by Anna Wells
“I believe he said that arson was a little extreme even for him.”
“Good to hear. I really didn’t want a billionaire arsonist in the family. Seriously, does the fire department know what caused the fire?”
“Not yet, Mom. I’ll let you know when I know. The place was old, it was probably electrical problem.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” her mother said.
“I’ve got to call the insurance company so I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Okay honey, bye.”
“Bye, Mom,” Michaela said ending the call. As she was finishing her phone call, Jordan exited the bathroom with a towel around his waist. She sighed as she admired his muscular chest and abs. The man did manage to stay in shape! He was still slightly damp from his shower and she enjoyed the show as he dressed for work.
He gave her a quick smile. “Did you talk to your Mom?” he asked as he pulled on his navy suit pants.
“Yeah, I filled her in on my current crisis. She wanted me to stay with her and dad.”
“You told her you’re staying here, right?” he asked selecting a crisp white dress shirt before reaching for a tie.
“Yes, I told her I have decided to live in sin with you. She totally understood.”
He nodded in agreement. “Good,” he said and then asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with me going to the office?”
She waived him away. “Please I’ll be fine. Go make your billions.”
Jordan finished dressing and gave her a quick kiss good-bye. “Call me and let me know how you’re doing. I’ll get away when I can.”
“Okay, I will,” Michaela agreed and then watched him exit the bedroom.
She picked up her phone again and quickly Googled her insurance provider so she could find their phone number. She punched in the number and was immediately put on hold while they found a claims adjuster. Once the adjuster came to the phone she explained the situation and gave him her contact information so he could look up her policy. Thankfully, even though she hadn’t owned her townhome, she had insured her belongings on the advice of her parents. She was grateful that she had listened to them! The adjuster confirmed her cell number and told her they would have to go to the site and investigate before a decision could be made on her claim. He would be in touch with her in a few days.
Michaela was just about to climb out of Jordan’s sinfully comfortable bed when her cell phone began chiming. She looked at the display and saw Donovan’s picture appear. It obviously didn’t take her Mom long to spread the news about her fire.
She pressed answer and was immediately greeted by Donovan’s commanding voice.
“Michaela, Mom just told me that your house burned down. What the hell happened?”
Honestly she thought, he acts as if I did something wrong. She counted to three to maintain her patience before she answered, “Yep, and I don’t know yet.”
“Where are you now?” he demanded.
“I’m at Jordan’s, of course.”
“I think you should stay with me and Alaina or I’m sure Mom and Dad would be happy to have you,” he insisted.
Big protective brothers were a pain in the ass even when they meant well. “Nah, I’m good here.”
Donovan made a frustrated sigh over the phone. “Look Michaela, I don’t think you’re safe there. You can’t be too careful with guys that are billionaires. They have so much money they don’t feel like they have to follow any rules but their own. We investigate these guys all the time and they’re ruthless.”
A gurgle of laughter erupted from her mouth. “Oooh, evil billionaires! Do you have a special investigation division for them in the FBI? Do you know ridiculous you sound?”
“Michaela, I’m not joking. People with that much money just don’t follow the same rules as you and I. You have to be careful. Remember, he’s been lying to you for a year,” Donovan insisted, his tone brooking no argument.
“Well, he didn’t really lie. He just didn’t fully disclose everything that was on the front page of the business section every day,” she defended Jordan. It was one thing for her to call Jordan a liar, but she wasn’t going to let Donovan get away with it.
Donovan obviously decided to ignore her. “Have you had any other accidents?” he asked ever the investigator.
She threw her head back against the pillow. Apparently he wasn’t going to let up and she was going to be here for a while. “Well, a car did try to run Trixie and I down at a crosswalk yesterday.”
“What??? Did you get a license plate? Can you describe the car?” his tone became even more intense.
“No license plate, but I did notice that it was blue.”
“What am I supposed do with that information?” he asked in a frustrated tone. “You didn’t notice anything else?”
“Just like I told Jordan earlier, I was too busy dashing toward the sidewalk running for my life!”
“Okay, sorry. I understand. Doesn’t it strike you as odd that you have had two life threatening accidents in one day?”
“The fire, while terrible, did not threaten my life. I wasn’t even in the house,” she said in exasperation.
“Just let me know when you find out the cause of the fire.”
“I’ll do that, but lay off Jordan okay?”
“Just as soon as his background check comes back clean.”
Michaela was livid. “I specifically told you no background check!”
“Did you?” he asked innocently. “I must have forgotten. Look I’ve got to get back to work.”
Donovan ended the call abruptly leaving Michaela fuming. That’s the problem with having an FBI agent for a brother; they took overprotective to a new level.
Chapter Twelve
After finishing her not so pleasant conversation with Donovan, she finally got out of Jordan’s bed and shuffled off to the bathroom to take a shower. She had barely noticed her surroundings last night when they were getting ready for bed since she had been completely exhausted. She let out a gasp as she entered the bathroom, now this was a bathroom, she thought. The vanity was dark wood with two white, bowl-like sinks and an old-fashioned claw foot tub that was in front of a fireplace. Someone had obviously renovated an old bedroom into this large bathroom. The shower looked like it was tiled in white marble and it contained numerous showerheads.
