Page 105 of The Sadist and the Brat

“I don’t need your protection,” she interrupted, tossing the tissue aside.

“You have it anyway,” he countered, refusing to rise to the bait. “Collar or no collar.”

She picked up the polish again, her head bent, and resumed painting. “Then why wear it?”

“Because wearing it makes it clear to everyone else. And it’s appropriate.”

“I’ve never worn a collar before,” she said, looking like a deer in headlights.

He resisted the urge to tell her he’d never collared anyone before. “Does it scare you?”

She frowned. “No. But it feels…weird.”

“Weird, how?”

“Like we’re…together.Together,together.”

This time he couldn’t hide his smile. “Sadie, what do you think we’ve been doing for the last month?”

“Fucking?” she ventured.

“Is that all it’s been?” he asked quietly and watched her squirm.

“No, not all,” she finally admitted, and relief flooded through him. “But collaring…that’s a big step.”

She turned to him with troubled eyes. “Isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily,” he said, and forced a casual shrug. “It means whatever we want it to mean. In this case, it’s a play collar, and it means we’re going to the party together, and leaving together.”

“That’s it?”

He spread his hands. “That’s it.”

She took her time capping the bottle of nail polish, then bent over to blow on her toes. “Is it cute?”

“Is what cute?”

“The collar,” she said and turned her head to meet his gaze. “If it’s not cute, I’m not wearing it.”

He laughed and snagged her hand, hauling her down to rest against his chest. “I promise, it’s at least as cute as you are.”

“That’s pretty cute,” she decided.

He handed her a bottle of water and picked up the remote. “Want to keep watching the movie?”

“Sure. Turn it up though, I can barely hear the dialogue.”

“You just want the sound up to drown out any more farts.”

“Shut up,” she said, laughing, and farted.

Chapter Sixteen

The week flew by in a blur of work. Thanks to referrals from Amanda, Sadie booked three new clients, and was pleased to see her bank account grow accordingly. She hosted Wine & Whine Wednesday, and though Sam couldn’t make it this time, she had a full house. Nikki was there, her foot nearly healed, and announced shyly that she’d had a second date with Kody, and they’d asked her to play at the party on Saturday.

With everyone occupied with reassurance and advice for Nikki, Sadie decided not to bring up the whole collar thing.

She wasn’t even sure what she’d say. It felt like a huge step for her to wear Jack’s collar, even just as a sign of protection, but he’d been so…socasualabout it. It confused her, and though she would have liked to talk to her friends about it, she didn’t know how. So she focused on reassuring Nikki and said nothing.

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