She smirked, but then straightened her face.
“Thank you.” She tried to smile, and that’s where I spotted her nervousness. A deep sense of dread prevented her from completely letting go, caught between the defiant woman from the office and the timid girl standing before me. But she was here, and that’s all I had asked of her so far.
“Come with me.” I held out my hand.
She glared at it and then looked around the room. Her hand slid into mine. I gave her an encouraging squeeze and wove my way through the crowd toward a hallway leading to the private rooms. The room monitors were part of our department. Kylie gasped when she spotted Matthew, one of the security staff from Quad II, at the door.
“It’s okay.” I whispered.
“Hi, Boss.” He nodded. “You are in room four. Hi Kylie.”
“Hi,” she managed to get out as we passed. Her ears turned red. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, but maybe a little humiliation was what she needed.
“Thanks, Matthew.”
I guided Kylie through the hall and to door number four. All the rooms for the weekend were decorated as nurseries or playrooms to accommodate any age group. Rooms one through three came equipped with cribs and changing tables and things a young little would desire. Rooms four through seven aged up the décor, making it more suitable for littles at toddler age and middles. I wasn’t sure what age Kylie regressed to, but I figured these rooms would be a good starting point.
I pushed the door open and stepped to the side, guiding Kylie in. She stopped on the threshold. “Oh my gosh.” I stepped in behind her and shut the door with a thud.
She whipped around, guarding her back side with her bag.
I held my hand up. “Nothing is going to happen until you are ready.”
She lowered her hands back to her side.
“Go ahead, have a look around.”
She set her bag on a chair and walked around the room, touching everything.
“It’s so pretty.” She ruffled the fur of a teddy bear dressed in a suit and tie and continued taking in the room. “They go all out for little’s night.”
“We can customize all the rooms for our guests.” He walked to the side of the bed and confirmed everything was prepared. A bottle of water and a sippy cup with apple juice sat on the nightstand. I also asked for a sweet treat, which was currently hidden under a small silver dome on a platter. I took off my watch and set it and my phone in the nightstand's drawer. The rest of the room comprised of a small couch, a wooden bookshelf full of books, and a couple of bean bag chairs in one corner. There was a television mounted on the wall, currently playing an image of an aquarium with fish swimming around. She touched the screen, and the fish zipped to the other side of the screen.
“Oh, how cute.” She gasped and giggled.
I sat on the edge of the bed and let her continue to explore. When she made her way around the rest of the room, she came back and stood before the door, wringing her hands together.
“Come here, Kylie.”
She blinked and her gaze fell on me. I gave her a little smile, and she smiled back. She approached and stood between my legs.
“Are you nervous?” I asked.
“A little bit.” She nodded. “But I’m ready to do this. I don’t want to feel like this anymore.”
“How do you feel?”
“Like I let you down.” She bit her bottom lip. “Like I let everyone down.”
“Oh, sweet girl.” I held my hand out. She took it. “You made a mistake, but, like I said, we’ll handle your punishment and then all is forgiven.”
“What will my punishment be?”
“Since we don’t know each other in the Daddy/little dynamic, I have some questions. Then I’ll give you a choice of three and you can pick one.”
Her eyes grew wide.
“Remember,” I motioned between the two of us. “Honesty bubble still stands between us. I need you to be honest, or let me know if you can’t answer something right now. Okay?”
