Page 20 of Jade

“Well, I’m sorry I wore makeup! I knew you wouldn’t like it, but I just wanted to, and then my friends convinced me that I needed to break the rules every once in a while if I wanted our relationship to move forward. I was worried I’d wear it and you wouldn’t even notice, and they said a Daddy would notice, and of course that worried me even more because if you didn’t notice, then did it mean you weren’t really a Daddy? But Luna and the girls said not to worry about that because you totally were a Daddy and I should wear it if I wanted to. So I did, and then—”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

Ryan closed his eyes, mentally berating himself. “I needed some time. I didn’t want to start our evening talking about punishments and I was hungry.”

“I know.” Jade took a bite of her burger and chewed. “When you didn’t say anything, it made me anxious, and then when you did and I realized you had noticed, it made me mad.”

“So you wanted to argue.”

“So I wanted to argue,” Jade replied with a grimace. “I’m sorry. That was really stupid. You handled it really well though. Exceeded my wildest expectations. I hafta admit, I’m impressed.”

“Oh yeah?” he teased. “Wait till you see how well I spank now. I’ve been practicing.”

Jade couldn’t tell whether I was serious or not. That much was clear from her expression. “You have not!”

He shrugged, enjoying the back and forth banter they had going. “Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. Guess you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Ugh!” Jade pouted, shoving fries in her mouth. They were almost gone and her burger was mostly untouched.

He pointed to it. “Eat your burger too, or no ice cream for you.”

Her eyes lit up. “I still get ice cream?”

Crap. Was that some unspoken Daddy rule he’d messed up? No ice cream for naughty girls who break rules and argue with their Daddies? The thought hadn’t occurred to him but it obviously had to her.

With a plan to save face, he shrugged. “I want ice cream. Why should I be punished when you were the one who was naughty?” He grinned, picturing the over-the-top sundae/shake as inspiration struck. “Don’t worry, we’ll share the ice cream, and when we get home, I’ll paint your back porch the same color as the cherry on top of that shake.”

Her mouth popped open and closed again, like she was a fish out of water, gasping for air. “But… I… that’s impossible! My skin… the color… it doesn’t go that way.”

He knew exactly what she meant and he knew she was right, but that didn’t stop him from having a little fun. “Challenge accepted.”

“No! No, that’s not what I meant! Veto!” She sounded half panicked but there was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. He could see she was having just as much fun as he was.

“Finish your burger,” he said, bringing the banter to an abrupt end while he still had the upper hand. He figured that was what a Daddy would do.

Pouting the whole time, she finished every last bite before the waitress brought their shake with two spoons.

Catching her gaze and holding it, Ryan plucked the cherry off the top and popped it in his mouth, grinning the whole time.

“Eep!” Jade squeaked.

“You know what? I think we’ll skip the Ferris wheel tonight. It’s a bit too windy and I have some business to attend to,” he said with a wink.

Chapter Eight

Jade

Somehow she’d managed to enjoy her dessert, and hold Ryan’s hand, and make small talk all the way back to the hotel. Now they were standing in the hall, outside his room while he fumbled with his electronic key, and she was ready to run, questioning all her life choices.

That would teach her to let the girls help her get ready next time. They were terrible influences, always had been, always would be. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d had the idea in her head before Luna had ever spoken it, but if it was up to her, it might have just stayed there.

And as much as she was wishing that she’d just been good, she was also really glad she hadn’t been. Their date hadn’t been ruined, and Ryan had, eventually, said all the right things, really coming into his inner Daddy. The banter between them had been fun and exhilarating, and there was a hint of change in the air, the promise of good things to come.

Ryan pushed the door open finally and gestured for her to enter first. When she walked ahead of him, he smacked her bottom so hard she lost her balance and stumbled, catching herself before she face planted.

“Ouch! What the heck!” she cried, glaring at him over her shoulder.