Karen’s mischievous smile was too much for Wes. He looked down, without returning the grin and quickly made his way to do his chores. “Morning, ma’am,” he mumbled as he drifted past her. The scent of her vanilla perfume was almost his undoing. Instead of grabbing her up and taking her to bed, he somehow managed to dig the pitchfork into the hay. Avoiding her was going to be impossible. He would just have to go about his daily routine, make small talk, and stop looking at her. Especially at the back of her in those jeans.
Karen giggled. “Ma’am? I’m used to the term, being from the South and all, but I feel so old when you call me that. Just call me Carrie.”
Carrie. The name was so much more fitting for this little girl than her formal name of Karen. With his back to her, Wes smiled, despite the fact he was trying hard to guard his heart. What he wanted to call her was “young lady,” but that would be wildly inappropriate. Carrie would have to do.
“Carrie, huh? But Gare calls you, Karen.” He snuck a glance at her out of the corner of his eyes. Her face flushed at the question, as she stroked and coddled Mabel. To his surprise, the horse was tolerating the stranger's affections.
“He, um, he’s more formal in the city. You know? With me being so short, Garrett didn’t think people would take me seriously, calling me Carrie. This place just feels so much like home and everyone there has always called me Carrie.” Her smile returned as the horse nuzzled her neck. “Sometimes I even fail to answer Garrett when he calls my name.”
Wes continued to feed and water the horses. He was already feeling possessive of this woman, and having his own nickname for her was not going to help matters. Much to his dismay and excitement, Carrie jumped right in and helped. She told him about how she had been around horses all her life. They brought a calming presence as well as a thrill of excitement. They made life feel complete. After being in the city for so long, she couldn’t stay away from the barn. Just the earthy wholesome scent alone drew her in.
Working alongside Wes, he mucked out the stalls, using a pitchfork to move the straw to the manure pile, while Carrie pitched the fresh straw into the stalls and made clean beds for the animals. Carrie chatted non-stop as she worked. Telling Wes that she knew she must sound like an idiot, but just couldn’t stop herself from babbling on; about the south, the people there, how much she missed the country life and her family’s farm. Wes nodded and smiled at the right spots, throwing in a mm-hmm, here and there.
Stopping in mid-sentence, Carrie brushed a strand of hair out of her face with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry I’m rambling. I’m just, I’m just, I’m so…” She suddenly burst into tears, “homesick.” Sobs continued to rack her small body.
Wes stopped in his tracks. What was the protocol here? He knew he should not step in, but the tears flowing from this little girl had his heartstrings in a knot.
“Do you want me to go get Garrett?” he offered. He knew his brother wouldn’t be up for hours. He loved to rest at the ranch when he was away from the fast pace of Wall Street.
“No,” she said through her lessening sobs. “Garrett doesn’t know. He just loves the city so much and I never told him I don’t. I’ll be fine, just… just give me a minute.” Carrie took several deep breaths, drying her eyes with the tail of her shirt.
Wes put his hands in his pockets to stop himself from wrapping his arms around her. Getting to know her, knowing he felt something for her was wrong. He tried to hold his tongue, but the question slipped out in a whisper. “Why do you stay?”
She wiped away the last tears with the backs of her hands, then dried them on her jeans. “For Garrett, of course,” she answered quickly. “And my kids. It’s my first year teaching, and the school is underfunded. My students come from pretty tough backgrounds. I just love them and try to pour myself into them every day.” Carrie’s heart, soul, and every extra dime of her paycheck went straight to the children in her classroom. From her pocket, she had funded a cupboard of snacks for the kids who ‘forgot’ theirs, extra art supplies, even carpets and beanbag chairs to make her reading corners cozy. She often worked long after the children left, creating individualized lesson plans for those who were behind. The janitor, Mr. Phil, walked Carrie to the city bus stop in the dark, many nights.
Wes’ already aching heart grew three more sizes for this stranger. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to declare his love for his brother's girlfriend less than twenty-four hours after being introduced. Wes needed a distraction.
