“Mmhmm. You’ve been good about it lately, so I’ll let it go this once.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“C’mon, brat,” he said with a laugh, tugging at her leash. “You don’t have to crawl, since I’m sure the stains would be impossible to get out of that white material.”
Bouncing happily, she followed him into the event hall, and immediately gasped at the transformation. Erika and Sadie had managed to turn the room into a stunning, tasteful Halloween wonderland. Instead of the usual color scheme, they’d swapped orange for hints of pale rose among the acres of black. The entire room seemed to glitter and sparkle, but there was still an underlying spookiness with the fog creeping around their ankles as they walked.
“It’s so pretty!” Hayleigh gushed as they wandered the room. “But where’s Angel’s haunted house?”
“It’s still in the fridge, so it won’t melt. We’ll bring it out in about an hour when the party is really in full swing.”
“Hayleigh!”
They both turned at the sound of Sadie calling her name, and Hayleigh was nearly knocked flat by the force of her flying hug.
“Oh my gosh, you look so pretty! I heard about your other kitty costume and I was so bummed I didn’t get to see it, but this is even better. And that collar! I love it!” Before Hayleigh could answer, Sadie stepped away and twirled in place. “Do you like my costume? I’m Dorothy. I made Erika and Master Jared and my Daddy dress up, too!”
Sure enough, over in the corner was Erika, decked out in a giant pink ball gown, complete with a sparkling tiara and magic wand. She waved before turning back to her conversation with a tall, distinguished older man who was dressed in all silver, including face paint.
“That’s Master Jared, Erika’s…” Sadie wrinkled her nose. “Boyfriend sounds weird, ‘cause he’s so old. But that’s her Dom. Come on, I wanna show you the Littles room! We set up all kinds of games and stuff so we wouldn’t get bored during the party.”
“Um.” Unsure of what to do, Hayleigh looked up at Connor, who smiled and gave her leash a gentle tug so he could lean down and kiss her.
“Go on. I need to go check the kitchen anyway. But be good and no pranks, girls.” When Hayleigh glanced over at Sadie, Connor tightened the leash and pulled her closer. “I’m serious, little girl. Not so much as a whoopee cushion on someone’s chair, or you won’t sit right for a week. Understood?”
Any desire to go play with Sadie was smothered under the onslaught of desire pulsing through her at his threat. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl.” With another quick, hard kiss, he unsnapped the leash and nudged her toward Sadie. “Go have fun. And don’t make yourself sick on candy!” he called as they hurried away, giggling wildly.
The Littles room was decorated more in the traditional orange and black, with half a dozen tables strategically stationed around the room, just like when they’d been helping with the decorations. Hayleigh spotted several of the crafts they’d done hanging from the ceilings and taped up along the walls.
“What do you want to do first?” Sadie asked, linking her arm with Hayleigh’s.
“Actually.” Glancing around, Hayleigh dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Do you want to see something really cool?”
“Yes! What is it?”
“I helped build this really cool haunted house, made entirely of chocolate. My Daddy said it’s still in the fridge so it won’t melt, but I really wanna show you.”
“Your Daddy won’t be mad? He seemed pretty serious earlier.”
“We’re not playing a prank. I’m just showing you something. And we’re both allowed in the halls without a Big tonight, so what’s the harm?”
“All right, but this time you get to take the rap if we get in trouble!”
“Deal.”
Even though she’d told Sadie it was okay, Hayleigh still felt a little guilty as they snuck into the kitchen. Luckily, everyone was so used to having her around at this point, nobody even batted an eye when they slipped in the side door and headed for the huge walk-in fridge.
“Okay, close your eyes,” she whispered to Sadie. After making sure Sadie couldn’t see, she checked to make sure the coast was clear again then opened the door and ushered her friend inside. With the door shut behind them she pulled Sadie’s hands away from her eyes. “Tada!”
“Oh no! Hayleigh, look!”
Peeking around Sadie, she felt her blood run cold. There, where Angel’s masterpiece should have been, was a pile of chocolate house-shaped pieces.
“No!” Hayleigh cried, rushing forward. “Angel is going to be devastated! He worked so hard on this! Here, help me put it back together. I watched him do it, I bet I can fix it.”
“I don’t think we can fix this, Hays. We should go get your Daddy and tell him what happened.”