How Cassie Got Her Grind Back(Divine Creek Ranch 23)(32)

Samson lips flattened into a straight line, and he arched one brow as he squinted at her. “Did you just poke me, brat?”

Brat?

Grinning at him in challenge, Bunny cocked a hip and rested a hand on it—and poked him again with her finger. “Yeah, I did, Grumpy Grizzly.” Bunny instantaneously jumped and squealed.

“Don’t forget I’m standing here within easy reach, fiammetta,” Joseph said with a chuckle as he took a sip from the amber liquid in his rocks glass. “I have my clicker with me. Go visit with Violet and Grace but try not to get into any more trouble. Cassie, it’s a pleasure seeing you again. Don’t let my lovely wife corrupt you with her naughty behavior.”

Cassie giggled and smiled back at him, wondering if maybe he wasn’t as scary as she’d always assumed. She didn’t know what he’d done to Bunny, but it’d sure gotten a reaction.

She glanced at both Samson and Ivan and said, “I’ll be right back. It was time for a pit-stop anyway.” I need to collect all my fried brain cells from that kiss.

Samson’s expression changed completely as he turned his attention back to Cassie, and a warm wave coursed through her as he smiled. His shift in demeanor made her curious about the club he frequented. When he went through those doors, what was he like? Maybe Bunny could give her some clues.

“What did he mean he has his clicker with him?” she asked of Bunny once they were away from the table—and out of reach.

Bunny giggled again and said, “Come on and I’ll tell you all about it.”



* * * *



Samson gestured for Joseph to take the seat Cassie had temporarily vacated and glanced at his brother, shaking his head when Ivan made a move to leave. There was no reason.

“How are things working out this evening?” Joseph asked as he unbuttoned his suit coat and took the offered seat. “Was she surprised to see you both at the reunion  ?”

Warmth filled him as he nodded, recalling her reaction when he cut in on her dance with Hank and had kissed her. She’d allowed him to apologize and explain face-to-face, which was better than over the phone. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t envied Ivan just a little bit the exuberant greeting he’d gotten a few minutes later. She was there with them and at least willing to talk—

“Does she understand what you do at the club—beyond being my right hand? Your proclivities?”

Samson shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about my proclivities until we’ve hashed out the more basic details between the three of us. Ivan isn’t interested in the kink…and I don’t hold that against him. He knows it’s just the way I’m wired.”

Joseph sipped from his glass again. “I recommend openness and honesty from this point forward, my friend. Better to shock her a little now, rather than to risk her falling for you and then making discoveries that, for her, may be untenable.”

Samson sighed, knowing Joseph was right and had all of their interests at heart. She’d been at the mansion for the wedding, and she had friends who were in the lifestyle and had probably told her a few things. “I appreciate the advice and will take it under advisement. Right now, she’s the most important thing. And I know what you’re going to say, but I’m not trying to recapture my youth. I’m taking the second chance I’ve been given—we’ve been given. My lifestyle is secondary.”

Raising an eyebrow, Joseph nodded. “You’d be content not having the kink in your life anymore if it meant she was with you?”

Samson met Ivan’s searching gaze and thought of the last session he’d had with Victoria at the club. Had his heart been in it, or was he fulfilling the role a friend he respected needed him to fill? With the potential for Cassie becoming a part of his life, how badly did he need it? He nodded at his friend. “Absolutely. You don’t know what it’s like to miss a particular person for that many years and wish you had another chance—”

A change in Joseph’s demeanor and his slight frown made Samson search for whatever drew Joseph’s attention as his friend said, “Incoming.”

Cassie marched across the club, high color in her cheeks and her lips set in a grim line. Bunny was hot on her heels, followed closely by Grace. Joseph vacated her seat, and she waved a dismissive hand at him, her usual timidity at his presence all but gone. Nailing Samson with a steely look that must’ve been honed in the last three decades, she said, “Did you strike my friend?” Without letting him reply, she lapsed into rapid Spanish. He caught the words for asshole and dog shit, and he was thankful she at least modulated her tone.