Page 10 of Clean Sweep
"Don't worry about it," I offered him a grin, "I actually love cleaning."
"Well, you'd be the first in this house." He had one baby on his arm now, a bottle in hand. The other baby was on his back, expertly held there by a woven wrap.
He should have looked ridiculous, or at least a little less attractive. Instead, his hot factor increased and I found myself doing a scrupulous rub of the corners of my mouth to ensure I wasn't drooling.
"I just needed some decent clothes before tomorrow," he continued, adjusting the bottle for the little one to drink. "We're staying at the parental's while they're visiting my brother and his fiancé. This house is ready to be condemned, so I may as well go fu- er, mess up theirs."
I hid a grin as I began to sort the piles of dirty laundry. "I wouldn't go that far. It's just a little mess, nothing that can be fixed."
"You say that now but just wait." Erik warned.
He shifted slightly, his big body brushing against the broom and knocking if over. It fell, smacking the ground and startling the babies. They both began to cry.
"Fuc- er, fudge!" He barked. He began to bop on his toes, up and down, trying to soothe the babies.
"Still having trouble self-censoring?" I asked, enjoying watching this man navigate chaos.
He barked out a laugh, "who knew I swore as much as I do. Never realized I had such a filthy mouth."
Oh, honey. I know exactly what you can do with that filthy mouth.
I chided myself, picking up a pile of sorted colors and placing them in the machine.
" I added detergent and switched it on, glancing out the external laundry door, my body immediately locking.
"What?" Erik asked, immediately coming to my side. "Is it another rat?"
"Another- no!" I laughed, "and ew. Really? A rat?"
He sighed, "it was only a little one but still…"
I shook my head. "No, it's the water."
He shifted the feeding baby and tilted his head toward the door, "you wanna see?"
I nodded eagerly.
He led me outside. The laundry sat off to the end of his house. Outside, there was a large outdoor covered entertaining area, complete with outdoor grill, kitchen and firepit. There were some old growth trees, a large stretch of backyard, then a fence blocking the grass from the jetty.
"We're in the lagoon. If you take the boat down that way," he jerked his head to the left, "in about two miles you'll be in the ocean."
"Wow," I whispered watching the water gently lap. "This is incredible. Your boys are so lucky to be growing up in such an incredible house."
"Less than two months ago I lived in a little apartment over my workshop."
I raised an eyebrow, "workshop?"
"Did Liv tell you anything about me?"
I shook my head, turning back to watch the water. "Just that you needed my help."
"Huh," he muttered. "Well, I'm co-owner with my brother, Gunnar, of Thor's Shipbuilding. We inherited the business from my dad on his retirement who inherited it from his dad and so on and so forth. We build boats. Yachts, kayaks, luxury or business, you name it we build it. We're well known, got a good client base, got excellent product. We're popular, and we've just expanded this year to a new workshop down in Capricorn Cove, you know it?"
"Can't say I do."
He shrugged, "neither did I till my brother ended up there after a dodgy engine and fell into the lap of the love of his life. But the town is well-placed and we're now owners of the local marina. Expanding, diversifying our interests. You know?"
I nodded; it was what my family had done as well. People always needed cleaners, but some were in more demand than others when an economy tanked.
