“What?” I asked, feeling my stomach drop.
“The football player’s house. The one that you love.”
I flipped him off. “Fuck you.”
I didn’t love the football player. I loved the football player’s house. Big difference.
When our family had moved to Bear Bottom from El Paso, one of the places that had been on the listings sheet had been the house that the football player now owned. It was a mini-mansion, and while it was something that we definitely noticed and even walked through, it was also something that we could never have dreamed of affording.
But that didn’t stop me from admiring it.
“I usually clean her house on Wednesday, but she hasn’t called yet.” I paused, a scary roll of fear pouring through my gut. “Did she call?”
Oscar shook his head. “No, Rome Pierce called and gave me the address. He’s the dad, correct?”
I nodded.
“Then maybe they just moved the boy to his house?” he offered.
I doubted it. The mother of that cute little boy was a real witch. There was no way that she’d have allowed the football player to move the little boy there.
Unless she was getting something out of it…
“What time do they want me there?” I asked carefully.
Oscar checked his watch. “In twenty minutes.”
I looked up at the ceiling. “Oscar…”
“What?” he asked, sounding annoyed with my tone of voice.
“You can’t just spring a cleaning job on me in twenty minutes.” I paused. “I’m still in my running clothes for God’s sake.”
Oscar shrugged. “Since you’re already sweaty, who cares?”
He had a point, but still.
“When did the call come in?” I paused. “And why me?”
Oscar gave me that ‘are you stupid?’ look. “The call came in this morning before I was here.” Which meant fucking seven in the morning at least, and it was now ten. “And they asked for you.”
Everyone asked for me.
I didn’t know why.
When my parents had started this cleaning business years ago, they’d had multiple people on staff. They had started their first cleaning service in El Paso and all of the children were expected to help. Once we were old enough to get to the jobs on our own, we were officially ‘hired’ and forced to work with them for ‘real.’
And from that day forward, I started to get requests.
I didn’t know if it was because I was nicer than everyone else because I had to try so hard to be personable, or because I just got the job done faster because my co-workers cleaned just as well as I did.
Whatever the reason, I was the employee requested most often, and I was always freakin’ tired from all the extra work I was being forced to do.
“I wouldn’t have run this morning if I had known that I was supposed to work,” I told him. “Not to mention now I don’t have time to go change if I want to make my four o’clock appointment with Abuela’s knitting group. It’s unprofessional.”
Oscar shrugged. “Who gives a shit.”
I didn’t bother to try and convince him or change his mind. My brother was a stubborn little shit and always had been.
I could argue with him until I was blue in the face, and it still wouldn’t change a thing.
I learned that the hard way.
“If you hurry, you can stop by your favorite store and get yourself a cup of water.” Oscar shooed me with his hand.
My favorite store being Sonic, and it wasn’t a cup of water that I got there—it was a lemon slush.
My brother didn’t know me well at all.
Or maybe he did, but he just didn’t care enough to get my interests right.
Whatever the reason, I didn’t have time to waste.
That little boy had a special place in my heart, and I wouldn’t pass up a chance to see him.
Looking at my watch, I realized that I’d have just enough time to stop and get some of Abuela’s cookies if I left right then and skipped going to Sonic.
Which was exactly what I did.
Thirty-one minutes later, I arrived at the mansion that I loved and tried not to drool.
The place was so beautiful. It looked almost haunted with its Victorian design.
Huge pillars held up an even taller front porch. Stately trees shaded the house from view until you were standing almost directly in line with the driveway—which I did upon occasion because I thought it was so beautiful. Honestly, it reminded me of the Adam’s Family house. I almost expected Lurch to answer the door with a “You rang?” the moment I pressed the doorbell.
I waited on jittery feet, hoping that I wasn’t dressed too badly.
Honestly, it was just black workout pants from Victoria’s Secret, black tennis shoes, black socks, and a plain black racerback tank.
There really was nothing wrong with it…unless I was going to the football player’s home.
Then I would rather have been wearing long sleeves, jeans, and combat boots with my hair braided in a plait down my back.
Instead, I looked like I was a cheerful, approachable person—which I most assuredly was not.
I, Isadora Solis, was not a people person. At least when it came to sexy football players that made my stomach feel like it had a hive of bees residing in it.
And as I’d found out, this particular football player did that more than most.
I’d seen him for the first time in person at the gas station when he’d been filling up his motorcycle.
At first, I didn’t get a good glimpse of him. He’d been hidden by the gas pumps, and what I could see of him, which was the top of his head, wasn’t anything all that great.