“Do you ride?”
“Of course,” she visibly cheered up. “I grew up on a farm. Unless you think riding on a farm is much different than riding on a ranch,” she teased. Carrie walked down the length of the barn, petting, and cooing at each horse in turn. Wes followed along behind her. The horses of The Lonestar Cattle Company seemed as smitten with this little vixen as the men did.
When she had visited each horse, in turn, Carrie came back to Mabel’s stall; her face shone with delight. Mabel was a vision to anyone, but especially in the eye of the horse loving beholder. “I’ll take this one.” She petted the horse longingly.
Wes stepped protectively between Carrie and Mabel, not sure which one he was trying to protect from the other. “No.”
“Why not? I’m a great rider.” Her face remained a mask of calm, but a hint of temper flared in her eyes. Feisty. Wes liked her even more.
“She’s not yet tame.”
With an air of haughtiness, Carrie said, “I know what I’m doing.” She pushed past Wes and placed a hand on the latch of the stall. Wes grabbed the arm attached to the offending hand. He quickly turned Carrie, so she was fully facing him. He stood well over a foot taller than her, and she shrunk back in his commanding presence.
He leaned down his voice grave. “I said, no, young lady.”
A blush ran up through her cheeks and brought a shine to her eyes. Wes could feel the tension between them, and it was delicious.
Carrie straightened herself to her full height. “I’ll ride her before I leave. Make no mistake.” An angry, yet playful glint shone in her eyes as she was trying to tug her arm away.
“You make no mistake—you ride that horse, and I will spank your bottom until you aren’t sitting comfortably for a week. Garrett’s girl, or not.” He held her arm firmly, rendering her tugging useless. “My ranch, my rules, little girl.”
She stood, shocked, her eyes wide. In a breathless whisper, she said, “Like a Daddy.” Carrie had dated few men. She held onto them for a few months, but none could fulfill her. Each man lacked what Carrie desired most. It was something she could never quite put into words. Finally, meeting Garrett, she had put those thoughts away. Time to settle down and no longer be looking for something that didn’t exist.
Pinned by the strength of Wes’ hand, the threat of his discipline ringing in her ears, a piece of Carrie’s life suddenly fell into place. The fog cleared and light shed on her lifelong desires. What she had always been looking for stood in front of her in the form of her boyfriend’s brother.
Wes’ blood had never run hotter than it did at that moment. The way she said the word, “daddy,” had every ounce of his bottled up masculine energy roaring for her. It was wrong. He instantly released her arm, spun on his heel and headed out of the barn without a word. He didn’t’ have the heart to look at her face.
His red truck sat, dusty and familiar. He jumped in the cab and cranked the engine- thankful he always left the key in it. In less than a minute he was headed down the dirt road.
Wes drove until he knew for certain he was out of sight of the ranch. “Damn. Damn it, Damn it all to Hell.” Wes slammed his fists on his steering wheel then ran his fingers through his long hair. He knew it had been wrong to run out of the barn, but what was he supposed to do with that? Yes, he had threatened to spank her, and he meant every word of it, but her response revealed a feeling so carnal in him, he knew he would never be the same man he was moments before.
He ran his hands through his hair again
, grateful for the straight road and clear sightlines because he could barely concentrate on driving. Maybe Garrett was right; he did need a haircut. Anything to take his mind off of Carrie. The words “like a daddy,” ran through his mind as he drove the many miles it took to get to the sleepy town of Poke.
Chapter 2
A silver bell dangling in the corner of the door tinkled, announcing Wes’ presence in the only place in Poke you could get a haircut. Jessica’s, adeptly named for the only woman in town who could give a hair-cut, Jessica.
Jessica’s salon looked like a set in the movies. Two black leather chairs sat facing huge mirrors framed in zebra print wood. The floors were black and white tile. The latest pop culture magazines sat neatly stacked on counters. Jessica had to drive two hours every Sunday to Clinton to pick up the magazines, along with her weekly supply of freshly ground coffee from her favorite roasters. She made sure to get enough to satisfy her clients with several cups each visit. Her pot was always hot and fresh in the back, and she had a ragtag collection of mugs with funny sayings on them.
