Dani thought back to the times she’d spent at the Billionaire Club. Maybe she had seen people with pets there. She just hadn’t paid much attention. She should have known better. Her hands shook at the thought of what almost happened. “I could have killed someone’s dog.”
“But you didn’t. And you learned not to prop open the door.”
She looked up at Austin. “Why are you being so nice to me?” She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, which just embarrassed her more. But she did want to know. Everyone who was nice to her wanted something.
He seemed taken aback by her question. He just stood there, blinking at her. “I don’t know,” he finally said.
“Sorry, that was rude.” She stood and smoothed out the polyester shirt Kay had given to her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. I’m a disaster. Which, by the way, is another name given to me on social media. Danica the Disaster.”
He flinched. “Ignore the social media.”
“I wish I could. I still haven’t watched the latest…” She sucked in a breath, not meaning to say anything about that embarrassing video. The last thing she wanted was for Austin to go look it up and watch her making a colossal fool of herself at this very resort.
“The latest what?”
“Never mind.” She grabbed the vacuum. “I should get back to work. Thank you so much for helping me get the puppy back.” She practically shoved him out of the room.
“Sure.” He gave her a small wave as he left.
She sighed and plugged in the vacuum. Another crisis averted. For now. Hopefully Austin wasn’t the kind of guy to go searching her name on the internet. Although she had to shoot her mouth off and tell him about the awful names she was called online. Pretty stupid.
Maybe he’d never go looking. She crossed her fingers and plugged in her earphones. She needed some BTS therapy now.
Chapter 8
Austin hung up the phone after ordering a pizza. He didn’t know when Dani’s break was, but he knew she didn’t get breakfast again, and had looked a bit gaunt this morning after the dog fiasco. Maybe some food would help her blood sugar. Even if he just handed her a slice as she worked, it might brighten her day.
He sat on his couch and flicked on the television. He was tired of sitting on his deck, staring at the beach. He wanted to run in the sand, and swim in the ocean. It was depressing him, rather than lifting his spirits. He needed a distraction. If he could find some reruns of an old sitcom, that would at least make him laugh.
He flipped through the channels, and then stopped when he saw a large image of Dani on the screen. He almost swallowed his tongue when he saw the headline underneath her face.
Danica Jordan hides away in rehab center. He turned up the volume to hear what the woman was saying.
“After Danica’s embarrassing drunk video leaked, sources say she hasn’t been back to her multi-million-dollar home in Los Angeles. We have reliable information about her sudden disappearance, with several sightings at a local rehabilitation center.”
A photo of a blonde woman wearing large sunglasses entering a building flashed on the screen. It could have been literally any blonde woman. Heck, it could have been a man in a blonde wig. Austin snorted and folded his arms. “That’s your reliable information?”
The woman continued. “We all remember the striking image of young Danica after her mother was brutally murdered.” And, in case anyone didn’t remember, the image of a three-year-old popped onto the screen, her mouth open, tears streaming down her cheeks. You could practically hear the little child’s wail.
“The nation has watched with fascination as Danica grew up. But that tragic past has created even more tragedy as Danica has grown out of control. And now we are left to wonder, will she ever pull her life together?”
Austin grew disgusted and turned the channel. From what he saw, Dani wasn’t an alcoholic. Granted, he’d only met her yesterday, but he’d spent quite a bit of time with her, and she hadn’t been drunk. When offered something to drink yesterday, she stuck with water. If she had a problem, he would have seen evidence of it, he was sure. The gossip stations were way off.
A knock came on his door and he stood, his knee complaining with the sudden movement. “Just a second,” he called as he grabbed his wallet. He paid for the pizza and tipped the delivery boy before he closed the door. The smell of melted cheese and pepperoni filled the room. Dani would be happy.
He slipped his room key in his pocket and left, heading toward the section that Dani was working. The day had warmed, and he was glad he’d left his jacket back in the room. As he walked by the garden area, something prickled at the back of his neck. The intense feeling that someone was watching him came over him and he looked around, but didn’t see anyone.
Laughing at himself, he shook his head. He must be paranoid. He headed toward the area where Dani should be cleaning. A moment later, he found her cart at room 309. The sound of the vacuum came from inside, and he called out to her. “Dani?”
She didn’t answer, so he poked his head in. She had her earphones in, and she was dancing to some unheard music as she ran the vacuum back and forth across the floor. A smile spread across his face as he watched her. She was seriously rocking out, even singing a few lyrics as she danced.
He started to feel guilty for watching her, knowing she didn’t think anyone was able to see her. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She squealed and jumped about a foot off the floor. “You scared me!” she shouted as she pulled her earbuds out and turned off the vacuum.
“Sorry,” he said, trying hard not to chuckle. “I just thought you might be hungry.” He held up the pizza. “Want some?”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time and grinned. “It’s like you read my mind. How did you know I needed a pizza?”
He rocked back on his heels. “Lucky guess.”
“I can take a break.”
“Perfect.”
“Let’s go sit by the water.”
