Page 20 of Loving Luna

Was it because I’d snuck extra carrots and celery out of the kitchen to take to the petting zoo?

Maybe because of my dance moves while I tried to occupy myself at the check-in desk?

Nah, it had to be because of the hoard of extra cookies I liked to snag on my way out of the cafeteria.

I giggled to myself. None of those were likely to be the case, but at least it was better than thinking I was about to be fired.

When I reached his office, I bypassed Erika’s since she wasn’t in there and instead stood outside the heavy closed door.

Well, shit. I hadn’t expected the door to be closed. What should I do now? Did I just go in because he was expecting me? Poke my head in? Knock?

After momentarily considering, I went with knocking because it was the only thing that felt right.

My small hand looked even smaller against the heavy wooden door. I knocked, frowning when nothing happened. I pressed my ear to the door in case I wasn’t hearing. I’d hate for him to tell me to come in and not hear him.

Still nothing.

I raised my hand to knock again, and just as I did the door swung open, and Derek’s wife Sadie came skipping out, her hair in pigtails, and her pink and purple skirt swinging as she skipped.

She stopped a few feet past me, looked back, and said, “You can go in, Luna. My Daddy is waiting for you.”

Taking a deep breath, I pushed my shoulders back, and tried to keep any signs of nerves from showing. Doms were like bears. Never let them smell fear and poke at your own risk.

Okay, I’d made that up. But it totally made me feel better.

Telling myself it would be fine, I pushed the door open, and poked my head in.

Master Derek was sitting behind his massive desk, stroking his chin as he read a pile of papers in front of him.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?”

He looked up with a wide smile. “Luna! Yes, come in, come in.”

Phew. At least he seemed his usual jovial self and looked happy to see me. That was a good sign.

Smiling to myself, and only a little nervous now, I made my way into the room and took a seat in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk.

I crossed one leg over the other and folded my hands in my lap. Then I waited.

After a few seconds that seemed to drag on forever, he laid the paper down, and looked up at me.

“How are you doing, Luna?”

“Erm… fine, Sir.” His easy and casual question ramped up my anxiety once again. To my knowledge, in all the years I’d been here, Master Derek had never called someone into his office just to ask how they were doing, especially not someone who’d been here as long as I had.

“Good, good. How are your studies going? Still working on that psychology degree?”

“Yes, Sir. It’s going pretty well. Only six credits left.”

“Oh, excellent. That’s great.” He waited a beat then asked. “Are you finding time for yourself to have a little fun outside of your studies and work?”

What the…? This was getting weirder and weirder. I had no idea where this could be going. “Am I in trouble?” I finally blurted, unable to handle the strange line of questioning any longer.

The usually unrufflable owner of the Ranch, looked suddenly taken aback. “What? No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

Well, I now felt very stupid. “I don’t know, Sir. I’m not usually just called into your office, and you haven’t yet told me why I’m here, and you’re asking me lots of questions, but I’m not really sure why, or where this is going.”

“Oh.” Derek grinned, smoothing his bolo tie. “No, Luna, you’re not in trouble. Quite the contrary.”

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