His Grace (The Ethereal Book 1)

by Aya DeAniege

  “And in the commercial cleaning, what kind of work did you do? In a commercial building? In an office building? Restaurant?”

  “I cleaned a restaurant that I waited at during the night. Vacuuming and cleaning linoleum, dusting light fixtures and cleaning the bar that was in the restaurant.”

  “How long did you work there?”

  “Three years, why?” I asked.

  “And how many other jobs do you have?”

  “Technically? About six. A couple are just fillers or a once a month type of thing, but I’m usually free from five in the morning to noon. Again, why?”

  “My club needs a janitor,” Sam said. “Trial basis, of course. It only pays twenty an hour.”

  “Twenty an hour?” I asked.

  Only, that was what he had said. That he only paid twenty an hour for a janitor. What did he pay the bartenders?

  “Would that be a problem?” Sam asked.

  “I’m wondering why it’s that high. Most cleaning jobs only offer minimum wage. Cleaning is a shit job that anyone can do. They don’t like you even talking about higher paying jobs.”

  “Yes, cleaning is a shit job, which is why the turnover is high unless you offer a good rate,” Sam said with a little shake of his head. “I don’t want to be constantly retraining good people, but will remove those who have performance issues. There’s a three-month trial period, and I expect everything to be spotlessly clean.”

  “Like, OCD clean? I can do that.”

  “No, clean. If it were OCD clean, I’d have you clean it four times, then wipe it down with a disinfectant wipe before turning on and off the lights six times and finally leaving. Neat, perfect, and clean, are not synonymous with OCD.”

  I shifted away from his animosity. The man almost growled but pinched the bridge of his nose instead.

  “I apologize. Anytime I ask for something to be redone, and done properly, the people I’m talking to claim that I have OCD. It’s a sticking point with me.”

  “Got it, just because you ask me to redo something, doesn’t mean you’re literally mentally unstable, it just means I did a bad job. I knew that before you said that, but OCD is how we describe the cleaning job too, it’s become a verb over time thanks to misuse. That’s the kind that I meant.”

  “Spotless like a late Victorian wealthy house.”

  “I’ve never been in one, but does that involve a white glove test?”

  “It does.”

  “Okay, I know how to do that kind of cleaning. What happens if there is a stain that I can’t get out? Spilled drinks, sex stuff, the fabrics in your club can be stained pretty easily.”

  “You need to make every effort to clean it, and if it still does not come out, you are to notify the day manager, who notifies me. This thing between you and I is separate from that job. I don’t want you bringing that into this with me. Don’t wait to tell me about it. I do have an open-door policy, however. If there is abuse by the day manager, of course, you can talk to me about it.”

  “Are… are you offering me a job?” I asked.

  “I am, yes. Lilly, I’m certain, can speak to your work ethic, she would not recommend a person without knowing them. Why don’t you go shower and once you’re done we’ll head to the club and introduce you to the staff. Get your paperwork done up—” Sam stopped and frowned. He looked me up and down and then sighed out slowly. “You have paperwork, right? The thing with the numbers that you need to work?”

  “Yes, of course, I do,” I said, feeling insulted.

  He made a sound at the back of his throat.

  “What’s that for?” I demanded. “Just because I work multiple jobs, you think I work under the table or something?”

  “No, not necessarily,” Sam said. “Those from poor or lower income, especially those passed from foster home to foster home, may not have the opportunity to have all their paperwork on hand. If you didn’t have it, I’d still hire you, just unofficially until we got the paperwork sorted out.”

  “How do you know I was in foster homes?” I asked. “I didn’t tell any of you that.”

  “Lilly, when I followed her to the bathroom. I was making certain she wasn’t vandalizing my home in a rage because I just happened to take to you. Hell hath no fury like that woman scorned.”

  “I have my papers,” I said. “Maybe you should have asked Lilly that, not me.”

  “Don’t be jealous, I only spoke to her after the dinner, then last night when you weren’t answering your phone,” Sam protested.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t assume that just because I grew up poor, I don’t have my papers,” I snapped back at him.

  I left the bed in a huff, headed for the bathroom. Straight into the shower, I turned the water on as hot as I could and stepped under the steaming water. I was annoyed enough that I just kept huffing out my breath. I couldn’t even come up with words to express how annoyed I was with what Sam had implied.

  He slipped into the shower and wrapped an arm around me, pressing close against my back. His lips found my throat, causing me to tilt my head as the heat from his lips sent a shiver through me. Teeth nipped at my flesh, causing me to gasp out and shudder. The heat was overwhelming, and it wasn’t the kind of heat that a hot shower brought on.

  “I’m still mad at you,” I said.

  “I know,” he said, his face near my throat. “I’m sorry, Grace. I shouldn’t have assumed. Let me make it up to you.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “I have a couple of options for you,” he murmured. “And don’t get mad at the options. They’re just options.”

  “Okay, I promise to think about it before I peg you between the legs.”

  “Good,” he purred out, swaying slightly as he pulled me with him. “The first, I think, is what would get me pegged. A four dollar an hour raise.”

