“Well, sorta. I told Hayleigh I thought it would be fun to have a food fight, but she did start it. I’m really sorry, Daddy, we’ll clean it up.”
“Oh, yes you will. And you will help Chef with dinner clean up. You’re both lucky I don’t paddle your naughty bottoms right here for everyone to see.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied in unison.
“Hayleigh, I’ll leave it to you to explain what happened to your Daddy.”
Crap on a cracker. This was the part she wasn’t at all looking forward to. Her heart hammered against her ribs and her tummy was filled to the brim with butterflies as she followed Master Derek into the kitchen.
It might not have been so bad if every single person in the kitchen hadn’t stopped and stared when they walked through the doors. Or if Connor hadn’t been waiting for them, his arms crossed over his chest and a thunderous expression on his face.
“Hi, Daddy,” Hayleigh managed to squeak out.
“Hayleigh Anne Conway. Tell me you did not start a food fight inmyrestaurant.” Uncrossing his arms, he slowly closed the distance between them. “Because my little girl knows better.” He gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her head back so she had no choice but to look up into his furious eyes. “Mylittle girl is well aware of how sore her bottom would be if she ever did something so outrageous.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears blurring her vision.
“Jellybean, you have no idea how sorry you’re going to be.” Releasing his hold on her, he took a step back to address both of them. “You and Sadie are on dish duty, and then you will be scrubbing the floors of the restaurant until every trace of your little prank is cleaned up. You will not whine, you will not so much as pout, and God help you if you argue with me or anyone else in this kitchen. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” they whispered.
“Good. I mean it, girls. One single toe out of line and you’ll be feeling my spoon. And don’t think that will save either of you from the punishments you have coming later. As for the rest of you,” he turned and waved his hands at his employees, “get back to work!”
“Girls.”
They turned together to face Master Derek, who thankfully didn’t look nearly as angry as his head chef. “Yes, Daddy?” Sadie asked quietly.
“If I were you, I would be on my absolute best behavior the rest of the night. Chef and I will meet in the morning to let you know how long you’ll be on kitchen duty. For now, you better get going. Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves.”
Together, they rushed over to the sink and began the process of rinsing dishes and stacking them in the dishwasher. Other than an occasional sniffle from Hayleigh, the pair didn’t make a sound as they worked.
“Poor Chef.” Julia’s fake-whisper carried over the noisy bustle of the kitchen. “You’d think he’d get tired of dealing with that constant brattiness and get himself arealsubmissive. Someone who doesn’t embarrass him all the time.”
Hayleigh’s stomach rolled and for a moment she worried she might be sick. She nearly jumped out of her skin when two large hands settled on her shoulder.
“Ignore her, jellybean. She’s just trying to make trouble.” Leaning down, Connor brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I love you.”
“Really?” Hayleigh twisted around to look up at him. The anger was still there, in the tightness of his jaw and a little bit in his eyes, but there was love, too.
“Yes, baby. I will always love you, no matter how naughty you are. So, ignore Julia and you just focus on getting these dishes sparkling clean. All right?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
When they were alone again, Sadie leaned over. “It’s Julia,” she whispered.
“What’s Julia?” Hayleigh whispered back.
“The whole reason we got in trouble, silly. Your Daddy’s kitchen problem? I bet it’s her. She’s never been very nice, but she usually doesn’t say anything nasty when your Daddy or my Daddy are around.”
“You’re right! She’s always super nice when he can hear her. I wonder what happened.”
“I don’t know, but we’ll get to the bottom of it and find a way to fix it, whatever it is.”
“I don’t know, Sadie. Our Daddies are already pretty mad.”
Sadie wrinkled her nose. “I know. So we might as well make the punishments we’re getting worth it, right?”
Looking up, Hayleigh met Julia’s smug gaze. “Right.”