Page 22 of Hotel Mallois

"Ms. Taylor," the hotel's maintenance chief calls out to her as they reach the elevator. "The air conditioning in..."

"Not now, Jamal," she responds quickly. "Talk to the director."

The businesswoman's response is so sharp that the man nods and turns to disappear down the hallway where the offices are. Jodie looks at her and feels the need to help drain all that annoyance she seems to have, but she doesn't know how, and she doesn't want to resume that dangerous confidence they had acquired. So she decides to speak casually.

"I was thinking of making a dinner reservation for you and your sister, but I see you don't get along well with her," Jodie drops while they enter the elevator that takes them to the penthouse.

Katherine raises her gaze and connects it with Jodie's. The compartment increases by several degrees when the two women observe each other with a strange mixture of uncertainty and desire.

"Caroline and I get along very well. My sisters are what I love most in this life."

"Then your bad mood must be due to something else," Jodie dares.

The Mallois hotel owner clenches her jaw while continuing to look at Jodie but doesn't open her mouth. She doesn't dare say what's going through her mind, and the cleaner, who has already let loose, spits out what she thinks.

"Since you won't talk, then I think what's happening is that you felt jealous that your sister wanted to invite me for a drink. She's a girl..."

The world stops. Katherine Taylor has moved so fast that her body has fully impacted Jodie's and her mouth has connected with her companion's as if they had two magnets. The union is impressive; their tongues caress for the first time, making them both moan with pleasure at the sensation. Katherine presses closer to her and with her hand squeezes Jodie's hip to try to contain her urge to unbutton her pants and caress her. The two women lose themselves in the kiss and aren't aware that the elevator has stopped and the doors are opening until the outside noise makes them separate abruptly. If Marjorie García's eyes get any wider, they'll surely fall to the floor; shecan't believe what she's seen - her boss and an employee devouring each other with kisses inside the hotel elevator.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Taylor," the head of the cleaning team says with a certain mocking tone.

"Marjorie," Katherine greets, sparing with words. The hotel owner doesn't care that she saw them. Jodie does.

The cleaner gets so nervous that her forehead immediately beads with sweat. A million things run through her head and anxiety takes over. In a reflex action, she exits the elevator almost running and, without looking back, heads toward the stairs to reach the locker room, gather her things, and leave the Mallois hotel as if the devil himself were chasing her.

Chapter 14

Katherine's pulse still races, and a pleasant tingle spreads through her belly as she watches Jodie disappear. Marjorie García looks first at Jodie and then at her boss, initially with amazement, but that initial surprise quickly transforms into a sinister smile as her devious mind starts working to take advantage of what she has just witnessed.

"Do you need something, Marjorie?" Katherine asks suddenly, while searching in her purse for the card to open her penthouse door.

"No, Mrs. Taylor, everything is in order," Marjorie responds, entering the elevator the two women have just left.

As soon as Katherine closes her penthouse door, the first thing she does is grab her phone and dial Jodie's number.

"Are you okay?" she asks as soon as the cleaner answers after several rings.

"Yes, I'm sorry I left like that, but I felt very uncomfortable when I saw Marjorie. That woman has it infor me and I just, I didn't know how to react, I'm really sorry."

Katherine sits on one of the stools at her kitchen island.

"Don't apologize, I understand, but listen, Jodie, I don't want what happened to leave us tense like what happened the other afternoon on my terrace," Katherine says, running her fingers through her hair nervously. "I want us to talk about what happened in the elevator."

"Over the phone?" Jodie responds.

The cleaner hears Katherine smile and feels a jolt between her legs.

"No, in person, all I ask is that you don't avoid it and that you're not tense or distant, that makes me nervous."

"I won't," Jodie smiles too, so nervous about what happened and, above all, what she felt, that she just realizes she's walking aimlessly through the streets of New York.

"I hope not," Katherine says just as her doorbell rings. "Listen, I have to go, we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure."

When Katherine opens the door, she finds Mike on the other side.

"Your sister sent me to tell you that she and your father are waiting for you at the hotel restaurant for dinner," her trusted man says.

---