Maid to Crave (Man Maid #2) (3 page)

“My apologies, sometimes I am as immature socially as my stature would imply I am. I should just grow up, mature,
develop
perhaps. I hope you can forgive me,” she said, pausing for effect. “Well, I need to get back to work.”

His rigid stance was all the confirmation she needed that her words had hit their target.
Good.
Perhaps in the future he would think before demeaning those who weren’t as blessed in the looks department as he was. Little did he know, she
chose
to look this way.

In fact, she played down her looks significantly and purposefully. In her field of work, especially in her new position, looking overly attractive
and
dating the boss could prevent her from being taken seriously. It wasn’t fair, but life never was. However, she would never grow any taller, and if pregnancy hadn’t increased her bra size, it was unlikely her breasts would
ever
get any bigger. Besides, attractiveness only served to bring around equally nice-looking guys who ended up breaking your heart. Plain and simple looks got her plain and simple dates.
Guys like Tim.
So it was worth looking a little drab all the time.

Scooping the plate containing her sandwich off the counter, she glanced once more in his direction and could have sworn his head drooped as though he was ashamed.
Right
. Men like Seth Lewis knew no shame…not from playing the field and definitely not for being less than nice to other people.

She headed back to her office to get some work done and to avoid Seth—and her growing embarrassment over her treatment of him. Her words to him hadn’t been much nicer than his had been about her at the wedding, and she was better than that.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Zach came into her office again and said, “My room’s all done. Come and look, Mommy!”

Glancing at the computer’s clock, she realized she’d been working for more than three hours straight without even looking up.
So much for only working on the migration for an hour and then getting started on the house.
She smiled apologetically at Zach and, after saving and closing out her connection to the server, followed him up to his room. His little body simply shook with excitement.

As they entered his bedroom, she was shocked at the progress Seth had made. Zach’s bed was totally put together, complete with headboard, and had been made up with clean sheets and a freshly laundered bedspread. The bookshelves were filled with the books from the boxes that had been too heavy for her to heft up the stairs. Zach’s toy box and cubbies were in place and organized with his things and pictures were hung on the walls. It was perfect…just what she would have done herself if she’d had even a
single
creative bone in her body.

“We cut pages out of my zoo magazines and glued them to the old boxes that Seth cut up. We made them into pictures just like at art time in school! Do you like them, Mommy?” Zach smiled proudly.

“I love them, honey. They’re wonderful,” she breathed.

A feeling of pure guilt made her stomach lurch. She had been
so
rude to Seth because of what she’d overheard almost two months ago. He, in return, had created an environment for Zach she could never have even imagined, let alone created on her own.

“We should tell Seth thank you,” she said quietly. She could hear the shame in her voice as sharply as she felt it.

“He already left,” Zach said.

Chapter Two

She had the smallest hands
ever
…and an amazing complexion, completely free of makeup. Leaning across the counter earlier he’d been surprised to see a few things about her that he hadn’t paid much attention to when he’d first met her.

Her hair had been all smoothed back into a braid at the funeral and in some up-do at the wedding. Both styles enhanced her youthful look and small features. Today her hair had been left loose to fall in messy curls that hung more than halfway down her back. Somehow the mousy brown color wasn’t so bad when left down and the curls made her look as though she’d just had sex. The term bedhead came to mind, in a good way.

Just when he’d thought perhaps his initial assessment of her had been a little off the mark, she’d opened her mouth. Granted he probably deserved it for thinking she was scoping him out while he was mowing when in reality she’d been offended at his half-dressed state. Most women would have been flirting with him and when she’d approached with the glass of water he’d assumed she would as well…but he’d been wrong.
Dead wrong!

Then when he had fixed her a sandwich, he’d thought for sure she would soften up a little, forgive him for any offense. Maybe this job wouldn’t be so bad. She did have some pretty amazing eyes, full of intelligence…even hidden behind her ridiculous glasses.

