Maid for Hire & Educating Australia (3 page)

BOOK: Maid for Hire & Educating Australia
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Perhaps it would be good for him too. Holding an adult conversation that wasn't about laws, criminals and procedures would do him some good.

He knew the moment Nefertiti told him her story he should open a file on Olander, but starting an investigation would ultimately mean she would have to go back. He couldn't do that to her. He hadn't planned on using his position to blackmail Olander, but he had. He couldn’t change that abuse of power and even if he could he wouldn't, not if it meant hurting her.

"You know I don't think I can call you Ta-Ta. It has a completely different meaning over here."

"I guessed it might. I saw a sticker on a car. It read, 'Save the Ta-Tas' and I wondered how they knew I needed saving."

"Had a little pink ribbon behind it?"

"Yes. You know it?"

He chuckled. "Um...some people call breasts ta-tas."

He watched her face. Her eyes moved from side to side as she thought about his words.

“Oh. That makes sense. Denis Grayson said nice ta-tas to me after I picked up his notepad. I couldn't figure out how he knew that was my nickname."

He felt a twinge of hate rush through him thinking about what she must have endured. Most of the torment she may not have even understood. Her English was excellent, but there were still those slang terms she didn't know.

"You can call me Nefi. My dad calls me that."

"Do you have a middle name?" Clearly Nefi wasn't getting his vote either.

"Isis."

"You're kidding?"

She laughed. "I was born in the desert near the Temple at Karnack. My parents are avid historian so they were out exploring when my mother's water broke. She should have been in the city, but my dad said she would never stay without a fight and he was too exhausted to fight with her. My dad delivered me right there. So they decided I must be a gift from the gods and so they named me Nefertiti after a great queen, and Isis after an ancient goddess.

She laughed another one of those sexy laughs that had his hormones raging. "In Egypt it was not so strange."

"Egypt; is that where you're trying to avoid going back to?"

Her somber look told him he was stepping into private territory. He wondered if she would answer, but then she slowly shook her head no.

"My father was exiled from Egypt when I was sixteen. We went to Israel and that is where I have escaped from. I long for Egypt. Egypt is in my blood, coursing through my veins like fire through the woods. But it is not safe for my family there. I can never return."

He wanted to know more, but the sound of feet pattering up the stairs told him Tayla was near and this wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with her in earshot.

"I need a nickname for you," he changed the topic abruptly. "Nefertiti is just-"

"Too many syllables," Tayla plopped down on the floor and sat crossed leg.

"Well you two think of one and I will tell you if I like it."

Nefertiti turned down the bed while Tayla and Drake tried to come up with a nick name. She shook her head no to all of them and they readily agreed each was a bad idea.

"There's always Nefi," she grinned.

Tayla and Drake looked at each other. "Nefertiti," they said in unison.

"We'll let you get some rest," he took Tayla by the hand. "And Tayla will knock before entering next time."

Tayla blushed and gave a sheepish, "sorry," before saying goodnight.

"Back to bed young lady," he called behind her.

"Come tuck me in, Dad."

"I've already tucked you in once tonight," he mumbled. "She's strong-willed."

"Like you." Nefertiti smiled at him. If she didn't stop doing that he wouldn't sleep comfortably. He already wasn't standing too comfortably. He shrugged, said goodnight and left.

When morning came he realized he was no longer the first to rise. Nefertiti had already started breakfast by the time he woke up. She must have walked quieter than a turtle because he hadn't heard her pass his room.

"I start breakfast."

He watched her roll dough into small balls and placed them on the cookie sheet.

"You'll like these biscuits. They are very good."

He shrugged. All he wanted was coffee. From the smell of the kitchen she had already put some on. He liked his coffee, but he would try hers. He just hoped she made it strong enough.

"I have to drop Tayla off at my mom's. She spends one day a week there, but mother has agreed to take her today so we can—"

"Go shopping!" Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I have to work tonight so try not to wear me out." He was on duty six until midnight. He couldn’t complain about the hours; it was the shortest shift he had worked in months.

After breakfast he dropped Tayla off and went back to pick Nefertiti up. She had insisted on staying to clean the kitchen. The first store had been Ross. She found several tops and bottoms there that she liked. She seemed to love everything she tried on. He was amazed a week worth of outfits cost fewer than seventy dollars.

"The stores at the mall are pricier," he cautioned. He drove her down to Orlando to the Florida Mall. JC Penny had been their first stop, and there she lucked out once again with the buy one get one half price sell they were running. He watched her pick up lingerie, underwear - lace concoctions and more sensible cotton creations. She bought dresses, pants, skirts, handbags and other accessories before heading to shoes.

"See anything you like," the salesman approached. Drake noticed her nervous impulse to shrink back. She was afraid of men, most men, but she hadn't been afraid of him...not at first. He noticed fear in her eyes in Olander's office, and outside, but then she started to have the same ease she'd had in the park.

"No," she quickly moved behind Drake.

"We're just browsing," he said. She had five shopping bags full of clothes she had paid for in the other department; he doubted they looked like browsers.

Drake stepped aside just enough to look at her. "You need shoes."

"Another store?"

"Okay."

She picked up bags and he picked up a few. Payless had some boots and shoes she liked. Then she found a few pair in Sears. The real spender was when she splurged on a hundred dollar pair of pants in Cache.

"Eighty-five left," he said.

