Page 36 of Clean Sweep
For a moment, I fumbled to find words.
“I, uh, brought your invoices.” I pulled the folded paper out of my back pocket and held it up between us. “It covers that first week and last week. I went ahead and added this week, but I won’t push it through until I finish cleaning. Hope that’s okay. Thought it would be easier.”
“Oh, great. Thanks.”
By sheer force of will, I swallowed back a sigh that meantI totally overdid it here today.Because, yes. I could have texted her the amount and all of this would have been totally moot. Except for the confirmation of my interest in her.
That had definitely just happened.
She grinned, and the smile illuminated her whole face. The last time I’d run into her, she’d been carefully fielding several building disasters. Talking to her on the phone had removed the obstacle of her presence, to which I couldn’t deny a strong pull. Now, I realized there was something about Leslie Hill that made me just want to stand near her.
How did she work that magic?
With concerted effort, I pulled my thoughts back together.
She waved the paper and asked, “Are the billing details on here? I think I want to change it so it’s not on the credit card. Do you take DollarsApp?”
“Yes. I mean, no. Wait. Let me check.”
Feeling like an idiot, I glanced at the invoice. Panic slipped through me again. The papers weren’t even an invoice. They were a bill from one of my chemical providers that I hadn’t paid yet.
Fantastic.
I folded the page and slipped it back in my pocket. “You know what? I’ll just email it to you. How about that?”
“Uh . . . sure.”
“Let me find my username on the app. You can just pay me that way now.”
My brain felt like a jar of flies as I attempted to find the app where money transfers came in and out. What felt like an eternity later, I pulled it up, found my username, then showed it to her.
“Here you go. Total was $250.”
Her eyebrow quirked. “Thought you said $300 for the first one? Then $100 for each after. So shouldn’t it be $200 if we’re combining this week and last? I think already paid for the deep clean.”
If the earth could open a giant hole and just swallow me now, that would be great.
Had I really thought I’d just walk up to Leslie’s house and ask her on a date? That I’dfeel outwhether we had chemistry or not? Idiot. Maybe boys didn’t grow into men. Maybe all men were just little boys walking around, playing with fire and getting into trouble.
I hadn’t done this in years, which was all too clear, because I’d thoroughly botched this attempt.
“Oh, right.” I cleared my throat. “Yes, thank you.” A chagrined laugh saved this from being too-terrifyingly devastating. “$200.”
Did her lips twitch, or was that just me being paranoid?
“Great,” she murmured. With a few quick taps of her phone screen, she declared, “Paid!”
Seconds later, my phone buzzed in my back pocket.
“Thank you.”
Her nose wrinkled slightly. “I’ll keep you updated on future cleans. Let’s do this week again, but I’m not sure about after. What with the wedding now . . .”
She trailed away.
Did she say wedding?
Although it was none of my business, having been present the moment that Landon dropped the fiancée bomb, I felt more invested in this outcome than I ever expected to be.
