15
Piper
Evening had finally come and I was more excited to meet the rest of the Durands than I had been about going to my first party in high school. Not that I had gone to many. I made friends easily. I just wasn’t very good at keeping up with them. I always seemed to be in my own little world.
Hmmm. Wonder why?
Anyway, I’d finished up all the bathrooms and started the laundry without running into any of the other Durands. Which shouldn’t have been surprising, I mean the house was huge. I could probably go days without seeing any one but Darren and Gretchen, who had been the only constants in my day. Gretchen there to feed me. Darren there to make a weird but snide comment. I had a feeling Darren just needed to get laid and all that nastiness would go away.
My list of chores were done for the day and it was time to find some dinner. I walked down the main stairs and into the foyer. The house was so neat and clean already I wondered what they even needed me for. Darren seemed more than capable of handling the household himself since he’d basically spent the day following me around and making sure I didn’t break anything else.
Kind of annoying really.
Walking into the dining room, my eyebrows shot up. No one was in there. My stride slowed as I tried to listen for some form of life. It was evening right? Shouldn’t they be up by now? Rayne and Marcus had shown up earlier today and none of them had been in their bedrooms when I went around and picked up the laundry.
Lips pressed into a thin line, I marched toward the kitchen where I was sure Gretchen would have something scrumptious to eat and hopefully some answers.
“Oh, excuse me there.”
I jumped back from the muscular man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. I glanced around, my brows furrowed. “Where did you come from?”
The man stepped aside to point at the door behind him. “The basement.”
Feeling a bit dumb, I flushed. “Oh.” Then I cocked my head to the side and stared at the door. “Why were you in the basement? I’m Piper by the way. The maid.” I offered my hand and then realized how stupid that was and tried to take it back but the man grabbed it before I could.
He had a nice handshake. Not too firm and not too soft. He shook it like he actually respected me and didn’t expect me to break just because I was a woman. I mean the guy could probably break me in half with the guns on him. It was nice that he wasn’t so full of himself though to make it all his personality.
“Allister,” the man introduced himself. “And I was sleeping. We all sleep down there during the day.”
I frowned. “Why?”
Allister scratched the back of his neck and glanced off to the side. “Oh you know. It’s so noisy up here with the vacuuming and such, it’s much quieter down stairs.”
I bobbed my head pretending to understand. This house was worth millions there was no way that they could hear the vacuum through the walls. Whatever. Rich people.
“Anyway,” I shifted in place, trying to look anywhere but at his massive pecs. “I was just heading to get dinner.”
“Oh, go ahead.” Allister gestured with his arm, a small smile on his face. Everyone was just so darn charming and accommodating. It was very strange.
Walking into the kitchen, I went to the fridge where the door was open. “Hey what’s for dinner? I’m starving.”
The door closed revealing Allister, who said with a smirk, “Me too. Wanna help a guy out?”
I jerked back and gaped. “Wait, weren’t you just…” I glanced back at the dining room where Allister had been and then the man in front of me. “And now you’re…” then I remembered. “Oh, wait you’re one of the twins right?”
The not Allister guy leaned on the fridge so his arm was above me. “Yep. That’d be me. I guess you’ve met Allister already. I’m Drake.”
I glanced up and down his flirty frat boy expression and rolled my eyes. “Piper,” then I added on, “And if you’re looking for me to cook, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I’m lucky enough to boil water.”
“Well, then maybe I could give you a lesson some time,” Drake continued without a break in his whole demeanor. “You know, we could have some dinner. Get to know each other. That kind of thing.”
“Oh, really?” I arched a brow, taking a step back from him even further.
“Oh yeah.” Drake dropped his arm and followed after me. “I’m all about employee satisfaction. I want to make sure you are a hundred percent happy here.”
The words coming out of his mouth didn’t quite match the tone he was using. Either he was coming on to me or he was just weird like the rest of them. I wasn’t sure which one would make me more comfortable.
“Uh, I think I’ll pass for tonight. Thanks anyway.” I moved away from him and started for the back stairs, thinking I could just come back and get something later.