  “Are you going to offer me a raise every time you make a mistake?” I asked.

  He made a little sound that might have been a chuckle. The sound made me laugh. I was fairly certain that he would push that hourly wage. The starting wage was way too high to start with.

  “You can’t give me things, so you’ll just insist on giving me a raise.”

  “Maybe,” he murmured. “Another option is that I can show you how skilled I am with my tongue. Or we could help you move.”

  “You’re hoping for option one or two, aren’t you?” I asked.

  “Me lifting heavy things,” Sam grumbled. “I can do it, I’m not a stranger to hard labour, but I’d rather not do it again.”

  “I could use help moving,” I said. “Lilly said her friends would help, but I don’t know them or anything about them. And, well, I love Lilly, but…”

  “Her friends are called her girls and her boys for a reason,” Sam said, kissing my shoulder gently. “I’ll let my brothers know. We will help you move, but I cannot promise that Ralph will not rearrange everything and buy you new bedding. Or that Michael won’t attempt to rearrange Lilly’s plants. That’s something they can sort out, however.”

  “Lilly is protective of her plants.”

  “And Michael insists on gardening everywhere he goes. The two of them have gotten into it before over the way a garden should be properly maintained,” Sam paused, then chuckled lightly. “I was really, secretly hoping that you’d ask me to kneel.”

  “Oral is a part of a relationship,” I said with a shrug. “It’s not a bartering tool. Though it’s my understanding it can be used for an apology. I just don’t think that it should be.”

  His hands ran down my wet sides, the fingertips raising until the barest edge, and his nails grazed over my flush skin. I pressed back against him as he kissed my shoulder again. Sam pulled away, turning me as he did. He kissed me, lips capturing mine when I opened my mouth to protest. His tongue delved into my mouth, exploring gently.

  Electric sparks crackled down my nerves. His hands slid down my back and grasped me firmly, fingers tightening slightly, then releasing. I had never thought of s
omeone grabbing my ass as erotic, yet somehow Sam did it.

  We kissed for several minutes before he broke it off and smiled at me.

  “I probably don’t need to wash, since I showered last night,” he said, fingers trailing down the side of my face. “Why don’t you finish up and come join me?”

  I bit my bottom lip as he slipped away.

  Alone in the shower, I couldn’t help but shiver under the hot water. It seemed that when Sam left, he took all my heat with him. A chill washed over me as I turned and fiddled with the taps until the water heated up just that little bit more. The cold reached down to my core and took far too long to go away. When I finally warmed up, I turned and grabbed the shampoo.

  Washing thoroughly, I took my time in the shower. It was a nice shower, and good pressure as well.

  Once I was clean, I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing one of the towels, which were thick and comfortable, and big at the same time. The towel wrapped right around me and hung down below my knees. The floor of Sam’s bathroom was warm against my feet despite the fact that it was tiled.

  I could sink into these sorts of comforts.

  But I did the smart thing and gave myself a shake. I would not plan out my future with Sam and pretend that we got married and had children and spent the rest of our lives together because that just wasn’t going to happen. Rich men might date poor girls, but eventually, they got bored, and I’d end up back where I started, except living with Lilly and not quite paying rent…

  Okay, not quite back where I started.

  I left the bathroom and found Sam walking toward the door with my clothing from the night before in his hands. Washed, pressed, and folded. He held them out to me, and I took them, blushing as I turned and headed back into the bathroom.

  “There’s a hair dryer beside the sink,” he said as I closed the door.

  In the bathroom, I found the hairdryer, as well as what looked like a brand new brush sitting beside the hairdryer. I dried my hair and brushed it, then pulled on my clothing. I glanced into the mirror, then looked away. It was hard to believe that I was standing in that bathroom.

  I had heard Lilly’s girls tell those kinds of stories, but never believed I’d end up being the one with that story.

  Sighing, I left the bathroom again and found Sam sipping something from a mug. When we had gone for coffee, he hadn’t ordered anything. I didn’t think he was drinking coffee.

  I could smell it though, as I approached. There was a mug of black coffee, still steaming just a little, waiting for me at the table Sam sat at.

  “I don’t usually have coffee in the room, but I thought we’d skip having breakfast with my brothers,” he said.

  “Do you not have girls over often?” I asked.

  “Girls? Never. Women? Very rarely. And when I do, they’re typically gone at dawn. Come have some coffee.”

  I approached the little table by the door and accepted the cup that he handed me.

  “I thought you didn’t drink hot beverages,” I said.

  “I drink a nice tea in the morning,” he said. “I just drink it out of a coffee cup. I could be daintier about it if that’ll help, just like,” he lifted his pinky finger and sipped loudly. “See, I can drink tea properly.”

  I watched Sam wiggle his little finger as I mixed my coffee to my preferred tastes.

  “That does look a little silly,” I said, then sipped my coffee. “Are we going to be late to the club?”

  “No, you aren’t working yet. That means that you can’t be late if you’re with me. They don’t even know that there is a replacement, just that we’re looking.”

  “Ah, okay,” I said with a small nod. “Then, any chance of food? I’m hungry.”

