I blinked at it. “That’s what the brick looks like?”

He leaned on the top of the broom handle, flicking a glance at the wall. The effect broadened his shoulders and narrowed his waist, fanning his forearms out. Sweat trickled down my neck, and I couldn’t be sure it was strictly from the heat. It really was indecent, him running around topless like that.

“I know. I’m thinking we leave the brick in the back of the store, just clean it up, paint the rest white.”

“I love that,” I said, scanning the space and imagining what it would look like.

“Good.” He smiled, not only like he was genuinely pleased, but like he could eat me for breakfast.

Not that I was special. He looked at every female and food product exactly like that.

I moved for the extra push broom, effectively putting my back to him and breaking the moment.

“So,” I started, taking a second to inspect the wall, “let’s start with you and me cleaning this wall together, then one of us can clean the next wall while the other caulks this one.”

I could actually hear him smirking. “Think you can handle the caulk?”

I shot him a look over my shoulder. Stupid, handsome bastard. “Oh, I can handle the caulk.”

“You sure? It’s got to be squeezed just right—not too hard, not too fast, just the perfect amount of pressure so you can fill all those holes.”

“Lucas Bennet, you are disgusting.”

He wet his brush in a paint tray full of water. “Contracting is a dirty job, Tess.” With a salacious flick of his brows, he turned his attention to the wall. “So much hammering and nailing and wood. Screwing. Laying studs. We’ve covered the caulk.”

I snorted rather than respond, unable to think of anything to say with the dirty-mouthed, half-naked figure scrubbing the wall in front of me.

I didn’t look at the muscles of his back bunch and stretch as he scrubbed. I didn’t watch the heavy bead of sweat run down the valley of his spine. And I most certainly didn’t watch his ass bounce when he jumped a little to reach the very top of the wall.

Not intentionally at least.

With an inward slap, I dipped my brush in the water and moved past him. “I’ll go low, you go high,” I suggested by way of command.

“Yes, ma’am,” he snarked.

I scrubbed for a minute, satisfied on some deep elemental level as the brick came clean and fresh. “Did you get the right kind of caulk?” I asked with no small amount of skepticism. “It’s got to be the quick dry, the kind that—”

“Cures under primer. I know. That’s what I got,” he answered lightly. “It’s like you didn’t believe I could do this right, Tess.”

“Well, you have to admit—you’re not the most reliable Bennet.”

“No, that title belongs to Marcus.”

I chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m impressed, that’s all. I didn’t realize you knew so much about this kind of thing.”