A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity

by Lieske, Victorine E.

  Next on the list was scrubbing the Jacuzzi tub. Maybe if she just put some cleaner in, and started up the tub, she could let it clean itself while she wiped down the mirrors. Dani turned on the faucet and grabbed the glass cleaner.

  After wiping down the glass, dusting the hard surfaces, and scrubbing the puddle of soap left on the bathroom counter, the Jacuzzi was full enough. She turned off the water and searched in her cart for something that would clean the tub while she vacuumed.

  There was no cleaner specifically for Jacuzzi tubs, so she took out the spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner. But it looked diluted, and she wasn’t sure spraying it a few times would work. But on the bottom of the cart she found the refill bottle that said concentrate. Perfect. That’s what she needed.

  She poured a capful in, but that didn’t look like it was enough, so she tipped the bottle. More came out than she’d planned, but she didn’t have time to deal with it. This tub would just be cleaner than the others. She turned on the jets and set out to find an outlet plug for the vacuum.

  Turning up her music, she pushed the vacuum and rocked out to her favorite SuperM song. It lifted her spirits, and she was able to forget about her current situation. She sang along to the English parts of the song, even though she was sure she was off key. It didn’t matter. She was getting her job done, and actually enjoying it.

  She took a step back and something white surrounded her foot. Startled, she dropped the vacuum and screamed. What in the world? Bubbles covered the floor behind her. They streamed out of the Jacuzzi, like a volcano burping up mouthfuls of foam. It piled up waist-high in some areas. Panic gripped her chest.

  What had she done? She had to shut off the tub, but she couldn’t even get to it. She yanked out her earbuds, her heart pounding. More blobs of froth piled up. She had to do something, and fast, or the whole room would be covered in the stuff. She took a step toward the tub, but the foam was slick and she slipped, falling a third time on her already sore behind. Soapy bubbles covered her, surrounding her on every side, getting in her mouth and nose. A second scream ripped from her throat.

  “What happened?” Austin’s deep voice cut through the foam.

  Dani furiously wiped at her face, trying to get the stuff away so she could breathe. “Austin? Where are you?”

  His arms lifted her up and she found herself standing in front of Austin, his eyebrows knit together in concern. “Dani?”

  Her brain wouldn’t work. All she could see were more bubbles coming from the tub. Frenzy clawed at her stomach, and she waved her hands, even though the motion seemed totally useless. “Hurry, shut it off!”

  He reached over and somehow found the right button to push. The sound of the jets shut off. Dani glanced around the room, now completely ruined. Hysteria made her hyperventilate as she thought about how much it would cost to replace all the carpet, and fix all the mess. Her father was going to kill her, if he found out. Tears sprang to her eyes, and a large sob escaped.

  “Hey,” Austin said, gripping her arms. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. Look what I did! How am I going to pay for all this damage?”

  “Your father—”

  “No!” she yelped. “He can’t know about this.” No one could ever know. She’d never live it down. Who poured cleaner into a running Jacuzzi tub? Obviously, it was the wrong thing to do. She’d be laughed at for months if this leaked. She was already called horrible names on social media. This would just give more fuel to her haters.

  Austin seemed to assess the situation. “Well, let’s clean it up then. I’m sure there isn’t any damage. It’s just soap bubbles.”

  No damage? A ray of hope lit in her. She wiped at her face, still trying to get the bubbles off. “Really?”

  “I’ll go grab the shop vac. We can clean the bubbles and then vacuum the floor.”

  Her throat closed again, but this time from gratitude. “You’d do that?”

  “Sure. It won’t take long.” He pulled out some keys. “There’s a Shop-Vac in the maintenance shed. I’ll be right back.”

  Dani watched as Austin left, her heart thumping. Was he limping? She hadn’t noticed it before. What had caused that? Had he injured himself? She hoped he wasn’t in too much pain.

  She glanced up at the mirror and about gasped. Bubbles covered every part of her except her face. She looked like she was to play the part of the abominable snowman. Or trying out for a Mr. Clean commercial.

