“How’ve you been, Derek?”
“Well, I was doing okay up until a moment ago. Your friend here”—Derek indicated Dana—“can be a mite pushy when she wants to be, plying me with liquor against my will.”
Kurt shot her a perturbed glance. “Dana!”
“Oh, please, I bought him a drink. Like I really had to twist his arm.”
Derek shrugged. “Okay, so she may be right.”
“I am right.”
Derek gave her a faux sour look. “So… did you come all the way here to rub my nose in the fact you beat my odds?”
“Yes—”
“No!” Kurt snapped a what-the-fuck glance at her before making a conceding gesture. “Okay, maybe a little…”
Derek chuckled. “Well, I’m happy for you both. Truly.”
“Thank you,” she and Kurt said at the same time.
“We were actually back in the area for work”—Kurt gestured toward where they’d come from earlier in the day—“and we thought as long as we were nearby…”
“We should take advantage of the… amenities,” Dana finished with a knowing look.
“As well you should,” Derek agreed. “A celebration, right?”
“Exactly.” Dana looked between the two men with a devious gleam. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I believe Master Kurt has a promise to keep.”
Kurt raised an eyebrow as Derek laughed.
“By all means. Y’all deserve it.”
“You still owe me a drink!” she called back over her shoulder as Kurt turned her away and began leading her toward the lower play area. “I plan on collecting once we’re done!”
Derek raised his hand in acknowledgment, his sly grin morphing into a smile that lit up his entire face. “We’ll be right here.”
“We?” Dana replied, her eyes narrowing in confusion.
She didn’t need to hear his answer, because at that moment a woman approached, bouncing up to him with an expression of mischievous joy.
Dana didn’t need an introduction to know who she was. Though they’d never met her during her and Kurt’s first visit to Rawhide, Dana had learned through conversations Derek was married to Sadie Hawkins, and that was clearly who was at his side now. Chestnut-colored pigtails hung down to her shoulders, each one completed with brightly colored ribbons. As if she weren’t cute enough, as she gazed into Derek’s face with an impish smile she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. The uniform she was wearing was guaranteed to get not just a Big but any man’s blood pumping; a pink and white plaid skirt that barely reached the top of her thighs, finished with a white button-down blouse barely held together by two little buttons. In the gap between those buttons a lacy bra was clearly visible, as was the top of her thigh-high white stockings just below the hem of her skirt. The only thing incongruous to the outfit—at least in Dana’s mind—was the pair of pink stilettos that adorned her feet. Sadie was obviously comfortable wearing them, because they hadn’t stopped her from bouncing up to Derek as she’d approached.
“Hello, angel.” Derek placed his hands on her hips, halting her bounce as he held her in place possessively.
“Hi, Daddy,” she answered back sweetly, taking her lower lip between her teeth as Derek stared at her with a look that raised the temperature around them by ten degrees.
Dana glanced back at Kurt. ‘Wow,’ she mouthed.
He shot her a wicked grin of recognition of what they’d both just observed.
Looking back to the couple for a moment, Dana was just in time to catch Sadie blowing a big bubble from the gum she was chewing. Suddenly it burst, draping her nose, cheeks, and chin with the sticky remains.
“Oh, sweetheart, you’ve made a mess,” Derek said in a voice both amused and aroused. As Sadie reached her hand to her face, he gently brushed it away.
“I’ve got it,” he said in an amused tone as he began to pull the film of gum from her skin. As he finished, he leaned in to whisper something in Sadie’s ear. Whatever it was he said must have been as seductive as her outfit, because her face turned as bright pink as her skirt.
Dana turned back to Kurt. “I don’t believe I’m going to get that drink anytime soon,” she murmured.