Gideon Is The Steamiest Love Story Since Twilight

Sarah kicks my foot from behind. I know what she’s meaning to tell me but I shake my head.

Last night, she was making fun of how Beth talks about our job as if we’re climbing up the corporate ladder. I was defending Beth last night.

Now I’m not feeling like defending Beth at all. I’m feeling a bit ticked off. First off, I want to meet the resident of the penthouse.

So badly.

That scent is calling to me.

Secondly, Marnie gets to choose where she’d like to work. I bet Sarah and Jess could’ve done just as well, if not better, if they were given the chance. Both of them could use the money, especially Sarah, who is a single mother.

“So, you’re back to work now?” I ask Marnie.

“She would love to but not yet,” answers Beth. “Not until she’s fully recovered. I don’t want her to be spreading germs around our client’s home.”

As if to prove the point, Marnie lets out a big sneeze. Then she blows her nose into the Kleenex. It sounds like a mighty elephant blowing its trunk, only wetter…and slobberier.

Jess scrunches her face and looks at Sarah.

Okay. I don’t need to hear her say that out loud to know what it means.

“Well, you’re still going to be cleaning the penthouse today, Layla. I have a few things to do first. I’ll be out in a minute, girls,” says Beth, already walking back to her office.

She’s dropping us off at the places we’re cleaning today. “Go home and get plenty of rest, Marnie. I’ll see you later.”

“Later, Beth,” replies Marnie.

“I heard you had mono,” I blurt out.

She swivels her head to look at me. Her cheerful face turns ugly and her red face turns redder at my remark.

She reminds me of that girl in The Exorcist. I catch Jess trying not to smile too wide and Sarah smirking behind her.

See? This is why I hate listening to gossip.

“I don’t have mono.” She glares at me. “Anyway, I met the penthouse’s resident yesterday.”

She turns to Jess and Sarah, smiling again now. Usually, she doesn’t smile or talk much to us unless to say something catty.

“You should’ve seen him…he’s so hot. Like off the charts hot. Like, oh my God he’s hot! He must be very rich too…like a millionaire or something.” She stops to sneeze again, before continuing..

“I think he’s a foreigner. He has this hot accent…but then again, with a face and a body like that, he could sound like Kermit the frog and I’d still find him attractive. Unfortunately, he’s living with his girlfriend or a fiancée or something like that.”

“Are you sure? You sure it’s not his sister?” I ask her suddenly. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Marnie gives me a funny look.

“Of course I’m sure. She came home while we were talking and she’s gorgeous. A sister wouldn’t be calling him ‘darling’ and kissing him like that.”

My heart sinks in my chest and my stomach feels hollow. For some reason, I felt like he was mine. I was hoping that the other room was occupied by his sister or his cousin.

How stupid of me.

Even if he’s single, there’s no way a man like that would give a woman like me a second glance. No way!

“Oh well…even if he’s not single, I’d still climb him like a tree if I had the chance,” she continues.

***

No, my memory didn’t exaggerate the amazing scent that I smelled yesterday.

If anything, it actually smells better than I remember.

I cleaned up the whole place, except for this room. I’ve decided to clean his bedroom last because that amazing scent is the strongest here. I still have a lot to do. I have to clean the bathroom, dust, change the bedding, vacuum the floor…

I step in, dragging the vacuum cleaner with me. The deeper I walk in, the more affected I am by the scent. My breathing is labored, my heart is pounding fast, and my stomach is doing somersaults.

My body thrums like a live wire.

I’ve never felt so excited yet so at peace all at once. I crave this feeling when I’m not here. My heart is longing for…something or someone. I don’t know anymore.

My brain is telling me that this is crazy but my body isn’t listening.

I lie down on the bed. I press my nose into the pillow and take a deep breath. Oh God…that scent. I want to swim in it. I want to immerse my whole being in that scent.

Breathing in. Breathing in.

Just a minute longer…so calming, so soft…

My eyelids feel so heavy. Just one more minute…

Something is touching my face, my neck…so light and soft, just a whisper of a touch. My whole body hums in delight.

My eyelids flutter open to look into a pair of bright golden-yellow eyes. So beautiful. So mesmerizing. So unusual. So intense. So focused on me.

I’m horrified as realization and reality break through my dream-like haze.

I’m in deep trouble.

I’ve fallen asleep in a client’s bed! Now I’m still lying on it while having a staring contest with the hot owner of said bed.

I’m going to lose my job! No—Beth is going to kill me!

I quickly roll away from him, but as soon as I move away, I hear him growl.

He growls!

Dangerous and hot. It’s a raw, animalistic rumble that makes me freeze.

It’s a warning, and something in me listens.

He crawls onto the bed after me with his intense golden eyes locked on mine. He looks mesmerizing, like a predator slowly cornering its prey, and I’m that stupid prey who dares not move a muscle. My instinct is telling me that running away would be bad for me.

Besides, he’s really hot and smells awesome.

Wait, what? Stupid instinct.

He crawls on top of me. I gulp loudly as his weight presses down on me. I’m enveloped in his addictive, amazing, masculine smell. I can almost hear my own erratic heartbeat in my ears.

My stomach hollows out as if I were on a roller coaster, dipping down from a great height.

My breathing is fast and ragged.

It’s part fear and part excitement.

I take in his features. His high cheekbones. His chiseled angular jaw.

His plump pink lips.

His straight nose with strong, thick eyebrows, and his straight, bronze-colored hair has streaks of highlights from the sun.

But most of all, those unusual golden-yellow eyes framed by thick, dark eyelashes.

Staring down at me like I’m the most delicious thing he’s ever seen.