Page 15 of Maid for My Billionaire Boss
“No, Tonya isn’t available tonight to come along.”
Silence.
“Well . . . sure, I can bring someone else.”
My spine stiffened with some weird ESP, predicting what was coming next. It was confirmed by the sound of his voice coming in more clearly. Wincing in the same way I do when I step on one of Josiah’s LEGO blocks, I turned to confirm my suspicion.
He was standing next to me.
I jerked my hand down the hall toward Josiah, but he ignored my gesture and covered his phone with his hand. “He’s asking his wife if she would agree to meet me if you come.”
Horrified I was getting dragged into this drama, I put a voice behind my excuse this time. “I’d love to help you, but I have a kid to parent.” I pulled my lips into my best impression of a disappointed grin. “So, yeah, bummer but unfortunately, I can’t go.”
He didn’t hear it, though, as he spoke into his phone again. “Oh really.” His breath released in one giant puff of air. “That’s amazing. Tell her thank you so much and seven is great for us.” Then he clicked end on the call and immediately looked at me. “I’m sorry”—he took one direct step forward— “but you met Jane and she is one of those people who can’t sit still, especially if she’s bored. She wouldn’t come unless I brought Tonya.” His eyes—clouded with anxiety—traced my face like they were looking for any sign of compassion. “I know it’s last-minute, but it’ll only be an hour or two.”
“Um, well . . .” I scratched my cheek as I tried to figure out a way to tell him he wascrazy! “Not to put myself down, or anything, but don’t you think it’s going to look weird if I show up with you? They saw me serve food last week.” I lowered my voice to block Josiah from hearing me. “They are going to think you hooked up with your maid.”
“Nah.” He shook his head, completely dismissing my comment. “They know me. I’ve done business with them from the beginning, and I’ve always made friends with all my employees and treated everyone like family.”
“And you do know.” I held up an inquiring finger to assist the point I was about to make. “That when a boss says they are going to treat you like family, that is code for I’m going to drain every ounce of life from you.” Even though he sputtered out a surprised laugh, I felt my brow flatten out, realizing how weird this was, and asked, “Don’t you have an assistant who does this sort of thing?”
“Not here. My assistant didn’t want to relocate from LA. Most of her work is virtual, and we negotiated her contract to stay there. I haven’t had time to staff up here.” His eyes stayed locked on mine, but not in the enjoyable way they were the last time we stood this close. This time his eyes held flecks of unease that made me wrench with empathy and I didn’t like it. Then he added, “It’s not a big deal. Just come and talk to Jane.”
“So,” I started, my thoughts slower than my words could flow. “That’s a lot of pressure, and what happens if she gets bored anyway?”
He threw up one shoulder in a shrug. “At least we tried.”
I didn’t like how he kept using the word we, like his business was part of my responsibility. Other than a vague Google search I had done, I still didn’t know what his business was at this point. He filled in the words I didn’t say, “Come for drinks and you don’t have to worry about anything. If Jane wants to talk to you, then great. If not, no big deal.”
I let my eyes lead back down the hall in the direction of Josiah and I was about to point outagainthat I had parenting to do and couldn’t go out, but Trey read my mind and immediately spoke, “My mom can watch Josiah.”
I sighed, like I was being put in detention and took a few hard steps down the hall until I was able to see Mrs. Michael and Josiah still sitting at the table, working a crossword puzzle together like there was nowhere else either one of them would rather be. The scene was so perfectly ill-timed to fight against my argument that it could have been a commercial! Both Mrs. Michael’s head and Josiah’s moved in unison to look at me, and it was obvious they had heard our conversation. I waited for Josiah to complain, but he didn’t. Feeling slightly betrayed by him, I asked, “Don’t you think it will be late for me to be gone?”
“As long as I don’t have to go to bed until you get home, I’m fine with her watching me.”
I dramatically mouthed the word “traitor” at him. The humored glare he gave me back was unwavering.
I turned to Mrs. Michael, but she was also wore an overly-eager expression when she commented, “I don’t have anything going on tonight and I’m happy to help out.” Her gaze planted on Josiah. “I can show you how Trey and I used to make the best blanket forts and I’m pretty sure I have some dart guns stashed somewhere.” The excitement flashing on Josiah’s face made me wantthatfor him, and I realized the negotiations were over.
I reluctantly dragged my eyes back to Trey in defeat. “No pressure.”
“No big deal.” His voice was smooth now, like he knew I was already in.
“Just this once.”
“Deal,” he said so fast, it was barely recognizable. Then he swapped out his sales pitch voice to one that held more business, “Did you want to take off now, so you can get ready, and we’ll come over at around six thirty? I can drop off Mom and pick you up?”
A cold sweat washed over my lower back. “Nah.” I nervously tugged at my ponytail, trying to sound casual, but my inner panic siren was flashing a red alert! “I-I can come back, and we can leave from here.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure? It might get late, and Josiah might want to sleep.”
I waved my hand at him in a dismissing way. “Nah, he’s a vampire. Totally allergic to sleep.”
Josiah agreed, “Yep, I hate sleep and you already agreed, Mom, I can stay up until you get home.”
“I did say that,” I agreed a little too quickly and I could see a spark of suspicion in Trey’s eyes, but before he had a chance to disagree, I turned to Josiah and instructed, “Why don’t you grab your stuff, and we’ll head out now since we have to come back.”
Trey silently watched me as I helped Josiah pack his bag. When it was loaded, I ushered us quickly out the door, calling back, “See you later.” With one final glance over my shoulder, I casually asked, “Can you tell me where we are going so, I know how to dress?”
