Maid for the Rock Star (10 page)

NINETEEN

Fresh towels, fresh linen, fresh milk, replacing the plundered contents of the refrigerator...Audra hummed to herself as she worked, wanting to make sure Maxima glowed like the pearl it was for Jay's VIP guests. Foreign VIPs gave tips, which were an always welcome addition to her income, and if she could get one or more of them to put in a good word for her with Annette, she'd be one step closer to the off-season position.

And perhaps Jay would conveniently forget that she'd fallen asleep in his house.

She set off the robotic vacuum cleaner in Maxima and headed to Albina to prepare it for tomorrow's guests. Albina had been booked for an executive retreat, she found, so she had to contact Engineering and IT to make sure they provided a long list of computer and communications requirements for the visiting executives.

Once the men started plugging in cables, talking about bandwidth and racks and some new game that had just been released, Audra escaped back to Maxima. One robot replaced another as she set off the one that mopped, listening out for the rotor blades of Jay's returning helicopter. Who would he bring? Other celebrities? Or the rest of the band, perhaps?

What if he brought the guitarist girl he wanted to win?

He'd rejected romance books and rubbished any suggestions she'd made, so Audra doubted the relationship between the two would change unless he did.

Though if he had a little help...

She contacted Catering and asked for a honeymoon supper package, delivered cold to the villa to be prepared at the right moment. Audra stuck the champagne in the fridge, alongside the tray of chocolate fondue, complete with instructions on how to heat the chocolate. The strawberries looked so perfect, Audra felt hard-pressed not to steal one, but she wasn't the one Jay would be romancing, so she closed the door firmly on temptation.

She took the rose petal bath mixture and massage oil to the bathroom, then changed her mind and left the oil in the master bedroom instead, adding it to the innocuous-looking, heart-shaped box of condoms and flavoured lubes.

Audra finished the romantic atmosphere with the addition of mood lighting – every battery-operated tealight she could gather, lined up along the edge of the spa, the flat surfaces in the bedroom and even on the lounge room coffee table. Pleased at her handiwork, she resolved to return at sunset to turn the little lights on.

For a moment, she wished a man would romance her half as well as she was helping Jay do for his mysterious woman. Audra hoped the girl appreciated it as much as she would.

TWENTY

As the afternoon sun turned its slanting rays into his eyes, Jason peered at the menu, trying to decide if he needed to eat something else with his next mango beer. His lunchtime steak sandwich had been a long time and several beers ago, but it wasn't really time for dinner yet. Besides, he didn't want to stay for dinner. He was hungry for something far hotter and tastier than food.

He'd narrowed his harem down to four girls, after some had deserted him to go to the beach or other tourist shit. Three blondes and one brunette, though he was pretty sure they were all natural brunettes. Not that he cared about their hair.

One of them seemed to be reading his mind, because she met his gaze and then slowly, deliberately, started sucking on her empty beer bottle. He felt his shorts grow tight as half the bottle vanished into her mouth.

Another girl's hand landed on his thigh, so close to his hard-on, he was certain she could feel the heat of it. "You're a big boy, Jay," she whispered. "Would you like some help taming that beast tonight?"

Jason flashed his best rock star smile. No girl could tame him, but he'd have a lot of fun letting her try.

"So is it true? Chaya's breaking up and it really is their last tour?"

Irritated, he glared at the girl who'd spoken, but she didn't seem to notice his displeasure.

The bottle came out of blowjob girl's mouth with an audible pop. "What? You're retiring? But we all love your music so much. You can't quit!"

"Don't you love your fans, Jay?" The hand on his thigh abruptly pulled away.

"Why do you want to retire?"

Fuck. He didn't want to retire. He wanted to be a rock star until the day he died, and enjoy good booze and good company every day of his life. Rock stars didn't talk about their fucking feelings to chicks; they just wanted to fuck to forget they had any feelings other than physical ones.

After a day of drinking himself into a state where he could forget about his impending retirement, now these bitches had brought his despair back with a vengeance. Well, fuck them. Or not. He wouldn't, anyway. They could go screw some of their backpacker buddies. Any desire he'd felt for these girls had died.

"I need a piss," he mumbled, jumping up. He swayed a bit, then righted himself and stumbled in the direction of the bar's bathrooms.

He relieved the considerable pressure in the men's room, glad that none of the nosy girls had had the guts to follow him in there.

"Hey, I know you. You're Jay Felix. Shit. Wow. Heard about your retirement, man. It must feel pretty awesome to be retiring at your age. What're you planning on doing? Shacking up with some hot sheilas and living it up for a bit?"

