The Billionaire's Housekeeper: A Marriage of Convenience Romance for Adults (3 page)

Jose shrugged.

“
Maybe. All I know is that Mr. A
better sort this out quick because right now I’m trying to do
something about the marigolds out front and…” Jose
droned on and on about the work that he needed to do on the flowers.
Rita was too busy thinking about her own situation to pay much
attention to what Jose was saying. She saw a quick flash of someone
passing by the French doors, and she could see that it was George. He
had changed out of his tuxedo and was putting a jacket on over a
shirt and comfortable pants.

Rita rooted herself in place. It took
a lot of willpower to not want to follow George to see what it was
that was going on outside.

“
How many people did you say
were out there?” Rita asked Jose. He shrugged as a response.

“
More than 5, less than 15.
Whatever it is they think they’ve found, they want a
story…badly. Are you sure there’s nothing going on
between you two?”

Rita nodded.

“
We don’t spend a lot of
time conversing with each other. I don’t know what’s
going on,” she half lied. Even as close as Rita was with Jose,
she still hadn’t let him in on the full story of her life. It
wouldn’t be a good time to admit it now…she needed to
know just what the paparazzi wanted with her.

Jose took Rita by the wrist and
started leading her inside the house. She twisted her arm a bit in
resistance, but he stopped and turned to look at her.

“
Do you want to know what’s
going on or not?”

“
I would, but…”

“
But nothing!” Jose said
in a shrill whisper. He looked around to see if there was anyone in
sight who could possibly be listening in on their conversation. “No
buts! Let’s find out what all of this is about.”

Rita didn’t have a chance to
finish her sentence. Jose was once again leading her back into the
house and in the direction of the front entrance. She hoped that he
was doing this for her benefit more so than to satisfy his own
curiosity.

“
I don’t want to talk to
them,” Rita hissed at Jose. He scoffed and stopped once again
to take a good look at her.

“
Honey, who says anything about
talking to them? I was just gonna eavesdrop from the front door.
There’s the intercom
right
there
,” he said
and pointed toward the door. Rita didn’t like the idea of
snooping around, but since this directly involved her, she was
curious as to why the press suddenly had an interest in the live-in
housekeeper of a handsome young billionaire.

Jose and Rita skittered across the
Italian marble floor like tiny guilty mice and almost made it to the
front door when it suddenly opened. Surprised, Jose let go of Rita’s
wrist and pretended to engage her in conversation.

“
You know, flowers in wall
sconces by the entrance way might really brighten this area up a bit.
What are you thinking…begonias…oxalis?” Jose
said. He gesticulated wildly and kept sneaking glances at Rita.
George had just stepped into the house and shut the giant iron doors.
He leaned back on the doors and slowly slid down.

“
Nice cover,” he said
breathlessly, looking at Jose. Jose lowered his arms sheepishly. He
didn’t have to keep up the charade, they had been caught. “I
still don’t know what in the hell is going on out there.”

Rita lowered her eyes. She didn’t
want to see either of them looking at her. She felt exposed, and she
wasn’t even sure what the reason for it was yet. She could only
speculate, but she was hoping it wasn’t what she had feared for
the last few years. There was no way someone could know about her
life before she started working at the mansion because she had never
told anyone all of the details.

“
What happened?” Rita
asked. One of her arms was at her side, and she lifted the other to
get hold of her elbow. She rubbed along her straightened arm with her
thumb. She looked up every few moments just so she could possibly
decipher the expressions on his face. She hoped he wasn’t upset
with her. She couldn’t tell because he appeared to still be out
of breath.

“
They kept saying I should ask
you, and that they’d get to the bottom of it sooner than later
if you wouldn’t come out. They wanted to know more about where
you’re from. I thought it was extremely peculiar.”

Rita didn’t have a response to
that. Whatever it was they wanted to know about where she was from,
she hoped that they weren’t talking about when she had left
Montreal.

“
I won’t let them get to
you. I promise,” George said. He moved away from the door and
over to Rita and Jose. He looked at her as her eyes floated upward to
meet his gaze. He didn’t look away and neither did she. She
felt assured just by staring into his eyes. “They’re just
like roaches that are looking for whatever they can find. They’re
probably gonna find some cock and bull story about me and Julie.
Don’t
you
worry about anything ok?”

“
I won’t,” Rita
said. She straightened her body and smiled. Whatever this was was
going to pass. But it still made her wonder and worry just what it
was that the press thought they knew about her.

“
I’ve got to get going. I
should have been at work by now. Don’t talk to anyone until I
get back. And even then…” George said. He turned to
leave the mansion. He left Rita and Jose standing close to the
entrance. Neither of them spoke for a good few minutes.

“
Alright missy, you have some
explaining to do,” Jose said finally. He pursed his lips in the
way that he did when he wasn’t impressed by a situation. He
eyed her up and down, folded his arms over his chest and tapped his
foot on the floor as if to wait for her to start speaking right away.

“
I don’t know what you
mean,” Rita raised her head in a defiant manner.

“
Oh cut the crap, Marguerite!”

“
Only my mother calls me that,”
Rita grumbled. Whenever Jose was frustrated with her he called her by
her full name.

“
You’re stalling. How can
I help you if you won’t open up to me?” Jose feigned hurt
and he pouted his lip dramatically.

“
What exactly am I getting help
for?” Rita laughed. Jose was right, she was stalling. But she
didn’t know where to start or where to end. She didn’t
know if he would understand. She had known him for three years, and
there was definitely trust there when it came to their friendship.
She just wasn’t sure she liked opening up to people. She didn’t
know how he would react.

