Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
I chuckle.
“Turning and running is the normal course of action. Brina’s really something else. Though I doubt you have many guys rejecting you.”
The curvy maid blushes.
“You’d be wrong about that. Just about every guy in Millbrook has rejected me.”
Not me, I think. Aloud, I say, “They’re all idiots then.” Oh shit, did I just say that aloud? Talk about coming on strong to an innocent girl I’ve never met before. But a small smile forms on her lips, and she looks at me shyly.
“Well, thank you for that, I guess.”
The office goes silent, and we both stand there, unsure what comes next. I hope she’s not still worried about her job because I’m not going to fire her. If anything, I’m intrigued and want to know more. Finally, to break the silence, I speak again.
“Um, so what’s your name?” I ask, fumbling a bit like a schoolboy. Damn. I haven’t been this awkward in twenty years, but somehow this woman is making me feel like a teenager with a crush again.
She looks up, startled. “What?”
“Well, I’m Elliot, as you must have overheard, so I figured I’d get your name too.”
She blushes.
“Please, sir, I didn’t listen in on the conversation on purpose. Please don’t report me. This job is all I have because I’m from the other part of town. The trashy part, and I can’t afford to lose this job. Please, sir.”
I try to look reassuring.
“I won’t report you, I swear. I just want to know whom I’m speaking to. That’s all.”
“Oh,” she sighs, relieved. “I’m Kaylee, and I work for Sparkle Maids.”
“Sparkle Maids?” I ask, confused. “What’s that?”
Now she looks confused.
“The maid service you hired?” Her brow furrows. “You don’t recognize the name?”
I shrug and grin.
“My butler takes care of those things. He’s probably the one who hired you. Edwards. Have you met him?”
She’s looking at me like I’m crazy, but then she nods.
“Um, yes, I met him earlier. He let us in this morning.”
I sigh. I can tell what she’s thinking.
“I know it’s weird that I don’t even know who’s in my house, but it happens when you have a large staff. I delegate a lot, and I have trusted deputies who handle a lot of things for me, including cleaning my house,” I add in a rueful tone.
Kaylee kicks at the ground with her sneakers. They’re well-worn, probably from years of use, and she bites her lip.
“No, I get it. It’s just that I’m from the other part of town, like I mentioned, and no one there has any staff at all. We’re lucky if the lights are on and there’s food on the table,” she says before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh my god, I wasn’t supposed to say that. I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to bring my problems to you.”
I hold up a hand.
“No, it’s fine. But is it really that bad? Not even food on the table?”
She looks down, scuffing the toe of her sneaker on the floor again.
“Well, we have food, but it’s not what I would call nutritious. It’s lots of trashy stuff like Cup-O-Noodle, Mallomars, Fruit Loops, and Sno-Balls. The hot pink Sno-Balls, not the white ones. As you can tell, we’re not exactly eating like kings.”
I look at her closely.
“Where did you say you live again?”
She bites her lip.
“Um, I’m not sure I should say.”
I shoot her a straight look.
“It’s fine, trust me. I’m the boss around here.”
She takes a deep breath and finally looks up at me.
“Monroe Trailer Park. Like I said, I’m not from the nice part of town. We don’t exactly have the most up-and-up existence, but the trailer park has its perks too. I’m friends with a lot of my neighbors there.”
I look at this woman. Kaylee’s ungodly gorgeous, and she has no idea. But even more than her sassy curves, I appreciate her honesty. There are a lot of women who want to project a false image. They want to make it seem as if they’re flawless, and living a charmed life in a magazine-ready house with a handsome husband and a passel of smiling, tow-headed kids. But I can sense Kaylee is different. She’s real, and I like it.
“So,” I say slowly, with a suggestive tone to my voice. “Tell me more about the trailer park. Why is it so trashy?”
She shoots me a strange look.
“Well, have you ever been to a trailer park?”
Actually, I have because I’ve made numerous real estate investments, and some of them include trailer parks, but I don’t mention that fact. Instead, I let Kaylee speak.
“Why don’t you tell me?” I invite.
She shoots me a suspicious look, but then nods slightly.
“We don’t have much,” she says. “A lot of people there never finished school, and we’re just trying to get by. We work jobs that don’t have health insurance, nor do we save for retirement.”