Giddy Up, Daddy (Dirty Daddies 2024 Anthology #5)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

In the beginning, when Charlie had first come back to the ranch, there’d been a lot of fighting with Sam. The reasons were all very complicated and had a lot to do with her father leaving the ranch to both of them, but putting Sam in charge legally.

She’d been angry and hurt. It was all the more awkward because Sam was her ex, and she’d never really stopped loving him. Their breakup had also been complicated, and there’d been a lot of regret on both sides.

It was probably inevitable that returning home and seeing him on a daily basis would lead to the sparks rekindling. Chemistry wasn’t enough though; there had been a lot to work through, if it was going to last this time.

But through it all Sam had been there. Good ole Sam, stable, reliable, supporting her when she needed it the most. Staying mad at him was hard, when she knew none of it was really his fault. She’d fallen into his arms easily, but letting him back into her heart had been harder.

They’d gotten there in the end, but not without going through a hell of a lot. Finding out why her father had written his will the way he did had been a good start. But finally realizing what she needed from Sam had been the real clincher.

They’d grown up together, the only children on the ranch; keeping each other company as friends. Then puberty hit and everything started to shift.

Feelings changed. Hormones kicked in. Suddenly they were trying to find out-of-the-way places to kiss and touch, and a ranch spread had a lot of nooks and corners. Eventually it led to more. They discovered each other… and then they discovered kink.

The spicy side of things had instantly attracted them both and they were probably too young when they first started to explore kink. Sam was a natural Dom, and Charlie enjoyed letting him lead the way. Most of what they tried involved the physical sensations: spanking, bondage, pleasure and pain.

Neither had really understood the wider aspects of D/s then. There was no formal relationship. No titles or specific dynamic. They just played and enjoyed themselves, which probably wasn’t a bad thing, considering how young they’d been.

In her memories it had all been perfect.

But they were too young. There was too much that was out of their hands, and life pulled them apart. Getting back together years later meant realizing that she needed something more than Sam smacking her ass in the bedroom.

She needed him, and she needed him to be her Daddy—to be dominant in and out of the bedroom. Her life had been a mess for a long time, structure and rules were necessary to get her back on track. And as soon as they tried it, she knew it was what she’d always wanted from him.

Everything clicked. It all fell into place. Things followed a predictable pattern. They dated, they got engaged, and finally they got married. It was the happy ever after she’d never known she was looking for. Sometimes it was still a shock to realize she was married.

And it had been so wonderful. Being a newlywed just felt… different. Or maybe it was just because they’d sorted out all their problems before they got married. Either way, they almost never argued anymore.

This morning had been an exception and she’d been taken off guard. All of a sudden Sam had confronted her, waving an issue of his stupid car-swap paper, as he demanded to know what she was up to.

She honestly hadn’t thought he’d miss one issue, and after cutting out all the parts she needed, she’d meant to throw it away, and then got distracted and forgot. It quickly became obvious that he’d noticed a few things.

Damn it, I thought I was being so sneaky too . She’d done her best to keep her plan on the downlow, but apparently, she hadn’t been stealthy enough to stay under his radar. Somehow, he’d figured out that she had a secret.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise; Sam was a Daddy and Daddies were good at keeping an eye on things, and he’d had a lot of practice—especially since Nick had moved onto the ranch.

Nick’s wife was her best friend, and they spent a lot of time together. Sometimes it was productive; Katie was a huge help at event planning for their side business, but other times… well, they’d gotten in their share of trouble together.

Most of it was Katie’s idea. Charlie didn’t really look for trouble, and when she did, she was more of a smart-assed masochist than a brat. It was her mouth that acted up, at least most of the time. Katie, on the other hand, loved to play pranks and sneak off to do things that would make the men growl.

Charlie had to admit, it could be fun sometimes. It depended on how Sam reacted in the end. Nick was more likely to laugh and deliver something that looked more fun than punishing, but Sam was stricter. He didn’t always find their games funny, and Charlie’s ass ended up paying a higher penalty than Katie’s.

She still found herself getting dragged along, and it was hard to resist her friend, even when she knew she’d regret it in the end. As a result, Sam had gotten a lot of practice at looking for hints that she was up to something. He could smell mischief at fifty yards now, and it could be really frustrating sometimes.

Try to get away with one little thing, and boom, there he was putting his foot down. In a way she didn’t mind. Even if it ended in real punishment, instead of play, part of her needed and wanted that. She’d never been able to figure out why. It was just like that.

But this time… she really didn’t want him to find out, because it wasn’t a bratty secret, or mischief she was hiding. It was a surprise.

