Chapter 17
This time, Katherine Taylor is the one who feels a tingling in her legs when she wakes up. The night before, they spent several hours on the couch doing everything, and although Jodie still controls the rhythm, what happened in that penthouse could be classified as great sex. The housekeeper took control this time, and Katherine experiences uncontrollable spasms throughout her body just remembering it. The businesswoman fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, and now she allows herself a few minutes with her eyes closed to remember how Jodie slept beside her with a peaceful expression and her hair spread across the pillow. A movement on the mattress makes Katherine turn her head to find her lover's naked back as she sits up, seemingly ready to leave the bed, but she doesn't allow it and, in a quick movement, hugs her tightly and pulls her close.
"Where do you think you're going?" asks the Mallois Hotel owner, kissing her face and neck.
Jodie laughs, and that melody drives Katherine wild.
"I have a shift at the hotel," the housekeeper manages to say while enjoying her lover's kisses.
"Better stay here with me," Katherine whispers and moves to straddle Jodie's body, "and let's enjoy the morning together."
The blonde plunges her wet tongue into Jodie's mouth, and for a few seconds, they tangle in a frenzied kiss, accompanied by their nervous hands. Jodie Sinclair feels like never before, and she still finds it hard to believe that this woman she's been in love with for years is there beside her, asking her to stay in bed. The night before, she decided to show her how much she liked her and especially the built-up desire she had to devour her completely, and apparently it worked, because Katherine Taylor moans—and a lot—when something drives her crazy.
"I have to go to work and you know it," Jodie replies, breathless and with a trembling voice.
"I'm the hotel owner and I'm giving you the day off," Katherine responds and leans in to bite her lover's lips.
Jodie feels Katherine's teeth exert a paralyzing pressure on her lower lip, and she can barely control a howl of pleasure rising from her throat. She manages to pull away, and Katherine frowns at her.
"No way, Katherine Taylor. It's my job and I intend to do it. Now, let me get up, I don't want to be late," the housekeeper settles the matter, and the businesswoman melts—one of the things she likes most is the girl's determination.
The Mallois Hotel owner doesn't say anything, but before moving away, she looks at Jodie with affection, caresses her face, and gives her a chaste but meaningful kiss that makes the housekeeper close her eyes to savor the sensation.
Half an hour later, Jodie Sinclair enters the first room she needs to clean. The seventh floor of the Mallois Hotel is one of the largest, and the girl has more than ten rooms on her work sheet that not only require changing sheets and towels but also floor and bathroom disinfection. A noise startles her suddenly, and when she turns around, she finds Marjorie García's gaze fixed on her.
"Take care of rooms twenty-one and twenty-four as well," Marjorie says while running her fingers over a table checking if it's clean.
Jodie fills her lungs with air.
"I have ten rooms on this floor, and if I have to clean two more, I'll need one of my colleagues to..."
"You're alone, I'm not giving you anyone else to finish a job that one person can do," Marjorie spits out, pacing around the room in military mode. "And you better hurry with this one, the guests requested early check-in."
Without saying anything else, the head of housekeeping leaves the room, leaving Jodie wanting to grab her by the hair and drag her across the floor. Since the housekeeper started at the hotel, Marjorie García has always been harder on her than on the others. At first, she endured everything and followed orders without complaint, but as time passes, she tolerates her less and less and fears that at some point she won't be able to control herself and will get into a pointless argument that could cost her job.
"I thought you weren't eating here today," Sarah says, about to put a piece of steak in her mouth.
"I just finished a few minutes ago, I had to clean twelve of the large rooms, I'm exhausted," Jodie replies, sitting down and opening a sandwich she bought at the cafeteria.
"What a bitch," Sarah blurts out, raising her voice more than she intended, referring to Marjorie.
"She knows Katherine and I are together and..."
"What?" Sarah reacts, "what do you mean you're together? And you just drop it like that, so casually."
Jodie laughs; no matter how many times she repeats it, she can hardly believe she's dating Katherine Taylor. She decides to tell her everything that's happened in the last few days, and her friend keeps her mouth open throughout the story until she understands that Marjorie García is having some kind of fit because the hotel owner and the housekeeper seem to be having an affair.
"I'm really happy for you, Jodie, truly. You've suffered a lot and you deserve a break," Sarah replies and takes her friend's hand affectionately. "As for Marjorie, ignore her. You know how she is, and now that she's finding out about you two, she's having a tantrum that won't last long. She's not stupid and knows it's not in her best interest to make an enemy of the boss or mess with her girlfriend."
"We're not girlfriends," Jodie responds, although she'd love it if they were, she can't lie.
"You know what I mean," Sarah tells her. "Try to be patient, ignore her, and you'll see she'll soon forget about you."
The two housekeepers say goodbye after finishing lunch, and Jodie heads up to the penthouse to start her afternoon shift. As the elevator goes up, the girl feels exultant, and unlike most times when she prayed for Katherine not to be in her home, this time she does so hoping to find her there and be able to see her.
