9
Owen
“So…what comes next?”
Lifting his cup of cooled coffee to his lips, Owen forced himself to take a sip, hoping it might settle his system a bit as he considered the answer to her question.
Kissing her had probably been a mistake, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it. Not when she’d been so sweet and pliant the moment he’d laid his lips on hers. He hadn’t expected the easy, simple surrender, and it had rattled him far more than he’d expected. And now, all he wanted was to spend the day in bed with her, exploring her body until they were both too exhausted to so much as blink.
But a few dozen orgasms wouldn’t teach her the lessons she still needed to learn this weekend, so he forced the images of her, naked in his bed and screaming his name, from his mind and focused on her.
“Let’s talk about Halloween.”
As if he’d flipped a switch, her face closed off, shielding him from glimpsing any of her thoughts or emotions. “What about it?”
“I think we’ve established the why of what you did. You were jealous of Hayleigh, so you wanted to get her in trouble. To trick Connor into thinking she was a troublemaker so he would dump her and realize he’d made a mistake in not only rejecting you, but firing you as well.”
“You’re making me sound like the villain from some cheesy teen drama.”
The note of anger in her tone wasn’t completely unexpected. Being forced to face the reality of what she’d done, the people she’d hurt, couldn’t have been easy for her. “Is anything I’ve stated factually incorrect?”
“Oh, don’t go all lawyer on me,” she snapped, the anger he’d heard in her voice now sparking in her eyes. “You know damn well that’s what happened.”
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t allow any Little under his care to speak to him the way she was, but if he wanted to dig deeper, to get to the core of what had happened at the Ranch and to help her heal, she needed a safe space to express all those ugly emotions. “I know what happened, and I know why, more or less. What I want to know, now, is if you are willing to accept responsibility for it.”
“Of course, I am. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”
“So, what do you think is an appropriate punishment for someone who sabotaged hours’ worth of work, with the intent on seeing someone else punished for it, all for her own personal gain?”
“I don’t know.” Eyes lowered, she shifted in her chair and poked at her oatmeal. “More than just a spanking, though.”
“I agree. Spankings are for little girls who do naughty things. What you did could have had some very real, very grown-up repercussions. So, I think a more grown-up punishment is in order today.”
“Like what?”
“Normally, I have a cleaning service in every Thursday to give the house a good top-to-bottom scrubbing. In anticipation of your visit, I gave them the week off this past Thursday. In the hall closet, you will find all the supplies you need to take care of their normal duties, along with a list of everything I expect to have done by the end of the day.”
Her head flew up, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. “But…but this house is huge!”
“It is rather large, yes. But I’m a fairly tidy man, so it really shouldn’t take all day.”
“What if I can’t finish?”
“Then you will go to bed with a very sore bottom, and you will finish tomorrow before your final punishment of the weekend.”
“That’s not fair!”
Hardening his heart against her pleas, he pinned her with a stern glare. It was a tough punishment, but she’d more than earned it. Backing off now would only allow her to wallow in her guilt until she acted out in some new, possibly even more damaging way. “Was it fair when you ruined all of Angel’s hard work?”
“No, but…” Trailing off, she sighed, her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. “No, sir, it wasn’t fair.”
“Good girl. Finish your oatmeal and then you can begin your chores.”
“Not hungry.”
Normally, he might have insisted she finish, but it was easy to see her emotions were too close to the surface just then. No wonder she wasn’t hungry. “All right. Come here, please. I have something for you before you begin.”
Pushing away from the table, she dragged herself around to where he was seated. “What is it?”