For as long as she could remember, all the way back to when they were kids, Sam had wanted a classic truck. Specifically, a 1978 Dodge Li’l Red Express. She could still remember him pouring over the glossy magazines, skipping right past the cars to look at the trucks.

Personally, she thought the Li’l Red model was kind of silly, with the 18-wheeler exhaust stacks that sent clouds of smoke up. The front half was normal length, but the back was shortened, which made it look sort of stunted, in her opinion.

Not very useful either, with such a short cargo bed. Of course, a truck like that wasn’t made for ranch work. It wasn’t supposed to be useful, like Sam’s beat-up old pickup was. That truck looked like it had seen wars and still kept going.

And that was why her Daddy would never buy a Li’l Red for himself. It wasn’t useful. It wasn’t good for much aside from being pretty and fun to have, which meant he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) justify the expense of getting one. He never splurged on himself.

Although they kept their finances separate, she knew he had a pretty decent bank balance. Being the foreman here for so many years, with room and board included, meant he’d been able to save a lot. And then, when her father had died and left the ranch to both of them, Sam had stopped being foreman and picked up an owner’s share instead.

Their spread wasn’t one of those fancy dude ranches that catered to rich guests wanting to feel like cowboys for a weekend. It was a working business, but most years it did well. They had a reputation for prime stock and now that they were starting to expand into other areas… their shares were pretty decent.

But the only thing Sam ever spent his money on was her. He’d insisted, in his Domly, or maybe husbandly, way, on paying all the expenses for the traveling they’d been doing, but that probably hadn’t made a dent in the money he’d saved over the years.

“We might need it someday. Ranching is a tough business. Who knows what we’ll have to deal with in the future,” he would say, shrugging.

He wasn’t wrong, but she had a hefty inheritance that continued to grow through careful investing. If it came down to it, she’d be able to cover them both. Reminding him of that was useless.

In some ways Sam was old-fashioned, and as far as he was concerned, it was his job to take care of her. So, he stashed away his pennies and looked longingly at trucks he’d never buy.

Enter Charlie’s secret plan. She’d been looking for a Li’l Red for him. It had taken months, longer really, but she’d only gotten consistent about the search in the Autumn, thinking it would be the perfect Christmas present.

Well, that hadn’t worked out. Finding one in decent shape, that was close by, and not so expensive that she’d feel like an idiot pouring that much money into an old truck, had taken longer than she expected. But Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, and she’d been aiming to make it memorable.

It would be their second February as a married couple, but the first time they’d really have a chance to celebrate the day of romance. A nasty winter storm had left them trapped in an airport for most of the previous V-Day. Their plane had been delayed nine hours and by the time they’d gotten to their destination… romance was out of the question.

But she was going to make up for it this year. She had a whole evening planned for them, and the truck would be the cherry on top… if she could keep it a secret from her Daddy until then. She hadn’t been too worried about it, until she realized he was already suspicious.

Now he was going to be watching her every move. Things had just gotten a lot more difficult, and she might have to call in some backup.

She was just lucky Sam had stormed out when he had, otherwise the whole thing would have been blown. That would have been utterly devastating, considering how much work she’d put into the surprise.

Of course, she’d given him a little push in that direction, and she’d probably be paying for it later. Just add it to the bill , she thought with a loud sigh.

The deal had only been finalized that morning, and the owner was… difficult to work with, and not happy with the deal she was getting. If he hadn’t had to sell fast, he probably wouldn’t have let her have the truck at all. But he was definitely surly about taking the loss.

All that time trawling online listings and the classifieds in Sam’s swap paper hadn’t turned up the right truck, in the right place, and she’d almost given up. But then, a few weeks ago, she’d checked the classifieds, mostly out of habit, and found… the exact truck she wanted.

The price was higher than she was willing to pay, but she knew people expected some haggling, and she was confident she could bring it down to her budget.

The body was pristine. It looked like time had barely touched it. The ad made it clear that there were some mechanical issues. There was a list of things that would need fixing, but the owner said it still ran, and that none of it would be too difficult.

Which was fine, because she knew Sam liked to tinker anyway. He’d probably like it all the more, for being able to work on it in his spare time. Her Daddy needed a hobby anyway.

It was absolutely perfect, except, when she made an offer the seller started to get shady. Micky Smith, the proud owner of the truck, was desperately trying to sell as quickly as possible, but he was also determined to get top dollar.

He’d insisted on telling her a long story about his financial woes, but it ended up with, “I swear I was barely buzzed, and I drive better with a few drinks in me anyway. DUI checkpoints should be illegal, and honestly, I’m not even sure the test was accurate. But the judge believed it and I lost my license. Only, I still needed to get places, right? So, yeah, anyway, I got snagged driving on a suspended and the court fees and fines are ridiculous.”

