Free Maid for Martin by Samantha Lovern

if Randi didn’t become important to him, some day he would look into the eyes of his future wife and have to live with the fact that she would not be his first.
    When she spoke it brought him out of his thoughts. “Apology accepted. I didn’t mean to imply . . . I was pretty sure you weren’t available.”
    Randi looked at Mike, then at Joe. They’d all become quiet. Mike started to pull his hands back but Randi reached out. She ran her finger across the back of his bandage. “You should change that soon. Add some cream, and be sure it’s clean.”
    “I will.” Mike turned his hand over and for a second she rested her hand on his, but then came to her senses and pulled her hand back. Randi rose from the table. She gave them a smile, pushed her chair under the table, and thanked them for supper.
    Martin followed her out of the room with his gaze. The moment they heard the click of a bedroom door closing, Mike spoke.
    “What in the world is going on here?”
    “I’m working out a mess I got myself into.” Martin straightened and moved his chair back into place. He looked down at his second slice of pizza.
    “What kind of mess? Why doesn’t she know who you are?” Mike also reached for a slice of pizza. “She’s not going to be happy when she finds out you’re—”
    “I know.” Martin interrupted and took a drink of his root beer before going on. “I didn’t plan on things getting this far. When I went to pick her up that day, in the old truck, and she thought I was just the limo driver, it was fun. It made me feel normal, and as you see I’ve not been able to figure out a way to tell her the truth.”
    “You mean you don’t want her to know. It’s not all that hard. You just come out and say it. You sit her down in a chair and look her in the eye and say, 'I’m Martin Taylor'.”
    Martin let out a deep sigh and shrugged. “You don’t know what it’s like. Every time you date someone or meet someone, you can’t help but wonder if they care about you. Do they just want to be around you because of your money, or what they can get?”
    Mike started to take a drink, set the can down and shook his head. “Don’t try and make me feel sorry for you. You lied to that girl. Don’t try and pretty it up. You may be enjoying this now, but when the truth comes out it won’t help any. If you think she’ll want to have anything to do with you when she learns the truth, well, think again.”
     
    Chapter 13
    Dreams
     
    Randi sat up in bed, feeling as if she’d just run through a field of trees. The pizza, the weird scene with Mike, or just the stress of this job -- something had given her this strange dream. She’d been running from Celia, the lady of the house, but she didn’t know why.
    Most of the times dreams could be scary, but this one wasn’t. She was walking along, and then she heard Celia calling. She didn’t know what it was all about, but she’d started running, and she’d fallen, and that’s when she woke.
    She put her feet on the floor and looked at her roommate. Ann was still sleeping. At least she’d not screamed or woke anyone. Creeping out of the bed, she slipped into her house shoes. She’d not been out of her room since the weird encounter with Mike and she was hungry.
    Maybe she could make another run to the fridge for some pudding, or pizza if there was any left. She knew that pizza at midnight wasn’t a wise move, just like thinking about kissing a man that was in a relationship already wasn’t a wise move. But that hadn’t stopped the thought from crossing her mind.
    She once again was walking through the house in the wee hours in her Tweety Bird gown and pink slippers. Did she really want to run into Mike again? She didn’t want to admit the answer out loud. The way he’d looked at her earlier and the thoughts of his touch -- it was like riding a roller coaster when you dropped down the other side, except it was better.
    Why were all the men she wanted taken? Her mind