When Jodie takes out her card and accesses the penthouse, Katherine's gaze locks onto her, making the housekeeper stop in her tracks to avoid stumbling. She hopes this sensation isn't eternal because if it is, she won't live long—her body won't handle it.
"Hello, beautiful girl," Katherine greets her, rising from that war-zone desk she has in the penthouse.
"Hi," Jodie smiles and latches onto her lips as soon as she's in front of her.
"How was your morning?" asks the businesswoman as soon as they break the kiss and walk to the kitchen.
Jodie hesitates, wanting to tell her the truth but unsure if they're at that stage yet. Besides, Katherine is still her boss.
"Good, and yours?" she decides to answer briefly.
Katherine knows her well enough to notice something isn't right.
"Did something happen?" the blonde asks.
"No, nothing," Jodie says without looking at her while opening the dishwasher to put in the dirty plates, but also to avoid her lover's inquisitive gaze.
Katherine knows Jodie isn't telling the truth. Something in her body screams that she's hiding something. She takes a plate from her hand and turns her around.
"Look at me," Katherine demands, but softens her expression. "Tell me if something happened, please."
Jodie can't resist that gesture. She runs her hand over her neck before speaking.
"I had a somewhat unpleasant encounter with Marjorie, nothing to worry about," Jodie clarifies as soon as she notices Katherine's change in expression. "She's still being herself, and today I handled almost all the rooms on the seventh floor alone."
Katherine raises her eyebrows.
"The seventh floor? But those rooms are immense, the largest in the hotel," she inquires with a harsh tone of voice.
"I know, maybe there were some absences today," she tries to defuse the tension. Now Jodie isn't so sure telling Katherine what happened was the right thing.
"We have enough staff to cover absences if we have them, I can tell you from memory the number of employees we have contracted by service, and I assure you it's not necessary for one person to handle so many rooms."
Katherine's brain is boiling, and she again has that feeling of loss of control because in another situation, she would talk to her director, Lamir Kumar, to supervise what happened and would handle it through disciplinary action if necessary, but right now, the Mallois owner wants to leave her penthouse and personally remove Marjorie García from her hotel.
Jodie observes how the blue of Katherine's eyes turns opaque and an angry energy floats around her body.
"Don't worry, it was nothing," Jodie says, pressing against her boss and lover's body while holding her face in her hands.
Katherine loses herself in that momentary caress but reacts quickly.
"I'll go talk to her," the middle Taylor decides, "she can't..."
Jodie raises her hand to let her speak.
"This is something I have to resolve myself, Katherine. If I see it's getting out of control, I'll file a complaint with management myself," she says firmly.
Katherine is about to tell her that sleeping with the boss has its benefits, but fortunately, her phone interrupts that radical thought, and the businesswoman answers the call.
"Yes, we'll be down in five minutes," Katherine tells her caller. "Come on, we need to go to the Magnolis," she asks Jodie, "Mike is waiting downstairs, we're meeting with the construction manager."
Jodie finishes loading the remaining glasses into the dishwasher, starts it, and after changing, follows her boss to the elevator. Katherine, with her powerful bearing, crosses her hotel, attracting all eyes as usual, but now, being accompanied by another woman as strong as her makes the people around them unable to stop staring.
After traveling several miles, they arrive at the Magnolis Hotel and meet with Joshua Stanley, the renovation manager who has finally finished.
"Mrs. Taylor, welcome," the man says politely. "Your team has supervised every corner of the hotel and given their approval. We just need yours to consider my work complete."
The two women take their time and tour each floor of the new hotel. Almost two hours later, they meet again with Joshua, who is now with Mike, in the lobby.
"Thank you very much, Joshua," Katherine extends her hand to shake the man's, "although you took longer than expected, the result is what I was hoping for."
Joshua smiles with satisfaction; it's no secret that Katherine Taylor is a very demanding woman.
"Jodie, I need you to confirm with the cleaning team that they can start tomorrow and stick to the work sheet you sent them," Katherine requests, and Jodie already has the phone to her ear relaying her boss's order.
They leave the new hotel and Katherine, although happy, rarely celebrates these things, only at the inauguration or appropriate event; that's why she's surprised by Jodie's reaction when they reach the car.
"Congratulations, honey," she says sweetly and grabs her by the waist, "the hotel looks spectacular, it'll be the second best in New York."
Jodie kisses her tenderly and hugs her tighter. Katherine feels dizzy; she feels like she's on cloud nine.
"I can't take you out to lunch, but we can go to your penthouse and I'll cook whatever you want," Jodie says smiling, but sad she can't take her girl to a restaurant as she deserves.
Katherine's heart is beating so fast she feels her chest might burst open at any moment. She's dated dozens of women throughout her life, but none has filled her soul as much as Jodie does in the short time they've known each other.
"You and I are going to dinner wherever you want," Katherine says with darkened eyes. "I don't want you to cook tonight, but as soon as we get back to the penthouse, you'll be my dessert."