The Art of Discipline: Running Toward Trouble (The Mockingbird Chronicles) (6 page)

* * *

Sitting gingerly on the padded booth, Dani looked out the window while waiting for her ice cream sundae. Might as well go all out, she thought as the waitress delivered the chocolate sundae bathed in hot fudge, chocolate sprinkles, and whipped cream.

Picking up her spoon, Dani had taken only one bite when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking up and then back to her sundae, Dani ignored the tapper and took another bite.

Sighing, Stevie slid in across the table from her. “Are you supposed to be having that, Dani?” she asked quietly.

Dani shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Why doesn’t it matter?”

Dani shrugged again. “It just doesn’t.” Taking another bite of her sundae, Dani put the spoon down. “I better go. I left before my shift was over.”

Stevie whistled. “That must have been some fight.”

“We didn’t have a fight,” Dani muttered. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Anna was craving butter pecan toffee crunch, so I thought I’d pick up a pint before heading home.”

Dani nodded before taking another bite of her sundae. “Emma doesn’t want to go to Chicago with me,” she almost whispered.

“Didn’t know you were going to Chicago,” Stevie remarked.

“A client called today, it’s a bit unexpected, but with Jason on board there’s no reason we can’t go.”

“And Emma told you she didn’t want to come along this time?”

“No,” Dani affirmed. “She told me she’d rather work on the quarterly taxes than come with me.” Taking another bite of her sundae, she put the spoon down once again.

“So you decided to come drown your sorrows in all the chocolate this place has to offer, huh?”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” Dani muttered.

Stevie reached across the table and moved the sundae out of her reach. “I think you and I need to have a chat.”

Looking up, Dani shifted uncomfortably as Stevie held her gaze. “I want to know exactly what Emma said today because I can’t imagine she’d ever choose taxes over you.”

“Well, she did,” Dani snapped. “Told me she had to stay here and work instead of going to Chicago with me.”

“Danielle,” Stevie’s voice dropped, causing Dani to shift again. “I may not be your girlfriend, but I’m not about to let you sit here feeling sorry for yourself when I know that Emma is head over heels for you. I think we need to go talk to Emma.”

Dani shook her head. “I don’t want to, and she’s probably too busy to talk anyway.” Stevie shook her head and stood up. Throwing a few bills on the table, she put her hand out to Dani. “Come on, Danielle, it’s time to get back to the bookstore.”

“I’m not done with my sundae,” Dani pouted.

“Yes, you are,” Stevie’s voice hardened. “Let’s go.”

Grumbling, Dani grabbed her purse and slowly slid out of the seat before pushing past Stevie toward the door. Catching up to her, the blonde took her by the elbow and stopped her. “Drop the attitude right now, Danielle. I may not be your top, but I do know how to deal with pouting little girls.”

Gulping, Dani allowed Stevie to steer her from the ice cream store and back toward her doom.

* * *

“Come in.” Emma’s voice was tired as she looked up from her accounting schedules. Turning in her chair, her eyes opened in surprise to find Stevie trying to push Dani into her office.

“Danielle, move.”

Dani shook her head and crossed her arms. “No, I don’t want to be here and you can’t make me.”

Looking at Emma for guidance, Stevie caught Emma’s permission, and her hand quickly made contact with Dani’s already sore backside.

Jumping, Dani ran into the room, rubbing her bottom. “What the hell was that?” she demanded, moving next to Emma. “Who said you could swat me?”

Standing, Emma pushed Dani, none-too-gently, into her chair. “I did. Care to tell me what the hell is going on?”

Dani shook her head.

“Danielle,” Emma warned.

Looking up, Dani glared. “Fine, she brought me here because she decided to get into my business and be a miss goody-two-shoes top.”

Turning, Emma looked toward the doorway, “Stevie?”

The blonde shrugged. “I found her drowning her sorrows in a chocolate sundae at Penny’s Perfections. Let’s just say she wasn’t too happy with my suggestion that it was time she came back to the store.”

Shaking her head, Emma turned to Dani. “Why on earth would you leave in the middle of your shift to eat chocolate?”

“Like you don’t know,” Dani spat.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked, Danielle,” Emma replied evenly.

Huffing, Dani crossed her arms across her chest and proceeded to try to burn a hole through Emma’s desk with her eyes.

