Chapter 5
Jolie was so miserable.
Everyone was being so nice to her, but she felt awful. Like a burden. And she was worried people were going to catch her cold.
She’d sneezed all over Erika’s phone. And then Derek Hawkins, the freaking owner of Rawhide Ranch, had come to her room, picked her up and carried her to the infirmary.
Seriously. The man was built. And kind. With a definite Dominant streak. She didn’t ever want to get into trouble with him.
And yet… she felt quite safe around him.
It was so bizarre.
She blamed it on this freaking cold.
Master Derek had deposited her in the infirmary with the admonishment to rest and listen to the nurse. Then he’d disappeared.
After assessing her, the nurse had called Doctor Nelson, who was currently scolding her about not telling someone earlier that she wasn’t feeling well.
“I’m sorry,” she said when he paused. “I just… didn’t want to be a bother. And I didn’t think there would be a hotel doctor.”
“Rawhide Ranch is different from a hotel. We take good care of our guests. If you’re not feeling well, you tell someone. So we can help you.”
She sniffled. Shoot. What was wrong with her? Was she about to cry?
“Sorry. I’m just… I’m?—”
“Overwhelmed and ill. You said you started vomiting when you first got here.”
“Yes. But I stopped vomiting after a day.”
“And then you got this cold?” he asked.
“Yeah. It seems my body isn’t very happy with me.”
“You’re part of a band? And you’ve been touring for the last five months?”
“Yes.” She’d gone through this with the nurse who must have given him a basic rundown.
“All right. I think you were probably exhausted when you arrived here, and your body decided to hit you with everything at once. That can happen when you’ve been pushing too hard and then you stop.”
Yeah. That’s what she’d figured, too.
“Do you know the last time that you urinated?”
Okay. She hadn’t expected that question.
“Um. No.”
He exchanged a look with the nurse.
“Is something wrong?”
“I think you’re likely dehydrated. I’m going to hook you up to an IV to see if that helps. I also believe you have bronchitis. I’ll take a swab of your throat, too. But you, young lady, are rather ill.”
Great. Just what she needed. “Oh.”
“Oh, indeed. I’m going to give you some antibiotics in the IV to get you started. I think you’ll start to feel much better soon.”
“Do I… shouldn’t I leave?” she asked.
“Leave?” he asked. “Why would you leave? Oh, you want to go back to your room? I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not when you’re on your own. Unless you have someone to take care of you?”
“Um. No. I don’t.”
What about Brand?
Brand didn’t want to take care of her. Brand just wanted to… scold her? Maybe control her? Was that it? Was he just such a control freak that he couldn’t stand the idea that she’d left without telling him where she was going?
But that didn’t make sense. They’d had breaks before, and he’d never chased her down like this.
Had he really been worried about her?
“Jolie?” the doctor asked in a kind voice. “Are you all right?”
“I meant shouldn’t I leave here? The Ranch. I don’t want to make anyone else ill.”
He patted her hand. “That’s very sweet of you. But you need to worry about yourself right now.”
She blinked at him. What did he mean…. worry about herself?
“We can’t keep you here if you want to leave, of course,” he said. “But I’d prefer you had someone with you to keep an eye on you. If you don’t treat this bronchitis, you might end up in the hospital.”
Right. She didn’t want that.
“Is there someone you want us to call?” the nurse asked.
“I-I…”
Brand. She wanted to call Brand.
Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not even a friend. He doesn’t want to take care of your sick ass.
“No. There’s no one.”
A look of sympathy filled the doctor’s face, but she didn’t really want to see it, so she closed her eyes. “I’m sleepy.”
“All right, Jolie. You sleep.”
Jolie woke up coughing.
Oh. That sucked.
Opening her eyes, she searched around for water, her gaze hitting a pair of blue eyes.
That did not belong to Doctor Nelson or the nurse.
Derek Hawkins.
The same guy who had carried her here to the infirmary.
Awesome.
What was he doing here? Why was he sitting by her bed in the infirmary? And was he…was he holding a teddy bear?
Maybe she was having delusions or something.
“Hi, darlin’,” he said. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No.” Cough. “Water.”
