Page 20 of Daddy's Princess

My palm itches with the desire to take her over my knee and punish her for that sassy mouth of hers. Unfortunately, my phone rings, and it’s a call I’ve been waiting for. I give Sugar a ‘stay right there’ look as I move to the other side of the room to take the call. When I hang up, Sugar is gone.

She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s earned herself one hell of a spanking.

9

Sugar

I spendthe rest of my day with my head down. It was essential that I avoid not only Oliver but everyone else too. I still can’t believe that I called Oliver out on not knowing his employees better. Between Jeff treating me like a coffee girl instead of one of the top interns, handpicked by Mrs. Titan-Rose herself, and Britney’s little fetch the refreshments joke this morning. Not to mention the fact that she cornered me the moment I walked out of the conference room. Once again, she’d volunteered to partner with me on a project that she has no intention of helping with. I’m so frustrated I’m liable to get myself fired.

The worst part of the day isn’t even that I was uncharacteristically bratty with Mr. Titan. It’s that I can’t even escape to my favorite place in the building because of stupid Jeff Thompson. Up until this morning, he’s been professional, but now, he’s shown his true colors. So, for the moment, the design department is out of bounds.

I half-expected Oliver to track me down after his phone call. I got the impression that he wasn’t finished with our conversation, but the moment his back was turned, I ran. Just like last night. I did a fairly decent job convincing myself that I hadn’t actually run away this morning. That I really left so that I could get a jump on my to-do list. I have a perfectly valid reason for not sticking around waiting for him to get off the phone.

Who am I kidding?

I ran.

I had to get away from his strong, commanding presence. He overwhelms my senses. His very presence makes my core clench and my whole body tingle. There aren’t enough curses in the English language to cover my feelings on the situation. It’s just my luck that the one time I give in to my base needs, it ends up being with the most inappropriate person ever. Of all the men in the world, I would choose my boss to be undeniably attracted to.

I’m not even giving myself credit for not knowing Oliver is the owner of Titan-Rose. Especially since I can’t seem to make my body get on the same ‘off-limits’ page that my brain is on. It’s insanity. I’ve lost my mind. That’s the only explanation. Why else would my body respond to a man who is utterly wrong for me? Because he’s a freakin’ sex god, that’s why.

I’ve never lusted after a man before. I wasn’t even this attracted to Cody, and we were in a serious, committed relationship before it turned to shit. After that, I basically shut down any and all potential for a relationship. Casual and serious alike.

Candace thinks I should be playing the field. Have fun. It’s one of those things we’ve had to agree to disagree on. She has this crazy idea that I’m holding out for the impossible fairytale. I’ve laughed her off as being crazy, but maybe she’s right, and my subconscious is naïvely looking for the fairytale. It’s true that I don’t want to waste time on kissing a dozen frogs. Maybe I do want my very own prince.

Mr. Titan isn’t a frog. He’s the big bad wolf. He’s not the fairytale. He’s the cautionary tale. The moral of the story. The warning to not take candy from strangers. He’s the kind of guy a girl like me should run fast and far from. I followed my instincts. I ran at the first opportunity... So, why is it that I’m disappointed he didn’t give chase? It makes no sense.

Once again, I catch myself daydreaming about the zing of electricity that jolted through my body from his touch. Which sends my imagination spiraling into thoughts of how it felt when he touched me all over with those big strong hands of his. The way he mastered my pleasure and meted out the perfect amount of pain. I shift in my seat at the memory.

It’s not just the thought of his hands on my body. It’s also his stern, commanding demeanor. He didn’t let me hide from him when he asked questions that made me uncomfortable. It was drilled into me from a young age to bite my tongue. To keep my unpopular opinions to myself. To be seen and not heard. Especially when dealing with my mother, and she has nothing on Mr. Titan.

That survival instinct I’ve honed over the years kept screaming for me to shut up and to not speak so candidly with the owner of the company, but I just couldn’t. I never would have sassed my mother. For some reason, I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop myself from saying what I thought without a care for the consequences. It was like watching a train wreck. I knew it was coming but couldn’t seem to do a darn thing to stop it.

Every question seemed to hold a silent command to be honest. To not hold back. And I couldn’t. Part of me ached to please him, and part of me wanted to rebel against his authority. Something I never would have dared with my mother.

It was confusing and overwhelming, which is why I nearly collapsed from relief when his phone rang. It gave me the perfect opportunity to escape his presence and the complicated feelings he evoked in me. And yet, for some insane reason, I’m disappointed he didn’t come find me. I’m even more disappointed in my own weakness for spending half my day looking for him. Hoping he would make an appearance so I could get just one more look. Or better yet, for him to seek me out.

It made for a really long day. Instead of quickly flowing from one task to the next, I was distracted, and even simple things took double the time. I finally forced myself to concentrate fully on my work. Which is probably why I don’t even realize I’m the only one left in the office until my phone dings in my purse.

Crap.It’s Candace.

Jose Locos, now! No excuses.

For once, I don’t want to come up with an excuse. Tacos and booze sound like an almost perfect end to this day. No virgin margaritas for me tonight, maybe a stiff drink will drown out the crazy and inappropriate thoughts about my boss.

* * *

“Sugar!”Candace’s voice can be heard over the festive mariachi music blaring through the tinny speakers of the restaurant turned bar. I smile at my friend as she waves her hands over her head to get my attention, you know, in case I didn’t hear her scream my name across the room.

I wind my way through the tables trying to let go of the day’s stress but finding myself getting more tense by the moment. When Candace texted, my instant reaction was,yay!—alcohol will erase the mess of today away.Now? Well, now I’m worried that alcohol will just make my lips loose, and I’ll spill my guts to Candace and all her friends. Our friends—her friends, whatever.

I plop down into the vacant seat beside my bestie and paste a smile on my face. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late.”

Alice, Nikki, and Jen give a chorus of hello’s, hi’s, and no problem’s. Candace eyes me like I’m a slice of cheesecake that she was just told has zero calories. Half ready to pounce on me and half-convinced, something’s not quite right. She always knows when something is troubling me. She’s worse than a bloodhound when she catches the scent of a good story.

Thankfully, Alice distracts her by going into an animated conversation about her new job as a nanny for a local politician. Apparently, there’s a big scandal surrounding his single dad status. I sort of space out on the conversation, only coming back to the moment when the waiter comes over to take our orders.

“You want your usual?” Carlos asks. That’s one of the nice things about being a regular, the staff already knows what you want. I’m about to shake things up, though, because this is not a virgin margarita kind of night.

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