His head had been shaved, and I couldn’t even make out the color of his hair because it’d been so short, although it appeared to be dark.
I’d gone about my business, going inside to find something to eat. It’d been when I made my way to the candy section when I saw him, again.
His back had been partially to me, and that was when I’d seen his leather vest.
He was in a motorcycle club.
The top rocker had read Bear Bottom Guardians.
Then there was the psychotic looking bear just like the ones I’d seen on the other Bear Bottom Guardian members’ backs. I’d heard that the cuts had changed recently, and the bear that now was centered on it was drawn by one of the members.
The bottom rocker said Bear Bottom, Texas.
All in all, that hadn’t been what had made him so intimidating though.
It’d been his eyes.
They were an almost translucent blue that made my heart race.
The color of a wolf’s eyes.
And, as I stood on his porch, I mentally prepared myself for the power of that gaze. Which was why I’d managed to stifle my gasp when he answered the door…shirtless.
“Sorry,” he said. “I thought you were a friend. Come in.”
I blinked. “I’m with Pixie Dust Cleaning Services.”
He smiled then, showing off a row of perfectly white teeth. “I know. I’ve seen you before.”
He had?
I smiled tightly. “Cool. Is…Is Matias here?”
I had a bag in my hand, and I wanted to give him the cookies if he was here. If not, I’d give them to the father and hope that they got to him.
“Yeah,” Rome Pierce, the sexiest man in Bear Bottom—or hell, maybe even the United States—said. “He’s in the living room.”
Swallowing my fangirling—and yes, I was a freakin’ fan—I followed the shirtless hunk until we reached the living room.
Further proof of just how beautiful and enticing Rome was that I didn’t look around the house and instead looked at him.
God, I was such a loser.
Not only had Rome Pierce been my favorite football player—and I didn’t even like football—he was also a really good dad. When I talked with Matias while I was cleaning his mother’s house, I always heard how much he loved his dad and what an awesome guy he was.
It also helped his case that he said this in front of his mother, who, might I add, I disliked with every fiber of my entire being.
Rome’s big body led the way through the massive house, through two rooms, down a hallway, to arrive at the sunniest room in the entire place. I looked around as I walked, liking the house even more from the inside.
“The football player’s house. The one that you love.”
I flipped him off. “Fuck you.”
I didn’t love the football player. I loved the football player’s house. Big difference.
When our family had moved to Bear Bottom from El Paso, one of the places that had been on the listings sheet had been the house that the football player now owned. It was a mini-mansion, and while it was something that we definitely noticed and even walked through, it was also something that we could never have dreamed of affording.
But that didn’t stop me from admiring it.
“I usually clean her house on Wednesday, but she hasn’t called yet.” I paused, a scary roll of fear pouring through my gut. “Did she call?”
Oscar shook his head. “No, Rome Pierce called and gave me the address. He’s the dad, correct?”
I nodded.
“Then maybe they just moved the boy to his house?” he offered.
I doubted it. The mother of that cute little boy was a real witch. There was no way that she’d have allowed the football player to move the little boy there.
Unless she was getting something out of it…
“What time do they want me there?” I asked carefully.
Oscar checked his watch. “In twenty minutes.”
I looked up at the ceiling. “Oscar…”
“What?” he asked, sounding annoyed with my tone of voice.
“You can’t just spring a cleaning job on me in twenty minutes.” I paused. “I’m still in my running clothes for God’s sake.”
Oscar shrugged. “Since you’re already sweaty, who cares?”
He had a point, but still.
“When did the call come in?” I paused. “And why me?”
Oscar gave me that ‘are you stupid?’ look. “The call came in this morning before I was here.” Which meant fucking seven in the morning at least, and it was now ten. “And they asked for you.”
Everyone asked for me.
I didn’t know why.
When my parents had started this cleaning business years ago, they’d had multiple people on staff. They had started their first cleaning service in El Paso and all of the children were expected to help. Once we were old enough to get to the jobs on our own, we were officially ‘hired’ and forced to work with them for ‘real.’
And from that day forward, I started to get requests.
I didn’t know if it was because I was nicer than everyone else because I had to try so hard to be personable, or because I just got the job done faster because my co-workers cleaned just as well as I did.
Whatever the reason, I was the employee requested most often, and I was always freakin’ tired from all the extra work I was being forced to do.