Fuck. What kind of bloke thought he could talk to a guy while he was pissing? Fucking rude, that's what it was.

"Something like that," Jason mumbled, tucking his tackle away. He shoved through the door and strode to the bar.

What was wrong with people? His plans were none of their fucking business. Why couldn't they see that? All he wanted was a bit of sympathy and distraction, and to take a piss in peace. Was that too much for a man to ask?

The maid at the hotel had understood. She'd looked sad, like she felt his pain, given him a hug and not protested when he'd stared down the front of her shirt at her tits. Admittedly, she hadn't gotten them out for him, but she'd still shown more sympathy than anyone else. And those perky tits...

Why the fuck was he here after some random, nosy chicks when the one he wanted was at his hotel? He just needed to persuade her to get over her inhibitions and sleep with him. Maybe if he bought her a present and then got her drunk, she'd agree...

What was taking the bartenders so long to serve him?

He held up his hand to catch the older bartender's eye.

"Yes, sir?"

"Finalise the bill for my table. I'm closing the tab."

"Yes, sir." She paused. "A receipt, sir?"

"Nah." Shit, he needed a present. He thought of the hotel maid and her Cupid's bow lips kissing the top of a beer bottle last night. More than once, he'd caught her closing her eyes and humming as she savoured the taste of the sweet brew. "Get me a case of your mango beer to take home, though."

She beckoned to one of the glassies and he returned less than a minute later, carrying a carton. Jay nodded his thanks, hoisted the box onto his shoulder and headed out to his car. He shoved the box in the back seat and slid behind the wheel.

Jason gunned the engine, then crunched the car into gear. Now he remembered what had gotten into him last night, why he'd begged the girl to stay. It was all that pent-up passion inside her. He could see it in every sip she took of her beer, every time she glanced at his bare chest – of course he'd taken his shirt off; he knew what the sight of his six-pack did to women. She played her part in life as well as he did. Showing one thing while feeling another. Always putting on a show. But she'd seen through his act just as he'd seen through hers. He wanted to be the one to shatter that brittle shell so she could shine like a fucking beacon.

The only girl he wanted in his bed tonight was Audra. Shit, he even remembered her name. It had to be love.

Jason slammed his foot down on the accelerator and screeched out of the parking lot. He had a helicopter to catch, and a woman to romance.

TWENTY-ONE

"What in hell did you do in here?" Audra surveyed the grisly scene in the gym. It looked like there'd been a bloodbath and there were suspicious, red splatters on the ceiling, too. "Where are the bodies?"

Serge coughed. "Um, he's resting in his room and his girlfriend's tending to him."

Audra waved her arms at the blood-soaked walls and floor. "One man lost this much blood and he's still alive?"

"It's not all blood."

Audra sighed. "Does Annette know about this?" He nodded. "Fine, then. I'll help you clean it up, but you're going to do half the work and while we're working, you'll tell me how you turned the gym into a slaughterhouse."

"Well, it started with this kid who wanted to impress his girlfriend, so he showed up at the gym but refused a session with the personal trainer..."

Audra wiped down the walls on one side while Serge took the other, telling her the whole story.

The kid had come to keep his girlfriend company at the gym. While she did her cardio on the bikes, he'd decided to show his awesome muscles off by bench-pressing some weights. His sweaty, straining hands had slipped, though, and he'd managed to smash the barbell onto his nose. Blood spurted, he'd sneezed and most of the weights area, along with the wall behind it, had gotten sprayed in blood. A trail of it had followed the kid and his angry girlfriend out the door to the first aid room.

Serge had called Housekeeping and Annette had sent Penny, who'd claimed she was an expert in cleaning carpets and using the shampooing machine.

Audra knew otherwise, but she just shook her head. Perhaps it hadn't been quite as bad as she suspected.

Actually, it was worse.

Penny had filled the machine with foam, switched it on and set to work. Serge had headed over to the free weights area to work with a client. The next thing he'd heard from Penny was some shrieked swearing before the carpet cleaning machine exploded. Bloodstained water coated the walls, the ceiling and the carpet. Penny had picked up the gym phone and called Annette, whining about the faulty equipment that had almost killed her. Before she could hang up, Serge grabbed the phone off her and requested a more senior member of the Housekeeping staff to help with the mess, as this girl evidently needed first aid.

He'd rid himself of Penny and Annette had suggested Audra. So there they were.

Audra sighed again. "I'll go get the shampooing machine. I'm sure it'll be fine when I put the reservoir in properly."