by Nella Tyler
I continued with my tasks, starting with the bathroom in the spare bedroom. When I completed that, I dusted the room and then stepped into the hallway. I was busily dusting the end table at the end of the hallway when I heard the door to his office open. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him standing there, staring at me, much like he had on the first day I had come to work for him. I offered him a smile, but it disappeared as he continued to stare at me. "What's wrong?"
He said nothing. My mind began to race. Had I done something? I wasn't sure. I replayed the events of yesterday and last evening in my mind. I couldn't figure it out. "Luke? Is something wrong?"
"Just leave me alone," he snapped.
With that, he turned around, stepped back into his office, and closed the door loudly behind him. I heard it lock. What the hell? I barely prevented myself from stepping to his office door and knocking on it. What had put him in such a foul mood? I could only assume that it was his meeting this morning, but why would he be angry with me? Then again, maybe he wasn't angry with me at all, but at something that had happened. My questioning him about it probably didn't help. Still, he didn’t have to take it out on me. I scowled.
I decided to just mind my own business and focus on the rest of my tasks, which kept me busy for the remainder of the afternoon. I had just put the supplies away in the cupboard downstairs and was preparing to leave when I turned around and saw him standing in the kitchen doorway.
The chef was busy at the stove, so I couldn't say anything.
"Miss Sanders, can you come up to my office for a moment, please?"
I nodded, frowning at the blank expression he wore. What the hell was going on? Luke turned his back and disappeared. I cast a quick glance toward the chef. He glanced at me over his shoulder, shrugged, and then returned to stirring some type of sauce in a sauté pan. I had no idea what Luke wanted to talk to me about, but then again, maybe he'd taken that tone with me because the chef had been standing right there.
As I made my way toward the stairs, sudden doubts began to niggle in my mind. Had somebody said something to him? Had somebody seen us together? Was I going to get fired? As I took the steps one at a time, I decided that that might not necessarily be such a bad thing. If he fired me, there wouldn't be any boss/employee relationship and we could be free to pursue any relationship we wanted.
Then I wondered if he was dumping me. Maybe he had gotten his jollies and was ready to move on. My heart skipped a beat, but then I got hold of my emotions. We had only been out on a couple of dates. Yes, they had been intimate dates, but still. It wasn't as if I was in love with him or anything. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, deciding that whatever this was about, I could handle it. I stepped up to his office, stood in front of the closed door for several moments, took another deep breath, and then exhaled. I could handle it. I knocked.
"Enter."
I did. Luke stood behind his desk, facing out the window that overlooked a portion of the back yard.
"Close the door please," he said.
I did and then stepped further into the room. "Luke, what's the matter? What's-"
When he turned around I could tell by his expression that he was frustrated. A frown pulled at his forehead, deepening the crease between his eyebrows. He didn't offer me a greeting, a smile, or any indication that we had shared anything intimate. I began to grow uneasy.
"Molly, do you know who I had a meeting with this morning?"
How would I know who he had a meeting with? I didn't have access to his itinerary. I frowned. "No, how could I?" I watched Luke, as he appeared to try to grasp hold of his emotions. One minute I sensed anger, the next frustration, perhaps even worry. "Luke, what happened?"
"I had a meeting with a very well-known businessman here in Raleigh. I've been doing business with him since I arrived here, and I thought we had been getting along rather well."
I watched as Luke folded his hands behind his back and then paced a few steps one way, then the other, before looking at me. I could do nothing but wait for him to continue. His agitation was making me increasingly nervous. Was I going to be fired or not? What was this about? Why would he be telling me about an influential meeting he had this morning?
Luke turned to me and then placed his hands on his desk. His eyes bored into mine with such intensity, I felt a jolt of alarm race down my spine. "What?"
"His name was Robert Sanders."
I literally felt the blood drain from my face. A cold sensation swept through me.
"Ah, a trickle of recognition," he said.
His expression grew even more intense, if that was possible. "Luke-"
"Why didn’t you tell me who you were?" he demanded.
He hadn't raised his voice, but it was extremely firm, sharp. I swallowed. "I did tell you who I was, Luke. I just-"
"You're the daughter of one of the richest men in the entire South and you hired on as my maid? Why?"
Before I could even answer that question, he continued, his voice hoarse with disbelief. "Can you imagine my surprise, no…my dismay, to find out that not only does Robert know exactly who is working for him, but that my new maid was none other than his daughter?"
I should've known. My father knew everything. I didn't have any idea how he found out half the information he did about local families, gossip, and scandals, but he did.
"Luke-"
He made a gesture with his hand, cutting me off. "Let’s just say that the meeting didn't go well. It was rather abrupt, actually. He did have something to say to me, though. Actually, he gave me an ultimatum."
I waited, my palms growing clammy with nervousness. I had a feeling I knew what it was.
"He told me that I either stop dating you or I will no longer be doing business with him."
His eyes bore into mine as my heart thudded in dread. How in heaven's name had my father found out not only that I was working for Luke, but dating him? This was not good. This was not good at all. This was exactly what I had been afraid of, someone finding out about us. That it would be my father shocked me as much as it obviously shocked Luke.