“Uh-huh…” She wasn’t entirely sure what any of that had to do with selling the truck, but she was trying to humor him, even though she desperately wanted to get off the phone.

“Yeah, so I’d really like to sell it for thirty.”

“Right—wait, thirty thousand? But… you listed it for twenty-five thousand!” Charlie sat up, insides sinking as the truck suddenly seemed to slide out of reach. She’d capped her budget for this at twenty-three, and Sam would probably still have a dozen fits over it.

Thirty? For a hobby vehicle? That was out of the question. She’d never sit again when her Daddy got through with her.

“Well, yeah, you know, to get people interested. Everyone knows those prices are just a starting place,” he said.

“Uh, yeah, but you start high and go down. You don’t go up,” she blurted. Her tone was more shocked than angry, though her temper was starting to rise too.

He disagreed and refused to lower his price and finally ended the call. A few days later he called her back asking if she was still interested, and there was a … sly tone to his voice. A bit of smirking lurked behind the words, as if implying she’d have reconsidered her silliness by then.

It only made her more determined to get a good deal. They argued and, again, he hung up. At that point he’d probably been hoping for other offers. She assumed he hadn’t gotten any because over a week passed before he called her again.

There was more arguing, more explanations, and finally he agreed to come down… to the asking price.

For a second, she was tempted to take it. But she was mad he’d tried to trick her with a bait-and-switch, and her pride simply wasn’t going to accept that. “No, I’ll give you twenty-three thousand, in cash.” She paused, then added, “And I’ll throw in three hundred if you have someone drive it to me.”

He sputtered and cursed over the line. The expected disconnect came.

Each time he did that, Charlie got a little more confident. It felt like she was winning the fight, and her only concern was that someone else might make an offer in the meantime. Apparently, no one else was interested, because he finally reached out to her one last time.

When he called, Charlie was barely out of bed, still in her pajamas, sitting at her desk as she tried to decide if she was awake enough to get some schoolwork done.

He didn’t bother to say hello. Just, “Make it an extra five hundred… and you pick it up. I don’t have a license, remember?”

The disinterest in her tone was calculated, inside she was anything but. The Li’l Red was so close to being hers, well, Sam’s. “If I have to hire someone to pick it up, they are getting the money, not you. It’s your choice. I’m sure you have some friend who could drive you.”

Making him bring it to her doorstep was petty, sure, but it also saved her from having to bring someone else into the conspiracy. The more people who knew a secret, the more likely it was to get out, and it had been years since she’d driven a stick. She wasn’t risking an expensive, classic transmission to her rusty skills.

“Fine,” he snapped. “What’s your address so I can look at the distance?”

She hesitated and then reluctantly told him.

“I’ll bring it over today. You better have the money.”

“Wait, we need to plan—" But before she could finish, he’d disconnected, and she was talking to a dead line. She called him back, but there was no answer.

She’d growled and glared at the screen. It was going to ruin everything if he just showed up randomly and Sam happened to be there. On the other hand, a ruined surprise was better than no surprise at all. She’d just have to hope he wasn’t home when Micky arrived.

Since she didn’t keep that kind of money lying around the house she was forced to make an emergency trip into town. She hurried to get dressed and made it out the door without seeing Sam, but when she got home, he was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and one of his car papers spread out on the table in front of him.

“Where did you go so early?” he’d asked, frowning.

“I was just picking up a few things at the store, for dinner,” she explained. She rattled the plastic bags in her hand and blessed the forethought she’d had to take care of that errand while she was in town.

One eyebrow slowly headed toward his hairline as he looked at her. “Uh, did you forget something, darlin?”

She froze. “I don’t… think so?” She frowned and looked down. “I think I got it all…”

“I’m the one cooking dinner tonight.”

Oh. Right. Well, that explained the suspicious look. “Oh, I did forget! Well, I guess I’ll save it for tomorrow. We needed some other stuff anyway.”

“I thought you were going to work on your coursework this morning. Why the rush to go into town?”

“I was, I mean, I am—now that I’m back. I was just a little restless this morning. Besides, the shopping had to get done too. Figured I’d use up my procrastination doing something useful this way.” That was a reasonable excuse, at least she thought so.

Sam nodded and then took a deep breath. “You wouldn’t happen to be hiding something from me, would you, Charlie girl?”

Her heart gave an extra-hard thump, and her pulse began to race. “What? Me? Of course not, Daddy.”

He was quiet for a second. “You know, I’ve noticed some odd stuff going on around here lately.” And then he began to list the various things he’d noticed. Some were connected to her plan, some weren’t, but she was surprised at how much he’d noticed.

