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“Cooper—”
Tight-lipped, he tossed his cell back onto the table, cutting off his sister-in-law, and without pausing took the stairs two at a time. No sense putting things off. He would let this Morgan know she could finish up whatever it was Charlie had hired her to do for the day. He would pay her and then get on with things.
Cooper strode across the landing and peeked into the first bedroom, but it was empty. He spied a plastic purple caddy filled with cleaning products and other stuff near the bathroom and took exactly two steps in that direction before a woman appeared in the doorway. She met his gaze for all of two seconds and then proceeded to toss a few more cleaning supplies into the caddy before disappearing back into the bathroom.
Huh. Seems he’d been dismissed.
She reappeared with a mop and bucket and paused. The lighting up here was dim, especially at this time of day, but it was enough for him to see that the woman was angry. Or annoyed. Or something. Her lips were pursed tightly, and she pushed back a strand of dark hair that fell over her eyebrows.
“Do you always walk around the house in dirty boots?” She glared at him as if he’d just committed some sort of crime.
He glanced down at his feet and then slowly met her gaze again. He’d just tracked a boatload of crap all over his newly refurbished hardwood floors, so he wasn’t exactly winning points, but then, he didn’t exactly care.
“Not generally, no,” he replied slowly.
She was on the tall side for a female—maybe five foot ten—and every inch of her was covered. Loose track pants and a long-sleeved sweatshirt gave no indication of her shape. Hell, she could have been hiding an entire litter of kittens under there for all he knew. She was pale, as if she didn’t get out much, and her hair was scraped back, secured into a low ponytail. She had high cheekbones, a generous mouth, but from where he stood, he couldn’t tell what color her eyes were.
He squinted a bit. There was something on the side of her neck…a tattoo maybe?
Small dots of red appeared on her face, and Cooper realized that he was staring at her, which was rude. His eyes fell away, and that was when things got awkward.
She cleared her throat, and he found himself watching her once more as she bent down to retrieve the caddy.
“Take your boots off, and I’ll clean up after you,” she said, voice curt and to the point. Her eyebrows rose as she met his gaze once more. The anger or whatever it was he’d seen before was gone. There was just…nothing. It was as if she’d pulled down the blinds and disappeared.
Cooper wasn’t exactly used to women reacting to him this way, and it piqued his interest.
Still unsure, Cooper kicked off his boots and held them in his hands as she walked past with her caddy and headed downstairs. She set it near the front door and then climbed the stairs once more—her steps were slow and even, but something about the way she moved was odd. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Here, let me.” He could clean up his own damn mess.
She ignored him and didn’t utter a word as she passed by. She grabbed the mop, cleaning the floor where he’d tracked dirt, and then each of the stairs. He followed her back down and felt like a complete ass as she set about cleaning the foyer, and then back into the kitchen, where he’d traipsed all over the place like a spoiled, uncaring child.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” he said, but again, she remained silent.
Once she was done, she made her way back to the front door, where she scooped a large gray parka from the wall hook and her boots from the mat. Only then did she speak, though she kept her eyelids lowered, focused at shoulder level.
“You don’t have to worry about paying me, Mr. Simon. Charlie already took care of that. I’ll make sure to reimburse her for the rest of the services she contracted us for. Two weeks’ worth of cleaning and the attic.”
“I… You don’t have to…” Cooper’s words died in his throat. Her eyes were the most unusual shade of green he’d ever seen. So pale they were almost colorless. Now that he got a good look at her, she was about as far away from middle age as he was from China.
“I don’t need your charity, so yes I do.”
Of course she’d heard everything he’d said to Charlie earlier. There w
as no anger in her words, but something about her tone bothered Cooper. Acceptance.
She grabbed her cleaning things, and he moved quickly to open the door for her.
“Thank you.” Polite and crisp, she didn’t look back. Stepping out onto the porch, she paused, looking straight ahead. “You might want to get a new plug for the tank on your toilet. The one upstairs. It’s running.” She shuffled her feet. “And…”
“And?” he prompted.
She turned slightly at his voice. “A neighbor stopped by. Mr. Leeds from down the road. Said he had your Godzilla.” She shrugged. “Whatever that means.”
Cooper watched her walk to her small car, steps slow and steady. She put away her cleaning tools, didn’t bother to look his way, and in less than a minute, her taillights disappeared down the lane.
He closed the door, inhaling that clean pine scent he’d first noticed when he’d come home, and then headed back to the kitchen feeling restless. Screw work. He wasn’t getting anything done—not tonight. Another beer, a steak on the barbecue, and Netflix was about all he could muster ambition for.
