Page 10 of Bet On Me, Daddy

Suddenly wishing she could crawl under the table, Ruby cleared her throat. “That’s not exactly what I said.”

“Close enough,” Frankie said with a regal wave of her hand. “You said you’ve scared off plenty. So you’re going to teach me.”

“Teach you?”

“Yes. Teach me how to be such a huge fucking brat this man doesn’t want to have anything to do with me ever again.”

“I’m… not exactly sure how to teach that. Being a brat just sort of comes naturally to me.” Of course, it hadn’t always. There was a time she’d been so submissive most people would haveconsidered her a doormat. So technically she had taught herself to be a brat, but even then she’d just… gone against her initial instincts and done the exact opposite.

Frankie, unfortunately, was not swayed by Ruby’s protests. “Then let me see you in action. Next scene you do, I’m going to be watching and taking notes.”

Butterflies exploded in Ruby’s stomach at the suggestion. “Maybe not mynextscene.”

Frankie frowned. “Why not?”

“Ah, well, I’m supposed to be doing a scene with Master Beckett tonight and?—”

“That’s perfect!” Lottie let out a delighted laugh. “If you can out-brat Beckett, you really can out-bratanybody. We literally could not have picked a better Dom for you to demonstrate your bratting skills.”

Except for the fact that I really fucking like him and I actuallywantto be a good girl for once. “I don’t know…”

“What if we make it interesting?” Eyes glittering, Silver leaned in. “You show Frankie how you brat and I’ll give you private drum lessons. Ten sessions, in the studio Ice set up for me in our house.”

Holy shit. Private drumming lessons from Amanda Fucking Sterling? At herhouse?

Fuck it. As she’d decided long ago, if a man couldn’t handle her at her brattiest, he didn’t deserve her anyway. But, god, she secretly hoped Beckett could handle her any which way he got her.

“All right. You’re on.”

CHAPTER 4

BECKETT

What a fucking day. News of Preston Kingsley’s interest in finding a new investment firm had spread like wildfire and he’d been fielding calls from his partners and the board of directors all morning.

Yes, I heard. Yes, of course, I’m going to do whatever I can to get him. Yes, I know what a man like Preston Kingsley would do for our company.

Unfortunately, not a single one of those phone calls had gotten him any closer to the man himself. All of his usual contacts were being annoyingly tight-lipped about whether or not they could get Beckett within throwing distance of Kingsley.

God, he hoped Ruby caved to his offer to punish her. The kind of mood he was in made the prospect of putting a brat in her place even more tempting than usual.

“You look like hell,” Ice greeted him when he slid onto the bench across from his friend.

Tugging at his tie, Beckett sent Ice an annoyed glare. “Fuck you too.”

Both of Ice’s brows rose to his hairline. “Someone’s in a mood. Bad day at the empire?”

“No. Just a stressful one. My white whale has been spotted in the waters again and I really fucking want him. Just have to figure out how to get close to him.”

“If that whale happens to swim in my waters, you know I’m happy to help.”

The offer went a long way toward soothing Beckett’s significantly ruffled feathers. “I’m not going to abuse our friendship that way.”

“Please.” Lifting his bottle of water to his lips, Ice rolled his eyes upward. “What’s the point of being this good-looking if I can’t use it to help my friends out every now and then?”

Beckett snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, yeah.” But the need, thehungerwas gnawing at him in a way it hadn’t since he’d first started his company. “If I run out of options… I’ll think about it. There’s no guarantee you could help, anyway.”

“Just let me know.”

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