Page 9 of Maid For Each Other

My mouth snapped closed, and I literally had no idea what to say as she watched me with her eyebrows raised. There was nothing on her face but attitude, like she was daring me to test her, and I wanted to bang my head against a wall.

“I will not be blackmailed by a maid,” I said through gritted teeth, wondering how things could’ve gone off the rails so quickly. “Take the original offer or I’m hanging up and calling Ken.”

She bit down on her lower lip, blinking fast like she was trying hard to figure the best angle.Do the smart thing, Abi, come on. I kept my mouth shut, waiting for her to make the right decision.

“Why, though?” She didn’t look opposed to the idea, but blinked like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. “It’s only solving your problem for one night and will probably make things worse in the long run.”

“Look, I just need to get through this very important evening without a million questions, okay?”

She pursed her lips. “What is the dress code at this very important evening?”

Thank God—she’s going to do it.I let out a breath of relief. “Do you have a cocktail dress?”

She snorted. The girl literally snorted, so I shut that down with, “Listen, I’ll send everything you need—dress, shoes, the works—to the apartment, and I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Wait. Your apartment or my apartment?”

“I thought yours had an infestation.”

“It does.”

“So wouldn’t mine obviously be better?”

“Of course it would, but you threatened to have me fired after the last time I was there.”

“You weren’t invited the last time.”

“So I can stay there?” she said in disbelief. I didn’t want to give in to this person’s demands, but I was also very aware we were short on time and I needed to get things moving. “Wait—your parents aren’t still there, are they?”

“They’re going to a hotel as we speak.”

“Why?”

“Does it matter?”

“Are you going to tell me why or not?”

“They are moving to a hotel because they are paranoid their unannounced arrival is cramping your style.”

“Mine?”

“Yours.”

“Interesting.” She sat there for another minute, eyes narrowed but staring at something off-camera, before saying, “Well, you still haven’t given me a yes on the weeklong apartment stay.”

“Abi—”

“But even if it’s a yes, I’m going to need some time to think about this.”

“How much time?” I could feel my pulse beating in my temple as this impossible girl behaved as if she had the upper hand. I trusted Roman’s advice on most things, but I realized as I lookedat her stubborn chin and ridiculous shirt that he was absolutely wrong in this instance.

This was a terrible idea.

“Actually, Abi—”

“I’ll do it.”

Is she serious?“So when you said you ‘needed some time,’ you were talking about ten seconds?”

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