Page 29 of Hotel Mallois

"I know it hurts you to talk about your family and I'd be lying if I said I haven't asked around and heard some rumors about why you closed the restaurant, but I'd like you to tell me yourself, Jodie," Katherine says, fixing that blue gaze on her that the cleaner is sure she could get lost in forever.

And Jodie tells her, absorbed, as if the story wasn't about her and had happened to someone else. And Katherine listens, attentive, observing every movement of her lover, every change of expression on her face and especially that way of losing shine in her gaze when she talks about the subject.

"I'm sorry all that happened to you, Jodie, especially to you," Katherine says.

Jodie makes a grimace trying to smile, but doesn't succeed.

"You know what's the worst part of it all?" Jodie asks. Katherine shakes her head. "That sometimes I feel like a horrible person because I have the feeling that what I miss most from that time is being able to cook every day for indecent amounts of people, not my brother or my father, but the kitchen, and I don't know what that makes me."

"Human, I suppose," says Katherine, who gets up and drags her chair to sit next to her. "You're passionate aboutcooking, it helps you escape and now you can't do it. It's normal that that's what you need most, and it doesn't mean you love your father or brother any less, it's just that the kitchen was more fun than them."

Katherine winks at her and the flutter Jodie feels in her chest makes everything around her stop, cutting off her breath. The cleaner leans forward softly and seeks the hotel owner's lips. The kiss is soft and short, but it's loaded with something that makes Katherine shiver, something intense that has warmed her heart and not her groin as usually happens, and she doesn't want to stop feeling that.

"Let's go inside, it's cold out here," she suggests and stands up, extending a hand to Jodie.

She invites her to sit on the couch after closing the terrace door and sits next to her after preparing two glasses of white wine.

"I like you a lot, Jodie," Katherine fires, who has no intention of beating around the bush. "From the beginning there was something about you that caught my attention and I had trouble identifying what it was, but now I'm very clear about it and if you agree, I want to try it."

Jodie is perplexed, pinching her leg to make sure she's not dreaming.

"I'm not going to swear eternal love because I'm more about living in the present, but what I feel for you keeps growing and I'm not going to ignore it. I know you said you've been in love with me for two years," Katherine pauses, still processing that information, "but that doesn't give you an advantage because you don't really know me,and I don't know you either, so if you'd like, we can start there, going slow to get to know each other better."

"And Annie?" Jodie asks before giving an answer.

Katherine tilts one of those smiles that melt hearts.

"What about her?" she decides to tease a bit.

"You know what I mean, if you want us to try something, it won't be while you and she, you know..."

Jodie didn't want to be crude and Katherine won't be either, although she'd like to because sometimes using that kind of language seems like a seduction game to her.

"Forget about Annie, from now on it's just you and me," declares the Mallois owner. "Let's get to know each other and see where this thing we feel leads us. Deal?"

"Deal," Jodie accepts, trying not to show her euphoria. "I suppose I should leave now, it's late," she says looking at her watch.

Katherine raises an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you prefer to stay here tonight?" she asks in a seductive tone that Jodie can't resist.

The cleaner stands up and stops in front of Katherine, looking at her fixedly until, as her only response, she sits on top of her, straddling her.

Chapter 17

This time, Katherine Taylor is the one who feels a tingling in her legs when she wakes up. The night before, they spent several hours on the couch doing everything, and although Jodie still controls the rhythm, what happened in that penthouse could be classified as great sex. The housekeeper took control this time, and Katherine experiences uncontrollable spasms throughout her body just remembering it. The businesswoman fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, and now she allows herself a few minutes with her eyes closed to remember how Jodie slept beside her with a peaceful expression and her hair spread across the pillow. A movement on the mattress makes Katherine turn her head to find her lover's naked back as she sits up, seemingly ready to leave the bed, but she doesn't allow it and, in a quick movement, hugs her tightly and pulls her close.

"Where do you think you're going?" asks the Mallois Hotel owner, kissing her face and neck.

Jodie laughs, and that melody drives Katherine wild.

"I have a shift at the hotel," the housekeeper manages to say while enjoying her lover's kisses.

"Better stay here with me," Katherine whispers and moves to straddle Jodie's body, "and let's enjoy the morning together."

The blonde plunges her wet tongue into Jodie's mouth, and for a few seconds, they tangle in a frenzied kiss, accompanied by their nervous hands. Jodie Sinclair feels like never before, and she still finds it hard to believe that this woman she's been in love with for years is there beside her, asking her to stay in bed. The night before, she decided to show her how much she liked her and especially the built-up desire she had to devour her completely, and apparently it worked, because Katherine Taylor moans—and a lot—when something drives her crazy.

"I have to go to work and you know it," Jodie replies, breathless and with a trembling voice.

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