He was kind of sick of looking at the water, but he didn’t mind it so much if Dani was going to be there. At least he wasn’t by himself. “Sure.”
Dani pocketed her earbuds and he followed her down the path toward the tables and chairs set out on the public patio area. Dani chose a table and sat down. He set the pizza box down and took a seat beside her. “Ladies first.”
She opened the box and pulled out a slice. “Yum.” She took a large bite and then smiled at him. “This is delicious.”
It pleased him to hear those words. “Good. I wasn’t sure if you were the kind of girl who just liked to eat salad, but I took a guess based on what you ate last night.”
She shook her head. “I’d much rather eat pizza than salad. It drives me crazy when girls don’t actually eat. I’ve never understood it.”
“How has your morning gone, besides the great dog escape?”
She laughed. “Much better since then. I’ve managed to avoid filling the rooms with bubbles, and all pets are safe. But I did break another fingernail.” She looked down at her hands. “I’m beginning to think my nails are not going to survive this.”
“It might be hard to keep them long in this line of work.”
She frowned. “I might go get a manicure with my first paycheck. Is that stupid?”
“I don’t know. How much is a manicure?”
“A hundred and fifty.”
He almost choked on his bite. “How much?”
“Well, that’s with the works. I could see how much it is with the cheaper options.”
“Might be a good idea. How much will your paycheck be?”
She made a face. “I don’t know. Kay is paying me eight dollars an hour. How much will that be a week?”
Austin did a quick calculation in his head. “Three hundred and twenty dollars for the week.”
Dani’s eyes widened and she lowered the slice of pizza she’d half-eaten. “That’s all?”
“Yeah. And there are probably withholding
s for taxes and stuff.”
“Oh. Then it won’t even be that much.”
He hated to be the bearer of bad news, but he had to nod. “Yeah.”
Staring down at the table, she said, “Then I guess I can’t get a manicure. I need other stuff more.”
“Like what?”
“Clothes. But if I’m only getting three hundred and twenty dollars, that won’t even pay for one outfit.” Her eyes filled with tears. “And how will I eat?”
“Wait, how much do you spend on one outfit?”
“I don’t know. Five or six hundred, if I’m watching how much I’m spending.”
Austin looked for any signs that she was joking with him, but she didn’t give him any indication. He balked. Growing up poor, he’d never spent more than twenty bucks on a pair of jeans. Most of his T-shirts were around that price as well. How could she even get up to five hundred dollars? “You’ll have to shop at a discount store for clothes.”
Dani took another bite, but frowned when she chewed. “My skin doesn’t react well to cotton blends.”
“How does it react to starving?”
Her gaze shot down to the pizza, and then her cheeks reddened. “It doesn’t like it.”
“Then you’ll need to compromise. Come on. After you get off work I’ll take you shopping.”
“I haven’t gotten paid yet.”
“My treat.” He smiled when her face brightened.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure you need some things. I’ll secure transportation, and we can run to a few places.”
She grabbed his arm. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life, but I swear you’re an angel sent from heaven.”
He kind of liked being her angel. And then his stomach soured. Would she think he was her angel when she found out he wasn’t who she thought he was? The longer he allowed her to think he was a maintenance man, the worse it would be when she found out the truth.
He would have to tell her tonight. It was best to come clean. She’d understand, right? It wasn’t either one of their faults. It just happened. And he needed to correct the misunderstanding before it grew too big.
He stared out at the ocean. He should be feeling relief at finally making the decision to tell her. Then why was a dark feeling of foreboding coming over him?
Chapter 9
Dani shoved the last load of sheets into the dryer and turned the knob. She was ready to be done for the day. Half her nails were now broken and she pulled out the nail file another housekeeper had loaned her. She sat on the table in the laundry room and sawed at her jagged nails. She had never thought she’d be that kind of person. The kind who let things get so bad.
Her father still hadn’t called or texted. She’d sent him a photo of her in her new uniform and told him about her job. He hadn’t responded. She tried not to let it bother her, but she had to admit it stung. He had time to call and chew her out when she did something dumb. But when she did something he should be proud of, crickets.
The nail file flew faster as she thought about how unfair that was. Did she have to make national news in order to get his attention? Didn’t he care that she was working her butt off to meet his stipulations? When was he going to stop this angry tirade and give her back her credit cards?
She fumbled and the nail file slipped out of her hand, landing under the table. She jumped down and searched for it. It had landed almost against the wall. Of course. She had to crawl under the table to reach it.
On her hands and knees, she heard the door open and two other housekeepers enter. They walked in front of the table and stopped. “Man,” one of them said. “I’m tired.”
“No kidding. Kay has me covering half of some other girl’s rooms because she’s new and doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Is that the blonde? The one with an obvious boob job?”
Dani looked down at her chest. Were they talking about her? She’d never had any work done.
“Yeah. The dumb one. I heard she flooded one of the rooms with suds.”
Dani froze. They were talking about her. Who had told them about that? Hadn’t Austin been the only one who knew? Had he talked about her to the other housekeepers? Her throat swelled shut as she thought about the possibility.