He ended by flipping to the classified section of the paper, holding it up so she could see the gaping hole cut out of the pages. “And then there’s this. You know anything about how my paper got cut up? It only arrived the other day. Hadn’t even had a chance to look at it yet, and it’s missing pieces.”

Whoops . If she’d known he hadn’t had a chance to read the paper yet, she’d have left the ad, with its pictures and detailed information there. But it was easier to cut it out, so she had it all handy. And, not that she thought he would, but just in case Sam went against everything she knew about him, and actually tried to buy the truck… she wanted to make sure they weren’t outbidding each other.

It turned out to be a mistake and a hard one to explain. Her mind raced, grabbing at the first thought that popped into her head. “Sorry! I thought it was an old one and I had to make a collage for an assignment.”

“A… collage.”

It hadn’t been the best excuse. Her classes didn’t normally assign that kind of coursework, but she couldn’t change her story now. “I know, dumb right? It was just a little extra credit thing, but every point counts, right?”

His lips thinned and his eyes narrowed. “Can I see it?”

“It?”

“The collage?”

Shit. “Uh, sure. It’s not done yet, but I’ll show you when it’s finished.” She plastered a bright smile onto her face and hurried over to set the groceries on the counter. She pretended to be busy putting things away and hoped he wouldn’t notice her hands shaking.

She sucked at lying and she hated lying to him. It was going to come back and bite her in the ass, she just knew it. Plus, now she had to come up with a vaguely believable topic to base the collage on. Something at least tangentially connected to her major.

“Charlie, you know you’re not allowed to hide things from me. And you know if I find out you’ve gone behind my back to do something… you’re going to regret it.”

She drew in a deep breath through her nose, letting it out as she slowly turned back to face him. “Daddy, what could I possibly be hiding?” It was a question, so it didn’t count as a lie.

“I couldn’t begin to guess. The sky’s the limit with you, darlin. If I find out you’ve made some decision about the ranch without my agreement, I’ll put a belt across your ass.”

Her butt flexed and tightened. A phantom tingle reminded her of the last time she’d earned a real punishment from the belt. Ouch . “Daddy, I swear I’m not doing anything with the ranch. I learned my lesson last time!”

And she had, mostly. They’d developed a good working relationship as co-owners, and now that she was learning so much about ranch management, he actually listened to her. That made a difference.

Even when he said ‘no,’ it mattered that he considered it. If that changed, well, then, maybe she’d go back to her old ways.

“I hope so, girly.” He didn’t sound convinced.

“It’s true.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “It’s like you don’t trust me.” There was a whine to the words, and it wasn’t entirely fake.

It hurt that he was so suspicious. It wasn’t logical, since he had good reason to be, but still. And then she realized she had the perfect way to get him out of the house.

He shifted in his seat and his expression lightened, just slightly. “I trust you… but I also know sometimes you…” He paused as if trying to settle his words. He finally went with, “Sometimes you get yourself in trouble.”

It wasn’t untrue, but that was beside the point. Here she was trying to do something really sweet for him and he was being suspicious. She turned back, took a can out of the bag, and smacked it down on the counter. It was a little louder than she’d planned, but satisfying, so she continued to unload the bags that way.

“Charlie.”

Bang.

“Girl, you are?—”

Bang.

“I’m about to lose my tem?—”

Crunch.

Oops. She hadn’t been paying attention and when she got to the eggs, and she smacked them down with the same force she’d been using on the cans. Eggs, as it turned out, didn’t like being slammed on the counter and something viscous began to ooze out of the broken foam box.

She glared at the mangled carrier and swept the whole thing into the sink. “Now, look what you made me do!”

“Me? Charlotte McGee Mason, you are about two seconds from going over my knee.” His voice had dropped low, and a growl had crept in.

She both loved and hated that voice. It was sexy as hell and screamed angry Daddy, which was delicious. But it also meant she was about to get her ass heated, and that wasn’t what she was going for at that moment.

She sniffed. “Sure, might as well. Since you don’t trust me anyway. Just add an unfair spanking to everything else,” she said, huffing.

Sam made a gruff sound, and for a second she thought she’d oversold it. But he didn’t come over to deliver the promised spanking. Instead, he stood up, snarling, “Women!” and headed for the door.

He stopped to grab his coat, and as he was shrugging into it, he said, “This isn’t over, Charlie. You and I are going to have a discussion about your attitude, and about this secret.” The threat was clear.

And then he was gone, and she heaved a sigh of relief. A spanking was the least she could expect out of this, but she considered the penalty worth it, if it meant the surprise wasn’t ruined. “Katie must be rubbing off on me,” she muttered.

