Page 64 of All's Well that Friends Well

“Rodney?” she says, tilting her head at me.

“Rod. The man who was at my house. Who stumbled coming up the steps?”

“Oh!” she says, another wide smile spreading over her face. “Rod, Rodney. Of course.”

I nod. “You promised him, and you only have a few days to make good on it.” Despite my words, though, I can’t quite make my voice as stern as I want. Somehow it comes out teasing, poking, even amused.

What isthat?I don’t tease. I don’t poke fun.

“Yes, well,” Juliet says airily. If she notices anything strange about my behavior, she doesn’t comment on it. “That was before I got a look at this tile.” She taps one high-heeled toe against the grimy tiled floor which, now that I examine it, probably cannot be polished to a shine.

I grunt, trying to rein in the bizarre amusement I stillfeel. No one made a joke; nothing funny is happening. Smiles and humor have no place here. “Well,” I say, nodding at the bucket of sudsy water. “Get back to work, then.”

She stands up straight and gives me a salute, even as her eyes shine with laughter. “Yes, sir.”

“Cut it out,” I say, rolling my eyes. I turn away so she won’t see the smile I’m still trying to get rid of, heading back out, but she calls after me just as I’m about to round the corner.

“Wait,” she says, and I quirk a brow at her over my shoulder. She nods, apparently understanding my silent invitation to go on. “Are the lunch breaks better?”

It kills me to admit it, but…“They are,” I say heavily. “The last few days have been good.”

She nods again, a satisfied smile touching her lips. “Excellent. Did you thank your employees?”

I stare blankly at her until her brow furrows in disapproval.

“Number three,” she murmurs, her gaze darting away as she looks lost in thought for a second. “Prove yourself an asset.” Then she meets my eye. “I’ll help you write it.”

A hint of suspicion rises in my mind at these words. Didn’t she say something aboutnumber oneon Sunday? And now she’s talking aboutnumber three?

When I still don’t speak, she sighs and goes on.

“The thank you note that you send to your employees, commending them for the quick response to your earlier memo,” she says. “I’ll help you write it once I’m done here. You’re welcome.” She gives me another one of those smiles. “Now head out, please. I bend over in all sorts of unflattering positions while I’m cleaning toilets, and I want you to think I’m pretty, so I’m not ready to let you see that sort of thing.”

I shake my head at her as she clicks toward me on her pink heels, shooing me around the corner and out of the bathroom altogether.

The Julietwho strides into my office thirty minutes later doesn’t look like she’s been cleaning bathrooms. Granted, I’m not sure what someonewouldlook like in that scenario, but it’s not fresh and put together. She doesn’t even seem sweaty or tired. Her hair is still perfectly coiled into some sort of bun on top of her head, and she still smells of strawberry shortcake.

I’m not entirely sure she’s human. No one is perfect. They’re just not. So where are her flaws?

She broke into your house,I remind myself.And she can’t seem to take no for an answer. And…

“How old are you?” I say absently as she enters.

“Twenty-four,” she says promptly.

My breath whooshes out of me. “So young,” I mutter, quietly enough that she won’t hear. “That’ssoyoung.”

The problem is she seems so harmless. But the last beautiful woman I let into my life broke me. I am a different person after Maura than I was before her. So even though this woman is mind-boggling in every way, someone I simply don’t understand, I try to ignore the impulse to figure her out—and more than that, I try to ignore the impulse to letherfiguremeout.

I just nod, waiting as she closes the door behind her and then approaches my desk.

“I’m not entirely sure another memo is necessary.”

“There are different kinds of necessary,” she says, and I frown. “There are,” she insists as she all but waltzes toward me. “Necessary to survive. Necessary to thrive.”

I guess she’s not wrong there. “Fine,” I say. “What should I write, then?”

“Thank them. Commend them for giving heed to your previous memo and express your appreciation. Tell them you hope you’ll all continue to work well together in the future.”

---