"I got so much."

She had. He had to admit even he was surprised. She had enough clothes and underwear to last a few weeks without needing to wash.

"I buy something for you."

"No. I..."

"Come on," she pulled him by the arm. A few men passing by snickered and he heard one say something about it being worth it if he could "hit that" every night. Yeah, he imagined any man would let Nefertiti drag him around a mall for one moment of those sexy legs wrapped around him. He was being dragged with no such reward in sight.

She picked out a silver and blue tie and pocket puff.

"This will go great with your suits."

He checked the price. "No." He knew the cost was higher than he wanted her to spend on him.

"Yes." She took it to the counter.

"Seventy-five forty-eight," the clerk announced.

This time she pulled the money from her bra.

"Hey?"

"I like to be prepared. Besides, what's left out of my shopping allowance is for your time and gas."

He started to protest, but she cut him off.

"Twenty left and I'd like to get something for Tayla."

"Nefertiti," he warned in his lawman tone.

"Last store; last purchase; I promise."

Once back in the car he tried to give her her money back but she looked at him pleadingly and said so sweetly, "Please, do not deny my gifts," that he had no choice but to comply.

Chapter Three

D
rake heard the high pitched scream and it shook him from his bed. He ran to the hall as another loud yell pierced the darkness of night. The words were Arabic; it wasn't Tayla screaming. A second later Tayla emerged from her room.

"Dad?"

"It's okay. Go back to your room."

He rushed up the stairs to Nefertiti's bedroom. The covers were mangled, half on the bed, half off, and she was fighting, struggling in her sleep. He ran to her bed and grabbed hold of her upper arms. She continued to scream in Arabic until he shook her awake.

"It's okay."

She went into his arms, shaking ferociously and crying, uttering words he didn't understand. "Shh..." he mumbled as he held her in his arms. "It's just a bad dream. You're safe."

"Dad?"

"Go back to sleep, Tayla. She's okay. Just a bad dream." He wasn't sure his words were entirely correct. She, despite his reassurance, still shook violently in his arms. She still sobbed words he didn't understand. He was thankful Tayla had listened and returned to her room. He knew what seeing Nefertiti like that was doing to him; he could imagine what worry Tayla must have felt. His insides were twisting; his heart racing. He wondered what nightmare had shattered her sleep. Was she haunted by something that happened at Olander's company? Or was this something from her distant past?

He knew little about her. He needed to know why she left Israel, why her father had been exiled from Egypt. He would ask her the questions, but not tonight. Tonight he would simply hold her.

He could feel her silky skin and hair against his bare arms. The thought of having her panty clad body underneath him, long legs wrapped around him sparked a fantasy worth a triple X rating.

He needed to focus. Now was not the time to want carnal knowledge of this woman.

It was a long while before she settled down and even longer before she shifted out of his hold.

"I'm sorry."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No," she shook her head. "I just want to forget."

Whatever it was he was sure she was long from forgetting.

"I didn't mean to wake you both."

"You have these nightmares often?"

"This one I haven't had in awhile. I'll try not to..."

"Shh," he brushed a strand of hair from her face. "You can't control what you dream." He couldn't stop his fingers from stroking her shoulder. She was soft like silk, rich like chocolate. It took all his strength to keep from pressing his lips to her shoulder. "You are safe here."

"I know. I'm sorry...I just come damaged."

"You're not damaged. We all have a past. We all have baggage weighting us down. You're human. Don't ever forget that."

She looked in his eyes. He could see the moisture still misting her eyes.

"I won't," she said and he believed her.

"Now, let's fix this mess so you can go back to sleep." He helped her out of bed before gathering the pillows off the floor.

Together they made the bed and for a moment it reminded him of when he and Natalie, his wife, had made the bed together. He would work on one side, tackling the fitted sheet, as she worked on the other. Usually it took them three tries before they conquered the beast. Nefertiti didn't seem to have a problem. She was an expert, turning the sheet the right way on the first try. She was a maid, so he shouldn't have been surprised. She was efficient in all areas, but still, he had his suspicious that she was more in her country. It didn't take five languages to be a maid.

"What did you do before this?"

"Back when I was in Egypt I went on digs with my father, and worked in the museum once or twice a week. In Israel I just worked in the local museum three days a week. Then I lost that job and I tried to get another, but..."

"But what?"

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "But then I come here to America and I become a maid."

"She said no more. As much as he wanted more information he knew she would share nothing more of herself tonight. No, he would have to be patient. Each day he would push just a little more until he had the information he needed. She wasn't a criminal. Interrogation tactics would only make her afraid and cause her to close herself off to him. He tried to remind himself to remember that fact.

"Do you like being a maid?"

"I like it here, but I did not like it when I worked for Mr. Olander."

"You shouldn't have had to go through what he put you through."

She shrugged. "He was supposed to be a good man who wanted nothing more than to help me. All he supposedly asked for in return was cleaning. He was supposed to be better than the others, but he was no better than...It does not matter now."

"How can you say that?"

"He was not good to me. You are good to me. I stay here now."

She said those words so simply, as if the situation had been simple. Then he realized, compared to whatever she had suffered before she came to America Mr. Olander's company probably ranked low on the hell-scale.

"You should go back to bed. It's," she looked at the clock. "Two in the morning and you have to work earlier today."

BOOK: Maid for Hire & Educating Australia
9.77Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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