Page 11 of Housekeeping

I was summoned to his room as if I was his personal maid and what was he doing? Sleeping as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He was a grown man acting like a spoiled little kid and he was living the easy life. I’d had to struggle through life, beating one of the deadliest killers on the planet. Then to make ends meet, I’d had to get this job and be subjected to this? I was better now, physically and financially than I’d been for a few years, but this kid who was younger than me by about a decade had seen more of the world than I even knew existed!

In a moment of weakness, I thought about how unfair it was. I resented the fate that gave so much to some while denying even the bare necessities to others, because I knew there were some that were far worse off than I’d ever been. I didn’t let that negativity stay with me for long though, as I once again regained myself.

I knew the world wasn’t fair. If it was, I wouldn’t have been left orphaned so young and shafted from foster home to foster home until I became legal age. I’d ended up ill and having to fend for myself. If only I’d had the life, the kind of resources, that this kid had. Life would have been so much easier, even with cancer to deal with. Life never worked like that though, and wishes didn’t come true if they weren’t something you could realistically work for.

That was the life I knew.

There was even more of a mess in the bedroom, I finally noticed, and I picked up more cans and packages, threw them out, and pulled out the vacuum cleaner, plugging it into the socket. I sent a glance at the kid sleeping on the bed and turned it on with a decidedly wicked grin. The noise was immediate and loud, and I let out a small smirk when he popped up. There was some disappointment as he rolled around and his sheet moved with him to cover his crotch.

“What the fuck?” he growled in a sleepy but irritated voice while rubbing his eyes and squinting at me.

“Housekeeping,” I chirped, changing the smirk to a bright smile. “I was asked to come in and clean the room, and not to bother asking if there was anyone in already. Sorry to intrude.”

“Do you have to fucking vacuum? It’s so damn loud.” He grimaced, and I wondered if he was hung-over. He must have had quite a few of the bottles of beer I’d found lying around. I changed the settings on the vacuum. It helped for more efficiency and made the vacuum just a little louder.

“Seriously, could you turn that off?” he asked, raising his voice a little and glaring at me.

“I’m sorry.” I gave him a simpering smile. I was flashing teeth and hoped the glare was obvious in my gaze. If he was going to summon me up here, then I was going to fucking do my job, and the kid could suck it up.

There was so much I wanted to tell him. He had no idea how lucky he was to be healthy. I wanted to tell him how he was throwing that away by partying and drinking, eating junk food and spending more time sleeping than exercising, no matter how good his body looked. He was wasting his life by doing all this shit, and I would have liked to have the same shot at life that he did, because why did he get it and not me if he was just going to be fucking ungrateful about it?

He was the boss’s son though, and a guest at the hotel, so I held my tongue.

“My superior told me you asked me to come in first thing,” I said, raising my voice just a little to be heard over the vacuum. “I have other jobs to do so I’m doing this first, just like you wanted.”

There was a sneer on his lips, and he looked pretty angry. That put me in a good mood. If he was going to mess with my life I was going to give him as much hell for it as I could. In a moment, the look in his eyes changed. He blinked some more, the glare going out of his eyes as they ran down my body, the growing heat in them making me shiver.

“Laura,” he murmured in that deep, growly voice of his, and just the sound of my name on his lips ran a shiver down my spine.

I hadn’t even realized I was paying him so much attention, but I caught the looks he was giving me, and I clocked it when he shifted as if he were leaning toward me, like he wanted to pounce on me. That was enough to make me drop the pretense of working entirely. I shut off the vacuum and held up a hand.

“Whoa there, puppy,” I said in a voice that brooked no argument, boss’s son be damned. “You’re a little too young to even be looking at my yard. Only grown-up dogs get to play in it, so stop it with the looks.”

His eyebrows shot up, and there was a look of surprise on his face like he hadn't expected those words to come out of my mouth.

Internally, I sneered at him. Did he expect me to throw myself at him like most of the women he met? I wouldn’t sleep with him just because he was rich, good-looking, with a good body and well hung. While I wasn’t a virgin, I wasn’t promiscuous either, and I was very choosy about my partners because of my health. Another reason he could only ever be a fantasy. There was no way I could even consider taking this kid to my bed. I dated before taking men home, where I’d likely end up taking all my clothes off and they could see all my imperfections.

It might have just been me stereotyping him, but I didn’t want a guy that would make me feel self-conscious about my body. Or one that might be so irresponsible he’d give me something else to worry about.

“That’s good to know,” Mason said simply, then slid off the bed, giving me a naughty grin as he did. I turned to look away as the sheet fell. “I’m going to take a shower now, but please, continue. This whole place is a mess.”

I wanted to growl at him and ask why he left it that way when someone already came yesterday and he’d sent them away.

“You can go,” I said with my back turned to him. “I promise I won’t touch your things.”

Mason chuckled. The sound was deep and smooth and did funny things to my insides.

“You know,” he said. “I might not be a grown-up dog, but maybe all I need is a little puppy training?”

My eyes widened at his words, and I was frozen for a moment as my mouth opened and closed as I gaped like a fish. He just implied he was interested in me, didn’t he? And while I didn’t usually fall for such proposals, the ‘relationship’ between Mason and I was already so complicated, and I had way more interest in him than I should have. I didn’t know whether to be mad, indignant, or hopeful, and all three options made me a little annoyed.

By the time I could bring myself to turn around, he’d already slipped into the bathroom. On the table were some bills that hadn't been there before. It was a pretty hefty tip, and it left me kind of mad.

Still, I felt pleased. Not so much about the money… although I couldn’t be picky, so of course I pocketed it.

Mason was interested in me. He fucking flirted with me! That didn’t mean I was suddenly ready to jump him, though the consideration was there.

He was someone to avoid… but he was oh so deliciously tempting, like those expensive chocolates I liked to torture myself with sometimes. I liked to look and torture myself just imagining how it would taste, even though I knew it would be bad for me in the long run, especially if I ate too much, not to mention the price tag.

I tried not to lose sight of myself, but as I picked up the cleaning, there was a smile on my face that wouldn’t leave no matter how many times I tried to straighten my expression.