Her lack of makeup had only made his mind conjure up thoughts of her in a more sexual setting. Women who wore less makeup were the ones who typically rocked his world. They were uninhibited. Those that did wear a lot of makeup often were more concerned with him messing it up.

Her reference to his less than flattering remark about her at the wedding made him feel like a first class asshole. Not just for obviously being overheard, but for ever having said it in the first place. Being put down hurt. He of all people knew how badly that could feel. Somewhere along the way the roles had reversed. Now he was the one being mean to other people. The well-placed reminder of how that kind of behavior could come back to haunt a person, had left him speechless.

He should probably talk to Rusty and see if he could change some things around so Seth didn’t have to work for Tori anymore. But pride, stubbornness or maybe just complete and utter disbelief that nothing about him appealed to her, kept him from making the call to his former commanding officer and current boss. He had made his bed where Tori Stewart was concerned and he would now lie in it. Hopefully, what he’d done in Zach’s room would be a small peace offering. He was sure he could win her over…if she’d just give him a chance.

Not too long after Tori had gone back to her office, Zach had lost interest in his blocks and had taken to questioning everything Seth did. His growing frustration with the questions made Seth realize the kid was bored so he’d put Zach to work finding pictures in his vast collection of zoo magazines. By the time the kid had picked out eight images of different mammals Seth had finished up the bed and bookshelves. He could see a lot of himself in the boy, easily bored and easily distracted.

By the time they’d finished up the last few pictures, Seth had to leave in order to get home and get ready for his other job. Most nights he looked forward to dancing. He enjoyed being the center of attention and liked having a vast array of women fawning over him. He especially relished having his pick of an evening companion. Perhaps it
was
morally reprehensible as Rusty often said, but Seth liked women…
and sex
.

He also enjoyed traveling from club to club throughout the state and even to nearby states for the weekend. He tried not to visit the same clubs more than twice. By visiting different places he made more money because he was new rather than a regular dancer. He also made it a point not to perform too close to where he lived.

Gay clubs brought in even more money than women’s nightclubs but Seth didn’t frequent those very often because it seemed like a scam to pretend to be something he was not…especially for money. So far he’d only done that twice and it had been right after he’d received the first of many medical bills from Caleb’s accident.

His brother Caleb was twenty-five and had just finished his bachelor’s degree when he’d been hit by a drunk driver. Caleb had been heading to the Dayton area for a visit with Seth and had been planning to stay at the apartment with him and Ian, since Ronnie’s old room was now available. The driver had been killed instantly and though Caleb had been spared, he had a long road of recovery ahead of him.

Their mother had immediately flown in from Phoenix and had given Caleb round the clock care, but now that Caleb was through the worst part, she’d been forced to return home to her job. Though Tori didn’t know it, Seth understood about being a single parent.… He’d been raised by one. Caleb had assured their mother that he would be fine at the nursing home where he was finishing out the rest of his recovery. He didn’t want her to risk losing her job.

That had been nearly a month ago and now it looked like Caleb would be released soon. He had many months of physical therapy ahead of him if he wanted to regain his full mobility. With a metal rod in one leg and pins in his other knee, just getting around would be a task. When the first of the medical bills had arrived, Seth had taken one look at his worried mother and equally stressed brother and decided cleaning out his savings was the only way to keep from adding to their strain.

Neither his mother nor his brother had any idea of the amount of medical bills Seth had paid so far. It was all the money he had saved toward a down payment on a house and every dime he made stripping. That was
after
the hospital had learned that Caleb was the victim of a drunk driver and taken a good portion off of his bill. While Caleb was recovering, Seth would split his time between working for Tori and dancing so he could pay off the remaining medical bills.

Knowing that Rusty was correct when he said that this job working for Tori was a blessing, Seth decided he would suck it up and appreciate the opportunity. Perhaps in time, she would learn to like him and forget his brief moment of stupidity. In the meantime, he would do what he could while he was at her house and on the clock.