“Really?” The woman laughed. “I can’t believe it.”
“I think she’s some famous washed up actress or something.”
They crossed the room and Dani moved to the wall in case they could see her. She prayed the women would just leave.
“I heard she was on drugs.”
“Probably. It wouldn’t surprise me. I have no idea why Kay hired her.”
The women chatted for a moment longer about what they were doing that weekend, and then they left, and Dani sighed with relief. She was so cramped under there. She crawled out, her knees screaming at her.
Heat assaulted her face as she thought about what the other women had said. It never ended. She was cursed for eternity to be the one everyone talked about. No matter how much she hated it, she would always be looked at, gossiped about, and photographed.
It took another fifteen minutes before the sheets were dry, folded, and put away before she could clock out and finally go back to Austin’s room. She knocked on his door, ready to take off her sandals. Her feet were killing her.
Austin took one look at her and ushered her inside. “What happened?”
She sat on the couch and put her head back. “Just a hard day.”
“Are you ready to go shopping?”
“Can I rest here a bit first? I don’t feel like shopping right now.” Dani closed her eyes before he could respond. She didn’t think she’d ever said those words before in her life. But, she’d also never had a job that sapped the energy out of her. Plus, no matter how much she wanted to ignore what the women had said, she couldn’t. It depressed her.
“Sure.” She felt the weight of him as he sat beside her. “Rest as long as you need.”
“Thanks.” She didn’t need long. Maybe just a minute or two. But drowsiness settled in and before she knew it, she was coming back to her senses, the feeling of having slept for a while heavy on her eyelids.
The sound of the ocean waves came in the open patio door, and Dani was snuggled against something warm and soft. It felt comforting, like when she was little and her father would tuck her into bed at night, which was rare. But what was she snuggling with? She pried her eyes open. Crud. She was snuggled up against Austin. She jerked back, embarrassed. “Oh, no. I fell asleep.” She wiped at her mouth in case any drool had come out. Luckily, she didn’t feel any.
“It’s okay. I didn’t mind.” He gave her a smile. “You weren’t hurting me.”
She rubbed at her eyes. “How long was I asleep? Weren’t you bored just sitting there?”
“You were only out for twenty minutes.”
“Oh.” She blinked, trying to get the fuzzy feeling out of her head. “Felt like longer.”
“Do you need to rest more?” He pointed to his shoulder. “I make a good pillow.”
She was sure her face was now crimson, with the massive waves of heat that was coming from her cheeks. “No. I’m good.”
He leaned a bit closer to her, and she realized he was only inches from her face. Definitely within kissing distance. Was that because she was still practically snuggled into his lap? Why had she not moved away?
“You sure?” His breath tickled her cheek. He looked at her, and for the first time, she noticed the tiny flecks of gold in his blue eyes. Why was she staring into his eyes? It made her stomach flutter.
“Yes,” she said, unable to catch her breath. What was wrong with her?
His gaze dipped to her lips, and she flushed. Did he want to kiss her? Not that she would mind. Wait, what? She pulled back, unable to stand the tension. She couldn’t kiss him. The last man she trusted had broken her into a million pieces. She didn’t even really know Austin. He was being so nice, but that usually meant a guy wa
nted something from her.
“I’m ready to go shopping now,” she said as she jumped off the couch, her heart beating erratically.
“All right.”
Was that disappointment in his voice? She really wasn’t sure. But she needed to get away from him so she could put herself back together. Nothing ever worked right in her life when she was impulsive and dove into things without thinking.
Austin grabbed a set of keys and motioned. “I’ve rented transportation.”
When they got to the front of the resort and Austin climbed into a golf cart, Dani snorted. “That’s our transportation?”
He patted the seat beside him. “Hop on.”
She did as she was told. “I thought you rented a car.”
“I did. Well, sort of.”
“Yeah, hate to break it to you, but this isn’t a car.”
“It will get us there.” He started the engine and the cart took off.
Dani grabbed onto the bar next to her seat so she wouldn’t fall out. “How fast does this go?”
Austin grinned. “Twenty miles per hour. It’s cool, right?”
She laughed. “It’s only cool if you’re a grandpa.”
“Ouch.”
The pouty look on his face made her laugh again. “Sorry. I’ll stop teasing. You didn’t have to take me shopping.” She grew serious thinking about how nice he was being. “I really do appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” He turned down a busier street. Cars passed by them as they chugged along at grandpa speed. “You haven’t seen where we’re going.”
She squinted at him. “Where?” she asked, not quite sure she wanted to know.
He turned again, this time into a parking lot. The large sign across the building made it clear where he was taking her, and she balked. “No way.”
“Give it a chance.”
Dani frowned. “I don’t shop at SaleMart.”
“You didn’t shop at SaleMart…before. But now might be a good time to try it out.” He shot her a look, and she knew what he was thinking. Who was she to reject anything? She had no money. He was doing her a favor. She couldn’t expect him to buy her designer clothes.
A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity Page 5