Today, the place was empty, save for the locally famous hairdresser. Looking up from her magazine, Jessica quickly jumped out of her seat at the sight of Wes.
“Hey there, cowboy,” she purred, flipping her white blonde hair over her shoulders. Her grin was wide as she took in Wes’ muscular frame from head to toe.
With the classic beauty of the girl next door, Jessica was as smart as they came with a quick wit. Desired by the entire football team, she and Wes had dated in high school, but it turned out they worked better as friends. She still seemed to like looking at him, though.
“Hey, yourself, Jess.” Wes took a seat in the black leather chair. He looked at his reflection. Dark circles rang under his eyes. His hair was long and disheveled.
Jess expertly whipped a black barber’s cape around his shoulders with a flick of her wrist and fastened it around his neck. “What can I do for you today, Wes?” Her voice was seductive, though there had been nothing between them for years, she just couldn’t help herself.
“Take it all off.”
The gathering of tools stopped, and Jess looked at him worriedly. “Like a buzz cut?” She fingered the sandy curls with a sad look on her face.
“I don’t care, just get rid of it.”
Putting a hand on his shoulder, Jessica dropped the sex kitten act and let her real self shine through. “What’s going on?” she demanded.
Wes sighed and leaned back in the chair. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Over his shoulder, Jessica looked at Wes lovingly in the mirror, then shook her head. “That’s fine. But I am not shaving your head. People would pay out the nose to have hair like this.
“Don’t care.”
She played with the locks. “I’ll cut the back and shorten the top a good bit, but I’m leaving some length. I wouldn’t want to upset the women of Poke.” She winked and walked off to get Wes coffee.
Wes chuckled to himself. He was supposedly the tiny town’s most eligible bachelor. Rumors had started to swirl when Wes returned to the ranch years ago after his father’s tragic passing. People thought he had come home to find himself a bride. Casserole dishes kept coming long after the funeral. Mama had to fill her deep freezer to keep from wasting. She declared that Wes’ homecoming had put a good ten pounds on her.
He had dabbled with dating, but the years passed, and no one stuck, though many women had tried. They finally gave up, one by one. The casseroles stopped, the phone quit ringing, and Wes soon earned the reputation of thinking he was too good for anyone. Jess remained his only true female friend.
Jess handed him a steaming cup of coffee that’s strength rivaled his own from that morning. After organizing her tools just so, she got down to work. As she snipped away, Jessica hummed to herself. Wes calmed around her familiar presence. He averted his eyes from the mirror, not wanting to see his reflection and the disgust he felt for himself. Who loses their cool, and their heart only moments after meeting someone? And his own brother’s girl at that. Wes had always thought loyalty was his strongest character trait.
“Gare-bear in town?” Jessica asked, nonchalantly, ruining his mood. Jess and Garrett were the same age and had been in many of the same classes. Though ‘Wes n’ Jess,’ as people had called them in high school, made better friends than lovers, it hadn’t helped their relationship that Jessica threw herself at Garrett, every chance she got.
“Now how’d you hear that? It’s been less than a day since they arrived and we live an hour from any other breathing life form capable of speech.”
“Your mama talks. She has one of those new-fangled contraptions. What do you call them again? Oh yeah, a telephone? Jess rolled her eyes at Wes in the mirror. She was silent for a moment, resuming the flickering of the scissors. “Heard he brought a friend. A cute little filly at that.” Wes knew Jess was taking a jab at Carrie’s age, being a few years younger than Gare.
Wes looked up into the mirror and considered leaving halfway through the cut.
Jessica anticipated the move and held a hand on his shoulder, planting him in the chair.
“Now tell me what the deal is, Wes.” She looked at him with what he assumed was the expression someone would receive from a nosy sister.
Debating leaving, Wes examined his appearance, but his hair was only half cut and looking wild. He didn’t want to give the townies anything further to gossip about; such as he was not only a snobby bachelor but now he had gone crazy as well. He decided to remain put.