  A giggle snuck out, which only made her look even worse. No makeup, soap suds everywhere, and her reflection was staring back at her with a wild look in her eyes, laughing. Fantastic. She was going to end up in the loony bin.

  * * *

  Austin carried the Shop-Vac to room 225. Before he reached the door, he heard Dani inside, laughing. He entered the room and grinned at her. She must have seen herself in the mirror, because she stood before it, tears streaming down her face as laughter shook her shoulders. He was relieved. “I’m glad you see the humor in this. I was worried you were going to have a breakdown.”

  Dani wiped at her eyes, bubbles still stacked on top of her head like a cone-shaped hat. “Don’t give up that notion too fast. I might be having a breakdown. I feel like laughing and crying at the same time.”

  He shook his head. “You’ll be fine.” He plugged in the vacuum and began sucking up the suds. Dani brightened as parts of the carpet began to show through all the mess.

  “It’s working.”

  He turned around and stuck the vacuum hose in her direction. “Hold still.”

  Her eyes widened. “What?”

  “Stay put. I’m going to vacuum you off.”

  She squealed as he came at her with the extension. “Stop!” she said, giggling.

  “But you’re covered in bubbles, ma’am. I need to clean you off, too.” She ran from him, and he chuckled at the way she looked, foam flying from her hair. This was so not the image of the prissy heiress he’d seen everywhere in the news. This version of Danica Jordan was much better.

  “Come on. It will just take a second.” He stuck the hose out, and it caught a hold of her shirt. He didn’t mean to. And he certainly didn’t mean for it to suck up enough to expose her belly button.

  Dani yelped and shoved the vacuum away, but that only made it worse as more of her shirt rose. Austin dropped the hose and turned before he saw more skin, his face heating. “Sorry, ma’am! I didn’t mean to…” He reached down and flicked off the vacuum.

  Dani’s laughter filled the now silent room. “You can turn back around. I’m put together again.”

  He wasn’t sure he wanted to turn around. His face felt like a flame of fire. Surely he was as red as a tomato. “I’m sorry,” he finally said as he braved a glance at her.

  “I think you sucked all the suds off me,” she said, a teasing smile in her eyes.

  “That’s not all I almost sucked off you.”

  “At least you didn’t do it on purpose.” Her smile faded. “Or on camera.”

  He wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but he nodded anyway. “I’ll keep working on the carpet.”

  As he vacuumed the floor, she went to work on the Jacuzzi tub, wiping down the sides and running the water to wash down all the soap. It took a good fifteen minutes before the mess was cleaned up. He reached down and flicked off the Shop-Vac.

  Dani looked relieved. “I can’t believe it. You can’t even tell. You’re brilliant.”

  He smiled. “I don’t know about that. Just doing my job.” Yeah, right. Why did that come out of his mouth? Was he insane? Did he want to pretend to be a maintenance worker every time he saw her? Why didn’t he just come clean?

  “Well, you saved me. I don’t know how I’ll repay you.” A loud growl came from her stomach, and she blanched.

  He lifted one eyebrow. “Hungry?”

  She slowly nodded, her hand on her stomach. “Yeah. I haven’t had anything to eat today.”

  That was one thing he hated about celebrity women.
They starved themselves to look good. It was stupid. She looked like she was ready to eat the vacuum. “On a new diet?”

  “Something like that.”

  She didn’t elaborate, and he wanted to get out of there anyway, so he simply packed up the equipment and motioned to the door. “I’ll be going, then. I’ll see you tonight, for dinner.”

  “Bye.” She waved.

  Austin headed toward the maintenance shed. He couldn’t get the picture of Dani with the soap suds all over her out of his head. He chuckled as he stuck his key into the padlock. She’d looked so distraught when he first entered, he thought she was going to melt into a puddle of tears. But she’d pulled it together and helped him clean it up.

  Maybe there was more to Danica Jordan than he’d originally thought.

  Chapter 5

  A knock came on his door and Austin got up from the deck chair he’d been occupying for the last couple of hours. He’d left his patio door open so he could listen for Dani. He went inside and closed the sliding glass, locking it into place. Then he answered Dani’s knock.

