Jamaican Heat ||ONC 2024||

Chapter 1: Secrets & Promises

As I struggle to wrestle the wheel of my cart free from a snag in the sky-blue carpet, I'm startled by an unexpected voice next to me.

"Hey, Amancia." Trai attempts to get my attention.

I jump back, hitting the solid wall behind me. "Trai! Where did you come from? You scared the shit out of me."

Her eyes soften. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Come on, the sooner you finish up your rooms, the sooner we can get the hell out of here and get our drink on."

"Okay, okay. I only have one more to do. I'll meet you in the lobby in 30," I promise.

"Perfect." I watch my best friend bounce away, wishing I had half her energy and personality.

Trai's parents moved here to Negril, Jamaica, from America before she was born, and we've known each other since kindergarten. She's a beautiful blonde with a curvy body that stops men in their tracks. She's fun, and work is a little better having her here.

I work as a housekeeper at the Kuyaba Hotel here in Negril. The hotel has a tropical island vibe nestled in a tree-lined area surrounded by exotic plants next to the Caribbean Sea's Seven Mile Beach. It has a rustic look on the outside but has a modern feel once you enter the lobby doors with splashes of green, blue, and peach, giving our guests a calming atmosphere.

My work at the hotel is enjoyable. Meeting the tourists and imagining my father to be one of the many men who come through here is a favorite pastime of mine. My muma never speaks of him, so I don't know if he was a handsome businessman in a three-piece suit or a vacationer with a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. I dream of him returning someday for my muma and me.

Negril has been my home my entire life. My muma is a pure-blood Jamaican who belongs to an upstanding family in the community. Her family thinks that it's shameful that she had a child out of wedlock. Which is crazy if you know of the free-loving people Jamaicans are. However, her family is highly religious, and if they knew Muma slept with a white man from America, they would disown her. That's a fear she's held in her heart since I was an embryo in her womb, so she lied about my true father by saying that she was drunk in a local bar and was taken advantage of. If you ask me, that sounds much worse, but she made me promise never to reveal her secret. Not even Trai, my best friend, knows because a promise is a promise, and I'll take her secret to my grave.

I push my cart to the last wooden cottage and knock.

"Housekeeping!" I call out.

After waiting a moment, there was no response, so I used my master key to enter the room. The spacious cottage has the simplistic charm of Old Negril, with large wood-slated blinds across one side of the room that looks out to a deck. I step inside and see it's relatively tidy. The blinds are open, allowing the warm ocean breeze to flow freely with the soothing sounds of the rustling foliage.

Since this area won't take much time, I first decided to clean the bathroom. Upon opening the door, my breath hitches.

"Oh, shit! I'm so sorry!" I exclaim as my eyes roam over an incredibly attractive man with a towel wrapped low around his slim waist. His tight, muscular abs don't go unnoticed before I run out of the room with heat working its way up my neck and settling in my cheeks. I'm embarrassed beyond belief.

"Wait!" he calls out to me.

I stop and turn around with my head down, apologizing, "I'm so sorry. I knocked and announced myself, but there was no answer."

"Don't worry about it. Can you give me 10 minutes? Then I'll be out of your way." His voice is smooth and sexy.

Not daring to look into his face, I grab my cart and exit his room. "Of course, sir. Again, I'm so sorry." I wait outside the room for him to finish and immediately text Trai.