Page 44 of Maid for My Billionaire Boss
I’ll admit in every sense of the word, communication was hard for me, but this wasn’t rocket science. Something I did made Atalie cry and quit so abruptly she couldn’t even tell me to my face or give me a notice. I’d think if we could Crocodile Dundee together and survive that, she’d at least tell me what was going on to my face. There was only one thing . . . I had crossed a line.My stomach was all the way up in my throat right now, but I pushed through it, because I needed to find her.
Ididn’twasteaminute and I was in my car, heading south after entering the address I had gotten from her application into my GPS. My brow wrinkled as something about the address seemed so familiar. The weirdest thing too was it wasn’t that far. My map showed it was a few blocks closer to the beach—which wasn’t possible.
I must have typed in something wrong.
I doubled-checked the spelling, and everything seemed to be correct. I continued heading south, but as my GPS read my directions, I seemed to know instinctively every turn before it was even announced.
I’d driven this road before.
Actually, to be correct, I rode my bike on this route hundreds of times as a kid. Even though it had been years since, I remembered it like the pages of my favorite book. This was the road I used to take to visit Damion. His parents had lived about a mile from my parents’ house, which was partly why we had become best friends. I wasn’t prepared to think about him right now, so I focused on my GPS, waiting for it to steer me away, but it didn’t. It hung tightly to the path I knew, stopping at the houseI knew.
My breath hitched in my chest.
There’s no way.
I had to have typed it in wrong.
Not only was this the address of Damion’s childhood home, but it was also in a very expensive neighborhood, right on the beach. Atalie could never afford this house.
There was a mistake.
Or she lied on her application, and she didn’t seem like the type to lie. So, it was clearly a mistake. I threw my car into park and hesitated, wondering if I should go knock when it was undoubtedly the wrong house, but I didn’t have any better ideas, so I decided to take a chance. I knocked two times before a light flashed on in the darkened hall on the other side of the door. When the door opened, I had half expected to see Damion’s mom, but it was Atalie. Her lips parted but stayed silent. “Atalie,” I started, still amazed at the coincidence. "You’ll never guess but I have the craziest story to tell you about this house.”
Her eyes rounded, and her face paled. “How did you find me?”
“I looked in your employee file. I wasn’t trying to be a crazy stalker, but I got your note,” I blurted out, but my words couldn’t slow as I continued, “I’m not okay. We need to talk about this. I’m guessing it’s because I kissed you, and I felt I needed to apologize. I was also worried something bad happened,” I rambled while motioning to her standing there looking freshly showered in pajamas with long cotton pants and matching cozy-looking shirt. Her long hair was piled high in one of those messy buns, but I thought she looked amazing. I fought every selfish inclination I had to just stare at her. If that kiss had affected how I felt about her, it had awakened me fully to see her for the amazing woman she was. “You look great. Clearly not dead or anything. Is everything okay?”
She dropped her voice. “Josiah’s sleeping upstairs, but if you can be quiet, you can come in.” She opened the door wider for me, and I passed through it, taking in the view from the inside. A lot of the interior had changed since I had last been in here, but some of it was similar.
Oddly, the sofa was the same.
I stood there, staring at the sofa like it was about to grow legs and put on a talent show. Before I had a chance to check my manners, I blurted out, “Atalie, how can you afford this house?”
Leaning her back against the wall, she crossed her arms. “It was my mother-in-law’s house and my husband inherited it right before he died.”
“Wait a second.” My head started to swell with memories I didn’t even know I had. My eyes fled to the stairs, where pictures lined the wall. Pictures in the same place as they were the last time I had been in this house. Pictures I’d seen before.
Damion and his parents.
Damion and his grandparents.
Damion on his graduation day.
Damion on his wedding day.
I had never made it to his wedding. They had a Midwestern wedding to be near her folks, and I had planned on flying in the day of, but Tonya’s grandmother had passed the week prior, and perfect bad timing made her funeral land on Damion’s big day. I had sworn to him I’d make it out another time, but I was always busy.
My brain had already solved the riddle.
My heart didn’t believe it was true.
I took a long step closer to the wall to examine the photo of Damion and his bride.
Damion and Atalie.
His Atalie.
My Atalie.
