Page 4 of Housekeeping

Fuck, the place was such a mess! We might as well replace everything in there or take everything out of the room and clean the furniture outside. The smell of booze and smoke hung in the air, and there were still a few bodies sprawled all over the floor. Other people were trying to get them up and out of the room.

Seriously?! It wasn’t even that late in the day yet. The sun was still up, and they were already totally shitfaced! Damn, this kid and his friends were real…

“You’re going to have to leave the room with your friends for us to get to work,” one of the senior maids was saying to Mason, who was draped over a couch, looking relaxed. “We won’t be able to clean properly if you stay here.”

Mason hummed and raised his head to look around. By then, all his friends were already out, and he looked a little surprised.

“All right,” he said, heaving himself up. “Please try to be done in a couple of hours.”

I frowned at him indignantly. Even with all of us, getting his room clean in only two hours would be a bit of a stretch. Not that the young heir seemed to realize.

Then my eyes widened, and a few screams went around the room. He had a blanket over him, so I hadn’t even realized it, but it fell away when he stood up. Mason was standing stark naked in a room full of maids.

“Mr. Thompson!” the maid who’d been talking to him screeched and looked away as her face went a bright pink.

Mason smirked, taking his time to walk around the room and pick out his clothes. There were a few other items tossed around, probably his friends’, and I wasn’t sure how they were all going to be claimed. That was only a secondary thought because my mind was all on Mason right then.

Damn the guy was hot.

He was completely not my type, and with his title of “heir”, way too out of my league. On top of that, he was a fucking slob and a little too free with life, his money, and his status. So whatever interest I had in him, I knew I had to kill it for my sake before it went too far. Still, my eyes kept flitting to him and away as I tried not to stare at his incredible body. There was just no way anything could work between us, even if that kindling interest was in any way returned.

It wasn’t just because of the mess I saw going on between Jessi and this guy’s older brother, either. Our worlds were just too far apart. Everything had fallen apart for me when I found out I was sick and I had to quit college for the sake of my health. It had been hell for me. I hadn’t grown up anything beyond comfortable, but the awful hospital bills had driven me to total poverty, and that had been hard.

I’d overcome it all. A road full of pain that I never wanted to travel again, and especially not over a scummy guy. With my second chance at life came the choice that I’d live to the fullest. I dropped all the negative people in my life and vowed to look on the bright side. In no way would I go down a road that promised pain so willingly, I hadn’t even had a choice the first time.

Thinking too much about it is useless, I thought to myself. It’s not like this hot, twenty-five-year-old rich boy would see me as anything but a maid.

I probably jinxed myself again with that thought, I realized in the next moment.

Fully dressed, Mason made for the door to leave us maids to do our work. As he walked toward me on his way to the door, I was surprised when he met my eyes. We’d technically ‘met’ plenty of times before this, but I was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed because he was usually suffering from a hangover or preoccupied with some woman. There was no recognition at all in his expression, but he did throw a smirk at me, even though it was a sardonic one, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Only in surprise though!

My lips twitched because I was determined not to take this kid seriously, and I followed him with my eyes as he walked past me.

“Well, damn,” I muttered teasingly. “He’s well-hung.”

I didn’t know if he heard me, but I thought there was a falter in his step. It left me with a smirk of my own. As soon as the door closed behind him, squeals and giggles, as well as a few grumblings, filled the room with the maids that had seen his little show.

All I could think of before I left work for the day, was the look Mason had given me, and exactly what it meant. If I should let it mean anything at all because suddenly, I was conflicted. No matter what, the guy was hot, and it had been a while since a guy had caught my interest.

Of all people, I thought to myself sarcastically. It just had to be him. Way to set yourself up for disappointment, Laura.

I’d just have to suffer through it and take a leaf out of Jessi’s book: go the avoidance route and hope he didn’t cause me any more trouble for the remainder of his stay.