Crossing her arms over her small, pert breasts, she tilted her head up, defiance flashing in her golden eyes. “Yes.”
“Julia, this weekend will go much better for you if you lose the attitude and accept responsibility for your actions. I’m going to give you one more chance to come clean. Lie to me again and you’ll be standing in the corner with ginger in your bottom until you’re ready to be truthful.”
Throwing her hands behind her to cover her bottom as if that would protect her from the threatened punishment, she shook her head frantically from side to side. “No!”
“No, what? What are you supposed to call me this weekend, Julia?”
The plea was clear in her eyes. For someone who didn’t identify as a Little, being forced to live as one had to be humiliating. But a little humiliation never hurt anyone, and he wasn’t about to let her off the hook just because she batted those big, brown eyes at him.
With a sigh that was more for show than anything, he pushed out of the chair. “Ginger it is, then.”
“No!” Dancing in place, hands still covering her bottom, she swallowed hard before finally forcing the words out. “No, D-daddy. Please!”
“Good girl,” he murmured, noting how her eyes lit with pleasure at the simple praise. “Are you going to tell me the truth about what happened with Hayleigh?”
A pretty pink flush colored her cheeks and her tone lost some of its snarky edge when she replied. “I guess I may have been a little mean to her. I saw one dish that needed to be scrubbed again and used it as an excuse to make her do them all over.”
“Thank you for being honest. Do you still think you don’t deserve to be punished for making her do so much extra work?”
“I guess I do. It was kind of mean.”
“Then let’s get this over with.” Settling back into the chair, Owen reached for her hand and guided her over his lap. He had to bite back a groan at the sight of her ruffle-covered bottom peeking out from beneath her dress. It was too damn bad she wasn’t a Little. Despite the behavior that had landed her over his knee, he enjoyed spending time with her.
And spanking her certainly wasn’t a hardship.
Tugging her panties down, he left them wrapped around her knees. Those small details, in his experience, helped to put a Little girl in the right headspace. If she was naked, it was too easy to frame the punishment as something sexy and desirable. But being fully clothed with her panties around her knees forced her to recognize her place as a naughty Little girl about to get her bottom spanked by her daddy.
“Why are you getting this spanking, Julia?” he asked, keeping his voice stern as he rubbed her bottom so the skin would be nice and warm to accept her punishment.
“Because I was a little mean to Hayleigh.”
“You were more than a little mean, Julia Lynne. You were a bully. Is it nice to bully people?”
“No.” Two hard swats directly to her sit-spots had her squealing. “No, Daddy!”
“Is that how a professional chef behaves in her kitchen? Throwing her weight around to make everyone else miserable for no reason?”
“No, Daddy.”
Her final reply was quieter, her voice thick with unshed tears, and he took that as his queue to begin. Without lecturing further, he lifted his hand and let it fall heavily on her bare bottom. Julia arched her back, but made no move to escape her punishment.
Good girl. He didn’t speak the words; there would be time to coddle her later. For now, he had a naughty Little girl to punish.