  She wore the clothes he’d seen her in earlier—white blouse, designer slacks with sandals that screamed, “I paid way too much for these.” Still no makeup, but he was beginning to like that natural look on her. “Hey,” she said, ducking into his room. She glanced behind her before her shoulders relaxed.

  “Are you being followed?” He scanned the area. No one was there.

  Her cheeks reddened. “No. I’m just being cautious.”

  Was this girl paranoid? This wasn’t the first time he’d seen her acting this way. Or was there something going on he should know about? “Cautious about what?”

  “Cameras.” She tugged on a strand of hair. “It’s nothing. Are you ready?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He slipped his wallet into his back pocket. “You?”

  Dani adjusted the strap on her tiny purse. It couldn’t hold much more than lipstick. He wondered what she had in it, as she wasn’t wearing any lipstick. “Yep. Let’s go.”

  As they walked along the path, Austin’s knee caught and a twinge of pain shot through him. He slowed a bit, allowing his weight to favor his good leg.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t walk so fast.”

  “It’s okay.” Embarrassed, he shoved his thumbs into his jeans pockets.

  Dani’s gaze fell to his knee. “How did you hurt your leg?”

  “Playing football.”

  “Oh? You play?”

  This was the perfect opportunity to tell her the truth. All he had to do was spill it, right now. But as soon as he decided to, his gaze met hers, and he couldn’t go through with it. She was looking at him with such sincerity. Trusting. He didn’t want to make her feel stupid for the mistake. “Yeah,” was what finally came out of his mouth.

  “Did you break it?”

  “No. I tore my meniscus.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Wow, I don’t even know what that is, but it sounds painful.”

  He chuckled at the understatement. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “How long until it heals?”

  “A couple more weeks should do it.”

  Dani turned the corner and he followed after her, wondering how far the seafood place was. He really shouldn’t be walking on his injured knee for long. But before he could ask, he saw the sign that read, “The Shrimp Next Door.”

  Dani looked at him with concern in her eyes. “And you’re still working? Why don’t you rest for a while? Take some time off.”

  “Kay’s been saying the same thing,” he said under his breath.

  He hadn’t meant for her to hear, but she nodded. “Then you should listen to her.”

  He swallowed, the smells from the restaurant hitting him. His stomach growled. “Maybe I will,” he mumbled as he took in the atmosphere. It was a cloth napkin kind of establishment, and he felt a bit underdressed in his jeans. But as the hostess led them to a table, he saw other vacationers in casual clothing.

  Dani smiled when he pulled her chair out for her. “Thanks,” she said, sitting.

  He took his chair and picked up his menu. “You mentioned you’ve eaten here before. What’s good?”

  “The rum-glazed shrimp is to die for. But I also love their crab bisque, and their seafood lasagna sounds gross, but it was delicious.” Her tongue flicked out and licked her lips. “That’s what I’m getting. I don’t even care that it’s a thousand calories.”

  She wiggled her feet, like she was anxious for them to come take her order. She must be starving. “You should have eaten breakfast. You do know it’s the most important meal of the day, right?”

  “I couldn’t. I didn’t have any money.”

  She kept saying that. But he didn’t understand. She was the daughter of one of the richest actors in the United States. “Why?”

  Her gaze fell, and she shifted. “I upset my father. He cut me off and told me to get a job.”

  Austin’s mouth fell open. He didn’t mean to react in such a way, and he quickly closed it, so Dani couldn’t see him gaping at her. No wonder she was crying this morning. Things were beginning to make a lot more sense. “Wow.”

  She stared down at her menu. “Yeah. He’s really mad.”

  “What did you do?” The words were out before Austin could sensor them, and he immediately regretted asking, with the way her face flushed at the question. “I’m sorry, ma’am. That’s none of my business.”

  Luckily, the server appeared at that moment and the subject was changed to what they wanted to order. After she took the menus and left, Austin picked up his water and swirled the ice. She hadn’t eaten today, because she had no money. How was she going to live before she got her first paycheck? “Do you have any cash on you?”

  The question made her flinch. “No.”

