Page 24 of Play of Love

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Chapter 7

Amy

* * *

Just like I thought, the place was a mess again. But today it was worse, as if Josh had purposely thrown everything everywhere for me to clean.

It was fine. I’d factored this into the plan. I’d brought in my portfolio today and planned to work on it until he got up.

I went into the sitting room and switched on the TV, then I went into the kitchen and made myself some chocolate from the sachets I’d brought along.

Today I wore my designer clothes, selecting a pink, slinky, halter neck from Ralph Lauren and tight Armani jeans. My hair was down with loose curls at the ends I’d created with my curling wand. I looked more like the fashionable, tasteful woman I was back in New York.

Deciding to get real comfortable, I foundRen and Stimpyon MTV and had it playing in the background while I scanned over my portfolio, jotting down a few notes on what I was going to work on.

My plan was to finish my dress by next month. Despite my tiredness and frustration last night, I’d managed to get quite a lot done on the detail I wanted on the center back of the dress. It was pleated with rhinestones running down the lines of each pleat. The sewing part was always easy. Attaching the stones was not. It took forever and I had to get it right. If I made a mistake there was a chance of ruining the fabric and that would take me back to square one. The stones had an adhesive on the back that allowed it to be fused onto the fabric when heated with a hot gun that looked a little like a welder.

When I heard movement upstairs I decided to get myself ready to unleash my plan. It was likely that Josh heard the TV. I’d turned it up loud on purpose. Things would change today, and from now on I was going to put the effort in to make sure everything worked out.

When I heard him coming down the stairs I put my feet up on the coffee table and got out my nail file to buff my nails.

His face when he saw me was classic. His eyes were red and his skin was blotchy. He looked worse than yesterday. I could tell that he must have spent the entire night drinking.

“What the hell is all this, Kansas? Do you think this is the damn spa?”

I tossed my locks over my shoulder and continued to buff my nails. He marched over to the TV and turned it off. That was fine by me. To infuriate him further I just reached into my bag and pulled out a copy of Vogue. I almost laughed when I saw how furious he looked when he turned and saw the magazine.

“Kansas,” he snarled, walking back over to me. That was when I could smell the alcohol heavy on his breath. He attempted to grab the magazine from me but failed as I moved it.

“Can’t have it,” I teased.

“What the hell is the matter with you? If you don’t do as I say I’ll have you fired.”

I smiled up at him. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why is the place a mess? You haven’t cleaned it.”

“Look, your royal highness, things are going to be a tad different around here.” I set the magazine down, along with the nail file. I then stood up and squared off with him. Even though I wore six-inch heels, the top of my head only just made it to his shoulders, but I stood with authority, making myself appear taller from the confidence I exuberated.

“My women will be here soon and I want this place cleaned now.”

“No. They aren’t coming. You’re going to ditch the skanks today, and a long time for the matter. Actually, I’ll be reasonable and allow you to see them on weekends. Right now, I’m going to get a maid and you’re going to help me clean up this pigsty. Then I’m going to do my PA stuff in my little office over there.” I pointed over to the office.

“Get out of my house,” he fumed. His eyes blazed with fury and he looked like he was going to explode from it.

“No.” I shook my head.

He looked surprised by my answer.

“I’m sorry, I won’t be leaving. I’m doing a job here, and the way I figure it is you need me.”

His eyes widened.

I thought about it all yesterday and realized I’d totally gone about this the wrong way. I was being offered some serious money for working with Josh. The reason for that was they needed me.Heneeded me.

As anal as he was, Josh was a talented athlete who was worth more to his team than the millions he got paid. They needed him back to play for the next season. And realistically, if he didn’t want to play I’d be long gone. He was just messing with me.

“Lady, I don’t need you for anything.” He looked slightly thrown.