And she still couldn’t seem to get enough of him.
“Can’t you call in sick or something?” she asked, rolling onto her stomach and watching him as he pulled on the loose checkered chef pants that were part of his uniform.
“Trust me, jellybean, I want nothing more than to stay in bed with you all day. But I have responsibilities.”
Pushing her bottom lip out, she pouted up at him. “But what about me?”
“You’re going to get dressed and go to lunch, then back to the Littles’ wing.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Hayleigh Anne.”
She knew that stern tone all too well. “Fine,” she said with a sigh, drawing the word out into a long whine. “I’ll get dressed.”
“Thank you.” A strong arm snagged her when she tried to stomp past him, pulling her in for a long, smoldering kiss. “If you can be a good girl the rest of the day, I’ll let you come get an extra dessert after dinner and you can hang out while we clean up. Sound good?”
“I guess.”
Her sigh was exaggerated and purely for form, and his laugh told her they both knew it. “Brat. Go get dressed.”
She dragged her feet enough for him to threaten to pop some ginger in her bottom before lunch, which got her moving. A spanking she could live with, but she didnotwant to spend her lunch time with her bottom hole burning.
The kiss he gave her at the door to the restaurant was brief and distracted, which left her feeling more than a little hurt as she walked into the noisy cafeteria. But then she spotted Sadie, who waved her over to her table with so much enthusiasm that Master Derek had to physically push her down into her seat.
“Hi, Hayleigh! Everyone missed you at dinner yesterday. Did you have fun with your Daddy?”
Heat rushed to Hayleigh’s cheeks and she hoped she wasn’t turning as red as she felt. “Yes,” she squeaked out.
“Good! I’m glad you’re back, though. This afternoon we’re helping Erika make decorations for the Halloween party! And I know Halloween is your favorite, so I wouldn’t want you to miss out.”
It was easier than she’d expected to slip back into her role. Sadie made it easy, she realized, by not treating her any differently now that she had a Daddy of her own. They fell into their usual chatter of happenings around the Ranch, what was going on in their classes, who had gotten into trouble for what. Before she knew it, lunch was over, and they were being herded into one of the huge event rooms where Erika was waiting for them.
And not just them, she realized, but the “younger” Littles, too. Erika had chosen different arts and crafts for different age ranges and she had stations set up around the room based on difficulty. Various staff members were seated at each station, ready to assist with the different crafts. After Erika explained each one, everyone broke off, with most of them heading for the puff paint and glitter.
But the centerpieces drew Hayleigh’s attention. Her mother had always told her she had a good eye for color and space, and she’d grown up helping to decorate for various holidays throughout the year.
“Hi, sweetie,” Erika said from her spot at the table. “Would you like to help me make a centerpiece?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Wrinkling her nose, Erika waved a hand at her. “You don’t have toma’amme. We’re practically family at this point.”
Hayleigh took the seat next to Erika and watched as she carefully selected flowers to insert into a copper-colored pumpkin. Once she had an idea of what Erika was going for, she picked up a few flowers of her own and added them to the gaps in Erika’s arrangement.
“You’re really good at this. You have a good eye.” Obviously pleased with their results, Erika nodded to an empty pumpkin. “Would you like to make your own?”
“Really?”
“Go for it.”
They worked together in silence, each content to create their own little masterpieces. Around them, the room was filled with the chatter and laughter of the other Littles.
And then disaster struck.
Neither of them saw exactly what happened. But they both heard the outraged shriek of a Little boy a second before he launched himself at the boy across from him, who was laughing uncontrollably.
“Shit!” Erika jumped out of her seat and rushed to help two other staff members wrestle the boys apart. It took four staff members to finally pull them to separate corners on opposite sides of the room.