Page 30 of Hotel Mallois

"I'm the hotel owner and I'm giving you the day off," Katherine responds and leans in to bite her lover's lips.

Jodie feels Katherine's teeth exert a paralyzing pressure on her lower lip, and she can barely control a howl of pleasure rising from her throat. She manages to pull away, and Katherine frowns at her.

"No way, Katherine Taylor. It's my job and I intend to do it. Now, let me get up, I don't want to be late," the housekeeper settles the matter, and the businesswoman melts—one of the things she likes most is the girl's determination.

The Mallois Hotel owner doesn't say anything, but before moving away, she looks at Jodie with affection, caresses her face, and gives her a chaste but meaningful kiss that makes the housekeeper close her eyes to savor the sensation.

Half an hour later, Jodie Sinclair enters the first room she needs to clean. The seventh floor of the Mallois Hotel is one of the largest, and the girl has more than ten rooms on her work sheet that not only require changing sheets and towels but also floor and bathroom disinfection. A noise startles her suddenly, and when she turns around, she finds Marjorie García's gaze fixed on her.

"Take care of rooms twenty-one and twenty-four as well," Marjorie says while running her fingers over a table checking if it's clean.

Jodie fills her lungs with air.

"I have ten rooms on this floor, and if I have to clean two more, I'll need one of my colleagues to..."

"You're alone, I'm not giving you anyone else to finish a job that one person can do," Marjorie spits out, pacing around the room in military mode. "And you better hurry with this one, the guests requested early check-in."

Without saying anything else, the head of housekeeping leaves the room, leaving Jodie wanting to grab her by the hair and drag her across the floor. Since the housekeeper started at the hotel, Marjorie García has always been harder on her than on the others. At first, she endured everything and followed orders without complaint, but as time passes, she tolerates her less and less and fears that atsome point she won't be able to control herself and will get into a pointless argument that could cost her job.

"I thought you weren't eating here today," Sarah says, about to put a piece of steak in her mouth.

"I just finished a few minutes ago, I had to clean twelve of the large rooms, I'm exhausted," Jodie replies, sitting down and opening a sandwich she bought at the cafeteria.

"What a bitch," Sarah blurts out, raising her voice more than she intended, referring to Marjorie.

"She knows Katherine and I are together and..."

"What?" Sarah reacts, "what do you mean you're together? And you just drop it like that, so casually."

Jodie laughs; no matter how many times she repeats it, she can hardly believe she's dating Katherine Taylor. She decides to tell her everything that's happened in the last few days, and her friend keeps her mouth open throughout the story until she understands that Marjorie García is having some kind of fit because the hotel owner and the housekeeper seem to be having an affair.

"I'm really happy for you, Jodie, truly. You've suffered a lot and you deserve a break," Sarah replies and takes her friend's hand affectionately. "As for Marjorie, ignore her. You know how she is, and now that she's finding out about you two, she's having a tantrum that won't last long. She's not stupid and knows it's not in her best interest to make an enemy of the boss or mess with her girlfriend."

"We're not girlfriends," Jodie responds, although she'd love it if they were, she can't lie.

"You know what I mean," Sarah tells her. "Try to be patient, ignore her, and you'll see she'll soon forget about you."

The two housekeepers say goodbye after finishing lunch, and Jodie heads up to the penthouse to start her afternoon shift. As the elevator goes up, the girl feels exultant, and unlike most times when she prayed for Katherine not to be in her home, this time she does so hoping to find her there and be able to see her.

When Jodie takes out her card and accesses the penthouse, Katherine's gaze locks onto her, making the housekeeper stop in her tracks to avoid stumbling. She hopes this sensation isn't eternal because if it is, she won't live long—her body won't handle it.

"Hello, beautiful girl," Katherine greets her, rising from that war-zone desk she has in the penthouse.

"Hi," Jodie smiles and latches onto her lips as soon as she's in front of her.

"How was your morning?" asks the businesswoman as soon as they break the kiss and walk to the kitchen.

Jodie hesitates, wanting to tell her the truth but unsure if they're at that stage yet. Besides, Katherine is still her boss.

"Good, and yours?" she decides to answer briefly.

Katherine knows her well enough to notice something isn't right.

"Did something happen?" the blonde asks.

"No, nothing," Jodie says without looking at her while opening the dishwasher to put in the dirty plates, but also to avoid her lover's inquisitive gaze.

Katherine knows Jodie isn't telling the truth. Something in her body screams that she's hiding something. She takes a plate from her hand and turns her around.

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