“
I don’t know yet!”
Jose admitted. “But someone out there knows something. I don’t
want them defaming your character. You’re one of my favorite
people on this hellhole we call planet earth. The least you can do is
dish out some juicy gossip.”

Rita sighed. There would be no letting
up with Jose. She studied his face for a few seconds. She had held
out for this long. But if something were to happen, she needed
someone here who she trusted and who really cared for her to be on
her side. She didn’t know what could happen if someone were to
know all of her story…worse if word got out to the police.

She decided to tell him. She wasn’t
going to tell the full story. She was going to keep it as vague as
possible. She wanted him to be satisfied enough to leave her alone,
but to be in the know about what it was that she was dealing with.

“
Fine. I’ll tell you,”
she caved.

“
Wunderbar! Is it about George?
Are you sure you guys aren’t a thing? I kind of like the way
you look together. Your chocolate with his vanilla, you guys would
be…”

“
Jose! Focus! I’m about to
let you into a very dark part of my past. It’s not…It’s
not about Mr. Ainsworth. Even he doesn’t know what I’m
about to tell you. I’ll tell you my secret. Just not here.”

Rita linked arms with Jose, and she
led him back out onto the lanai around the back of the mansion. She
wanted to make sure she was away from any listening ears.

*****

Rita had spent most of her day
distracting herself with work. She was so diligent that she was
finished earlier than usual and even went around clearing up some of
the rooms twice.

She avoided the windows. If she walked
into a room she would shimmy along up against the wall like a novice
spy and close the curtains. She knew there were still paparazzi
outside. The number of them had almost tripled as the day went on.
She would peek through the curtains whenever she was curious enough.

By 5, the majority of them had given
up and left. The sun had started to set when the last one had finally
gone home. The guards didn’t entertain them, and no one let
them in under any circumstances.

It was strange for Rita. Before,
whenever there was press outside of the door she would be able to go
about her business without so much as batting an eyelash in their
direction. The minute one mentioned her name, now it felt like there
were eyes everywhere, watching her. She didn’t like that
feeling. She wanted everything to go back to normal. So much had
changed with her work, herself, and Mr. Ainsworth since the divorce
came through.

Rita went outside and back to her
little cottage that was close to the back of the property. It wasn’t
too far from the main house, but it was down a trail and out of
sight. The cottage had its own unique style. It felt like a house not
on someone’s grounds, but a quaint little home for a couple, or
a young and hopeful person. Julie helped design it when Rita had
first come to work for the Ainsworth's. Julie was a little less
insufferable then. She asked Rita for her opinions and her tastes
with the decor, and the cottage was done to both of their liking.
Over time, and with more wine and self-loathing, Julie didn’t
talk to Rita much anymore. Rita had just become another person to
manipulate in order for Julie to get her way.

Rita sighed when she stepped into her
cottage. She didn’t want to think of Julie or George anymore.
She sometimes had to remind herself that their lives were not her
whole life. With the day she had had, Rita just wanted to relax. She
told Jose more about herself before she had left Montreal, and Jose
vowed not to tell anyone. He also said that he would find a way to
help her if she ever needed it, and let her know that everything
would work itself out.

She was so grateful for her friend.
She wasn’t alone in the world, but she felt alone in the
country. Jose made her feel more at home since they had met, and
Thursdays were definitely her favorite days because she knew that he
would be there at the house tending to the roses and marigolds.

There was one more person that Rita
wanted to talk to about the day that she had. Her mother, Aurelie
Brooks. Her mother was her confidant. Aurelie was the most supportive
person in Rita’s life. They spoke at least twice a week, and
Aurelie knew about Rita’s life as if Rita was still in Montreal
with her.

Rita picked up the little white
telephone that was on the side table in her living room. She dialed
her mother’s number and placed the phone between her ear and
her shoulder. She was fixing herself a sandwich in her little kitchen
as the phone buzzed in her ear.

Aurelie picked up on the 4
^th
ring.

“
Bonne nuit, maman,” Rita
greeted her mother.

“
Hello my darling!
”
Rita could hear the smile in her mother’s voice. Aurelie always
sounded like Rita hadn’t spoken to her for years, even if Rita
had called once before on that very same day.

“
How are you? What was your
day like?
”

They always asked each other about
their days and if anything interesting happened. Rita’s mother
was an English teacher at a middle school in Montreal, so there was
always a story about some rowdy teenager, or the politics of being
one of the head teachers at the school versus the other teachers or a
member of the board of directors. Rita mostly talked about her work,
or something that Jose had told her. She was so glad to be still
close with her mother. Aurelie was the only one that Rita could
really talk to about the things she had in her head and her heart.

“
My day…” Rita
paused to give it thought. “My day was ok.”

“
Something’s wrong
,”
Aurelie said.

“
Why you say that?”

“
It’s your voice. I can
always tell when you sound upset.
What happened?
”

“
I’m not even sure,”
Rita said. She knew her mother would immediately pick up on the fact
that something had been bothering her. “It’s been a
strange day. I’ve been thinking a lot.”

“
Don’t think too deeply
my dear. It will only have you drowning in your own thoughts
.”

Aurelie always gave the best advice.
She was right, of course. Rita had been thinking an awful lot without
even really knowing what the real situation was. It had helped to
tell Jose the truth. It had been a release for Rita, and she still
let the feeling of the beautiful day be shadowed by her fears and her
thoughts.

She was going to have to tell her
mother, she knew. Rita would have to explain her feelings and what
caused them. The last thing she wanted to do was to have her mother
worry about her.