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Chapter twenty-seven
Sapphire
Getting back to cleaning seems like the smartest move. The house might already be clean, but doing something other than snuggling up on the couch together will stop me from wishing these guys had been my neighbors’ rather than Scarlett’s. I doubt they would have noticed me if I was, so it’s dumb to even think about that.
No more thinking! Just clean.
I find out the other two downstairs rooms other than the bathroom are a gym and a study with one full wall of bookshelves. There’s a crazy mix of fiction and non-fiction on the shelves, and despite the large area, everything is dust free.
Bishop must spend so damn long cleaning every day to get the house looking this perfect.
I end up dusting around, looking for anything he might have missed.
I find the occasional tiny piece of dusting cloth, but that’s about it.
The vacuuming seems a little more worthwhile.
It’s got to be the cleanest bachelor pad that exists.
I take my time with the work while Rueben puts the kitten back upstairs. He returns to lounge on one of the couches while I clean that room.
Bishop comes home once I’ve started on the bathroom.
I’m almost done with downstairs, and it’s not even 2 p.m.
If I do anything more, I’ll be done with this supposed week-long job in a day, rather than a week.
Scarlett might have the bargaining power to get away with changing the rules like that, but I would feel weird about it. A deal’s a deal, and clearly Bishop likes this whole place to shine like a diamond.
I can hear him cooking in the kitchen as I put the vacuum back into the hallway closet.
Rueben comes back down the stairs as I’m closing the closet door.
“Ready to come upstairs, yet?” he asks.
“I think I’ll save that for tomorrow,” I tell him.
I might go insane if I have to re-clean things that don’t need it all over again tomorrow.
“Don’t tell me you’re ready to leave,” he says, giving me sad eyes.
“I kind of have work stuff to get back to,” I lie, not wanting to make him feel bad.
“At least, stay for lunch.”
Whatever Bishop’s cooking, it does smell really good, and I have to get my purse out of the kitchen before I can leave anyway … “Sure.”
He beams at me, which makes the decision feel worthwhile, even if a second later I’m feeling guilty of leading him on.
I had no idea this switch was going to get so damn complicated.
Rueben reaches for my hand, and I give it without thinking.
He leads me into the kitchen.
“Scarlett’s staying for lunch,” he says as we walk by Bishop at the stove.
He’s making some kind of soup, I think. It smells amazing.
