Oh, wow! I’ve never been so comfortable. Never in my whole life.

As I slowly work my way back to consciousness, I become aware of everything around me. The cool silk bedspread is just as incredible on my skin as it was before I fell asleep. I’ve worked my way into the mattress and I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to get back up. Not when it cradles me, fits around my body like a glove.

I think it’s made of clouds. That’s got to be it. I just slept on a cloud. And darn it, I might fall back to sleep just for the hell of it. Because when am I ever going to have a chance to sleep on a bed like this again?

Slowly—oh, so slowly—something else works its way into my senses. A scent I haven’t noticed throughout the time I’ve been inside this amazing penthouse. Hmmm…a musky, spicy scent.

As I hone in on it, other sensations start filtering through. The sound of breathing—that isn’t coming from me.

My eyes fly open with shock, and I’m greeted by the sight of the most drop-dead gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. He is sitting in a leather club chair across from where I’m curled up at the foot of the bed. One ankle is crossed over the other knee and his long fingers are tented beneath his chin. His startling blue eyes are trained directly on me.

Oh. My. God.

“I’m so sorry!” I scramble off the bed and to my feet. My cheeks are burning with shame like I’ve never known. Shame and guilt. And the knowledge that there’s no way he’s going to pay me for all the work I’ve done after walking in and finding me asleep on his bed. The man made me toothbrush his already-clean grout. I don’t think he’s the type to forgive something like this.

What’s worse, he doesn’t say a word. He just looks at me with an inscrutable expression. His finely-drawn mouth neither frowning nor smiling. His square jaw isn’t clenched but is tight, which tells me he’s not pleased. Something’s bothering him, regardless of whether or not it’s me he’s displeased with.

Wait, what the hell am I thinking?

Of course, it’s me. He’s just found me sleeping in his bed, like I’m Goldilocks, or something even though I’m not a blonde, and he’s not a bear. Though he is pretty big and I’m pretty sure he could tear me to pieces if he wanted to.

“Truly, I’m sorry for this. I cleaned for seven hours and I was up all night studying and—and I was just so exhausted, and you weren’t supposed to be back for two days. I was going to change the sheets, anyway. So it’s not like I’ve done any real harm—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Of course, it was wrong, germs and all that.”

His eyebrows shoot up, though he remains silent.

“I apologize. I tend to babble when I’m scared to death and I’m scared right now, because I really need the money from this job and oh, look, I’m babbling again.”

He holds up a hand to signal silence.

Instantly, my mouth snaps shut.

He’s still staring, which I would tell him is just about the most unnerving thing in the entire world if he hadn’t already signaled for me to shut up.

My insides are all quaky and shaky and a little watery. What’s he going to do to me? Call Helen? Get me fired? Oh, my God, I need this job. I’ll even give him today’s work as a freebie if he promises not to get me fired.

“What’s your name?”

My eyes widen. Interesting lead-in. “Dani. Dani Saber,” I whisper cautiously.

He nods. “Dani. I assume you’re not the usual cleaning woman who takes care of my apartment.”

Crap again and again. How did he find out? Did I miss a spot or something? Is he going to get angrier if he finds out I’m not his regular? But Helen didn’t say it was secret. I should just come clean since he probably already knows, seeing he brought the issue up. Lying would definitely be a bad move. I nod with a sigh. “That’s right. How did you know?” I can’t help but ask. I know I was as thorough as I could be.

“You changed the linens in the guest rooms.”

My jaw drops in shock. “Hang on. Lisa doesn’t normally change the linens?”

“Not unless there’s evidence of the bed having been used since she was last here.”

I shake my head in wonder. “But how can you tell? All the sheets are exactly the same.”

“The inside corner of each sheet is embroidered with a different color. Call it extreme, but I like to know what my cleaning people are up to.”

I nod, even more impressed at the extent of his weirdness. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

He shrugs. “Your service is the only one I’ve found so far that’s anywhere close to suitable. Otherwise, your coworker does an adequate job. You, however, do excellent work, and I always give credit where credit is due.”

“Thank you so much,” I breathe out, some of the tension draining out of me.

“Except for the part where you fell asleep on my bed, rather than completing the job.”

And the tension is back. “I know. As I said and say again, I’m sorry. Very, very sorry. Please don’t tell Helen, I mean, Mrs. Lincoln.”

He ignores everything I said and asks me a totally different question, “You said you were up studying all night?”

I frown. “Until four in the morning.” Which reminds me. I look around. “What time is it now?”

“Ten-thirty,” he murmurs without checking his Rolex.

Ten-thirty? Jesus, I didn’t take a nap. I had half a night’s sleep. “Again, I’m so very sorry. I won’t take long to finish up in here. An hour tops. If you want to wait downstairs, I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“No,” he says quietly.

Did he just say no? “Oh, all right then. I’ll come back tomorrow when you are at work, or something.”

He has a very powerful personality, for sure. I know I should be afraid of him, or at least intimidated. The hair stands up on the back of my neck whenever our eyes meet, like he’s shooting invisible electric sparks at me. It’s a sort of intoxicating sensation, and damn it, he’s toe-curlingly, gloriously hot. Easily the best-looking person I’ve seen.

What can I say?

I’ve always appreciated beauty. I let my eyes side away from his sculptured mouth and begin to walk backwards. Even though I don’t actually want to be out of his way. “Okay. I should be off. I’m sorry again. And thank you. Bye now.”

I’m two seconds away from the door when his commanding voice stops me in my tracks. “Not so fast.”