“Are you going to sit in timeout like Daddy told you to?” His soft question was accompanied by his hand stroking her bottom.
“Y-yes, Daddy.”
“There’s my good girl.” Helping her up, he pulled her in for a quick bear hug. “Bottom on the stool and hands on your head, jellybean. It’ll only be for about ten minutes and then we can go home.”
Face flaming with embarrassment and the jealous anger that still hadn’t completely faded, she hopped up onto the hard wood of the stool with a slight wince at the ache in her bottom and thighs. Linking her fingers behind her head, she stared straight ahead so she wouldn’t have to see Julia gloating.
“I’m going to finish talking to Julia, and then you and I will finish this discussion at home. I want you to use this timeout time to think about how you could have made better choices.”
Hot, bitter tears blurred her vision. They hadn’t even left the kitchen and she was already in trouble. And she hadn’t had a chance to show him her pink slip from Headmaster Jenkins yet, either. Her whole weekend was ruined now, and it was all stupid Julia’s fault. If she hadn’t been such a bitch, Hayleigh wouldn’t have lost her temper and Connor wouldn’t be mad at her.
Nobody wants a submissive who can’t behave in public. Closing her eyes, she willed the negative thoughts away. Yes, she could have made better choices and she shouldn’t have lashed out, but Connor wasn’t going to dump her just because she’d lost her temper.
Right?
As if sensing her thoughts, Connor’s soft voice whispered in her ear. “I’m right here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
Opening her eyes, she turned her head to find him watching her with concern all over his handsome face. “Is my timeout over?”
“Yeah, jellybean. Are you okay?”
“Just sad I’m in trouble already,” she confessed quietly.
“It’s not big trouble. Let’s head home so we can talk about it.”
“‘Kay, Daddy.”
The walk to his place was quiet, and she had to remind herself the entire time that the worst thing he might do was spank her again. She could take another spanking. Hell, she could take a whole weekend of spankings if that was what he decided she needed. As long as he was still there to hold her and comfort her afterwards, she could take whatever punishment he chose to dish out.
Inside the house, he pointed to the living room. “Sit.”
Not wanting to get in any more trouble than she was already in, she hurried over and plopped down on the couch. “Um, Daddy? I know I’m already in trouble, but I have to tell you something.”
Arms crossed, Connor looked down at her with one eyebrow raised in the universal Dom signal for “you better have a good explanation, little girl”. “What do you need to tell me?”
Heart pounding against her ribs, she opened the binder and pulled out the pink slip to hand to him. “I got in trouble for not paying attention in Headmaster Jenkins’s class.”
“Were you talking to Sadie again?” he asked, taking the slip from her.
She blushed again at the reminder of their conversation with Professor Rogers earlier in the week. Her Professor has made it a point to stop them in the hall to tattle on her for talking in class. She’d gotten off with a warning that time, but she didn’t expect the same grace this time around. “No, sir. I was just, um, thinking about tonight and I kinda zoned out, I guess.”
“Poor little jellybean. Rough afternoon, huh?”
The understanding in his voice had the tears flooding her eyes again. “Kinda.”
“Is that why you snapped at me in the kitchen? You were feeling anxious over being in trouble?”
It was an easy out. Part of her knew she should tell him the truth, but she didn’t want him to think she was trying to blame Julia for her losing her temper. “I guess.”
“And is that how we deal with feeling upset?”
“No, Daddy. I’m really sorry, I won’t do it again.”
“What did I say would happen if you got in trouble at school again, Hayleigh?”
Oh, geez. He was going to make her say it out loud. “You said, um, that you would spank me when we got home.”
“I believe I specifically said you could expect a whipping with my belt, didn’t I?”