Page 45 of Taming His Brat

She wrapped her arms around him and clung to his bare skin. “I just thought … I wouldn’t have blamed you if …”

“I left a note on the table at home explaining, but I guess you never got that far.” She shook her head without looking up. “Vicky was supposed to tell you I was leaving for the night, but I guess she twisted it for her own agenda.”

“I messed everything up, Daddy. I can’t believe I fell for all of her games.” She sounded so miserable. She sniffled and then snuck a quick glance up at his face. “Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”

That lost little girl tone was heavy in her voice and all he wanted to do was hold her and never let her go. Of course, there was still the matter of the punishment to deal with. There was so much guilt there that he could hear it weighing her down and she wouldn’t feel better until it was addressed.

He couldn’t blame her for wanting a relationship with her mother, or for putting her trust in the woman whoshouldhave wanted to love and protect Charlie above everyone else. Those were natural things, and he had no idea how he would have reacted in her position.

There was some annoyance that she hadn’t listened to him. She’d been too close to the problem and couldn’t see clearly, but that was supposed to be his job—to help her when she couldn’t find the right path on her own. But no, he wasn’t mad at her for it.

Moving out of their house with just a note on the table though … that was still chafing and definitely called for punishment. As for the rest, he didn’t think punishment was justified, but it didn’t really matter what he thought. She felt guilty; she regretted her choices, and she was miserable over them.

As her Daddy it was his job to clear that up for her. She needed the punishment to wipe the slate clean so she could move forward, sotheycould move forward without baggage.

“I’m sure I’m not mad… but I’m also sure my little girl needs to be punished. The only thing you did that actually disappointed me was creeping out of our home without a word. It hurt, coming home to find that letter. You have no idea how close I was to storming over there and tossing you over my shoulder to carry you home.”

“Probably would have been better if you had.”

“Naw, I doubt that. There are always going to be some decisions I can’t make for you, darlin’. Dom, Daddy, or partner, there are going to be some choices that only you can decide. I don’t always like it, and I’m betting you don’t either, but that’s the way it is.”

She buried her face against his neck and sighed. “I guess.”

He chuckled. “Charlie, I know you. You wouldn’t be happy if I took complete control of you. You need taming, but you’re always going to be a wild spirit. It’s one of the things I love about you. It’s not my job to take away your right to choose. All I can do is guide you.”

“I love it when you take total control in the bedroom, but you’re right, I’d go crazy if you did it all the time. It’s just hard sometimes to balance everything. I want to submit to you, but I also want to be strong and independent.”

“It will get easier, I think. Eventually we’ll be in a place where you can make peace with both sides of you. They aren’t incompatible, you know.” He rubbed her back gently, inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo and sighed. “I missed you, baby.”

“I missed you too. It didn’t feel like three days. It felt like weeks. It was dumb moving over to the big house like that and I knew it as soon as I got there. I guess it was partly pride that made me stay. After leaving that dramatic letter I couldn’t just turn around and come back.”

“Pride can make things harder all around. I understood why you wanted so badly to believe in your mother, but my ego was stung that you didn’t listen to me. I knew, logically, that you weren’t really choosing between us, but emotions are trickier, and it still hurt.”

“I promise I wasn’t choosing her over you. I swear, Daddy. I was just mixed up. Scared she’d leave and I’d lose the only chance to know her.” Her voice broke halfway through. She started to sob and once that happened it seemed like the tears would never stop. It wasn’t a quiet cry, and it was hard to listen to the raw wrenching pain in them, and there wasn’t much he could do about it but hold her.

It seemed to go on forever until finally she began to hiccup. The tears slowed as she tried to get the hiccups under control. The act of holding her breath seemed to help with both. She calmed slowly and finally could talk again. “I j-just wanted it to be real, Daddy. I wanted it so bad. I never meant t-t-to h-hurt you.”

The idea that he’d been hurt seemed to make her shrink in his arms. He felt hot tears rolling down his bare back as he held her. He rocked her slowly. “I know, baby, but being the Dom doesn’t give me perfect confidence. It poked at my doubts, and I started wondering if you were only with me because of the ranch. So, when you showed up … I guess I needed to know.”

She was silent for a second. “We—we should get married.” She blurted the words, quick like she might change her mind.

Sam froze, eyes widening and his arms around her stiffened. It was the last thing he’d ever expected her to say. He cleared his throat. “That some kind of proposal?”

She pushed back, sitting up straight to look at him. “Yes, why not. Will you marry me Daddy?” Her eyes were red and swollen but she seemed sincere.

He didn’t know what to say. Of course he wanted to marry her. He’d wanted to marry her since they were teenagers, but this wasn’t what he’d expected when he’d pictured the proposal happening. He discarded his first reaction to say yes, and then his second, which was to treat it like a joke.

This needed a serious reply because while it showed amazing growth on working through her commitment issues, it was definitely not the time. “Charlie, nothing would make me happier than for us to get married,” he said carefully.

He took a deep breath and shook his head feeling a strong sense of regret. “But I don’t think now is the best time to make this commitment. You, darlin’, are struggling with a lot of wild emotions and trying to deal with some trauma. I think—I think this is more about you really wanting to reassure me that you love me, am I right?”

She nodded slowly. There was no sign of panic from the discussion of marriage and no obvious emotions to let him know how she was handling the gentle rejection. He hoped he wasn’t making things worse.

“Alright, so how about this. We’re going to table this for today. I want you to take some time to think about this. Then, in a couple months or so if you still want to get married, you can propose again. Or if you decide you want to do things the traditional way you just let me know and I’ll get down on one knee for you. Is that fair?”

Tension drained from her body, showing she hadn’t been quite as calm about the discussion as she’d looked, but a slight smile curved her lips at one corner. “That’s fair and… it might be nice havingyouon your knees, for a change.” The smile turned into a smirk.

He snorted. “One knee. You getoneknee and if you smirk when I’m down there I’ll put you across it—right after I ask the question.”

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