In fact, she’d pulled a page right out of Katie’s book. Her friend was amazing when it came to throwing Nick off the scent with distractions. Though, Charlie was pretty sure, he just allowed it because he enjoyed the game.

Settling up with Sam, when it all eventually came out, wasn’t going to be nearly as much fun. But it was still worth it, and, if she was being honest, Charlie was having fun trying to keep him in the dark. She was starting to understand why Katie wound Nick up so much.

Sure there’d be punishment, but she’d still have ‘won’, and that was a rare experience when it came to challenging Sam. And, after all, it wasn’t a terrible secret. It wasn’t a relationship-damaging trick she was playing. Their business wasn’t involved, so really, it was pretty low-stakes. Why not let herself enjoy the game?

Despite talking herself up about it, she still felt a little queasy with nerves when she thought about the trouble that would be coming her way. It was one way she differed from Katie. That girl could throw all caution to the wind and not worry one bit, when she felt like it.

Charlie had never quite got the hang of that, and she’d be an anxious mess until Valentine’s Day. But if she made it without giving in or getting caught… it would still feel like an accomplishment. She told herself, without quite believing, that the sweetness of the win would make everything else easier.

Ha! If only.

But the important part was that she’d gotten him out of the house, and just in the nick of time too. Less than an hour after he’d stalked out, Micky showed up. She didn’t have to watch for him, the truck was loud as it came down the road. She really hoped no one on the ranch side would hear and come looking.

She pulled on her coat and hurried out to meet them.

It was obvious the truck was running, and the engine sounded just fine, if loud. She walked all the way around to make sure the body was in perfect shape, as he’d claimed. It really was beautiful, if a bit silly looking. The exhaust stacks were so over the top.

But the cherry-red paint that gave the model its name was in great shape, with barely a scratch. Not bad for a truck that was running over forty years old. Sam was going to be absolutely thrilled.

“I thought you didn’t have a license?” she asked, as the door swung open, and he got out of the driver’s seat.

He shot her a dark look from under shaggy, greasy-looking hair. “I don’t, but how else was I going to get it here?”

Fair enough . “Well, I’ve got your money.” The bank hadn’t been thrilled to hand over the large cash withdrawal without notice. She’d had to fill out a few forms, but she’d gotten it.

“Good. You oughta pay more for the inconvenience. I?—”

She cut him off. “No. You’ll get what we agreed on. But first I need you to move the truck around to the other side of the house.” She’d thought about this, and decided there was a good chance Sam would never see it, if it was parked in her dad’s old garage.

It was his ‘tinkerer’ garage. A small, one-bay building that he’d used mostly for storage, but occasionally for vehicle repairs. Jimmy had helped keep their cars, and some of the smaller ranch vehicles, going. Just the basic stuff: brakes, fan belts, filters— that kind of thing, but he’d enjoyed the simple maintenance and liked to have a place out of the weather to do it.

Sam had probably learned a love of mechanics from her father. They’d bonded over it and spent hours out there messing around. She remembered being jealous of that, despite having no interest in getting greasy herself.

Since his death, it had sat unused. The truck would fit inside, barely, and there was no reason for Sam to look in there.

Micky grumbled and muttered under his breath. Charlie ignored it, smug in the fact that Sam would have punched him right in the nose for calling his wife things like that. She didn’t care, it only mattered that he followed her to the garage and slowly pulled it in, safely out of sight.

After that she was happy to sign the paperwork and see him off.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” she said, without offering to shake his hand. Her tone made it clear she knew full well there had been no pleasure for him.

“Yeah, well…” He sputtered to a stop, looking disgruntled about the whole thing. “I just hope you know you got the deal of a lifetime, lady.”

“I do, yes, and I appreciate it.” She flashed a thousand-watt smile, and enjoyed watching him wilt a little as he climbed into his friend’s car.

The whole thing had taken less than an hour. The truck had been visible from the ranch for only a few minutes of that, and she highly doubted anyone had noticed it in such a short time. Best of all, she’d managed to snag Sam’s dream truck for a good five thousand under its listed value. Even Sam couldn’t get too mad with that kind of bargain.

Probably.

But with all of that out of the way, she was starting to feel a little guilty about sending him out into the cold in a bad mood. She’d been trying to figure out how to get him out of the house and the opportunity had presented itself, so she’d taken it.

As she often did when she was having feelings about things, she decided to bake. Baking eased her mind and gave her fidgety hands something to do, so it was especially good for channeling guilt. Her Daddy had a specific love for her chocolate chip banana bread, so she dug out the ingredients and got to work.

Maybe that would make up for the argument, until he got his real reward.