Roman’s expression hardened. She watched him wrap the buckle end around his hand and slap the fine leather on his palm. A shiver of apprehension ran down her spine.
“How did you know it was the man you were there to talk to?”
“I didn’t know until I walked up to the door.”
“You got to a dangerous neighborhood alone. Parked. Walked to an active crime scene. And only turned around when the police told you they’d arrested the guy you were there to buy something from?”
“Maybe?” she squeaked. It really sounded bad the way he put it. “I was safe. Nothing happened.”
“Because the police had caught him first, perhaps?”
Coco scuffed her toes on the flooring. “I didn’t make good decisions.”
“That might be the understatement of the decade, Little girl. My plan was to spank your bottom, but you’ve earned something more memorable.”
“Are you going to spank me with that?” she asked and gestured to the belt in his hands.
“Let’s go to your nursery, Little girl.”
Coco swallowed hard and plodded down the hallway. The delay wouldn’t save her bottom, but she wouldn’t rush. She got halfway down there when an idea popped into her mind. Coco dashed the rest of the way to the room and locked the door handle.
Pressing her ear to the wooden barrier, Coco strained to hear his reaction. The whisper of his steady pace on the carpet never quickened. Roman reached the door and tried to turn the knob. A metallic scraping sound followed, and the door slowly opened.
“You are not making good decisions, Little girl.” Roman held out his free hand to her.
Dropping her gaze to the carpet, Coco placed her palm on his. “Sorry, Daddy.”
“Come talk to me, Little girl.”
Roman drew her over to the rocking chair and sat down. He tugged Coco between his thighs and cupped her face. “Look at me, Coco.”
Reluctantly, she raised her gaze to meet his and blurted, “I don’t know why I ran.”
“Could it be that you were testing me? Or yourself?”
Coco froze as she considered his questions. She loved her Daddy with all her heart. She didn’t have any doubts about that. “It’s that voice in the back of my head. It gets me in trouble.”
He nodded and asked, “How?”
“Like the dog clothes thing. An ad popped up on my social media feed. Before I knew it, I was in my car and headed that way.”
“You didn’t think Daddy wouldn’t like this?”
She slumped slightly as she looked away and nodded. She’d known immediately that Roman would tell her not to go. “I wanted to make my own decision.”
“Eyes on me, Little girl.” He waited until she dragged her gaze back to him. “You wanted to go to the bad part of town alone?”
Several seconds passed, and she admitted, “No.”
“But you went because you miss deciding everything by yourself?”
Coco focused on a nubby spot on her sweater and shrugged. “I used to make lots of decisions.”
“Have you changed your mind about being a Little girl, Coco?”
“Oh, no, Daddy!” burst from her lips. She didn’t want him to think that. “I love beingyourLittle. I love you.”
“That makes me very happy, Coco, because I love you and treasure our time together as Daddy and Little.”
