Page 8 of Bet On Me, Daddy

Okay, where was a hole in the ground to swallow a girl whole when she needed it? “Master Beckett knew I lied and he said he’d punish me for it. You know, to like, clear my slate or whatever? But he said I had to come clean with you, first.”

“Really?” Now Braden’s lips did curve upward in clear amusement. “Well, if anybody knows how to teach a naughty girl a lesson, it’s Beckett Stone. You can tell him you’ve confessed your sins and that he’s free to deal with you however he sees fit.”

“Yes, Sir.” An odd tightness gripped her by the throat, surprising her with how guilty she actually did feel now that she’d looked him in the eye and confessed. “I’m really sorry I lied.”

“It’s all right. I know Lottie can be very… persuasive when it comes to involving people in her schemes.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“But the next time you lie to me, Ruby, I won’t care who else has offered to discipline you. I’ll take a strap to your backside myself, on top of whatever your Daddy may have planned for you.”

Her heart jumped at the word Daddy, but she deliberately ignored it. “Master Beckett isn’t my Daddy. It’s just one scene, Sir.”And even if he wanted to be, I’m not looking for a Daddy. Or any other kind of controlling asshole to run my life.

“We’ll see. You’re dismissed.”

Turning on her heel, she hurried from his office and straight for the bar, her mind racing.

We’ll see.What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“Ruby!”

The sound of Lottie calling her name stopped Ruby in her tracks. Lottie was at a large table with her usual entourage. Cordelia, a fearsome Domme who reminded Ruby of the cheerleaders she’d been so envious of in high school with her bright blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail. On her lap was her girlfriend, Ivy. Small and dainty, Ivy always made Ruby think of fairies and other mythical beings.

To their left was Frankie. Like Cordelia, she had her hair pulled up in a high ponytail, though hers looked more like living fire than California blonde. And she was looking extra fiery tonight, glaring into her wine as if it had personally offended her somehow.

Then there was Silver. Amanda Sterling, by birth, but she’d become known to the world as Silver over the course of her career with the band Deviant Whispers. Seated between Frankie and Lottie, Silver had her mass of dark curls piled up on her head and a drumstick in her hand, spinning it between her fingers. The fact that she could do so after being attacked by her ex-boyfriend and ex-bandmate just a few months ago was nothing short of a miracle.

Even more a miracle than the fact that she was here in this club in the first place, breathing the same air as Ruby. Deviant Whispers had been her all-time favorite band, and Silver her personal hero for years.

She was still getting used to not fangirling all over her every time she saw Silver at the club.

And lastly, Lottie. Beaming up at Ruby, she scooted closer to Silver and patted the empty spot on the bench beside her. “Come, sit with us!”

Sit with them? WithSilver?

No, thank you.

“Thanks but I have to… do something.”

Jesus, could you sound any less convincing?

Lottie raised an eyebrow, but unlike her Daddy who had simply looked intimidating, Lottie looked downright regal. Queen of her domain, and woe be unto any who dare defy her. “You’re not working tonight.”

“Ah, no, I’m not.”

“Are you meeting someone?”

She was, but it occurred to her now she had no clue when Beckett would actually be arriving at the club. They were still hours from her twenty-four-hour deadline. Oh, god. What if she had to wait until after midnight for him to punish her?

Better to just pretend she was here on her own, hanging out at the club like she usually did on her nights off. “No, no I’m not meeting anyone.”

“Then sit.”

Out of excuses, Ruby lowered herself to the bench beside Lottie, and focused on her breathing to keep from passing out at the knowledge she was sitting at the same table as her own personal idol.

How was this her life?

“Ruby is my new hero,” Lottie announced to the table, draping her arm around Ruby’s shoulders and pressing a loud kiss to her cheek. “She hid me from Daddy after the glitter cannons went off last night.”

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