“So, you’re just going to ignore me now?” Emma’s eyes flashed. “Fine, if that’s the way you want it, upstairs. Now!”

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Emma turned and found herself staring into Stevie’s brown eyes. “Emma, before you do anything rash…”

“This isn’t your concern, Stevie,” Emma rounded on her friend. “Thank you for bringing her home, but she left in the middle of a shift to eat chocolate, which she knew she wasn’t supposed to eat.”

Stevie’s eyes narrowed. “Did you think about why she left?”

“I’m in the room, you know,” Dani interrupted.

“I thought I told you to get upstairs, Danielle,” Emma snapped. “You’re in enough trouble as it is.”

“Oh, now I’m in trouble, like you even care.”

“You know I care about you.”

“Yeah, right,” Dani huffed.

Emma grabbed Dani’s arm. “I’ve had about enough of this attitude.”

Stevie stepped in between them. “Find out why she did it, Emma, before you do something you’ll regret.”

Emma’s eyes blazed as she looked into Stevie’s. “Something I’ll regret? She’s the one who broke the rules.”

Turning away from Stevie again, Emma yelped when she felt a palm meet her backside. “You will talk with her, Emma Renee Gray, otherwise she will not be the only one in this room with a sore backside.”

Emma gaped at her friend as Stevie turned and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

Dani’s chin dropped. “I can’t believe she just threated to spank you.”

Emma rolled her eyes as she slowly moved toward Dani. “Well, it wouldn’t be my first sore bottom,” Emma whispered in her ear before giggling and rubbing her backside, “and it probably won’t be my last.”

Dani’s eyebrows rose in confusion as Emma giggled and made herself comfortable in the younger woman’s lap. Emma then gave her a chaste kiss before pulling back. “Okay, Danielle, what gives with today?”

“I’m confused. You want Stevie to spank you?”

Tapping Dani on the end of her nose, Emma shook her head, grinning. “Not talking about that right now, young lady. Right now, you tell me what caused you to go on a chocolate binge in the middle of your shift.” Dani tried to look down, but was stopped by gentle fingers under her chin. “Danielle, talk to me.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Nothing you could ever say could be stupid.”

“My feelings got hurt,” Dani sniffed a bit before continuing. “You’d rather work on the stupid taxes than be with me.”

Emma sighed and brushed a piece of hair back from Dani’s face. “Oh, sweetie, don’t you know there’s no place I’d rather be than with you?”

“Then why won’t you come to Chicago with me?” Dani whined, tears threatening to come to the surface.

“I told you, Dani, I have work to do.”

Dani shook her head. “No, Emma, you said you wanted to get an early start on the taxes. You’d rather do that than be with me.”

The tears broke and Emma found herself wrapping her arms around Dani, holding her close until she was able to settle down again. “You and I have a lot to talk about, Danielle,” Emma began. “But first, let’s get you upstairs for a nap.”

“I don’t want a nap,” Dani protested as Emma stood and pulled her out of the chair.

“How much sleep did you get last night?”

Dani blinked. “Four or five hours, maybe.”

Emma shook her head. “Nap first, talk later. Let’s go.” Taking the now pouting Dani by the hand, she led her from the office and up to bed.

* * *

“What took you so long?” Anna asked, pulling the carton of ice cream from Stevie’s hands.

“I ran into Dani at Penny’s Perfections and had to make sure she made it back to the bookstore alright.”

Pulling out bowls and spoons, Anna set them on the table before grabbing the ice cream scoop and sitting down. “Everything okay?”

Stevie shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure, but I’m sure they’ll work it out.” Stevie chuckled as Anna handed her a bowl of ice cream.

“What’s so funny?”

“You should have seen the look on Emma’s face when I threatened to spank her if they didn’t.”

“Still the diplomat, I see,” Anna smirked as she dug into her ice cream. “Although maybe that’s just what Emma needs.”

“You could be right. She’s been a little lost since Sean passed. She’s been under a lot of stress, and no one to help her manage it.”

“Well, I’m fine with it if you want to offer your services; goodness knows I wouldn’t mind if that hard hand of yours had someone else to wallop for once.”

Stevie laughed and picked up her spoon. “Maybe I will, but I’m thinking it’s better if Emma comes to me.”

