Maid for Each Other

by Lynn Painter

There were a lot of attractive men out there, but this man had to be The One they were inspired by.

“You are stunning,” I said, my eyes drinking in a sight I hadn’t been prepared for.

“Whenever I’m working in Denver, he has flowers waiting for me at my hotel with love poems he wrote attached.” “Poems?” his mom asked, looking surprised. “The most amazing spicy poems you’ve ever heard,” I said, setting my hand over my heart. “He’s a legend with the desk clerks at the Denver Hilton, like a naughty Shakespeare.

😂😂😂

Instead, he used his elbow to pull me even closer, nearly putting me in a headlock as he moved his mouth to my ear. To anyone watching, it looked like he was telling me the dirtiest of secrets. But he said in that deep, deep voice, “You really are a little shit, you know that?” When he pulled back, I met his gaze and grinned. “I do.”

😂😂😂

“You better look me in the eyes when you’re saying things like ‘forty K,’ honey.”

“You were smart to hold back, Stan,” Declan said, and I felt him drape his arm across the back of my chair. “She’s very intense about her breakfast.” When I turned my head and met his gaze, his mouth was half-cocked in a smirk that I felt low in my belly. Dear God, he looked good with a smile. I leaned closer, moving my mouth to his ear and saying so quietly that only he could hear, “I’m a little freaked out by how spot-on you are. I seriously inhaled three croissants before you even finished the story about when you used to take naps in the mattress department of CrashPad.” He turned his head slightly, his face so close I could’ve rubbed my nose against his, and then he stretched enough to say into my ear, “Do you seriously think I wasn’t counting? And who cuts a croissant with a knife and a fork, anyway, you psychopath?” I started giggling; I couldn’t help it. My mouth was back at his ear to whisper, “I was being classy, you jackass.” “It was incredibly classy,” he replied, a smile in his voice when he added, “The classiest.”

😂😂😂

“Is there anything that makes you less of a smartass?” he asked, his eyes all over my face. “Shots of tequila, but that doesn’t seem like a good move on jewelry night.” He was quiet for a second before asking, “How do you hold your liquor, Mariano?” “Very well, Powell.” “Then let’s do a shot and try to sweeten you up before the event.” I raised an eyebrow. “If you’re shooting for sweet, you better make it two.”

“Don’t disappoint me, Powell.”

“I kissed you because I wanted to. You look beautiful, I like your mouth, you kiss like a goddess—and we both liked it. That’s it. So maybe let’s not overthink it…?”

So it had finally happened to me in real life. I stood there in the doorway as Declan carried our bags into the hotel room—the hotel room with only one bed.

😂😂😂

Do you feel this, too? Are you as terrified as I am? Can you kiss me for the rest of your life?

You have bewitched me, body and soul “Dex,” I managed, unable to say anything else when he looked at me. I was immediately crying, and I couldn’t even put my finger on why his gift made me so emotional. Was it because he remembered what my favorite book and movie were? Was it that he secretly bought me a gift when I wasn’t looking? Was it the fact that he bought me a gift at all and was giving it to me on a balcony after a perfect night together? Was it because he’d sucked up a scorpion for me and then proceeded to make me feel loved in a way I never had before?

“No, I made a deal with a devilish maid,” I corrected, “and it cost me my whole entire heart.”