.
“No more attitude?” Rose asked, as Katie burrowed into her.
“No more, Auntie, I promise.”
Rose pulled away and put her finger under her chin, grasping her undivided attention. “You know what happens to little girls who break promises, right?”
“Yes, Auntie.” Katie gulped.
With a kiss to her forehead, Rose took her hand and headed toward the entrance. “There’s my girl I love so much. Let’s go get some snacks and something to drink.”
They got back on the road, equipped with junk food and caffeine, and filled the time with chatting and laughter, stopping their chatter every once in a while to turn up the volume and sing to their favorite songs. It was much more fun than the tense silence in the beginning, but when the conversation lulled, the motion of the car began to rock Katie to sleep.
“Put the seat back and relax, little one,” Rose suggested.
“I want to stay awake with you,” Katie argued, sitting up and shaking the sleep away.
“
We will have plenty of time for that. Take a short nap now, and when we get to the hotel, I will wake you up, and you will have more energy to play. We are pretty close, now. Don’t argue.”
Katie put her seat back and, before she could think of a sassy retort, fell fast asleep.
The car stopped, surprising Katie out of a deep sleep. She hadn’t realized how tired she’d been, but uninterrupted sleep was hard to come by for the mom of a breastfeeding infant. Springing forward in the seat, she rubbed her eyes. The hotel was pure luxury. The front was interspersed with perfectly sculptured gardens and beautiful stone statues bordering cobblestone walkways leading in different directions. Her stomach growled, and her thoughts turned to food, hoping the menu and amenities were going to be as enticing as the picture before her.
Rose squeezed her knee to get her attention.
“Hey, sleepyhead, we’re here. Did you get a good nap?”
Katie’s yawn contradicted her nod, and Rose laughed.
“This place is beautiful!”
“Yep, welcome to the Meadowland Hotel Resort and Convention Center. It’s a great place; the company always holds conferences here. Pretty ritzy, huh?” she asked before getting out of the car.
Katie followed suit, focused on the fanciest hotel she had ever seen. “You’re telling me. Geez. How are we supposed to jump on beds in a place like this?”
Rose laughed again. “There will be no bed jumping here, little girl. There are a lot of things we can enjoy and still be respectful.”
“Bed jumping is totally respectful,” Katie sassed.
“Mmhmm, you are going to behave yourself, or we won’t go to the fair.”
“I forgot about the fair! I can’t wait!” She twirled, remembering all the fun she had been promised.
“How could you forget? Let’s get unpacked and rest. That was a long drive, and I have an early meeting tomorrow, so the fair will have to wait for another day.”
She didn’t want to wait, but before she could launch her pleas, Rose shut her down. “We can still have some fun. How about we order room service for dinner and watch some movies.”
