Arriving at the Lyon Mansion feels different today. Today I wasn't entering the gates as a servant but as a guest and I was so far from ready for what the night might hold. All day while I got primed and ready for tonight I kept asking myself why would Drew invite me as his guest? What was so special about me that I couldn't serve like the rest of the staff?
Yeah, we had a connection that afternoon in his music room but what warm-blooded girl wouldn't feel something when a guy like Drew played them a love song on a piano? He probably pulled that stunt with every pretty face he got a chance to be around.
I wasn't special.
Drew probably saw me as nothing more than a challenge since I was the first girl who didn't drool all over him.
That's why I need to end things before they get too far. I know if we have more moments together I'd really be screwed, so it was better if I walked away now. Our worlds don't mix and there was no point trying to pretend like they ever would.
"Good evening Ms. Mia, you look beautiful." Tyler, the security guard at the gate tells me. Now that I know him he isn't as intimidating as I initially thought, but I still would never want to get on his bad side.
"Thank you." I smile bashfully. It felt weird wearing something that wasn't my usual sweats and hoodie or my uniform. Tonight I wore a low V light pink sequin dress. It was a dress I bought but never had an excuse to wear until now.
"Go right in." He buzzes me through and steps out the way so I can walk on ahead. "Enjoy your night."
From the outside it still looked the same but loud hip-hop music was heard coming from the inside. Guest lingered by the front door, all of them who looked unreal and liked they belonged on the cover of a magazine.
Some of them probably were.
These are the kind of people he was friends with. Everyone here is a movie star, actress, model, or a singer like him and then there was me.
His maid.
I'm so out of my element.
The guest by the front door don't pay attention to me thankfully and with a deep breath I walk into the house.
The place is packed. People swarm inside the house, dancing, laughing, or just standing around talking. The music is louder in here. I can feel the vibration from the speakers radiating through the room. Colorful strobe lights flashes on the makeshift dance floor and there's confetti falling like clockwork. It's all so extravagant for a house party but I guess when you're Drew Lyons it's go hard or go home.
I search the room, hoping to find a familiar face and smile when my eyes land on Cade. He's dressed a little bit more formal than usual. Instead of the collared white shirt he's dressed in a long-sleeve button down shirt with a skinny black tie. Our eyes lock and I wave before making my way towards him.
"Hey." He's carrying a tray full of what looks like crab puffs.
"Hey yourself." He replies back with a smile that doesn't match his tone.
Something is off.
"What's with the tone?" I ask, arching a brow at him.
"Nothing." He shakes his head, but I can tell he's lying.
"Cade come on, it's me. What's up?"
"I thought you were different." He begins and pauses when someone approaches him for a crab puff.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why aren't you serving like the rest of us?" He asked, accusation laced his tone.
"Drew invited me."
"Is that supposed to be his thank you for yesterday?"
"Don't sugar coat anything on my behalf Cade. If you have something you want to say then spit it out."
"You didn't strike me as the girl that slept her way to the top." Cade says to me and I just react. My hand reaches out and I slap him across his face. The platter of crab puffs crashes to the ground when Cade reaches up to hold his cheek. Hazel-green eyes stare at me shocked but unapologetic.
The music suddenly stops playing and when I turn around I notice everyone is staring at me, including a pair of familiar brown eyes.
"I'm sorry." I cry before I push past everyone who stood in my way and rush up the stairs which was the closest exit. I can hear a pair of loud footsteps following behind me and someone shouting my name but I don't stop until I'm standing inside a familiar room.
"What the hell happened down there?" Drew roars the same time the door to the music room is slammed shut behind us.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that." I apologized.
"I don't give a fuck about that," Drew takes three strides until he's standing before me. "What happened? Did Cade say something to you?" He demands.
I shake my head, not wanting to get Cade into trouble. It wasn't like he didn't say what I'm sure the rest of the staff is thinking.
"Tell me Mia." Drew pleads, his brown eyes boring into mine.
"He said he didn't think I was the type of girl to sleep my way to the top." Just saying it out loud made me angry all over again. I thought Cade was my friend. I didn't think he could say something like that to me.
"He said that?" Drew questions, his tone is scary calm.
I nod my head in response.
"Okay." He turns and heads for the door but I stop him.
"Wait, where are you going?" I hold onto his arm to keep him from leaving the room.
"Where do you think I'm going? I'm going to go fire his ass. No one disrespects you like that."
My heart thuds and my stomach does that fluttery thing again.
"No please don't." I plead. "Cade has a point. You're treating me differently than everyone else... of course, your staff wonders why."
"My staff needs to learn to mind their own damn business." He growls.
"I should go. Today is your night and I've already ruined it enough." I tell him as I reach for the knob so I can leave.
"Don't go." He pleads and I turn to look at him which is a big mistake. He's looking at me with those beautiful warm chocolate eyes and a charming smile. "You're going to make the birthday boy sad." He adds and I giggle.
