Chapter 3

I want the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I’m so fucking horny and wet I can barely stand it, and all he thinks is that I have to pee. I obviously need to work on my seduction game. Who am I kidding? I have no seduction game. I’ve only even been kissed once, and that was on a dare in the sixth grade. I hardly think that three-second slobber fest counts. My mom died before I could really talk to her about things like this, and there’s no way in hell I was going to ask my dad for sex advice, so I just never did anything.

Not knowing what to do, I turn and escape into the bathroom, splashing water on my bright red face and willing myself to not cry like a big fucking baby. When I work up the courage to leave, Hank is busy putting together a supper for us. He sets a cutting board down on the counter and hands me a plate of veggies and a sharp knife.

“You make the salads while I grill the steaks.”

He walks out onto the back deck with Sadie close at his heels. I watch him as I chop carrots. There’s something so damn calming about him. His movements are unhurried but confident, and if he wasn’t so intimidatingly good looking, I’d feel perfectly at peace around him, like I was completely protected and nothing ever needed to be worried about.

“Fuck!” I shout when I’m too busy staring at his ass to notice I’m slicing into my finger instead of the carrot.

Hank’s head jerks up, and he’s by my side in seconds, lifting up my finger so he can look at the damage. I see blood and quickly close my eyes.

“Just relax,” he says in that calming voice that I can easily imagine him using on his horses. He gently examines my finger, the feel of his touch sending a shiver of excitement down my spine to settle right around my clit, causing it to swell and throb even more. God, I should’ve taken the time to rub one out while I was in the bathroom. “It’s just a nick. Stay here, I’ll get the first-aid kit.”

He laughs when he comes back and I’m still standing there with my eyes clenched shut. “You’re a bit squeamish, aren’t you? This should be an interesting summer for you.”

I open my eyes and my breath hitches when I see how close he is. I catch a whiff of that same cologne that had made me so wet earlier, except now it’s mixed with the smell of hay and leather and what must be the smell of horses, which I replace oddly comforting.

“See?” he says, holding up my cut finger. “Just a tiny cut.”

I’m sure it is, but I can’t seem to pull my eyes from his to look at it. He gives me a cocky smirk as if he knows exactly what he’s doing to me and starts to clean and bandage my finger.

“All better.” He lets my finger go, and I’m surprised by how much I miss his touch. “Let me go and get the steaks. They’re almost done.” He glances at the cutting board. “Try not to cut yourself again. I’d hate to have you passing out on me. The nearest hospital is about a forty minute drive.”

I watch him walk back to the grill before hurrying up to finish the salads. I’m shaky and flustered, and it’s a damn miracle I finish without cutting off a finger. When we’re sitting and eating, I suddenly replace myself too nervous to finish, even though the steak is amazing. He quickly clears his plate. A man with a man’s appetite, I can’t help but think.

When he looks at my plate, eyeing the last few bites of steak, his mouth tightens ever so slightly and he gives me an intense stare that has my nipples so hard they actually ache.

“Finish your plate, Jamie. We don’t waste food in this house.”

I almost laugh, thinking he’s joking, but the look on his face tells me he’s being deadly serious. “I’m not hungry,” I say, setting down my knife and fork.

“I didn’t ask if you were hungry. You’ve had a big day, and tomorrow is going to be even harder on you.” His eyes slowly run over my body. “I’m guessing you aren’t used to hard farm work.”

I jut my chin out, starting to get pissed at being bossed around. Sure, his smoldering, intense glare is sexy as fuck, but I’m not used to being told what to do.

When I start to rise, he says, “Don’t even fucking think about it.”

I freeze in place, quickly going through my options and then realizing that I don’t really have any. My only choice is to stay put, but he can’t force me to eat, damn it.

“You will sit here until your plate is empty. When you’ve eaten everything like a good girl, then you can go to bed.”

My mouth drops open as he gives me a wink and takes his plate to the sink.

“You can’t be serious,” I say.

“Oh, I’m deadly serious, Jamie. Don’t test me.” He turns back around and rests his strong hands on the counter, holding me in that intense gaze of his. “Your dad told me all about the shit you’ve been up to and what a handful you’ve become. Seems to me like you’re in major need of a firm hand, and I intend to make sure you get it.”

“You’re not my fucking dad.” It slips out before I can stop it. His eyes widen slightly at my words, and I’ve never seen a man’s jaw go so tight so quickly. I swear I can see a vein throbbing in his neck.

“I’m the only daddy you’ve got right now, little girl, and don’t think for one second that I’ll hesitate to throw you over my knee and spank the living hell out of you.”

His words don’t have the effect on me that he may have intended. Instead of being scared into submission, I’m now more eager than ever to get in trouble and get myself thrown over his strong thighs as he spanks my ass and makes me cum. The image has me moaning before I can stop myself, and this time the throbbing vein is painfully obvious, and so is the unmistakable heat in his eyes.

Without a word, he storms out onto the back deck, leaving me at the table with my plate of food and a pussy so achy for cock I could scream.