Page 6 of Mariah

“They do not!” Jilly protested again, looking like she wanted to sink into the floor.

Before Mariah could come up with a way to swing the conversation back in her direction and take the heat off her friend, Margo stepped in to do exactly that.

“Okay, they’re all hot. But Chef Graham is like… next-level hot. And Mariah gets to work with him every single day.” She grinned. “We should start a pool to guess when he’ll become her Daddy.”

Her idea was met with excited squeals of agreement all around.

Mariah rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s gambling, and Baze wouldn’t approve. So do what you want but it’s your butts on the line not mine. And besides, you’ll all lose. Chef Graham does not give off Daddy vibes.”

“He doesn’t?” Margo looked genuinely shocked. “He screams Daddy all over to me. He looks like he’d make you scream Daddy pretty good too.”

Mariah shook her head. As a virgin who knew next to nothing about sex aside from the abstinence-only culture she’d been raised in, she hated that, ever since hooking up with Knox and making it official, Margo had sex on the brain and she’d gotten even more obnoxious. “Shush your mouth,” she told her friend. “Not everything is about sex. And besides, Chef Graham is… weird.”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Well,” Mariah started, flouncing down on the couch between Jade and Tessa, “he’s hot, obviously, like melt your diaper, drop-dead gorgeous. Those eyes and that hair, and his jawline… on the outside he’s totally Daddy material. Like… you’re not wrong about that. But then… I don’t know. Something about him just seems off. He’ll be really nice and kind and affirming, but then his face will change and it will look like he’s mad about it and he’ll be really gruff and say, ‘get back to work’ and stuff like that.”

“Oh… well, is he mean about it?” Luna’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, and Mariah could tell if she didn’t answer carefully Luna would go back to Baze and say that the new chef had been mean to Mariah and Baze would go into his protective House Daddy mode and fire him or refuse to let Mariah work in the kitchen. Mariah didn’t want either of those things to happen.

“He’s not mean. He’s just… closed off. He can be really nice too. Like he’s gonna make a special breakfast for my birthday.”

“Oooh… Mariah and Graham sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-ng. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Mariah in a baby carriage!” Her friends sang in unison, butchering the old childhood favorite.

“Stttooop,” she cried.

They did not stop. She was saved when an alarm went off, signaling that it was nap time.

“Ha. Now you have to stop.” She stuck out her tongue and flounced to her room, grateful for the reprieve. She hadn’t worked horribly hard or long, but it was more than she was used to doing in a day anymore and she was tired.

She changed her own Pull-up and took off the clothes she’d worked in, throwing on a t-shirt and short set that doubled as jammies, and climbed in bed, closing her eyes and pulling the covers over her head before Jade came in. She wanted it to be clear that she did not want to talk.

Jade entered a few minutes later, and Mariah heard her tiptoe around as she changed into sleeping clothes and then tiptoe to her bed. The bed creaked as she climbed in but no other sounds were made and she didn’t say a thing.

Mariah was grateful. Sometimes she thought it would be funner to have had a roommate like Margo or Ellie or even Jilly, because they were always down to shenanigate, but Jade was a good roommate too, because she minded her own business and knew when not to push. She also didn’t like to get in trouble just for the sake of it, something Mariah herself was known to do. Having Jade for a roommate balanced her out a bit.

And days like today, it allowed her peace and time to sit with her own thoughts. Right now, she had a lot of them. She’d laughed off her friends teasing and discouraged their Chef Daddy dreams, but she couldn’t deny that she herself had had the same thoughts. It wasn’t why she’d taken the job. She had no expectations that working with a man would put her on the fast track to a Daddy of her own, but she’d be lying if she said the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. There was something about his gruff demeanor and the confidence he showed in the kitchen, and even the way he’d be kind but immediately follow it with some grumpy command. It reminded her of a Daddy who dutifully doted, and soundly spanked.

She wondered what it would be like to be spanked by Chef Graham and her mind raced with the stories of naughty Littles being taken to task by Chef Connor in the kitchen at Rawhide Ranch. Would Chef Graham run his kitchen that way? If she was naughty, would he fire her or would he have other ways of dealing with it? Her pussy ached as she pictured herself thrown over his knee in the kitchen, being taken to task. She couldn’t even imagine what one could possibly get into trouble for while working in the kitchen, but the Littles at Rawhide seemed to manage, so she knew it had to be possible. If she ever wanted to try, Luna and Margo would be able to give her ideas. Those two were practically professional shenanigators.

A shiver ran down her spine as she pictured Chef Graham, his jaw hard and his eyes darkening as he scolded her and called her a naughty girl.

She’d be instantly remorseful and full of regret as he beckoned her over to him with a crooked finger and pulled her facedown across his lap. He’d use a wooden spoon on her poor bottom because what else would a chef use? When it was done, and her bottom was sore and red and her eyes were leaking tears and promises to be good and pleas of sorrow fell from her lips, he’d hand her the spoon with a wink and tell her it was hers now and to be good or he wouldn’t hesitate to use it again. Then he’d pull her into his lap and wipe her tears. He’d kiss her gently at first, and then with passion, claiming her as his. She’d moan and whimper and press her body against his, writhing on his lap as she reached for his cock.

“Mariah?” Jade’s voice broke through the silence. “Mariah, are you all right? Are you having a bad dream?” Her roommate shifted and stood, crossing the room to shake her shoulder. “Mariah, wake up. Are you okay? You’re making funny noises.”

Crap. She must have whimpered while she fantasized. And she only had a second to come up with a cover. The last thing she needed was for her friends to realize she was a lot more into Chef Graham than she was letting on.

She moaned, and stretched, sitting up in bed and opening her eyes, as she pretended to have just woken up.

“What? What’s going on?”

“You were making funny noises in your sleep. I thought you might be having a bad dream or something,” Jade explained.

“What? Oh… no.” Mariah thought fast and reached down to massage her calf. “My leg hurts a little. I must have been getting a cramp. Guess I’m not used to being on my feet for so long.”

Jade frowned and narrowed her eyes as if she couldn’t quite believe Mariah’s explanation, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she walked into their shared bathroom and returned with a glass of water and a Tylenol.

“Here. Take this. And then go back to sleep. I’m sorry for waking you up.”