Her house was a pretty good size, especially for only her and Zach. They had obviously just moved in not long ago as there were quite a few boxes still in the garage, each one marked according to the room where the contents belonged. When Zach had mentioned that most of his toys were still in boxes, Seth had taken to sorting the boxes by rooms and then started in on toys and books…and of course getting Zach’s bed put together correctly.

By the end of the night, Seth was tired and a little worried about his mental clarity since rather than finding the hottest chick in the joint to bang he cut out the back and turned his car toward Dayton.

Some four hours later he found himself back at the apartment, and as he lay in his own bed, alone, his mind drifted to Tori Stewart again. She might not have appreciated him being shirtless while he cut grass, but she would appreciate him if she could see him dance.

Who was he kidding?
Tori Stewart didn’t frequent male strip clubs any more than his own mother did. That was probably a good thing since based on her reaction to him earlier, if she caught him wearing less than a pair of shorts, she would probably fire him. Why did he even care at all that she basically ignored him rather than flirting with him and trying to get him to ask her out? And when she couldn’t ignore him, she seemed to be put out by his mere presence.

He fell asleep thinking of long, mousy-brown curls and haunting brown eyes…and tiny hands.

The following morning he showered after his morning workout and then headed to the rehab center to spend time with Caleb. Entering his brother’s room, he noticed Caleb looked more like himself than he had in weeks.

“You just missed it. A cute little intern helped me make it to the bathroom and get a shower.” Caleb smiled. “Blonde. Big tits”

Caleb got his fair share of action. He and Caleb looked a good bit alike. The only difference was that Seth had a bigger and better build thanks to the Army and his daily exercise routine of cardio in the morning and weight lifting in the evening. Originally Caleb had wanted to come out and stay with Seth because he had high hopes of learning a few tricks of the stripping trade from his older brother. The dancing wasn’t going to happen now but at least Caleb still had it in him to flirt. The accident might have messed up his legs but the rest of him was still working just fine…including his dick apparently.

“Dude, you didn’t get any last night did you?” Caleb laughed. “Lack of options or wrong venue?”

Seth pulled a chair over, propped his feet at the end of Caleb’s bed and leaned back to watch the infomercials showing on television. “Neither. My head just wasn’t in the game,” he replied.

“You better get back in the ring. Doc says I might get to go home at the end of the week. A little sympathy action would be a great welcome home gift.” Caleb laughed again. “This is the closest thing to celibate I’ve been since high school. Don’t quit on me now, Bro.”

After a few minutes of silence Seth finally asked the question that had been swirling around in his mind since yesterday. “Have you ever been completely dissed by a woman who can’t really afford to be choosy?” he asked.

Caleb smiled. “Yep. Junior year, incoming freshman. Cute, but studious. Blew me off, even called me a loser.”

“So how long did it take to overcome her…
objections?
” Seth asked, even as he thought:
Why was he asking his younger brother about this stuff?

“Never did. I finally gave up when I started worrying she might charge me with stalking. Come to find out I wasn’t the only one who had a thing for her and we all got the hand instead,” Caleb said.

That wasn’t exactly what Seth wanted to hear…but at least Tori hadn’t called him a
loser
. There was still time, though. It had only been one day. At the rate he was going she might very well move up to calling him names by the end of the week. What he wouldn’t give for the chance to start again. This time he would keep his comments to himself.

After picking up some lunch and some books and magazines for Caleb at a store nearby, he promised to come back the following evening to visit again. Then he headed out so he could get in his weight lifting at the gym and pay bills.

By Tuesday, he knew Tori was completely avoiding him. She kept herself locked away in her office and all he heard was the sound of her tiny fingers pounding the keyboard as he went through boxes. He finished sorting them and then completed the rest of Zach’s room, including putting away his clothes. Seth avoided the boxes labeled “Tori’s room” or “personal” and moved on to finishing up the kitchen. He finally had to knock on her office door and let her know he was leaving.