"Don't want that now do we?" I shake my head, still smiling.
"No we don't."
I drag in a deep breath. He was being adorable which was only making this harder.
"The only reason I came tonight was to tell you that whatever's going on between us stops tonight."
"Okay." He surprises me by agreeing and I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt my feelings. "After this dance." He adds.
I narrow my eyes at the hand he's holding out to me. "You can't hear the music playing from up here."
"Good thing we're in a room full of songs to choose from," Drew says before he turns and walks over to his CD collection. I wait patiently as he searches for the album he wants. When he does, he enters it inside the CD player and pressed play before turning to me. "Can I have this dance?" He holds out his hand for me again and without thought, I take it and Drew smiles at me like this was the best birthday present I could have given him. "You're breath-taking." He states.
"So are you." And he is. Especially tonight. Tonight he wore a gray suit jacket over a plain white shirt, dark jeans, and gray suede shoes.
Drew smiles brightly before pulling me even closer to his body. I wrap my arms around his neck and he squeezes my hips.
"I like this song," I say after a moment.
It's "Slow Jam" by Usher featuring Monica.
"Me too." His hand leaves my hips and rests on my lower back.
"Are you enjoying your birthday?" I ask, needing a distraction from how amazing it felt to be in his arms like this.
"I am now."
Shivers run down my spine but I ignore it. "Listen, I know you're used to getting everything you want."
"Until I met you."
"There are millions of girls who would die to be in my place, half of who are downstairs right now."
"But I don't want them, I want you." He tells me and breaks my resolve. I suck in a breath and stop dancing to stare at him.
"Why?" I demand.
"Why?" He repeats, a confused knot forms in between his brows.
"Yeah, why do you want to be with me? I don't have money like you do. I don't have my own TV show or album. I don't have a contract with Victoria Secret." I tell him. "So why do you want me?"
Drew stares at me for a long time before he answers. "I want you because you're you. Beautiful, funny, smart, strong. I want you because being with you feels like the most natural thing in the world."
And that's when I know there's no backing out. I want this as much as I want him. I may have denied my feelings before but I can't anymore. Not when he told me the most beautiful thing I ever heard. Not when I feel the same way he did.
I stare at Drew, unsure of what to say or do now and he seems to know that because he smiles softly at me which eases my nerves before he's placing a hand on my right cheek and stares at me like I'm the most precious thing in the world.
"I'd really like to kiss you right now." His voice is husky, low.
"What's stopping you?" I challenge in a breathless tone. Drew leans down, his lips just inches away from touching mine when we hear a knock on the door. I stiffen and Drew curses underneath his breath before straightening up and pulling the door open.
"Ladies don't worry. I will be right back." I hear a guy chuckling before I see Drew smacking him in the back of his head. "What the fuck dude?" The guy screeches, rubbing his head.
"Luke, what do you want? I was kind of in the middle of something." Drew casts a look behind his shoulder over to me.
"And I normally wouldn't interrupt, but you have a ton of guest downstairs wanting to celebrate with you or did you forget?" Luke says, making me feel guilty all of a sudden. I had stolen Drew away from his party and guest.
"He's right. We should go back downstairs." I say loud enough for the both of them to hear. Drew turns to me and Luke pushes the door wide enough so that he can step into the room. His dark eyes land on me immediately and a slow smile lights up his face. Shyly, I wave at him. "Hi."
"Mia, this idiot is my younger brother Luke, Luke, this is Mia." Drew introduces us.
"Younger, hotter- whichever one you want to pick." Luke argues before he's winking at me.
Drew shakes his head. "We'll be down in a minute." He tells his brother.
Luke's eyes flicker towards me and he smirks before he's leaning down to whisper something in Drew's ear. Drew nods his head in agreement with whatever his brother tells him before Luke sees himself out.
"What did he tell you?" I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me.
"He told me that you are out of my league."
"I think he meant to say it the other way around." I argue.
"No he got it right the first time." Drew corrects me with an easy grin on his face, making me blush. I shake my head at him, knowing he was wrong but I had a feeling he would argue with me until I agreed with him and I didn't want to steal him away from his party more than I already have.
"Let's go downstairs." I reply instead and head for the door. Before I can grab ahold of the knob Drew grabs onto my hand, stopping me.
"Promise me something?" He pauses. "Promise me that you won't pull back." He says to me.
"I promise." I tell him. I didn't know if we were gonna last a week, a month, or the end of summer. But I did know that I feel something for him and I don't want to fight it anymore. I can see Drew visibly relax at my words before he sighs relieved. He gaze leaves my eyes the same time he brings his hand to my mouth, his thumb rubbing my bottom lip. My breath hitches and I think he's going to try to kiss me but he doesn't and disappointment flares through me.
"If I didn't have a party to go back down to I'd kiss you right now. The only problem is I'd feel like I need to rush and when it comes to you Mia, I want to savor every little thing." Drew tells me before he takes a step back and walks out the door, leaving me feeling light-headed.