Anna smirked. “As if that would happen.” Taking another bite of her ice cream, she smiled at her wife. “However, just remember, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.”

Stevie shook her head and simply watched as Anna enjoyed her treat.

* * *

“Hey sleepyhead, time to get up,” Emma coaxed gently as she kissed Dani’s temple. Yawning, Dani slowly turned onto her side before opening her eyes. “I wanna sleep,” she mumbled.

“Sorry, sweetie, if you sleep anymore, then you’ll never get to sleep tonight.” Tapping Dani on her hip, Emma motioned for her to sit up.

Sitting with her back to the headboard, Emma allowed Dani to get comfortable, snuggling up against her. She then gave Dani a kiss on the top of her head as she put her hands around Dani’s shoulders, taking a moment to just enjoying the closeness. “So, we need to talk,” Emma began.

“Do we have to?” Dani asked with a little bit too much whine in her voice.

“Yes, Danielle, we do,” Emma answered seriously, while resisting the urge to smile. “I want to talk about what you said in the office and the reason you left in the middle of your shift for a chocolate fix.”

Dani shifted, her voice getting softer. “I told you, my feelings got hurt.”

“Look at me, Dani,” Emma instructed and waited until she was looking into deep blue pools. “I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings, but I want you to know that it’s okay for you to tell me that. I’m not going anywhere.”

Dani looked down once again. “It’s stupid. I know you love me, but it felt like you didn’t want to be with me. You were okay with me being away from you, and that hurt.”

“There is nothing more I would like to do than be with you, honey, but sometimes my responsibilities here have to be taken into consideration. You have to understand that. You have responsibilities to your business too.”

Dani looked up once more. “I make concessions with my business all the time, but you make it sound like the store is more important than me, than us…”

“I did not say that, Danielle,” Emma protested.

“Maybe not in so many words, but that’s what you meant.” Dani pulled away from Emma and scooted off the bed. “I don’t think I can do this. I’ll head back to Chicago in the morning. Don’t worry about the store. You can keep your money…”

“Dani? What are you talking about?” Emma interrupted, watching as Dani headed toward the closet and pulled out a suitcase.” Emma’s chin dropped as she realized what she was doing. “Alright, Danielle, you made your point.”

Dani shook her head and pulled a handful of hanging garments out of the closet.

“That’s enough.” Emma’s voice dropped as she jumped off the bed. “Will you get your butt back over here and listen to me?”

“You’ve already made your feelings known,” Dani commented, trying to shove the clothes into the suitcase.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Emma exclaimed. She quickly closed the distance between them, and before Dani could react, grabbed her arm with one hand, and swatted her rear with the other. “Get back on that bed right now, young lady, before you find yourself in the corner again.”

Emma’s voice was like steel and Dani obeyed instantly. Perching on the edge of the bed, Dani then watched wide-eyed as Emma began to pace in front of her.

“First—and you get this through that thick head of yours—I do not want to be without you. I love you, Danielle, and I am not going anywhere. I am also not going to allow you to feel sorry for yourself and run away from this feeling like a martyr.”

Dani began to open her mouth, but stopped when Emma glared at her. “As for going to Chicago with you, there is nothing I would like more than to go with you and after this little display, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.”

“But…” Dani started to argue, almost missing what Emma had said. Her face suddenly lit up with a wide smile. “You’re going to go with me?”

“Yes, Danielle, I am. However,” her eyes held Dani’s firmly as her voice dropped dangerously low, “I do not appreciated being bullied by tantrums.”

Dani lowered her eyes and nodded. “I understand. I just wanted you to come with me so badly, but when you said no… it hurt.”

Emma sighed, and knelt in front of her lover, looking up into her face. “So instead of telling me what you were thinking or feeling, you chose to run away and bury yourself in a forbidden ice cream sundae?” Emma then changed positions, moving to sit on the bed. “Danielle, is that what happened?”

“Yes,” Dani whispered, laying her head on Emma’s shoulder.

“Why do you always run?” Emma whispered back. Dani didn’t answer, and Emma didn’t force it. “Don’t worry, honey, I won’t leave you alone.”

* * *

Emma had just put the last dish in the dishwasher when she heard Dani answer her cell phone. Wandering toward the study, she quietly entered and curled up on Dani’s lap while she talked.