“I wouldn’t have run this morning if I had known that I was supposed to work,” I told him. “Not to mention now I don’t have time to go change if I want to make my four o’clock appointment with Abuela’s knitting group. It’s unprofessional.”
Oscar shrugged. “Who gives a shit.”
I didn’t bother to try and convince him or change his mind. My brother was a stubborn little shit and always had been.
I could argue with him until I was blue in the face, and it still wouldn’t change a thing.
I learned that the hard way.
“If you hurry, you can stop by your favorite store and get yourself a cup of water.” Oscar shooed me with his hand.
My favorite store being Sonic, and it wasn’t a cup of water that I got there—it was a lemon slush.
My brother didn’t know me well at all.
Or maybe he did, but he just didn’t care enough to get my interests right.
Whatever the reason, I didn’t have time to waste.
That little boy had a special place in my heart, and I wouldn’t pass up a chance to see him.
Looking at my watch, I realized that I’d have just enough time to stop and get some of Abuela’s cookies if I left right then and skipped going to Sonic.
Which was exactly what I did.
Thirty-one minutes later, I arrived at the mansion that I loved and tried not to drool.
The place was so beautiful. It looked almost haunted with its Victorian design.
Huge pillars held up an even taller front porch. Stately trees shaded the house from view until you were standing almost directly in line with the driveway—which I did upon occasion because I thought it was so beautiful. Honestly, it reminded me of the Adam’s Family house. I almost expected Lurch to answer the door with a “You rang?” the moment I pressed the doorbell.
I waited on jittery feet, hoping that I wasn’t dressed too badly.
Honestly, it was just black workout pants from Victoria’s Secret, black tennis shoes, black socks, and a plain black racerback tank.
There really was nothing wrong with it…unless I was going to the football player’s home.
Then I would rather have been wearing long sleeves, jeans, and combat boots with my hair braided in a plait down my back.
Instead, I looked like I was a cheerful, approachable person—which I most assuredly was not.
I, Isadora Solis, was not a people person. At least when it came to sexy football players that made my stomach feel like it had a hive of bees residing in it.
And as I’d found out, this particular football player did that more than most.
I’d seen him for the first time in person at the gas station when he’d been filling up his motorcycle.
At first, I didn’t get a good glimpse of him. He’d been hidden by the gas pumps, and what I could see of him, which was the top of his head, wasn’t anything all that great.
His head had been shaved, and I couldn’t even make out the color of his hair because it’d been so short, although it appeared to be dark.
I’d gone about my business, going inside to find something to eat. It’d been when I made my way to the candy section when I saw him, again.
His back had been partially to me, and that was when I’d seen his leather vest.
He was in a motorcycle club.
The top rocker had read Bear Bottom Guardians.
Then there was the psychotic looking bear just like the ones I’d seen on the other Bear Bottom Guardian members’ backs. I’d heard that the cuts had changed recently, and the bear that now was centered on it was drawn by one of the members.
The bottom rocker said Bear Bottom, Texas.
All in all, that hadn’t been what had made him so intimidating though.
It’d been his eyes.
They were an almost translucent blue that made my heart race.
The color of a wolf’s eyes.
And, as I stood on his porch, I mentally prepared myself for the power of that gaze. Which was why I’d managed to stifle my gasp when he answered the door…shirtless.
“Sorry,” he said. “I thought you were a friend. Come in.”
I blinked. “I’m with Pixie Dust Cleaning Services.”
He smiled then, showing off a row of perfectly white teeth. “I know. I’ve seen you before.”
He had?
I smiled tightly. “Cool. Is…Is Matias here?”
I had a bag in my hand, and I wanted to give him the cookies if he was here. If not, I’d give them to the father and hope that they got to him.
“Yeah,” Rome Pierce, the sexiest man in Bear Bottom—or hell, maybe even the United States—said. “He’s in the living room.”
Swallowing my fangirling—and yes, I was a freakin’ fan—I followed the shirtless hunk until we reached the living room.
Further proof of just how beautiful and enticing Rome was that I didn’t look around the house and instead looked at him.
God, I was such a loser.
Not only had Rome Pierce been my favorite football player—and I didn’t even like football—he was also a really good dad. When I talked with Matias while I was cleaning his mother’s house, I always heard how much he loved his dad and what an awesome guy he was.
It also helped his case that he said this in front of his mother, who, might I add, I disliked with every fiber of my entire being.
Rome’s big body led the way through the massive house, through two rooms, down a hallway, to arrive at the sunniest room in the entire place. I looked around as I walked, liking the house even more from the inside.