Great. She couldn’t even get out entire sentences.
Derek grabbed a glass from the rolling stand by the bed. It had a straw sitting in it, and he guided the end of the straw to her lips.
Well. This wasn’t embarrassing or anything.
She reached for the glass, but he simply gave her a look and she dropped her hand, sipping some water.
He put the glass back down.
“That’s a pretty potent look you’ve got there,” she joked. “I hope you use it for good and not evil.”
His lips twitched. “I like to think I do.”
“Whew. Because you could conquer countries with that look.”
This time, he definitely smiled. “As Sadie’s Daddy, I mostly use it to warn her when she’s close to earning herself a punishment.”
She blushed from a mix of embarrassment and want.
God. Was that something she wanted? For more than just a night or a short holiday? Did she want a man who would also be her Daddy?
And how lucky was Sadie to belong to this man?
“I, um… what are you… um… thanks for carrying me here earlier.”
It was still the same day, right?
“You’re welcome. You’re not very well, darlin’.”
Yeah. She kind of figured that with how shitty she felt. But she felt even worse that she’d inconvenienced everyone.
“I’m really sorry to take up your time. You must be very busy.” So what was he doing here? “Are you… are you here to take me back to my room?”
He studied her for a moment. “Quincy wanted you to be observed overnight, so you’re staying here tonight.”
Quincy? Oh, Doctor Nelson.
“Is that necessary? I’m not that ill, am I?”
“He didn’t like the idea of you being in your room, sick and alone, and I agree with him.”
Great. So now I’m even more of a problem.
She chewed at her lip.
“Nurse Beverly will be back soon. She’s going to check in on you a few times tonight.”
This just got worse and worse.
“I’m so sorry. I can go…”
Derek smiled. “You can, of course. But you would need monitoring. We’d likely have to arrange for you to go to the closest hospital. I can call an ambulance if that’s what you want.”
No. That wasn’t what she wanted.
This was silly. She wasn’t that sick.
“I’m not ill enough for hospital.”
“Quincy was worried about you getting sicker, Jolie,” he told her. “That you might get pneumonia and that’s quite serious.”
Right.
“Am I… I’m being a hassle.” She started coughing again, and he held up the glass of water again.
“You’re not a hassle,” he told her firmly. “And I would prefer you stay here where Nurse Beverly can keep an eye on you.”
Was he telling the truth about her not being a hassle? Seriously, who wanted a guest like her?
But she was too tired and sick to argue. She really didn’t want to go to the hospital. It would probably mean hours in the emergency room only for them to send her away because she wasn’t ill enough to be admitted.
And then where would she go? A hotel?
“I’ll stay.”
“Good decision.” The approval in his voice warmed her.
Yikes. Seems she wasn’t so sick she didn’t enjoy some praise.
“Now we have that settled. I wanted to tell you that I spoke to Brand Starr earlier at the gate.”
“Yeah.” Why had Brand tracked her down?
She couldn’t believe Mikey had told him where she was staying.
The jerk.
But she also couldn’t believe that Brand had come after her.
She was so confused.
“He’s very worried about you,” Derek told her.
“He is?”
“You seem surprised,” Master Derek said. “I take it that you didn’t expect him to come looking for you?”
“Um, no. We’re not… we’re not even friends.”
“Hmm. Perhaps he wants to be more than friends?”
She gaped at him. What was he talking about?
Another coughing fit hit her, and she groaned in pain. Damn, her back was aching from all the coughing.
Master Derek gave her some more water. He made a good nurse.
She decided not to tell him that.
Sitting back, she stared at him, exhausted and completely done in. She couldn’t work out what Brand was doing here. She just knew that she was feeling alone and kind of scared.
“Did he leave?”
“He’s no longer at the Ranch, but I don’t believe he’s far away. He gave me his number to contact him if I needed to. And I know he wanted you to charge your phone.”
“I don’t know where it is.”
“I can have Erika find it in your room with your permission, then charge it.”
“Yes, please.” She had to message Addie as well. “He really wants to know how I’m doing?”
“Yes. Like I said, he seemed very concerned.”
That made her tummy dance with nerves and excitement.
