Page 23 of Clean Sweep

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"God, I'm gonna have to take them to therapy."

I lost it, my head tipping back as I roared with laughter. It took Erik a beat but he joined me, his head resting on the inside of my thigh.

As we calmed, I found that I couldn't stop stroking my fingers through his hair.

"Guess we better call it a night," Erik sighed.

"Yeah," I agreed, the needy desire dissipating. Amusement and an aching sense of missed opportunity filled the void. "But just FYI, you can go down on me anytime."

Erik winked, rising to his feet and hauling me off the couch. "Let me put the boys down then Netflix and actual chill?"

I blew out an exaggerated sigh, "fine. I'll take your scraps."

Erik pulled me into his side, dropping a kiss on my head as he laughed.

"Queenie, my scraps are worthy of a gourmet meal."

"Promises, promises."

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Chapter Seven

Erik

"I get it, I owe you." I handed over Ulf to Rune. "I'll be back tomorrow. There's formula and bottles in the cooler bag, their blankets in the –"

"I got it," Rune rumbled, lifting Ulf a little higher. "Go."

I hesitated. My brother had looked after my boys a few times but it didn't make leaving them any easier. I supected it would be like this no matter their ages, be they three months or thirty years.

Rune shut the door in my face, and I sighed. My brother, for all his gruffness loved our family, and particularly his nephews, fiercely. I just wished he'd find a partner and settle down; god knew a little time between the sheets might improve his attitude a little.

Speaking of…

I made my way back to the car; Laura was on her phone with her agent. Something about an endorsement deal for an environmentally friendly product she loved.

She saw me, flashing a bright smile and a wave as she continued to chat on the phone. I slid in the driver's side, setting us off as she wrapped up her call.

"Thanks, Merry. Yeah, I'll have a read over the terms but if you think it's good then I'm sure it is." She paused then laughed. "No, but thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll chat to you later. Bye."

She hung up, dropping the phone in her clutch. "Sorry about that. Turns out this was a bigger offer than we were expecting and Merry wanted to chat through the changes."

"Endorsement deal, right?"

"Yeah. It'll be my first major sponsorship. But part of the terms is that they give a percentage of sales for a particular product to a clean water charity."

"Clean water charity?"

"Oh gosh yes," Laura nodded enthusiastically. "Did you know that one in ten people don't have access to clean water?" And then she was off, discussing the intricacies of the issue, passionately advocating for why this was a cause close to her heart, and describing all the ways she was working to make clean water a reality for every person.

I pulled into the restaurant parking lot, finding a vacant spot near the entrance.

"Sorry," Laura finally said with a self-conscious laugh I immediately detested. "I get carried away when I talk about something I'm passionate about."

I unclipped my seat belt, and reached across to wrap my hand around the back of her neck and gently squeeze. "Queenie, don't ever apologize for something you're enthusiastic about. You obviously love what you do, and you're passionate about this charity. The fact you can do both is exciting." I squeezed again. "Let's go celebrate. You can tell me more over dinner. I'm proud of you."

She blinked twice, a grin bursting across her pretty face, lighting her up.