“So, I had, a little run in with her, the cute little filly.”
“Karen?”
“Carrie, she told me to call her Carrie.”
Jessica’s eyebrow shot up. “But Gare calls her Karen?”
“Yes.”
Jess let out a low whistle and resumed combing. “Okay. Tell me more.” She nimbly snipped at his locks. Wes watched the curls float to the ground, hoping to feel lighter when he left.
“She said she was going to ride Mabel.”
“I hope you set her straight. That horse is just as out of control as she was the day you brought her home.”
“I did.” Jess knew him well. Too well. He might as well fess up. “I told her I would spank her if she did.”
The haircut stopped. “Ah,” Jess said. “I see.” Jess was the only person in the world with which Wes had shared his desires. It wasn’t for her because she preferred to be dominant. So, their relationship had ended, but they had remained friends.
Until this day he had never met another woman he felt comfortable enough to open up to like that—not that he had thought it through that morning. Wes had decided never to share that side with anyone again. It had just come out so naturally around Carrie. She had directly defied him, tried to put herself in harm's way, and so he had threatened to spank her.
“What did she say?” Jess locked eyes with Wes.
He looked down at his cowboy boots, the silver tips glinting under the florescent lights. Who was he kidding? Jessica was his best friend, next to Garrett that is, and if he didn’t tell someone, he would go crazy. And in this situation, Garrett was clearly not the one with which to share his feelings.
“She said,” Wes cleared his throat, “she said, ‘Like a Daddy.’” He raised his hand to his face and buried it there.
Jess let out another long, low whistle. “Oh man, you are up shit creek, Wes. You really are.” Somehow her comment made Wes burst out laughing, sounding like a mad man.
“I am, Jess. I really am.”
They both laughed until they recovered. Wes felt better and worse.
“Looks like you finally found your little girl. Only one small problem.”
“She’s Garrett’s.”
“Mmm. Hmm.”
“Why would she say something like that, Jess? What girl says that to her boyfriend’s brother?”
“What man threatens to spank a woman within a day of meeting them? Especially, their brother’s
girlfriend.” She let out a laugh, and Wes joined her with a chuckle. “But if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Karen just might be looking for a daddy dom.”
“A daddy dom?” He wasn’t sure what the term meant, but just hearing it made his pants feel tighter. “What is that?”
“You.” She pointed the tip of the scissors at him in the mirror. “We dated long enough for me to know what you wanted, and it wasn’t me.” Jess was active in the BDSM world, and she often teased Wes he should join her and find himself a submissive woman. The part-time play never appealed to him as it did to Jess, though. He was looking for the real thing, day in, day out.
“Explain.”
“A daddy dom is a man who is looking for an everyday life with an innocent, sweet, woman who is his to protect, pamper, and adore. He requires strict obedience and punishes when he deems necessary. Now does that sound like you, or what?” She placed a hand on her hip in demand of a reply.
Damn, she knew him even better than he thought. “Yes.”
“The problem is finding the right girl. You need someone who is looking for the love and devotion of a daddy but is still a strong, smart, independent woman. And who wants to be spanked by you. You haven’t found one yet, and you aren’t going to sitting up on the porch of that ranch with your mama every night. You need to keep looking. She’s out there, I promise. It just needs to be any woman but Garrett’s, for goodness’ sake.”
Wes was left with his thoughts as Jessica quietly finished up her work. When she was through, she had a satisfied smile on her face. “Looking like a Hollywood star, if I do say so myself.”
He ran his hand through his much shorter locks. He missed his long hair. Damn, Garrett.
“Thank you, Jess. This chat has been educational.”
“People don’t just come here to get their hair cut, Wes. This here chair is just as much a therapist’s as a hairdresser’s.” She smiled knowingly and shoved him towards the door. “Now git. I’ve got Mrs. Abraham coming in for a perm.” Jessica pushed him out of her store without even letting him reach for his wallet.
Daddy Mine (Sweet Texas Love Book 1) Page 2
