Goodie,his glum expression said.
I jutted my jaw. Next time I asked Mina for help, I would be more specific. Couldn’t she have sent Bene instead?
Roux was a good worker but taciturn as hell, and he didn’t have an artistic bone in his body, let alone a funny bone. I found myself overcompensating on his behalf, cracking jokes and singing along with whatever song came on the radio. I picked a station that played upbeat music because it was hard to listen to mopey breakup songs around a guy like Roux.
He didn’t so much as hum a note of any song, though. Not even the Caribbean tune of Sting’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” for Pete’s sake!
On the plus side…those eyes were beautiful. Arresting, even. Every time I caught sight of them, it was hard to tear myself away.
“So glad to be putting my college education to work,” I joked at one point. “But I guess cleaning ceilings beats cleaning toilets.”
“Have you ever actually cleaned toilets?” Roux muttered.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a figure of speech. Have you?”
He nodded. “Latrines.”
I snorted. “Let me guess. Your drill sergeant didn’t appreciate it when you caught him miscounting the number of sit-ups your unit was supposed to do.”
His mouth cracked open, proving my hunch correct.
I shook my head, chuckling. “Oh, Roux. Honesty isn’t always the best policy.”
“Honesty is theonlypolicy,” he grunted, going back to cleaning. “And sticking to your principles.”
We were fifteen feet up on a wheeled scaffold, our necks and backs aching. Well,myneck and back ached. The platform was barely big enough for two, and we kept bumping in the most arousing — er,annoying— way possible.
“Principles are for big things. Other things, you can let slide,” I told him. “You know. Pick your battles.”
His only reply was a dark look. Then he turned on the vacuum and swept it over the next portion of sculpted ceiling.
I followed him with a brush and damp cloth. Thank goodness the artisans who’d designed the place had limited themselves to a single oval of molding and small, sculpted wreaths in the corners. Otherwise, cleaning and painting it all would take years.
One thing was for sure — many hands made light work. Especially Roux’s. Time flew, and it seemed like only a matter of minutes before we had to climb down and reposition the scaffold. Progress was that swift.
Agreeing on things, on the other hand…
“This way.” I angled my head to the right.
He shook his head, pointing left. “That way.”
I jutted my jaw. “This way makes more sense.”
He snorted. “How?”
“Because we follow the wall.”
He pointed. “Yes —thatwall.”
“No,thatwall,” I shot back.
He made a face, and I did too. Boy, oh boy. Talk about obstinate tigers.
“Are you the helper or the mastermind here?” I finally snipped.
He grimaced. “Helper.”
“Then help, please, by moving the scaffold this way.”
