Page 13 of Housekeeping

I shrugged. “I came to see whatever else needs doing around here. I’m done with the last task, so I was thinking of making some rounds in the departments…”

He nodded slowly, considering.

“That would be useful, actually. I haven’t had the chance to get out of this office much if it isn’t for some meeting. Make the rounds. I’ll be getting some reports from the departments and you can help me assess them.”

“Sure,” I said, turning around to leave. “I’ll get to that now. I’ll send some quick reports tonight and we can talk tomorrow.”

“Good luck,” he called as I left, and I could hear he was already getting distracted with his own work.

The floor I was on only held the executive offices. Other offices were on the lower floors, and I made my way down to the closest one. As I was passing through the hallway, a maid walked past me, and that was all it took to bring back the image of that maid from earlier.

Laura. I’d asked the woman they’d sent yesterday—who’d been more than ready to throw herself at me, even though I’d turned her down—about the other maid. She’d told me her name was Laura, though I didn’t get a second name or much information about her besides she was a generally happy person. Not that I’d seen that particularly.

A smirk crossed my lips as I thought of how she’d looked at me this morning. She’d been smiling of course, but I hadn’t missed the hostility in her gaze, like I’d personally offended her. And even then, she’d been looking at me, checking me out the entire time. I almost got the idea she resented me for being so good looking.

She was so fucking fun to tease, which is why I’d tried to be fast with my showering, just so I could see her reaction to seeing me in nothing but a towel and still wet at that. She did her work pretty fast though. Not that I’d messed up my suite so badly after a group of maids had cleaned after my latest party. I’d only had a small gathering with some of my friends who’d hung around after the party, though they’d probably be leaving soon. Just as well, because I had work to do.

So far, no one had reported my partying to Trent, and I only knew that because I knew he’d complain if he’d actually heard something.

Laura, though… it wasn’t usual for me to get someone so stuck in my mind, but I had to admit she was interesting. She was spunky, and as much as she played at being polite, I knew she wasn’t the kind of woman who’d take my shit. Every time I saw her, she was seemed to be looking at me with irritated eyes, with just a hint of interest that told me she at least found me attractive. She’d been looking around at the mess I made with disdain and resignation. Every time I saw her expressions, before she tried to hide them, I was left smiling.

Her body doesn’t hurt, either.

She wasn’t like one of the skinny girls that usually made a play for me. She had some delicious curves I couldn’t help but want to lay my hands on, and she wasn’t throwing herself at me for my looks, or my money and connections, so she was a challenge.

“I can't touch her,” I muttered, a frown replacing the smirk on my lips.

In spite of my attraction to her, she was still a maid at my dad’s hotel. It would be so fucking hypocritical of me to try to do more than tease her, when it was me who kept warning Emily against fraternizing with the help. She was just making friends with them. I wanted to take this woman to my bed and keep her there for a while. It was always me who cautioned her about being friends with them, because it was bad for keeping up her image, and the family image. I couldn’t just eat my own words and pursue this woman.

How long would I be able to hold out though? The more I got to know about Laura, even if it was only in bits and pieces in our short, impersonal encounters, it only fueled my desire for more. As odd as it felt, I was really growing to like her, considering my eyes always looked toward her, and I had no idea when I’d even started doing it. I just realized one day, that when I had my room cleaned and she was among the maids doing the cleaning, my gaze always found her.

I knew she was a bit older than me, but age was just a number, right?