Page 66 of The Sadist and the Brat

“So you are awake,” he replied, the amusement in his voice deeper now. “I wasn’t sure.”

“Barely.” Her voice was a hoarse croak, her mouth dry. She’d have given her new catsuit for a bottle of water. “What are you doing?”

“Talking to you,” he replied. “What are you doing?”

“Sleeping.”

“Late night?” he asked.

She grunted, rolling onto her side. She’d been sleeping on her stomach, but her bladder wasn’t having that anymore. “I’m sleeping in. It’s Saturday.”

“So it is.”

Sadie yawned, her attention drifting. With the need to pee momentarily muted, fatigue was creeping in again, and she was almost asleep again when she realized Jack was talking. “What?”

“Maybe I should call back when you’re awake,” he said with a chuckle.

“No, it’s fine,” she mumbled, and fought back another yawn. “What were you saying?”

“I said, what are you doing later this afternoon?”

“Nothing.” She forced her eyes open and stared at the window, hoping the streaming sunlight would keep her awake. “Why?”

“Want to do something?”

Wariness kicked in, a beat too late. “Like what?”

He chuckled again. “So suspicious. You can relax, I’m not asking you on a date.”

Relief came first, followed by a sense of disappointment that she didn’t care to examine too closely. “Whatareyou asking me for?”

“A favor.”

“Okay.” She waited, but he didn’t say anything else, and she was starting to get irritated. She wanted to get up to pee so she could go back to sleep, and she couldn’t do either until she got off the phone. “Are you going to tell me what it is, or am I supposed to guess?”

“You’re not much of a morning person, are you?”

“No.” She fought off a yawn. “Either tell me what the favor is or go away so I can pee and get back to sleep.”

He chuckled. “Fine. I have a bondage class this afternoon—"

“Since when do you teach bondage classes?” she interrupted.

“Since Cade asked me to fill in for him. He’s got a family thing today.”

“Oh.” The light was too bright to keep staring at it, so she closed her eyes. “Sorry, go on.”

“It’s an hour class, basic bondage ties. I demonstrate a few of them with you, then the students pair off and practice on each other.”

“Hmmm,” she said, drifting again, then her eyes popped open. “What? What do you mean, demonstrate them with me?”

“That’s the favor,” he explained, sounding amused again. “I want you to do the class with me.”

Sadie sat up and shoved the hair out of her face. She clearly needed to be more alert for this conversation. “Why?”

He chuckled. “Well, that’s blunt.”

She winced. “Sorry. That came out wrong. I meant…why me?”

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