Page 3 of X's and O's

I eyed them curiously, scanning the titles.

Paul shut the door behind us, then followed me over to the bookshelf, standing closer than seemed appropriate. “You like to read?”

I nodded, setting my cleaning caddy down on the hardwood floor beside me. “I do. You have quite a collection.”

Paul’s breath was warm on the side of my neck when he spoke. “I like the erotica ones, personally.”

Oh, ew. I loved erotica. Had a whole shelf full of it at home. And men were more than welcome to enjoy it too. But the way Paul had moved in too close and practically purred it in my ear? Nope. Just nope. I took a big step away, ignoring the warning bells ringing in my head because I didn’t want to appear rude. I couldn’t afford to get a customer complaint. The owners of my company had fired a girl just last week after she’d gotten one, and I’d had to watch her leave in tears, wondering how she was going to feed her kids that week.

I might not have had kids, but I had rent, food, and utilities to pay. Not to mention keeping Toby supplied with caffeine. The cost of living felt like it was getting worse by the day, and decent jobs in Saint View were notalways easy to come by. It had taken me three months to land this position after I’d left my last job because the boss was a creep. Toby had covered my half of the rent during those months, and though he hadn’t so much as whispered a complaint about it, I did not want that to happen again. I hated feeling like I was mooching off him.

I edged toward the kitchen, looking around for any sign of his wife. “I’d like to make a start, so if you have a list of things you’d like taken care of today, you can just leave that with me and carry on with your day. You won’t even know I’m here.” I forced a smile again to try to cover any impatience in my voice.

He cocked his head to one side. “I heard some cleaners work naked for higher tips.”

I pressed my lips into a straight line, biting back my annoyance. “Not me.”

I’d dealt with men like him a million times. I didn’t like the way they seemed to think they could be disrespectful just because I was a cleaner from Saint View, who got paid less than them. But I also couldn’t afford to piss him off.

It wasn’t fair. But it was the way the world was for women like me. We had to put up with this shit and do it with a smile.

Even if what I really wanted was to knee him in the balls. The man had a wife, for goodness’ sake.

“Pity,” Paul murmured. “I like a tall, naked woman in my house.”

Yeah, okay. I was done. I could put up with a lot, but clearly this guy wanted something I wasn’t going to give. If the agency wanted to fire me over this, then so be it. I’dhave to throw myself at Toby’s feet and hope his manicurist salary could cover us both again until I found something new. But I wasn’t staying here with this guy, who clearly wanted some pervy fun while his wife was out.

Not that there had been a single photo of a woman on that bookshelf. I glanced around the open-plan kitchen and living area, and there were photos of Paul doing various outdoor activities like fishing and hiking, and a photo of him with an elderly couple who had to be his parents.

But no sign of anyone who could be his wife.

He hadn’t seemed to know her name either. Claire or Clara?

A different sort of worry prickled across my skin. Not the regular annoyance that came from a man who was just being a bit stupid because he was alone with a woman who wasn’t his partner, but an actual concern I might have walked into something premeditated.

I edged toward the door, where my purse hung, my phone inside. “I don’t think this is going to work out. I’ll let the agency know you’re after a different sort of cleaner.”

Paul moved around the furniture so quickly and smoothly he was like oil. “You left your cleaning caddy over there.”

I wasn’t going back for it. It had probably a hundred dollars’ worth of cleaning supplies in it that the company made us pay for ourselves, if we went through them too quickly. I’d only just replenished my kit, so there was no doubt in my mind they’d dock my pay to replace them,but my gut warned me I didn’t have a choice. I needed to get out of this house.

Paul cut off my exit right as I reached for my purse.

He caught my wrist, his long fingers wrapping around it with a viselike grip, one much tighter than his handshake had been.

I yelped, trying to yank my arm back with no success. “What are you doing? Let me go!”

He dragged me in close to his chest. I fought against him, but even though nobody would have ever called me petite, he was still bigger than I was. Fear and shock weakened my muscles, my entire body just wanting to curl up into a ball of terror.

Paul pushed his face into the side of my neck and inhaled. “You smell so sweet. And you came right to my door, like the good little girl you are. Just like the agency promised me you would.”

My heart thumped unevenly. “Stop. Please. Let me go.”

He pressed me up against a wall, his body crowding mine so I couldn’t go anywhere. “But you just got here, Violet. And we haven’t even begun to have any fun.”

I looked him in the eye, really seeing what was behind them for the first time.

And realized my mistake in not doing that earlier.