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Chapter 1
Piper
Ican’t believe I gottalked into this, I thought for the millionth time since I left the house. So, what if I’m in between jobs right now? That doesn’t mean that I’ll take whatever the temp agency will throw at me.
“It’s not like I didn’t have other offers,” I muttered to myself as I turned down the road toward my new place of work. “Sure, all those offers were for jobs I wouldn’t do even if I was starving, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be someone’s maid.”
My words trailed off as I pulled into the driveway of my assigned house. A wrought iron fence wrapped around the entire premises with an intercom box at the gate entrance. I could barely see the brick mansion behind the gate between the large hedges doing their best to block my view.
That wasn't promising. With my luck, I was going to be saddled with some grumpy old shut-in who would hover over my every movement.
“Can I help you?” an annoyed voice barked out of the intercom, making me jump.
The fact that I had heard the voice even through my closed window did not make me feel any better about this job. It was getting even more certain that my new boss was a wrinkly old geezer with too much time on their hands which meant they’d have plenty of time to harp at me.
Quickly rolling the window down, I stuttered, “Um, yeah, hi. I’m Piper. Piper Billings. The agency sent me.” I paused and then added, “To, uh, clean.”
Smooth. Real smooth. Already off to a great start.
The voice didn’t answer back, but a buzz sounded, and the gates opened before me at a glacial pace. Grandpa pace.
I shouted toward the box, “Thank you!” then inched my way into the circular driveway.
Now that the gate was out of the way, I could see the brick mansion in its entirety. Large columns held a roof over the porch where two black double doors stood looming before me. All the windows in the house were covered by heavy drapes. I couldn’t even peek into the house I would be working at for the next few months.
Shut in? Check.
I sat in my car, gaping at the house. Sure, I’d bitched and moaned about going from a cushy desk job with benefits, two weeks of vacation, and holiday pay to temporary work, but I never imagined I’d end up working in a place like this. I was a ‘hide behind my business casual clothing, let’s chitchat at the water cooler’ kind of girl, not a ‘uniform and manners required’ kind of girl.
My family wasn't poor. I mean, I was, but that was because I sucked at saving money. However, never in my wildest dreams would I think I would ever have the chance to walk inside of a house like this, let alone work in it.
Even though I would be living in it, cleaning it would be a bitch, which more than put things in perspective.
Knock, knock, knock.
I jumped for the second time in my seat, my heart pounding in my chest as I turned to my driver side window. Now I was gaping for a whole other reason.
A handsome man in a suit with white gloves stood bent over, his hand held up as if to knock again. The impatient look in his eyes showed that he had definitely noticed me loitering out here.
My face flushed red. If I thought I had embarrassed myself before, being caught drooling over the front of the house just put another point against me.
I'd be out of points before I even made it through the front door.
Turning my car off, I grabbed my bag and quickly got out of the car. Standing next to the handsome man, I was dwarfed by his height. I smoothed a hand over my dress pants and cleared my throat before offering him my best professional smile.
“I’m sorry. I always get nervous on my first day.” I let out a neurotic chuckle and tucked a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear.
The man’s face was as straight as the slicked back black hair on his head. “This way, Miss Billings.”
His tone held a no-nonsense sort of feel to it as if he'd scold me for daring to think of doing anything other than following him. Not that he waited to see if I was coming. He strode across the driveaway, his long legs carrying him into the house before I had time to process what had just happened.
What a stuck-up twat. I grumbled under my breath as I took my time entering the house. If he wasn't going to be nice, then he couldn't expect me to do the same.
All thoughts of pretending to be professional went out the window the moment I stepped into the house. With my mouth falling open once more, I stared up at the walls around me.
The foyer had vaulted ceilings with a shiny chandelier filling the room with artificial light. Two sets of staircases sat on either side of the room, and a balcony off the second floor could be seen from the ground. The runner carpet covering the front area had to cost a fortune with its crimson color and gold inlay, not to forget the pieces of art decorating the walls and side tables.
If I hadn't been nervous before, I was now.
