Free One Hot Momma by Cara North

was going to take his punishment like a man, and she was going to regret taking him on. He wasn’t finished being mad at her, not by a long shot.
    After eating the bowl of soup and a few crackers, he did feel better. In fact, he thought it was a fine time to break her in as his new personal assistant. He rang the bell.
    Layla appeared in the doorway, pleasant, unusually so. “Yes?”
    “I want some water.”
    She nodded and left the room. When she returned, he had her hold the water, though he could hold it in his left hand if he chose to. When she left, he gave her five minutes then rang the bell.
    “I want to watch the news,” he said smugly and watched her walk to the television hanging on the wall across from the foot of his bed and turn it on. She found a news station and brought him the remote.
Damn remote.
    He did that for about an hour; then she brought him his medication. Against his will, he was sleepy again.
    “ Rafe ?” A small voice came from the doorway. “Can we come tell you goodnight?”
    “Come on in, baby-girl.” Savannah and Brice made their way, quietly and slowly toward him. “Come on this side.” He patted the bed on the left side. They both climbed up in slow motion. “It’s okay. I’m not going to break.”
    “We don’t want to hurt you,” Brice said and looked at his foot still propped up on the pillows.
    “You won’t, cowboy. Don’t worry,” he reassured him. They both looked unconvinced. “You know what you could do though?”
    They shook their heads no.
    “You could read me a story. I’m pretty sleepy myself.” He yawned a genuine yawn.
    “I’ll go get the book.” Brice lit up.
    “Hang on.” Rafe grabbed the bell, and Layla appeared in the doorway. Before she could get onto them for being on the bed again, he said, “I told them they could get up here. They want to read me a story for bedtime.”
    “I’ll be right back.” She left to get the book.
    Instead of leaving him with the two children and the book, Layla stayed. She sat on the left side of the bed and helped Brice sound out his words. Rafe remembered this was what he had asked for, prayed for, and now he had it, just not the way he thought he would get it.
    After the story was over, Savannah gently hugged his arm and then slid off the bed. Brice was a bit less delicate, and he squeezed a lot harder.
    “I’m glad you’re not dead,” he said as he slid off the bed.
    “Me too, cowboy.” Rafe laughed. That made his ribs hurt, but he didn’t care.
    “I’m going to go tuck them in. Do you need anything?” Layla asked before walking out the door. She stopped, turned, then said, “You have a urinal bottle if you need to do number one, but if you need to do number two, I will have to call your brothers until you can handle some of your own weight again.”
    He knew his mouth was open. She had just shocked him right to his core. How had he been using the bathroom the past three days? Had he been using the bathroom? Was she going to have to clean up after that, too?
No, no, no.
He was more determined than ever to do one thing on his own. It hurt like hell to sit up completely. It really hurt when he stood up, and his ankle gave way, and he went right back to a seated position on the bed, which in turn made his ribs hurt. Fighting back tears of pain, he looked at the bottle she had set out on the nightstand and then at the bathroom door just a few feet away.
    A stream of profanity was coming from his bedroom as Layla entered the hallway. She ran to see what had happened and found him trying to sit in one of the chairs his guests had been using to sit in while visiting him the past few days. “ Rafe !”
    “I’m not pissing in a bottle.” He growled.
    “Okay.” She stood there, uncertain what to do. “Should I call one of your brothers?”
    “No.” He glared at her. “Just give me a damn minute. I can do it myself.”
    “Fine.” She took a step back and watched him push out of the chair using