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He seriously wouldn’t budge. She turned around and tried to shove her shoulder into him, but all she was doing was moving her feet against the sidewalk.
“Uh, hon, I don’t think you’re going to be able to move him. It’s like a mouse trying to move a mountain,” Kirsten told her.
She gave up with a huff, breathing heavily. “I’ve really got to get to the gym.”
“I don’t think any sort of gym routine is going to help you move this mountain of muscle,” another woman told her.
“If I had that man carrying me around, I’d just lay there and take it,” another woman said with a Southern drawl. “Probably thank God for my blessings. You wouldn’t catch me trying to fight him. And if he wants to put me over his knee, well, he can just go ahead.”
All right, she’d had enough of all these women ogling Ammo.
“Will you please come inside?” she said to him. “I’m not going home.”
He stared down at her for a long moment, and then, to her shock, he nodded.
Well, thank God he was going to be reasonable.
“You are not being reasonable!” she cried as she paced up and down the office she’d led him to.
Ammo just stared at her. He wasn’t being reasonable? Was she for real right now? She was the one that had snuck out of the house while he was in the shower. He’d had to chase her down.
Again.
How many times had he told her that she wasn’t to do that? Well, she wouldn’t do it again after he gave her the spanking she deserved.
She wasn’t going to sit comfortably for a week, and he thought that was more than reasonable.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t just come into my place of work, pick me up, throw me over your shoulder, and walk out with me.”
“You can’t leave the house without telling me.”
“I’m a grown woman, and I can do what I want.” She turned and poked a finger at him. He took a step forward until her finger was pressed against his chest.
“I’m in charge of your health and safety. You shouldn’t have run from me. Again. And you know the consequences for that.”
“I didn’t run from you. I came to work. Without you. You’re not responsible for me. I know you made a promise to Charlie, but he wouldn’t hold you to it. Charlie didn’t even like me in the end. Hell, this is probably the opposite of what he’d want. I’m so grateful about how you’ve looked after me. You’ve helped me so much. But you can’t boss me around. You can’t make rules for me, and you cannot spank me.”
Just as she said the last part, the door opened. They both turned to find Kirsten standing there, her eyes wide open. “You know what? I’m going to go find something else to do.”
Kirsten backed away, shutting the door, and he turned to look at Aimee again. Her face was bright red, her eyes were closed, her hands clenched into fists.
“Why did you run off this morning?” he asked.
“Because I was embarrassed, all right? I was embarrassed about last night and everything I said and did. It was the stupid sleeping pill’s fault.”
“You took a sleeping pill before you went up on the roof?” he asked, bewildered.
“Yes.” She nodded miserably. “Yes, I took a sleeping pill, and then I still couldn’t sleep, so I got up on the roof to do some thinking. I don’t even know why I took the sleeping pill. They never work properly on me. They just make me woozy and talk a lot. The stuff I said, I would never have said it if I hadn’t taken that pill.”
Was she trying to say that the sleeping pill had somehow made her ask him if he would be her Daddy? Yeah, he wasn’t buying it. It was more likely that the sleeping pill had lowered her inhibitions enough that her real thoughts and feelings came out.
“It’s not acceptable that you took a sleeping pill then got up on a roof. Do you know how dangerous that is?” he said.
“Yes, I know,” she said.
“You need someone to take care of you,” he stated. “Otherwise, you get into trouble.” It was clearer than ever that he needed to keep a closer eye on her.
“I need someone who wants to take care of me. I need someone who will let me take care of them too. I need someone who feels something for me and I’m not talking about a sense of obligation.”