Maid for Him #3
Chapter 1
I stared at Luke, trying to process what he had just said. Too many thoughts raced through my head at the same time, causing a jumble of confusion. How did Luke even know my father? What kind of business were they doing together? More importantly, how in the world had my father found out I was working here at the Benning Estate, or even worse, that Luke and I were dating – or whatever it was we were doing, besides having hot, steamy sex? I hadn't even yet classified what we had as dating! Did he know everything? Had he seen us at the beach? Oh God. Did he have a spy hanging around? Who? I had yet to see the gardener or the chef… He couldn't know anything. Or could he?
I held back a growl of frustration. "Okay…you sure that's what he said?" I shook my head. "How do you know my-"
Luke turned from the window and stared at me. I saw the look of frustration and consternation on his face and a tinge of what I could only define as accusation.
"Why didn't you tell me who you were?"
"I answered that one already, Luke. I did tell you who I was. I didn't lie about my name."
"Why didn't you tell me your father was the Robert Sanders?"
I shrugged, giving him a look of incomprehension. "Why in the world would I? I don't go around telling everybody who my father is. Why do you think I took this job in the first place?" I asked, growing a little perturbed. With my hands on my hips, I stared at him. "Luke, I took this job because I wanted to earn my own paycheck. Who my father is has nothing to do with it."
He shook his head, frowning with confusion. "But why? Your father is a multimillionaire…a billionaire. Are you trying to tell me that you're cut out of an inheritance, a nice allowance, or even a hope of enjoying any of that money? Are you and your father estranged?"
"No," I said, my voice coming out somewhere between a whine and a groan. "But don't you understand, Luke?
It's not just about money. For me it's about self-reliance, self-respect, and self-esteem. I want to know that I can stand on my own two feet in the world, make decisions, make mistakes, and not..." I stopped. What was the point in trying to explain? Luke probably wouldn’t comprehend where I was coming from. Here was someone who had come from nothing, or very little, and who had had to work, or at least, I thought so. Then, then he had suddenly come into an inheritance from a relative who did very well for himself in the stock market. That inheritance had been dumped in his lap without an instruction booklet. He probably couldn't understand why anybody would want to work if they didn't have to.
"Go on, Molly, I'm trying to understand."
I stared out the window over his shoulder for several moments, trying to gather my thoughts. "You may not be able to grasp this, Luke, but for someone who's had everything at her fingertips, at her beck and call…knowing that all I had to do was ask for something and it would be granted… I appreciate it all, really I do. But what does that say about me, that kind of person I am? I don't want to go through my life always relying on somebody else to support me. I want to do it myself! Is that so hard to grasp?"
“Is that all?"
Again I just stared at him. What was he getting at? "Of course that's all!"
"Well, if you’re that rich, you certainly don't need to work and most especially not as a maid, do you?"
For a moment I was rendered speechless. "I just told you why I took this job! I don't want to live on my father's handouts for the rest of my life, Luke. Why do you think I went to college, got a teaching certificate and a degree in education? It's because I want to make my own way in life. I want to make a difference. Me, myself, and I. just like you did before-"
"Before I inherited a shitload of money?" he interrupted, his voice low.
"Well, yes," I said, trying to be honest. "The point is, not that it is any of your business. I’m having trouble finding a teaching position. For this summer, and to earn a paycheck and keep myself busy, I wanted to work. I needed to get out there, to experience things, to learn, to make mistakes… I need to do it, for myself, Luke. Can you understand that?"
He brushed his hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry, Molly, I'm just a bit rattled by all this.”
“Are you sure that's what my father said? Are you sure that's what he was talking about?"
His hands dropped to his side and he looked at me, arms outspread. "He said it as plain as day, Molly. He said he doesn't want me dating you – or you dating me. I guess the semantics don’t really matter. The bottom line is that his meaning was clear.”
“How did he say it?”
“What do you mean, how did he say it?”
I knew my father. I could read his body language pretty well, and sometimes, when he was blustering vocally, I could tell he had no intentions of backing it up. He did that with me a lot. “I mean, what did his voice sound like? How was he standing?” Luke stared at me as if I had grown two heads.
“His voice? He wasn’t yelling, but he was firm. Like an order. A statement.” He thought about it. “He kept his eyes on me the entire time.” He thought some more. “His body stance was stiff, but it’s not like we hang out together and we go golfing or anything. I don’t know him that well, Molly.” He brushed his fingers through his hair again. “I can tell you that he looked, and sounded, pissed off.”
I thought about that. Was my father just pretending to intimidate Luke? No. They had some kind of a business relationship going on that pre-dated my coming to work at the estate. I was still confused. The only way my dad could have found out about us was-
“How in the hell did he find out about this?” Luke grumbled. “I haven't told anybody-"
So much for male bonding. Luke hadn’t told my father he was dating me – or his maid, rather. I hadn't told anyone either – except Samantha. No. I dismissed the thought before it could even take root in my head. She wouldn't say anything – especially not my father. No. I pushed that suspicion out of my mind. The last thing I needed to do was start getting paranoid and tossing accusations around. I believed Luke. I didn’t think he would've said anything, either. I didn’t think he knew that many people here in Raleigh yet. So then how did my father know? Was my father spying on me? Did he have someone following me?
