Dani took another bite, but frowned when she chewed. “My skin doesn’t react well to cotton blends.”
“How does it react to starving?”
Her gaze shot down to the pizza, and then her cheeks reddened. “It doesn’t like it.”
“Then you’ll need to compromise. Come on. After you get off work I’ll take you shopping.”
“I haven’t gotten paid yet.”
“My treat.” He smiled when her face brightened.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure you need some things. I’ll secure transportation, and we can run to a few places.”
She grabbed his arm. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life, but I swear you’re an angel sent from heaven.”
He kind of liked being her angel. And then his stomach soured. Would she think he was her angel when she found out he wasn’t who she thought he was? The longer he allowed her to think he was a maintenance man, the worse it would be when she found out the truth.
He would have to tell her tonight. It was best to come clean. She’d understand, right? It wasn’t either one of their faults. It just happened. And he needed to correct the misunderstanding before it grew too big.
He stared out at the ocean. He should be feeling relief at finally making the decision to tell her. Then why was a dark feeling of foreboding coming over him?
Chapter 9
Dani shoved the last load of sheets into the dryer and turned the knob. She was ready to be done for the day. Half her nails were now broken and she pulled out the nail file another housekeeper had loaned her. She sat on the table in the laundry room and sawed at her jagged nails. She had never thought she’d be that kind of person. The kind who let things get so bad.
Her father still hadn’t called or texted. She’d sent him a photo of her in her new uniform and told him about her job. He hadn’t responded. She tried not to let it bother her, but she had to admit it stung. He had time to call and chew her out when she did something dumb. But when she did something he should be proud of, crickets.
The nail file flew faster as she thought about how unfair that was. Did she have to make national news in order to get his attention? Didn’t he care that she was working her butt off to meet his stipulations? When was he going to stop this angry tirade and give her back her credit cards?
She fumbled and the nail file slipped out of her hand, landing under the table. She jumped down and searched for it. It had landed almost against the wall. Of course. She had to crawl under the table to reach it.
On her hands and knees, she heard the door open and two other housekeepers enter. They walked in front of the table and stopped. “Man,” one of them said. “I’m tired.”
“No kidding. Kay has me covering half of some other girl’s rooms because she’s new and doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Is that the blonde? The one with an obvious boob job?”
Dani looked down at her chest. Were they talking about her? She’d never had any work done.
“Yeah. The dumb one. I heard she flooded one of the rooms with suds.”
Dani froze. They were talking about her. Who had told them about that? Hadn’t Austin been the only one who knew? Had he talked about her to the other housekeepers? Her throat swelled shut as she thought about the possibility.
“Really?” The woman laughed. “I can’t believe it.”
“I think she’s some famous washed up actress or something.”
They crossed the room and Dani moved to the wall in case they could see her. She prayed the women would just leave.
“I heard she was on drugs.”
“Probably. It wouldn’t surprise me. I have no idea why Kay hired her.”
The women chatted for a moment longer about what they were doing that weekend, and then they left, and Dani sighed with relief. She was so cramped under there. She crawled out, her knees screaming at her.
Heat assaulted her face as she thought about what the other women had said. It never ended. She was cursed for eternity to be the one everyone talked about. No matter how much she hated it, she would always be looked at, gossiped about, and photographed.
It took another fifteen minutes before the sheets were dry, folded, and put away before she could clock out and finally go back to Austin’s room. She knocked on his door, ready to take off her sandals. Her feet were killing her.
Austin took one look at her and ushered her inside. “What happened?”
She sat on the couch and put her head back. “Just a hard day.”
“Are you ready to go shopping?”
“Can I rest here a bit first? I don’t feel like shopping right now.” Dani closed her eyes before he could respond. She didn’t think she’d ever said those words before in her life. But, she’d also never had a job that sapped the energy out of her. Plus, no matter how much she wanted to ignore what the women had said, she couldn’t. It depressed her.
“Sure.” She felt the weight of him as he sat beside her. “Rest as long as you need.”
“Thanks.” She didn’t need long. Maybe just a minute or two. But drowsiness settled in and before she knew it, she was coming back to her senses, the feeling of having slept for a while heavy on her eyelids.
The sound of the ocean waves came in the open patio door, and Dani was snuggled against something warm and soft. It felt comforting, like when she was little and her father would tuck her into bed at night, which was rare. But what was she snuggling with? She pried her eyes open. Crud. She was snuggled up against Austin. She jerked back, embarrassed. “Oh, no. I fell asleep.” She wiped at her mouth in case any drool had come out. Luckily, she didn’t feel any.
“It’s okay. I didn’t mind.” He gave her a smile. “You weren’t hurting me.”
She rubbed at her eyes. “How long was I asleep? Weren’t you bored just sitting there?”
“You were only out for twenty minutes.”
“Oh.” She blinked, trying to get the fuzzy feeling out of her head. “Felt like longer.”
“Do you need to rest more?” He pointed to his shoulder. “I make a good pillow.”
She was sure her face was now crimson, with the massive waves of heat that was coming from her cheeks. “No. I’m good.”
He leaned a bit closer to her, and she realized he was only inches from her face. Definitely within kissing distance. Was that because she was still practically snuggled into his lap? Why had she not moved away?
“You sure?” His breath tickled her cheek. He looked at her, and for the first time, she noticed the tiny flecks of gold in his blue eyes. Why was she staring into his eyes? It made her stomach flutter.
“Yes,” she said, unable to catch her breath. What was wrong with her?
His gaze dipped to her lips, and she flushed. Did he want to kiss her? Not that she would mind. Wait, what? She pulled back, unable to stand the tension. She couldn’t kiss him. The last man she trusted had broken her into a million pieces. She didn’t even really know Austin. He was being so nice, but that usually meant a guy wanted something from her.
“I’m ready to go shopping now,” she said as she jumped off the couch, her heart beating erratically.