Chapter 8 Take it upstairs

GRACE

Since rushing up the stairs with an injured child was not advisable, I left Ruby on the couch and found my way to the upper floor to find out what could have warranted my name being shouted the way it was.

"Miss Sands! Fucking come up here this minute!"

Uh...okay? Now I am more than curious.

And that made me hurry my steps. I skipped some of the stairs to that effect.

"Miss Sands..." The man in front of me was very, very angry and... covered in flour and egg yolk!

It took every inch of self-control in me to not burst into laughter at the sight of my employer.

From the top of his head to his face, he was covered in the whiteness of flour and some drippings of yellow decorated him here and there. The gooey part of the egg trickled down his chest which he had somehow managed to make bare in barely a minute after walking out on me and his daughter.

The strange thing was that he looked sexier.

How on earth does one still manage to have such sexiness even after being furiously attacked by flour and egg?

My arms folded and my amusement grew despite my attempt to look indifferent. As I stared back at his eyes, which was the only thing that stood out, a fact dawned on me.

Ruby! That little de... angel!

"You know about this, don't you?" I shook my head negatively while I tried to escape his glare. "Don't you lie to me. I saw that look on your face. The look of realisation."

I shrugged. "I might have heard Ruby talk about pranks or something..."

I had to be as imprecise as possible. I don't want him channeling his anger at the girl again.

"So, you decided to help her, uh?"

His deep voice was still very much angry, but his face- it was so difficult to tell what was going on with it.

"I have no hand in this."

"You expect me to believe you after you just lied about the fire?"

I was about to burst out some anger-laden response, but I decided to keep myself in check as usual.

So, before calmly replying to him, I took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as possible. "For the last time, I did not start the fire. Or any fire for that matter."

Mr. Powers grunted and made for the door to his room, his movement giving off bits of white dust into the air. He was like a flour fairy. Or flour dust fairy. Something around that idea.

When the man grabbed his door's handle, he sharply faced me.

"When I am done getting this mess off me, we will all talk. So don't go anywhere."

"What? I have to go home."

He sighed loudly as though saying he was tired of my presence. "There is an extra room you can spend the night in."

"But I don't have clothes to change into."

Furrows appeared on his forehead. They looked like mini sausage rolls covered in flour in preparation for some cooking.

"Just... Just figure shit out, I need to get this crap off me."

"Okay. Good luck!"

Oh, I shouldn't have said that. I sounded too merry.

When he shot me another suspicious glare, I returned a sheepish grin and hurried downstairs to check on Ruby. As I walked, I pondered how Ruby was able to pull the prank off.

********

Enjoying the natural cool air that I invited in by opening the window, I hugged a pillow to my chest.

But I soon felt the need to know what hour the night was at, so I reached my arm backward for the little stool beside my bed. That's where I usually put my phone.

My hand searched that area to no avail, I sat up immediately and a little frown settled on my sleepy face.

"Oh," I gave a slumber-filled whisper.

"I am still in the penthouse."

I yawned and reached for my phone which was on the other side of the pillow I was just hugging to my chest.

Once I checked the time, I realised that had spent five hours sleeping comfortably on a bed that was not mine.

The previous night, I had to wait back because Mr. Powers wanted to talk about some shit. And if I remember clearly, he never did.

Ruby and I waited for him to come out of his room for almost two hours. So when we realised he had no intention of coming out, I took Ruby to her bed and found the guest room since I needed to rest.

As I adjusted my sight to the new room, I recalled that I had an injury the previous day. My hand grazed my forehead and I felt the surface of the band-aid.

Thankfully, the injury wasn't worse than it was.

And since I had no desire to worsen it, I withdrew my hand and acknowledged that my throat was quite parched.

That made me ignore the pull of sleep. I got off the comfortable bed and wore the furry slippers I found in a corner of the room.

As I stepped out and carefully closed the door behind me, I was met with great quietness. Truthfully, that's no surprise. The house is mostly quiet. Except when the housekeeper comes around- the cleaning machines fill the rooms with noise.

Before heading to the stairs, I decided to check on Ruby whose room was opposite mine.

