Housekeepers Say I Do!: Maid for the Millionaire / Maid for the Single Dad / Maid in Montana

She chugged her soda and headed into the house just as Billy came out.

“Hey! I didn’t even get a drink.”

“Go ahead and get one. I’m ready to get back to work, so I’m going in. You and Cain take all the time you need.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

CAIN JUMPED INTO HIS Porsche and punched the address on the invitation in his hand into his GPS unit. He’d been invited to a party being hosted by one of the women who’d been helped by A Friend Indeed. In a few minutes, he found himself driving down the street of the middle-class, blue-collar neighborhood.

He hadn’t wanted to attend this party. But it had been a real stretch for him to volunteer to help with the Friend Indeed houses and an even bigger stretch to have taken Billy under his wing and those things had worked out amazingly well. So attending an event for the families involved with the charity was simply another level of change for him. Especially since it would involve chitchat. No bankers or businessmen to schmooze. No business talk tonight. Somehow or other he’d have to be…well, normal.

But he’d decided to once again push beyond his own inadequacies to attend tonight because he couldn’t stop thinking about something Liz had told him. When he’d first arrived at Amanda’s, Liz had instructed him to accept anything any client offered because this might be the first time in a long time they’d had something to offer. He’d finally wrapped his head around just how demoralized and demeaned these women had been and then his thoughts had segued to the fact that Liz and her family had been abused.

Liz had been a child in a family just like this one. Alone. Scared. Usually hungry. He couldn’t bear the thought.

But that also meant he couldn’t refuse an invitation to anything connected to Liz. He didn’t want her to feel rejected by him, or that somehow she and her friends weren’t good enough. They were. He was the socially awkward one. So to protect her, here he was, driving in an unfamiliar section of the city, about to attend a gathering with people he didn’t know.

He parked on the street and headed up the sidewalk to Joni Custer’s house. As he climbed the stairs to the front door, he held back a wince of pain. He’d been so busy proving himself to Liz and enjoying doing the work he loved—the work that had nudged him in the direction of success and riches—that he’d forgotten he wasn’t eighteen anymore. Billy was probably stronger. And maybe he should be the one hefting boxes of hardwood, while Cain stuck to measuring and fitting.

He found the bell and within two seconds, the bright red front door opened. Liz stood on the other side. Dressed in shorts and a halter top, she looked amazing. Comfortable. Confident. Relaxed.

Their gazes caught and she smiled sheepishly. His heart did a cartwheel. She was smiling at him now, like a real person, not a person she was forced to socialize with, not a person she had to pretend to like. Her smile was genuine.

“Come on. Everybody’s outside on the patio.” She took a look at his attire and winced. “Somebody should have told you dress was informal.”

Cain immediately reached for his tie. Walking into the foyer, he yanked it off and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. “I can make do.” He removed his jacket and tossed it over a hook on a coat tree in the foyer. Following Liz to a sliding glass door at the back of the house, he rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt. “See, now I’m dressed appropriately.”

“Well, not exactly appropriately.” She turned and gave him another smile. “But better.”

“How about a little background before I go out there into a sea of people I don’t know.”

“Joni is one of the first women we helped. Every year she hosts a barbecue. Most of the people attending are also A Friend Indeed women, but some are parents and friends of the clients.” She hooked her arm in the crook of his elbow and headed for the door again. “I’ll introduce you around, but then you’re on your own.”

It felt so good to have her at his side that it disappointed him that she wouldn’t stay with him, but he understood. If they had just met, they’d still be in a friend stage, not behaving like a couple. He had to accept that.

“I appreciate the introductions.”

She hesitated another few seconds at the door. “You might get a critique or two of the work you’ve done.”

“Hey, you helped!” He opened the sliding glass door. “If I’m going down in flames, you’re going with me.”

She laughed and the second they stepped onto the stone floor of the small patio, Liz said, “Hey, everybody, this is Cain. He’s the new board member who’s been fixing up houses.”

A general round of approval rippled through the crowd.

Liz leaned in and whispered, “Get ready. Any second now you’ll be surrounded.”

Her warning didn’t penetrate. He was too busy analyzing whether it was good or bad that she hadn’t introduced him as her ex-husband. On the one hand it did point to the fact that she saw their association as being a new one. On the other, she could be embarrassed about having been married to him. So it took him by surprise when a middle-aged man approached him and extended his hand for shaking.

“You did Amanda’s house?”

“That was mostly painting,” Cain said, snatching Liz’s hand, holding her in place when it appeared she would desert him. “And Liz and I were equal partners on that one.”

“Don’t be so modest,” Ayleen said, ambling up to them. “I hear the whole house is to die for.”

“It is.” Amanda walked over. She unexpectedly hugged Cain. “Thanks again.”

Embarrassment flooded him at her praise. What he’d done was so simple, so easy for him. Yet it had meant the world to Amanda. “I guess that means you like the house?”

“Like is too simple of a word,” she said with a laugh.

Liz shook her hand free of his, as if eager to get away. “How about if I get us a drink? What would you like?”

Not quite sure what to say, Cain raised his eyebrows in question. “What do they have?”

“What if I get us both a cola?”

“Sounds great.”

The second Liz left, he began fielding questions about the work he’d done on Amanda’s house and the four houses he still planned to repair.

Eventually he and the middle-aged man who introduced himself as Bob, Joni’s dad, wandered over to the grill.

“This is my grandson, Tony.” Bob introduced Cain to the man flipping burgers.

Cain caught a flash of yellow out of his peripheral vision before a tall blonde grabbed his forearm and yanked him away from the grill. “Sorry, guys. But he’s mine for a few minutes.” She smiled at him. “I’m Ellie. My friends call me Magic.”

“Magic? Like Magic Johnson, the basketball player?”

“No, magic as in my wishes generally come true and I can also pretty much figure out somebody’s deal in a short conversation.”

“You’re going to interrogate me, aren’t you?”

“I know who you are.”

“Who I am?”

“You’re Liz’s ex. She hasn’t said anything, but for her to be introducing you around, I’m guessing she likes you again.”

He paused. His heart skipped a beat. Her wariness around him took on new meaning. He’d been so careful to behave only as a friend that she might not understand his feelings for her now ran much deeper. She might think he didn’t like her “that” way anymore. But he did. And if she wanted more, so did he.

“Really?”

Ellie sighed. “Really. Come on. Let’s cut the bull. We both know you’re cute. We both know she loved you. Now you’re back and she’s falling for you. If she’s holding back, I’m guessing it’s only because she thinks you don’t want her.”

Cain couldn’t help it; he smiled.

Ellie shook her head with a sigh. “Don’t be smug. Or too sure of yourself. As her friend, I’m going to make it my business to be certain you don’t hurt her again.”