  “Will you be okay?”

  She lifted her chin and pushed her shoulders back. “I got a job. I’ll be fine.”

  Tenacity. He liked that. She grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. Heck, she grew up with a million silver spoons. He couldn’t imagine what she might be feeling right now, not having a penny to her name. “How will you pay for your hotel tonight?”

  “I was hoping I could pay next week.” She bit her lower lip. “Do you think they would let me?”

  He doubted it. Those kinds of places were probably used to getting paid upfront, so they didn’t get stiffed. But he didn’t want to crush her hopes. She didn’t look like she could handle any more bad news. “Maybe.”

  “I’m good for it. They’ll know that, right?”

  She was gazing at him with such sincerity that he couldn’t do anything but nod. She was so naive, but instead of it making him dislike her, an urge to protect her swelled in him. Strange. He didn’t even know her. But he found himself trying to think of ways he could sneak over to the budget hotel and pay for her first week so she didn’t have to sleep on the streets tonight.

  “Thanks for helping me out today. I was sure Kay would find the mess and fire me on the spot.”

  “It was nothing.” He watched her fiddle with her fingernails. She’d told him she had to get a whole row of rooms cleaned today. He doubted she made it, and he was insanely curious how the rest of the day had gone for her. But the last thing he wanted to do was make her more embarrassed about how she was performing on the job.

  “You completely saved me.” Her eyelashes lowered. “No one has ever done anything like that for me before.”

  He suddenly wanted her to succeed. To learn to be independent and not have to take handouts from her father. “Do you feel like everything else went okay?”

  “I broke a nail.” She frowned. “And I was late getting all the rooms cleaned. And don’t tell Kay, but I didn’t have time to scrub all the showers. But I got the rest of it done. And I didn’t have any other major fiascos, so I’m calling it a win.”

  Relieved for her, he smiled. “That’s great.”

  “I hope she gives me something else to do tomorrow, because today’s w
ork was so hard, I don’t know if I can face another day of it.”

  Austin cringed. If she thought tomorrow would be any different, she was going to have a rude awakening. Maybe he could prepare her a little for it. “What else do you think Kay would have you do?”

  Dani brightened. “I’m good at answering the phone.”

  “I think she might have the receptionists do that.”

  Her face fell. “Oh.”

  How sheltered of a life had Dani lived? She really didn’t know what life was like. Not real life. He’d grown up without a father, his mother working two jobs just to keep a leaky roof over their heads. He knew how harsh life could be. Dani had no clue, and it almost made him sad to think she was soon going to lose that innocence. He decided to change the subject again. “How often have you stayed here?”

  “I’ve been here over a dozen times. This is my favorite vacation spot. I love the ocean water, and there’s so much to do.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder. “Plus, it’s so secluded.”

  “You like the seclusion?” The tabloids made Danica Jordan out to be a party girl. Wanting to be by herself didn’t fit the image he’d had in his head.

  She took a sip of her water. “It’s better than being badgered by paparazzi.” She made a face. “Cameras and I don’t get along so well.”

  Austin had gotten a taste of fame ever since he’d gotten picked up by the Los Angeles Demons. It was kind of annoying sometimes, but he didn’t mind it so much. The fans just wanted to know more about him and his life. But he had to admit, he hadn’t had fame for as long as Dani. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

  Her cheeks turned red. “Do you know what they call me on social media?”

  “No. I’m not really into that stuff.” He had a Twitter account, but he only posted when he wanted to get his fans pumped up about a game or raising money for a charity. He didn’t use it daily.

  “Be glad. It’s a cesspool of despair. Especially when you’re famous. You’re lucky. You don’t have people stalking your accounts.”

  He did have people stalking his accounts. Guilt for not correcting her today wormed its way into his chest. He should come clean. Right now. It was another perfect opening. But before he could say anything, Dani continued. “I’m actually really glad you’re not famous. You’re the most down to earth person I’ve met, and believe me, I’ve met a ton of people. You are so honest and forthright. You say what’s on your mind. You know how rare that is in the circles I usually have to hang out in?”