Lauren could do anything in a dress; she’d once had to climb a ladder and then navigate a narrow walkway above the stage to get to her mark for her next entrance on stage. But she was still glad that she wasn’t expected to provide a visual show while cleaning this jerk’s house.
It occurred to her that Hakim probably thought he was doing a terrible thing by making her wear this ugly uniform, but she was used to costumes; community theaters had no budget, so they got whatever they could. Lauren had withstood all sorts of fabrics and styles on stage, so as long as it was something she could move in, she was good.
She changed quickly—another skill learned from theater—and was back out in no more than two minutes. Hakim looked surprised when she emerged in her new uniform so quickly. Maybe he thought it would be enough to send her running out the door; he was definitely in for a surprise then.
“What are my instructions for the day, boss?”
He snorted. “I think I preferred you calling me master.”
Lauren shrugged. “Sure. What are my instructions, oh my master?”
Her manner left no doubt what she thought of his preference, but instead of getting mad, Lauren saw that he was amused by her attitude.
Hakim waved a hand to indicate the whole house. “I told you I gave the house staff the week off? Everything needs to be cleaned. I like a spotless house, so please pay attention to the details.”
“And after that?” Even as big as the house was, unless he’d thrown some kind of insane party the night before, Lauren knew that with just him living there, it couldn’t be that bad.
“If you get done with that,” his tone making it clear he didn’t think she’d get that far, “you can go. Just be back first thing tomorrow morning.”
Lauren smiled slowly. “Are you sure it’s wise to leave me in your house all day?”
Hakim gave her a wicked grin. “Yes. After all, you’re the one that emphasized her integrity.”
Lauren couldn’t say anything to that, so Hakim smirked and grabbed his suit jacket from off the back of a chair, then left her standing there as he left the house.
After she heard his car leave, Lauren wandered around the house. As she’d suspected, it really wasn’t that bad. But she had a feeling he’d expected her to balk at doing menial chores, which just made her want to throw something at his head. She’d been taking care of herself most of her life. Even though they’d had a housecleaning service come in once a week when she was a kid, Lauren had always been expected to do her own chores. Cleaning the mansion would be tedious, but not difficult.
Besides, it was an opportunity. One thing she’d learned from her mother was that you could use the most mundane situations to discern details about your competition.
Maybe by spending some time in this man’s home, she could learn more about him. And then maybe she’d better understand the rivalry between Hakim and her mother. If he was determined to hurt her mother by using her as pawn, it was only fair that she used her time that week to learn more about him. And if she chose to give that information to her mother, well, it was his own fault for setting up the situation.
Nodding to herself, she found the music system and cranked up some lively music. Then she found the cleaning supplies and went to work.
Chapter 6
Hakim
Hakim found himself pacing the floor, waiting for Lauren to arrive, and forced himself to sit down. He could still watch the front entrance, but there was no reason he needed to act like a nervous schoolboy.
He had been surprised when he returned home the day before to find his whole house spotless; Lauren had not only cleaned all the rooms, she’d reorganized the refrigerator and taken care of the laundry that had piled up, too. It was more than he expected, although to be fair, he hadn’t expected much. Hakim had been certain that she was going to quit; he’d been looking forward to chasing her down after that.
Even more than that, he was looking forward to Patricia Sanders groveling to him in order to get her precious daughter out of the contract. She had to be horrified that Hakim was the one who had purchased Lauren at her auction, and Hakim was honestly surprised that he hadn’t heard from her yet.
Lauren herself had surprised him, too. Her attitude yesterday morning had been a little anxious; she hadn’t been sure of him, though she had been sure of herself. She’d gone on the attack by being bright and cheery, and she had refused to show any sign of weakness.
Hakim had laughed when he got home and found a snarky note from her detailing exactly what chores she’d done, how long it had taken her to clean each room, and a postscript that she’d moved one tiny, insignificant thing in every room and sincerely hoped it didn’t cause him any inconvenience. Hakim had already found the soap dish switched to the other side of his bathroom sink and the coffee filters moved one shelf down. He was looking forward to finding the other things she had moved.