A Dirty Business (Kings of New York #1)(2)

“Nothing, Miss Jess. It’s on me.”

I glanced to his coworkers, seeing one watching us with a bit too much interest for my liking. I leaned closer to Jimmy and lowered my voice. “Are you sure that you got the cash on you?”

He started to bolster up, his mouth opening, a pink color coming to his neck, more than what it was, but I kept on. “Because I know you travel with as little cash as necessary. Your heart’s in the right place, but if you find yourself short on the exact cash, I wouldn’t want someone to notice and let your boss know, if you get my drift.” My eyes darted to that coworker trying to listen in. He’d washed the same two-by-two inches of counter eighteen times now.

Getting my drift, Jimmy’s shoulders sank even lower. “Sorry, Miss Jess. You’re right.” He told me the amount I owed, and I handed over the cash. When he started to give me the change, I waved my hand, indicating he should keep it. He was putting it in their tip jar when I headed off.

Going to the stairs, I scanned for our seats. Kelly wasn’t there.

Knowing I’d need a bathroom break myself before too long, I sipped my beer and headed in the direction Kelly had gone.

The line was too long at the first one, but being the slightly buzzed savvy parole officer I was, I knew there’d be more bathrooms farther away from the main area. I kept going, and I had half my beer sipped before I found a door. It said “bathrooms” and had an arrow, so I was following the arrow.

I surged through, and oh crap.

I was in the exit stairwell. I’d made a mistake.

I turned, reaching for the door, when I heard just above me, “—hear about it. I do not care.”

I moved back, angled my head. He wasn’t all the way up to the next floor, but he was halfway up to the top. His back was turned slightly toward the stairway, and he was talking on the phone. “Yes. Yes.”

I should go. That was a private call, not my business.

I pushed the door handle to go out, but nothing. The door was locked.

I was locked inside.

Well, shitters.

I had a beer. I’d soon have a bladder that would need to be emptied, and that guy was still on his phone.

“—wait. Someone is here.”

Oh, double shitters.

I turned when he started down the stairs.

I called up, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know these doors . . .” I trailed off as he turned the corner, now facing me and coming down the stairs directly to me. And I trailed off because good gracious, this man was one of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen.

He had pretty features. His eyes were a gray-hazel color, and yes, even from this distance, I was struck at how clear they were. His cheekbones were set wide on the sides of his face, but he had such a square jawline that it worked for him. He was rugged but handsome and hot all at the same time. I was putting his height at six four. Weight at 210. He was dressed in some seriously nice threads, all business suit. His shoes were the expensive kind, like what I would joke that a Wall Street dude would wear to a hockey game. At seeing me, he paused, but then a wicked grin slowly spread over his face, and that knocked me back a bit too.

It was almost a nice punch to my sternum, one to shock me more than incapacitate me.

He spoke into the phone: “Excuse me a bit.” I could hear the other person talking, but he ended the call and put his phone into his pocket. “Hello.”

He was looking me up and down, looking like a bored cat who had come across a mouse and had a new toy to play with.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your phone—”

“On the contrary, thank you very much.” He came down a few more steps. “I needed an excuse to get off the call.”

I shifted backward, giving him space—or myself space—as he continued until he was on the step right above, looking down. “I was looking for the bathroom.”

“These are the stairs.” His voice was a low baritone croon, and he was still doing the eye thing where he wasn’t just assessing me, but he was reading my soul, and he was enjoying whatever he was reading. If I were a character in a book, I might’ve likened him to a vampire. I almost started laughing because how ridiculous was I? Getting nervous with this guy, who it was very apparent was in a whole different tax bracket than me. But normal me wouldn’t have cared. Normal me wouldn’t have stuck around this long either.

I nodded as he stepped down, facing me directly. “I realized. There’s a sign that said ‘bathrooms’ and pointed in here. I came in, not remembering the doors lock behind you.”

“Right.” He still had that smile, his eyes sparking up. “Because if you read the sign on the door, it would’ve said ‘emergency exit only.’ And that it locks.”

I refused to flush for this guy. Nope. But the back of my neck did get heated. A little bit.

“Yeah. My mistake.” My tone was cool, and I was giving him the look to back off.

That seemed to amuse him even more. “What’s your name?”

I bristled. “None of your business, how about that?”

His eyes went to smoldering. This guy wasn’t normal. “Sass.” His tone went soft. “I like it.”

That made me bristle even more. “Excuse me?” I shifted back, getting in a stance as I automatically started thinking how to handle him if he made a move.