She shed Jordan’s T-shirt and stepped into the shower. It took her a while to figure out how to use all those knobs, but once she did she tried all the different massage features. The hot shower let her work all the tension from her body as she planned her day. Her number one priority was to throw together a quick wardrobe so she could make it back to work tomorrow. She had deadlines to meet and she certainly didn’t want to lose her job, at least not at this juncture in her life.
Grabbing a towel from the rack, she quickly dried herself off and then wrapped it around her body. She padded back into the bedroom to get dressed dreading the fact that she was going to have to put on the clothes she was wearing last night. She dropped her towel was just leaning down to pick up her tights when the door opened. Michaela looked up, startled to see someone enter the bedroom that wasn’t Jordan, and screamed with terror.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you were here!” the woman said. She had a blond ponytail, looked to be about in her forties, and was wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
Michaela grabbed her towel and held it up to her body. She was still shaking from fright and was totally mortified that she was standing there naked. “Who are you?”
The woman had a slight smile on her mouth as she responded. “I’m Samantha, the housekeeper,” she explained. “You must be Michaela. I’m really sorry, I thought you were gone. Mr. Marsh called and told me you were staying here, but that you would be out most of the day. I just came in to make up the bed and clean the bathroom.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize he had a housekeeper living here,” Michaela said still shaken.
Samantha shook her head. “Oh, I d
on’t live here, Mr. Marsh likes his privacy. I just come during the day to clean up, bring groceries and make dinner,” she explained with a shrug and smiled. “I’ll let you get dressed and come back later.” Samantha turned and left the room in an unhurried manner as if she walked in on naked strangers quite frequently. That unwelcome thought certainly didn’t sit well with Michaela.
Michaela’s heart was still pounding hard. She had been so startled from Samantha’s unexpected appearance. She was strung out enough, she certainly didn’t need any more shocks like some stranger walking in while she was changing. She couldn’t believe Jordan hadn’t mentioned Samantha before he left.
Her cell rang so she walked over to the night table and grabbed it. She looked at the display and answered, “Hi Jordan. Are you calling to tell me about the housekeeper?” she asked in a dry tone.
“So you’ve already met?” he asked sounding slightly pained.
“Sort of...she walked in while I was stark naked and scared the living…you know what out of me,” she told him, the irritation evident in her voice. She leaned over and grabbed her tights. She was going to have to go commando since she didn’t have any clean underwear. She struggled to put them on while she listened to Jordan’s response.
Jordan laughed. “I wish I could’ve seen that! I’m really sorry, I did send you a couple of emails and I called as soon as I got out of my meeting.”
To Michaela’s mind he didn’t sound that apologetic in the least. “Look, I’ve had enough surprises over the last three days. Can you make sure you don’t have any more surprises for me?” she asked, her voice wry. She slipped her bra on and managed to throw on her sweater.
“Hey, I’ll do my best. Is everything else okay?” he asked in a concerned voice.
“Yeah, as fine as it can be, given the burned down house thing. I’m just going to grab something to eat and then go shopping to get some essentials so I can go back to work tomorrow. I really need underwear!”
She heard his quick intake of breath. “Are you telling me you’re not wearing any underwear?”
She smiled to herself inwardly at his question. “Nope, no underwear, I just put on my tights. I couldn’t very well put on dirty underwear, could I? Yuck!” She thought she heard him groan, but couldn’t be sure.
“Maybe I should come home now,” he said.
“Don’t you have another meeting?” Her tone was slightly teasing as she pulled on her socks.
“Yes, but the thought of you with no underwear on is making me hard. I really want to come home,” he told her in a husky tone.
She squirmed, feeling her body respond to the promise in his voice. Her body tingled as moisture began to pool between her legs. “I’d love that, but I really have to get clothes or I won’t be able to go back to the office tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’re ready to go back to the office?” His concern was obvious in his tone.
Michaela smiled to herself. She really appreciated that he cared so much. “I’m fine. After all I wasn’t injured and I do have some pressing deadlines before year end.”
“Have you called Paul to come pick you up and take you shopping?”
“No I haven’t,” she said. “Have him come by in about thirty minutes. That should give me enough time to eat breakfast.” This was certainly a lifestyle change, she thought.
“Okay, I love you.” His tone was soft and husky.
“I love you too. Thanks for lending me your driver.”
“What’s mine is yours, baby.”
Her tone was teasing as she responded, “Quite the sweet talker this morning, aren’t you?”
“Baby, I’ve been sweet talking you for a year. You’ve just started noticing.” And with that he ended the call.
She held the phone away from her and stared at it. “Wow,” she said aloud, “he’s got me wrapped around his finger.” Oh well, not much she could do about it right now. She might as well just roll with it and enjoy.
She walked back to the bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror. Ugh, not only didn’t she have any underwear, she also didn’t have any make-up. The idea of going out without make-up was horrifying but unavoidable. First stop was going to be the make-up counter. A girl did have to have her priorities.