After ensuring she was sleeping well and holding her favourite bear, I cautiously closed her door and made for the stairs.

But not after I glanced at Mr. Powers' door. The way he shut his daughter up when she tried to defend me crept into my mind. Perhaps Ruby wasn't exaggerating when she said he hardly talked to her.

And come to think of it, I have never seen him sit down for once after coming back from work to have a little chat with Ruby.

And that sucks a lot.

And it explains why Ruby would go as far as executing a prank. The result of that prank flashed in my mind and I chuckled before I knew it.

It skipped my mind to earlier ask how she did it, but I am still very interested in knowing.

After what seemed like an endless journey, I finally made it to the end of the stairs. And worse, the journey to the kitchen felt like it would be the same because my legs decided to become lazier. They urged me to forget drinking water, they wanted me to embrace sleep.

But I was still thirsty, so I ignored their cries and resumed my walk.

I was almost halfway past the living room when I heard a faint sound from the side.

Convinced that I heard something, I rubbed my sleep-filled eyes and walked toward the source of the sound.

The sight I met made me gasp and as I grabbed the chest area of my t-shirt, my entire being began to wish that I had chosen to ignore the sound.

"Miss Sands..." Mr. Powers's voice was low and filled with caution.

He slowly pulled out of the woman that was sprawled on the roof of the grand piano. And as he did that, my eyes caught a glimpse of his erection while he hurriedly pulled up his trousers to cover them.

The woman he was just pounding into sat up and adjusted her skimpy gown, her eyes filled with hatred for me for interrupting them.

What? Next time take it upstairs.

I tilted my head to the side a bit, my mouth still slightly hung open. I did not know what to say.

Is it because I just saw a little of his manhood?

I don't know.

Or is it because I just saw my hot boss having hot sex even if it was for a few seconds?

I really don't know.

Or is it because Ruby could have been the one that walked downstairs not me?

Now, this is more of a reasonable question.

I watched as Mr. Powers walked closer to me while the woman on the piano got down and adjusted her clothes. In the midst of all that, she still managed to shoot daggers at me.

"Miss Sands... what are you doing here?"

My employer's voice called me back.

"Uh... I came to get water."

And I just freaking saw you having sex!

"Could you just..." He groaned, apparently trying to find words to say. "Don't say anything okay? You didn't see shit."

I cocked my brows instantly. "Oh, I saw shit. I definitely saw shit."

My head bobbed dramatically to give life to my sentences.

Mr. Powers ran his hand through his hair. He stared at me blankly. "Could you just, for once, mind your fucking business?" he responded furiously.

"Uh... No sir. I won't. Dude..." He wore a frown.

Yeah, I just called you dude. What are you gonna do about it?

".... it could have been Ruby who decided to come downstairs. I can't begin to imagine how scarring your little go, go action would have been for her." I was getting serious.

"You are living with a five-year-old. If you want to fuck so bad, take it somewhere more private. Oh, you know what, here is a recommendation. There is a pool upstairs." I pointed up and his eyes followed my hand. "Yes up there. You can take it there during times like this."

His jaws tightened. "Are you telling me what to do right now?"

"It is a win-win situation. You get to spare Ruby the possibility of ever seeing whatever you were just doing and ... your sex gets better! It is true. You can do it on the floor, by the poolside, in the pool. You know, more drama, more action, more..."

"That's enough, Miss Sands."

Yeah, I was already derailing. "I apologise, sir. But please, don't fuck too openly. For Ruby's sake."

He gave a short nod and said, "Very well then." He motioned to his buddy to come over and she did, giving me a smug smile as he hugged her to his body. I watched them as they both made their way upstairs, definitely to finish what had just been interrupted by the babysitter.

"Miss Sands..." The man didn't turn to face me and his tone made me recall the first time he called me by my first name. The chills from that time came back. "Fucking learn to mind your business."

I smiled grandly at his back and made my way to the kitchen. And as I walked past the artwork, it finally dawned on me that I just saw Dominic Powers having sex.

I looked at my arms.

I had goosebumps.