  “Worked up an appetite, did you?” he murmured with a small smile. “We’ll stop on the way and get you a bagel or something.”

  “You don’t eat breakfast?”

  “I… don’t often eat, very small stomach and slow metabolism. Don’t worry. I’m not starving at all. How’s the coffee?”

  “Awkward,” I said, then realized that I had said that out loud and stiffened with the coffee cup halfway to my mouth. Clearing my throat, I lowered the cup. “Sorry, uh, the coffee is fine.”

  “And after you fill out the paperwork at the club, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?” he asked.

  “No. After class, I could pick up a shift or something, make a little more money. I also need to give notice at my building.”

  “You could just abandon the place, especially if there are bugs or something.”

  “That’s not the right thing to do,” I said.

  “I could burn it down,” he said as if offering to pick up the mail on the way home. He sipped his tea, then looked at me, eyebrows raising. “I’m joking, Grace.”

  “Thank goodness,” I said with a sigh of relief.

  “It’d make more sense to purchase the building for the lot, demolish the entire thing and then build a condominium in its place.”

  “Don’t do that either,” I said.

  “I might after you move out, but not until you move out on your own terms,” he said. “They say the neighbourhood is the next up and comer, buying now and then building condos is a smart business move. Just happens you live there.”

  “You looked into buying my building before we got to know each other?”

  “I’m told I compulsively save the women in my life and need to not do that because they take that as meaning that they can’t save themselves when they are perfectly capable of doing just that. If you weren’t capable of riding that white horse and tossing on your armour, I wouldn’t be interested in you. Vain women are only worth a one and go, and that weak, pathetic, oh woe is me type always pisses me off.”

  “It’s like stop waiting for a man to save you, you have two hands, you have a brain.”

  “Right? Ralph is making me read these romance books, and this one character just sat there for an entire year, moping and being depressed. And her family just allowed it to happen. This is set in the day and age of feminism and mental health, but they just let their daughter waste away to nothing over a man who was in her life for a week at most. He doesn’t even come back, he marries some woman across the country, and the story ends with her falling for some nice guy who had been lurking in the background for years. It doesn’t even make sense!”

  “…” I stared at Sam, frowning as I did. “Sam, honey, you’re a rich man with a club whose brothers all slept with me, and then you started dating me, knowing that all had happened and it just so happens that your ex is my best friend.”

  He scratched just below his nose, then tilted his head slightly to the side.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. It is an odd coincidence that you are best friends with my ex.”

  I held my hands away from my sides, almost spilling my coffee as I did. Sam stared back at me, apparently not comprehending what I meant.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Your brothers?”

  “What? You think you should be shamed for sleeping with three attractive, available men?” he asked.

  “You’re the weirdest man I’ve ever met,” I said.

  “I believe you think I should slut shame you, that’s not something I believe in. How many people a willing body sleeps with is no one’s business, and if it is shared, it’s not something to slap their hand over.”

  “You’ve slept with a lot of people. I take it.”

  “Yes, but as a man, I’m not shamed because of it. It’s considered being a bachelor. What I can’t stand is a woman being told she can’t have sex without somehow diminishing her worth.”

  “You may be more of a feminist than I am,” I muttered.

  “I’m just trying to explain why I don’t care that you slept with my brothers. We’re all very attractive. You didn’t know they were my brothers, and they didn’t know that they were all sleeping with the same person. To me, there’s absolutely no shame in tha
t. Now, if you were a gold digger, sleeping with us to try to find one to marry and carry you forward in life, that’d be something to be ashamed of, but I don’t think you’re doing that. So no, I don’t think it’s weird.”

  “I still think it’s weird.”

  “I suppose. You and Lilly being friends is still an odd coincidence, but that’s all it is. Is a coincidence.”

  “I’m only going to ask this once. Were you stalking Lilly?”

  “No, I wasn’t even aware that she was here, in the city. The way she does up her face and hair now? My brothers thought you were meeting with three different women. She’s my ex. It is in the past. We no longer feel that way about one another.”

  “Long explanation when a no would have sufficed.”

  “I’ve had issues before by not being very clear about what I meant,” Sam said. “I’m not stalking Lilly, I am not in love with her, and I was not aware that she was in the city until the night before last. If it’d make you feel better, I could set her up with someone.”

  “Really?” I asked because I thought that was a stupid idea.

  “It probably wouldn’t work out, considering the fact that she hasn’t been in a relationship in years, but I could search for an asexual to go along with her. There must be one out there somewhere.”

  “Really?” I asked again.

  “She is notoriously picky when it comes to her partners,” he muttered.

  “Do you also think it’s a good idea to present her with a man and be all ‘now kiss’? Because I think that would end in you losing bits of you that I might enjoy.”

  Sam smiled.

  “What you mean to say is that I do know how to satisfy a woman?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe. You might know a thing or two.”

  “That sounds like a challenge.”

  I left Grace in the capable hands of my staff. She had the paperwork in front of her and a blue cocktail that she had asked after with wide eyes.

  Her delight wrapped around me like a warm blanket. It had been a very long time since I had felt that comfortable in my own skin. All because a woman was happy.