“I won’t tell him anything that breaks your privacy, but I think he will worry until he knows you’re doing okay.”
“You can… you can text him,” she said.
Derek nodded. “You feel safe with him?”
Safe with him? What did he mean? Why wouldn’t she be safe with him?
“Of course.”
Oh wait. Did he think Brand was a threat? It did seem a bit stalkerish to follow her here and demand to see her.
“Brand is, well, I don’t know exactly what he is. But he’s no threat.”
“No, I don’t think he is, either” he murmured. “Is there anything I can get you?”
Her gaze flickered down to the teddy bear he was holding. She wished she’d brought some of her stuffies, but she’d stupidly left them all behind.
Sometimes, she was such an idiot. She’d booked herself into a Ranch with its own Dungeon as well as an entire area for Littles, including fun activities and programs and she hadn’t even brought one of her stuffies with her.
“Oh, I almost forgot. This for you.” He held up the teddy bear.
“For me? But why?” she asked.
“Well, Sadie saw him looking in the store and said he seemed a bit lonely. He’s been there a while now and she thought you might be able to give him some company. Look after him and show him a bit of love?”
“I-I…” She stared at the bear. She wanted him so much. But she couldn’t take him. She barely knew this man and she’d not even met Sadie, though she knew Derek was her Daddy. Still, it wouldn’t be right.
“Unless you’d rather not have him? Maybe you’ve got something of your own you’d rather have?”
“No!” she practically yelled, then regretted it as she coughed again. “I didn’t bring any of my toys with me. If it… if you’re sure it’s all right, I could look after him.”
“I’m sure,” he told her, handing the bear over. “Look after him well, darlin’.”
She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but it was almost like she needed to be given permission to be able to have a toy, to let her Little out.
Hugging the bear, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
Brand stared at his phone as though he thought that might make it ring.
Why had no one called him?
Should he try calling Jolie? But what if she was resting? Fuck it. He’d never been this indecisive before.
Opening his phone, he thumbed through his messages and emails. He knew he should reply to the messages he’d had from his family, but he just didn’t have the patience for that right now. He sent something quick to his mom so she wouldn’t worry.
He glanced at the time. Fuck, it was getting late. He guessed he wasn’t hearing from Jolie again tonight.
He paced back and forth. He shouldn’t have left without seeing her. Fuck. What if she was really ill and needed him?
He should have gotten Hawkins’ number.
Idiot.
His phone rang and his heart jumped before he saw it was Kelly, his agent.
“Kelly, now isn’t a good time,” he said abruptly.
“I was calling about some PR opportunities for the tour.”
“I’m kind of busy,” he said dismissively. Then something occurred to him. Kelly had been in the lifestyle for a long time.
“You ever heard of Rawhide Ranch in Montana?”
There was a beat of silence. “Funny you should ask, I have. Where are you?”
“In Montana. What do you know about them?” he asked.
“I know they sent through a request to have you play there on the Fourth of July,” Kelly replied.
“They did? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Um, because you don’t do small, private gigs and it just came through.”
“Send it through to me,” he demanded.
“What?” Kelly asked. “Really?”
“Send it to me,” he repeated.
“You can’t be considering doing it. Right, Brand?” Kelly said.
“I want to see it.”
“You can’t agree to something like that without me negotiating your fee and conditions,” Kelly said.
“For fuck’s sake, Kelly. I’m not charging them. There are no fee and conditions.”
“What are you talking about? Wait. Is it for charity? But we’ve only got eight days to set things up. I need to get Press there. Are the rest of the band doing it with you?”
“Not everything is a fucking transaction or for publicity or whatever.”
“So, you just want to play for… for fun?” the other man asked.
“I do know how to have fun.” Or he had once.
“You’re contracted for this tour,” Kelly warned.
“It’s a favor for a friend,” he lied. “I’m allowed to sing for family and friends, right?”
Kelly sighed. “I suppose I could figure something out.”
“Good. Send me the email.”
As soon as it came through, he read it. Surprise filled him as he noted that the email said he could check into the Ranch at any time over the next week.
He immediately replied with his acceptance. Maybe Derek had come through for him after all.
Jolie, I’m coming for you, baby.