Maid For Beckett Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart novel Chapter 4

My palms were sweaty, my knees bobbing up and down as I kept looking at the chipped leather watch circling my wrist. I had been to offices before–as a cleaning girl–but I’d never entered one aiming to land a job.

I pulled my white blouse from the bottom pile of my clothes this morning, paired it with a floral knee–high skirt, then I borrowed Mom’s red Mary Janes. They were a size smaller than my feet, and my toes were already hurting from being curled for too long. I pulled my hair into a neat ponytail, stealing a few dollops of Caleb’s gel so the stray strands wouldn’t go flying over my face, then I picked at the last of my red lipstick to put color on my face. This was the best I could pull off. I had been gripping my resume, trapped inside the folder, for about twenty minutes now.

The metal chair in the waiting area of Siobhan Montgomery’s office was already warm against my ass. Her office smelled of faint lemon polish, fresh coffee, and freshly picked flowers. The white walls and shiny floor were oddly intimidating. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when the receptionist called my name.

“Yes, I’m Andrea Wilson,” I shot to my feet, smoothing a hand over my skirt.

The receptionist, Lena, smirked at me and shook her head. She wore the sharpest pencil skirt and suit jacket I had ever seen. Her scrutinizing gaze, from the moment I entered the building, was still there–sizing me up, the question ‘what the hell is she doing here‘ glowing in neon lights on her forehead.

She forced a smile as she stood from her office chair, rounded the front desk, and walked past me.

“Follow me,” she murmured. Her skyscraper stilettos clicked against the marble floor as she sashayed through the hallway.

Squaring my shoulders, I followed her, the folder trapped in my hands in front of me. I nearly bumped into Lena when she paused at the door at the end of the hallway.

She knocked before opening the door, announcing that I was with her, and swung it wide.

I smoothed my palms down the front of my skirt for the hundredth time, my eyes flying to the frosted name on the door: Siobhan Montgomery – Agency Director, etched in silver across it. The office looked like something out of a magazine- polished floors, white walls, and shelves stacked with neat black binders that probably cost more than my entire one–month salary.

A woman in her late thirties sat behind the desk, her blazer so sharp I was afraid it could cut glass. Her dark hair fell in soft waves down her shoulders. Her timid smile and nod at Lena screamed authority. She looked up at me with eyes that didn’t miss a single detail, and suddenly I felt like I was standing in front of a judge.

“Andrea Wilson?” she said, her voice clipped as soon as I was inside the office. Suddenly, I preferred being under Lena’s scrutinizing gaze than under Siobhan’s.

“Yes,” I cleared my throat. “Andi. Most people call me Andi.”

“Sit.” She gestured to the leather chair across from her. I had to drag my feet across the elegant carpet between the door and her desk. I sank into the chair, careful not to squeak against the seat.

Her gaze swept over me, searing into my skin, perusing all the secrets hiding under my skin. I resisted the urge to shoot to my feet, tell her this was a mistake, and bolt out of the office.

“You’ve done housekeeping before?” She asked, flipping through the resume Caleb had cobbled together for me on his phone.

“Yes. I clean homes during the day. And I wait tables at night” My voice came out steadier than I expected, even though my stomach was tighter than tension cords.

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2:15 pm P W

Chapter 4

Her brow arched. “Two jobs?”

I nodded. “I’ve got bills to pay.”

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10 vouchers

“You’re twenty–one.” Her eyebrows raised, as if my age should dictate that I wasn’t supposed to work my ass off like I was forty with five kids depending on me.

“I’m the breadwinner. My mom can’t work anymore, and my younger brother is still in middle school.”

She nodded, a ghost of a smirk tugging at her mouth as she scanned my resume again. I wasn’t sure if the smirk meant she respected my answer or pitied me.

“You’ll need to give up both jobs if you’re working for my client,” she said, leaning back in her chair.

I nodded, careful not to blurt out how relieved I was at leaving two jobs for one that paid more than both combined. “I can do that.”

She closed the folder and said, “The client is very particular about privacy. You’ll live on the estate. You’ll cook, clean, and run errands as needed. But more importantly, you’ll stay out of the way. Invisible.”

Invisible? Then the client wasn’t abusive? Why the hell hasn’t anyone lasted two weeks in this job? Hearing this was a relief. I could do invisible. I had been invisible all my life.

“I can do that, as well,” I said.

Her eyes narrowed, as if she were measuring how far desperation would carry me. “Every housekeeper I’ve sent so far has quit within two weeks.”

I was thinking of a nice way to ask her about that. At least she opened the topic. “Why?”

“They couldn’t… handle the client,” she said, choosing her words like she was walking a tightrope. Since I entered this room. that was the first unfiltered expression I had seen on her. “He’s particular. Brooding. Difficult. The last one said, ‘He’s impossible.“”

Impossible? Difficult? They called that difficult? Difficult was seeing Caleb’s face when he saw me outside the ER, listening to Mom’s cough rattling through the trailer walls, and having bills stacked high enough to drown me alive. I could do this kind of difficult.

“Is he abusive?” I asked quietly. If he was, at least I was prepared for the worst.

Her lips curved into something like disdain, then she shook her head. “If he ever lays hands on you, you come to me, and I will help you file a lawsuit against him.”

I blinked at Siobhan. I wasn’t expecting that kind of help from her. In the bar, I had to swallow my pride every time a customer groped my ass. The manager, Paul, wouldn’t think twice before firing me if I caused a scene The customers were much more valuable to him than his staff.

“I… I really appreciate that,” I said in a low voice, dropping my gaze to my clammy palmus in my lap. Then what is it? Why has no one lasted two weeks?”

Siobhan looked towards the glass wall of her office. The street was busy at ten in the morning. “He’s been through a lot. This client is important to me, Andi. So, I really hope Tessa is right about how hardworking you are. He needs someone to take care of him, to look after him….” She slid her gaze back to me “On my behalf.”

I nodded and made sure she knew how seriously I was taking this job. “You can count on me

She sighed. “Let’s see how long you’ll last. Report back here tomorrow morning. Seven o’clock sharp. Don’t be late

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2:15 pm

Chapter 4

“Here”

TD vouchers

“Yes, I will be driving you up to the estate myself after we are done with the paperwork. The contract and the NDA

“NDA?” I echoed, the memory of Carter slapping the NDA and check on my face flooded my head.

“Are you against the NDA?”

I shook my head vigorously. This is not Carter. This is your employer. They won’t hurt you like Carter did. “Yes. I have no problem with signing an NDA.”

“Good. Congratulations, Andi,” she said, standing, already dismissing me with the rustle of papers. “You’re hired.”

I thanked her, though my voice was faint. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it echoed through the office walls.

When I stepped back into the hallway, I was lightheaded. For the first time in a long time, hope bloomed in my chest. Six grand for a housekeeping job. No more customers groping my ass. Mom’s meds–paid. Caleb’s schoolbooks. Food is in the pantry. And probably a new lipstick for me.

All I had to do was survive working for a man who chewed through housekeepers like they were paper.

What could go wrong?

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