Page 38 of Maid for My Billionaire Boss
I stared at the space she had recently occupied but it was empty.
Raking my hands through my hair, I dug deep into the roots, yanking on the ends until it hurt. I wanted to scream like that kid inHome Alone. I was a complete and total moron. Shehadto know by now I had these feelings for her. There was no way I was ever smooth enough to conceal something like this. Why couldn’t I be normal around her?
Be normal and ask her out.
That should be easy, but it wasn’t.
I was going to have to come up with some sort of plan, or this was going to slay me. That I knew for sure, but not right now. I needed to clear my head and I let my eyes skirt around the room in desperate need of a distraction.
Conveniently my phone lit up with a text.
Tonya:Sorry, Trey but I still have movers here. Can we meet tomorrow for breakfast before I fly out?
Me:Sure.
Tonya:I’ll text you in the morning.
Me:Fine.
Setting my phone down, I was disappointed it was only Tonya again. Not that I was expecting Atalie to text me when she was in my house. . . but it would have been nice. I took another look down the hall, confirming that Atalie was indeed gone.
Pull yourself together or she’s going to think you’re a freaking psycho.
Okay.I inhaled deep into my chest, releasing my humiliation, giving myself permission to move forward with my day. Since I didn’t have to leave the house, the thought running through my head was I wanted to say hi to Josiah. I hadn’t seen him since I took him to my school, and he seemed excited about it, but I wanted to check if he had any questions. I figured he’d be sitting in the kitchen doing his homework, and I headed down the back staircase to find him.
Actually, last night after Atalie had dropped me off, it struck me that Josiah and I had a lot in common, both losing our dads so young. I never had to move and leave my friends on top of everything else. I couldn’t imagine how horrible that had been for him. “Hey, Josiah,” I greeted him from where he sat hunched over at the table doodling on a sketch pad.
His eyes regarded mine, but his face remained indifferent. “Hi.”
“I was wondering—” I stopped because uncertainty clouded his eyes. I figured he was shy, but I also reasoned he had to be bored out of his mind. Softening my voice, I continued, “Would you want to come to see my secret hideout?”
His eyes narrowed in skepticism. “What hideout?”
“Well, it’s not really a secret, but it is a cool place to hang out. I thought you might want to explore a little.” I waved him forward. “Come on. I’d love to show it to you.”
“Ah, sure.” He slid off his chair, the look of confusion lifting, and his brow rose with excitement while he followed me.
“So, just so we are clear,” I explained as we walked. “This is aman’shangout.”
“Okay, but where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to the coolest place in the house. It was the place my dad used to take me when I was little, and we did the manliest things—there’s model ships to build,Star Warsmovies to watch, unlimited root beer . . .”
“And where’s that?”
“The attic.”
Twenty
Atalie
Iduckedintothesafety of the hall bathroom and gently shut the door, pressing my palm against my pounding heart. I had tried to clean, and it lasted only a few minutes.I couldn’t do it anymore.Clueless about so much, but one thing was evident to me—I had fallen for Trey.
These feelings took root during our trip, but I swore to myself that once we got home, I would be able to ignore them, and go back to not thinking about him. That didn’t happen. I thought taking some time off would help me to get some perspective, but he kept texting me random things, and not to mention thegiftshe gave me. It was too much, and I couldn’t fight it anymore, andsomething went way wrong.My heart opened to him.
It wasn’t normal tohave Trey look at me like that!It was obviously a farce because in his next breath he confessed he was getting ready for adatewith Tonya. But he always went out with her. That wasn’t new. But it was new. New again anyway.
Even if it wasn’t Tonya—it would be someone else—and it would never be me because billionaires don’t fall for women like me. I was okay with that—mostly. Or I would be okay, as long as I could get away from here.
