1
“Poppy!”
“I’m. Coming.” Poppy huffed out under her breath, stretching to fit the sheet on the mattress.
There was more activity in the past hour at the house than the entire time that Poppy had worked there. Emine, the older house manager, shouted out orders, and the small staff jumped to do her bidding. The woman, with her black and grey streaked hair and her withered tan skin was terrifying when she wanted to be.
“Poppy!” she roared. “Where is that girl?”
Damn. Poppy straightened from the bed she was making and considered making a run for it. There was already too much on her list to finish in the next hour, and she knew that Emine was about to ask her to do even more work.
This was supposed to be an easy job. When she’d graduated from her study-abroad program in Vienna, she’d decided to keep traveling. There were few anthropology jobs available for someone with as little experience as she had, and she wanted more independent study before she went back for her Master’s degree. Of course, that was before money became more of an issue than experience.
Finding herself in Al-Harmid, a small independent country in the Middle East, she’d found one of the only jobs that paid cash and didn’t require a work visa. As a maid at a safe house for the royal family, she’d spent the past six months getting paid great money to do menial light housework. That was until a call came in three hours ago that someone from the family was on their way.
“Poppy!” Emine shouted again.
“Coming,” Poppy shouted, as she smoothed the last wrinkle out of the sheet and skipped down the stairs. Emine was busy putting away groceries and glared at her.
“Where have you been, girl? I’ve been calling you for half an hour!”
Poppy gritted her teeth and refrained from reminding Emine that at twenty-four, Poppy was hardly a girl. “I was making the beds upstairs. I still need to get the guest room together.”
“When you finish with that, I need you to take the trash out back and try to find the delivery boy. He’s supposed to be here with the rest of the things the Sheikh requires.” Emine pulled at the apron strings around her wide girth and frowned. “Well? Get moving, girl!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Poppy scurried back up the stairs again. Emine always had an abrasive attitude, but she was usually more lenient. Poppy figured the head guy himself must have been on his way to stay. She didn’t know much about the royal Shadid family, but only a VIP would make Emine panic.
“Must be nice to be royalty,” Poppy muttered.
The safe house was a large cabin nestled in a mountainous region along the border. While it looked rustic from the outside, it was completely luxurious inside. Poppy could easily imagine it gracing the cover of some sophisticated designer magazine. The sheets in her arms were a high-end thread count that felt like silk against her skin, and the furniture had designer labels on it that even she recognized. The king-sized canopy bed in the master bedroom was truly a work of art with the four sculpted posts and matching head and foot boards. Even the imposing fireplace couldn’t dwarf the bed. The beautiful, handmade silk rug in the center probably cost more than she made in an entire year.
Two other bedrooms were nearly just as nice, and she had to clean them every single day. All three of them had secret openings to a panic room, and Poppy didn’t think even Emine knew the codes to open the doors. She smirked slightly wondering whether Emine ever had the urge to dust the panic room.
There were two guest rooms at the end of the hall, and Poppy made quick work of the beds. Those rooms were smaller and sparse, but they were still nicer than the room that she stayed in.
She was the only employee that lived in the safe house full-time. It was one of the reasons that she’d taken the job. She didn’t have a car to get around, and although Al-Harmid had more lenient rules when it came to females, she knew that a woman, living alone, would invite attention. Granted, the free room and board made it possible for her to save everything she earned. She was half-way to covering the cost of her tuition. If she went home, she could possibly have a place to stay free while she worked on her Master’s degree. Shaking her head, Poppy reminded herself, “You can’t go home again. Not now.”
Pulling the grey coverlet over the bed, she took a moment to glance out the window. Night had fallen across the sky, and the moonlight glittered across the blanketed snow giving the illusion of diamonds. It had started three days ago and was still falling. There was a little more than a week before Christmas, and Poppy felt
her heart ache a little. She was never as bowled over by the holidays as the rest of her friends and family, and she’d spent the last few Christmases alone.
At least here, where Christmas was sparsely celebrated, there weren’t so many reminders for her.
“Poppy!”
Emine’s shrill voice cut through her thoughts, and she hardened her heart and turned from the window. Although she doubted it, Poppy hoped that at least the old Sheikh would be better company than Emine. The old woman seemed to downright despise her sometimes.
“All finished,” she called back. “I’m coming.” Gathering the old sheets in her arms, her eyes swept over the room one last time before she hurried down the stairs. She’d take out the trash, call the delivery service, start a load of wash, and start scrubbing down the bathroom. Although they were already pristine since no one used them, Emine said that each room had to be thoroughly detailed before the Sheikh arrived.
The elder house manager scowled at her, but she didn’t say anything as Poppy grabbed the oversized trash bag. Honestly, where had all this trash come from anyway?
Grunting under the weight, Poppy could only slide the bag across the floor and pray that it didn’t break open and leak everywhere.
“Damn, skinny woman,” Emine muttered. Poppy pretended not to hear her.
Opening the back door, she braced herself against the cold chill of the night air. The garbage bin was around the side of the house, but she didn’t think to grab a jacket. Blowing out her breath and shivering, she pulled the bag through the door and winced when it slammed behind her.
“It’s only for a few days,” she muttered through chattering teeth. “Then everything will go back to normal, and it’ll be peaceful and quiet again.”
Peaceful and quiet. She could go back to her books and dream about a life when she didn’t have to think about money.
The woods around the house were eerily quiet, and she glanced around uneasily. Normally, she didn’t freak out being alone but tonight, she felt jumpy. Headlights washed over the trees as a car pulled up to the house. Poppy sighed in relief. At least the delivery guy was back. That was one more thing she could mark off her list.
There was a sound of muffled voices as Poppy grunted and slid the garbage bag along the snowy ground. When she reached the large bin, she opened the lid and took a deep breath. Short by most standards, Poppy would have to haul the bag up to get it into the bin.
“Hey,” she yelled to the delivery boy. “Can I get a little help here?” Silence met her request, and she glared. “Hello? Anyone there?”
When no one answered her, she rolled her eyes and pushed her shoulders back. Was there no chivalry in this country? “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” Bending her knees, she lifted the heavy bag up and tried to swing it up. The bag shifted at the last minute and fell to the side. There was a male yelp as she and the bag tumbled into the snow.
“Are you okay?” an amused voice asked.
The cold snow seeped through her clothes, and she gritted her teeth. “What makes you think that I’m okay?” she hissed as she struggled to her feet. “I’m sprawled out in the snow. And where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago with the supplies. Emine wants your head on a spike.”
“Does she now?”
Poppy finally looked up and inhaled sharply. Delivery boy wasn’t an accurate description. The figure in front of her was all man. Tall and sculpted with gorgeous dark skin and glittering blue eyes, there was no shame in his face as he stared down at her in frank appreciation. Her near frozen body warmed instantly as her cheeks flushed. Poppy hadn’t been turned on by a man in a long time.
Turned on was probably an understatement. Poppy wanted to wrap her legs around the gorgeous man and fuck him against the side of the house.
“I apologize for not helping,” he said in a deep voice as he bent down to help her up. “I did only pull up.”
Embarrassed at her carnal reaction and praying fervently that he didn’t notice, she snatched her hand away and glared at him. “Fine. Go inside and see Emine.”
He gave her a lopsided smile. “You should probably go inside as well. You’re getting cold.” His eyes fell to her chest, and she immediately crossed her arms over her chest. She was wearing a bra. There was no way he could tell that her nipples were pointing and aching for attention.
Could he?