Turning, she scanned the room for Daniel, smiling a bit when she saw he’d moved a large potted plant out of the way to make a corner to press himself into. “I’m going to step out into the hall for a moment. For both your sakes, your noses better still be in those corners when I get back.”
Praying they’d stay where she’d put them, she slipped back out into the hall and pulled her phone from her pocket. “Pick up, pick up,pleasepick up,” she muttered under her breath as the phone rang in her ear.
“Master Derek’s office.” Erika’s perky voice came through the speaker. “How may I help you?”
“Erika, thank goodness. This is Addison Renard over at the University. Is Derek available?”
“Let me check for you, Professor Renard. Just a second.”
That second felt like an eternity as she waited for Derek Hawkins, the owner and operator of Rawhide Ranch, to answer.And her knees went weak when his deep voice finally came through. “Addison. Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Well, mostly. Um, I have two students here who have been arguing and… Derek, I think they might be Littles.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” he said with a low rumble of a laugh. “We have plenty of Littles enrolled at the University. Who is it?”
“Kylie Nichols and Daniel Hollis.”
“Kylie?” Surprise colored his voice. “Is she behaving like a Little? In public?”
“No. In her room. I heard arguing and it sounded like it was getting out of hand so I poked my head in and she’s dressed like a Little. And she stomped her foot at Daniel.”
“Yes, well.” Derek paused, as if he were weighing his next words very carefully. “This is on a need to know basis and it sounds like you need to know, but Kylie does identify as a Little. She’s been very firm that she does not want to spend time in the Littles’ program until after she graduates, though, so I’m surprised she’s engaging in that sort of play.”
“Jesus.” Closing her eyes, Addison pinched the bridge of her nose. “And Daniel?”
“Has some Little tendencies but doesn’t, as far as I know, identify as a Little. My gut says he’s more of a Middle. From what I’ve heard, he’s very protective of Kylie.” Derek chuckled. “I’ve also heard they bicker like siblings.”
“Okay, well, what do I do about it?”
“About what?”
“The fighting! The foot stomping! You need to come take care of this, Derek, I’m completely out of my depth.”
“Addison… are you telling me you can’t handle two naughty submissives?” Amusement twined around the words and Addison felt her face heating at the implication.
“Of course I can. But they’re not just submissives. They’reLittles.”
“So you might need to be a bit gentler, especially with Kylie. I haven’t observed her much in her Little state, but I have a feeling she might be a bit sensitive. She can still handle getting her bottom spanked if you think that’s what she deserves, but she will need plenty of physical and emotional reassurance when it’s done.”
“Derek. You know I’m not exactly the caregiver type.” Quite the opposite. The one and only time she’d tried to step into that role had been a disaster. A fact Derek was well aware of.
“What I know is that you are a kind, caring woman who has dedicated her life to sharing her knowledge with the world. And that you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit. I have plenty of faith in you, Addison.”
“This is a horrible idea.”
“Disagree.”
She’d known Derek Hawkins long enough to know when he’d made up his mind and wasn’t going to budge. “Fine. But if I break them, you have to fix them.”
His laughter rang out through the phone, loud and clear. “Noted.”
The call ended and Addison tucked her phone back into her pocket. She gave herself a moment to drag in a deep, bracing breath before straightening her suit jacket and reaching for the door.
Kylie
Oh god, oh god, oh god. What had she done? Of all the people to catch her dressed like a Little girl and bickering with Dan, it had to be Professor Renard.
Gorgeous, stern, take-no-shit Addison Renard. Kylie had been half in love with the tall, curvaceous redhead from the day she’d stepped foot in her classroom. And because she’d heard Professor Renard did not tolerate brattiness, she’d made it a point to be as well-behaved as possible not only in her class, but all of her other classes as well.