She grabbed her phone and went down the stairs admiring the beauty of his home. When she reached the first floor she moved to the back of the house and found the kitchen. She was completely unfamiliar with his house since he had deliberately kept her away. She snorted to herself. She looked around and shook her head, the place wreaked money.
The kitchen, like the rest of the house, was stunning. The floors were covered with large, gray slate stone. The cabinets were white and were complimented by solid black granite counter tops and a white subway tile backsplash. There was a beautiful center island flanked by several bar stools obviously designed so one could grab a quick bite to eat.
Samantha was standing at the sink washing dishes and looked up as Michaela entered. She gave her a warm smile. “Hi Michaela. Can I get you something for breakfast?”
Michaela felt a bit awkward at the idea of someone waiting on her. “Ah, no that’s all right. Is it okay if I just look in the fridge? I can get something for myself.”
“Don’t be silly, you don’t have to ask my permission. Mr. Marsh told me you’re living here now so it’s your home.” She paused before continuing, “What do you usually eat for breakfast? I went shopping yesterday so there are eggs in the fridge, cereal in the cupboard and I also have some bagels.”
The woman was too nice, Michaela thought. Returning her smile she said, “A bagel sounds great. I don’t suppose you have any cream cheese?”
“As a matter of fact I do and would you like coffee too?”
“If you have coffee ready, I may just kiss you!”
Samantha laughed as she grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured Michaela a cup. “Cream and sugar?”
“Just cream, please.”
“Michaela sit at the bar and I’ll get your bagel,” Samantha said. She headed toward the stainless steel fridge and pulled out a carton of half and half and tub of cream cheese. She handed the carton of cream to Michaela and then grabbed a bagel from a drawer and put it in the toaster.
Michaela sat down on one of the stools and placed her phone on the counter. She added the cream to her coffee and sipped gratefully as she guiltily watched Samantha make her breakfast. When the bagel was finished Samantha placed it in front of Michaela.
Michaela smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Samantha.”
“My pleasure, Michaela. When you have some time, you can leave me a list of any food you would like that I don’t have in the house.”
“I’m sure everything is fine.” Michaela hesitated a moment but couldn’t stop herself from asking, “So does this happen a lot? I mean, you finding a strange woman in Jordan’s house?” She quickly took a bite of her bagel to hide her discomfort.
Samantha gave her a knowing look. “It never happens and it’s my understanding that you’re here to stay not some strange woman passing through.”
Michaela couldn’t help but feel pleased at Samantha’s response. “Hey a girl has to be sure, doesn’t she?”
Samantha grinned and nodded in agreement. “That she does.”
Her phone chimed and she picked it up not recognizing the number. “Hello.”
“Ms. Prentice, this is Paul, Mr. Marsh’s driver. I just wanted to let you know that I am out front anytime you’re ready to go.”
“Uh, okay thanks Paul. Is it okay if I finish my bagel?” she asked.
“Please take your time Ms. Prentice, I’m here for you.”
“Okay, I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Very good, Ms. Prentice.”
“Bye,” she said as she hung up the phone. She looked up at Samantha who had gone back to cleaning up dishes. “That was Paul, Jordan’s driver. He’s going to take me shopping.” She took a big bite of her bagel since she hated the idea
of Paul waiting for her with nothing to do.
Samantha must have noticed her gulping her food since her next words were, “Take your time Michaela, Paul won’t mind waiting. That’s his job.”
Samantha shrugged apologetically. “This is all so new. I’ve known Jordan for over a year, but I had no idea that he had all this,” she said as she gestured to her surroundings.
Samantha gave her a confused look, “You didn’t know Mr. Marsh was wealthy? Don’t you read the business section?”
Michaela’s tone was dry as she answered, “Obviously not.”
She sat finishing her breakfast while she tried to absorb everything; the house, the house keeper, the luxury car complete with driver. The level of Jordan’s deception filled her with increasing unease. She had told Jordan this morning that she loved him and she did love the man she had come to know over the last year. What about this new Jordan who runs a billion dollar company and has people waiting on his every need? Would she love this Jordan too? There was nothing to do but get to know this new man and see what happens.
As Michaela stepped out of the house, a silver Bentley pulled up to the curb and a tall man who looked to be in mid to late thirties got out of the car. He was tall, broad and very muscular which made Michaela think of a line backer when she looked at him. His head was completely shaven and his dark sunglasses hid his eyes. He nodded politely and opened the rear door for her.
“Ms. Prentice?”
“Yes, thank you, Paul,” she said as she slid into the back seat enjoying the feel of the leather seats.
Paul returned to the driver’s seat before asking, “Where can I take you to today?”
“Just take me to Copely Place,” she told him as she heard the familiar chime of her phone. She felt like it had been ringing all morning. Answering the call she said, “Hi, Trixie.”
Trixie’s usually calm tones sounded panicked as she said, “Oh my God, Michaela I just ran into Dan in the coffee room and he said your house burned down! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she reassured her. “I wasn’t inside the house when it caught fire. Jordan and I got there when it was already burning.”