The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew. Why was my father doing this to me? I know that he never would've approved of me dating my boss – any boss – but still, an ultimatum? To damage someone's ability to do business with him because of me? Kind of drastic, I thought. Was there something about Luke that he knew and I didn't? I decided that I would give myself nothing but a headache trying to figure it out. I needed time to think, time to process and find a deeper understanding of what the hell was going on.
"How long have you been doing business with my father?" I asked.
Luke gave me a look that I wasn't too happy about. "Luke, I didn't say anything to him!" I said, shaking my head. "I have no idea how he found out about us. Still, it's quite a drastic measure for him to take."
He shook his head and then shrugged as if he had no idea what to do. He appeared not only confused, but a little bit nervous. Because of me? Because somebody knew that we were dating? Why would that make him nervous? I was probably the one that had more to lose than he did.
"I need to think," he said.
"It'll be all right, Luke," I tried to reassure him. "I don't know what he thinks he's doing, but he can't control me in every aspect of my life. I don't know what business relationship you have with him, but I think I'd better have a talk with him."
"No, Molly," he said. "Let me just think about this."
I stared at him a moment, my heart skipping a beat. I noticed that he didn’t try to explain his relationship with my father. He obviously didn’t want me to know, but why? Why hesitate to fill me in? Was he seriously contemplating a decision regarding the ultimatum? A relationship with me or his business relationship with my father? Then again, I had an inkling that if he had already chosen me over the business relationship with my father, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place, would we?
I sighed. "Look, Luke, I don't know why my father is butting into my personal life, and to be honest and frank, I don't really care. My father has always felt as if he has a right to get involved in everyone's lives, especially if he shares any sense of financial responsibility or business with them. I'll tell you one thing, though. When it comes to business, I keep my decisions and affairs to myself, or at least I try to. What I can tell you is-"
"Molly, you don't seem to understand the ramifications-"
Now that really pissed me off. I scowled. "I don't understand the ramifications? Who do you think knows my father better, you or me? Do I think he's going to disinherit me? No. However, that doesn't mean that he can't make my life unpleasant, or yours. He's not mean, he's just…well, overprotective is the only word I can come up with."
“I wasn’t just talking about ramifications as they applied to you, Molly,” he said quietly. “I’m new here. I’m trying to get my foot into the door with the Southern culture here, with the-”
“With the big dogs?” I interrupted him, and not too kindly.
“Look, Molly, this hasn’t been easy. There’s almost a closed door society down here, and I’m trying to get someone to open the door-”
“Why did you move to Raleigh in the first place?” I asked, curious now. Why Raleigh?
He stared. “Lots of reasons,” he shrugged and then gestured around the house. “This belonged to the guy who gave me the inheritance, remember?”
I didn’t. He hadn’t ever discussed his inheritance in detail before. I had no idea how he came to own this house and at the moment I didn’t care.
"Has he done this before?"
“What?” I asked, trying to keep track of the direction of conversation.
“Tried to control you or your boyfriends by playing the money card?”
I s
hook my head. "Not like this, anyway. Oh sure, he always wants to meet the boys I brought home from school, but there weren't that many of them. I know he's been trying to pull strings and make sure that I get a teaching position at one of the local schools, but I told him to stay out of it, that I wanted to do this on my own."
"But this is about us, Molly." He shook his head. "Is there any us? What are we doing, anyway?”
"What do you mean what are we doing?" I asked, once again growing upset. "You're the one that came on to me, remember? You're the one who said you wanted to try and make a relationship between us work. Now that you know who my father is…what? Have you changed your mind?" I shook my head. A headache was forming behind my eyes. What the hell was happening? And, why had he gone for a business meeting with my father in the first place? My father had made most of his money in the stock market, in real estate, and a number of business ventures. Was Luke involved in a business venture with him? Was he an investor in one of my dad’s property deals? What?
"I just don't know about this," Luke commented, turning once again to the window.
I stared at him in dismay. Luke uncertain? Where was that brash, I-could-care-less attitude that I’d seen in him so far? What exactly was it that he did upstairs, locked in his office all day? I decided that none of it mattered, not really. What was he so uncertain about? It was that very uncertainty that had me questioning everything, and I mean everything. I realized my father intimidated a great number of people, but I never would've imagined he would intimidate Luke. Then again, if they were working together or negotiating a business deal, I suppose that intimidation and ultimatums would have an impact. Money often spoke louder than words. Money often influenced people for all the right – or wrong – reasons.
My thoughts turned from Luke to my father. I was so angry with him I could spit! What I would do about this conundrum would have to wait. First, what was Luke going to do? What was he thinking? "What are you saying, Luke?"