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They both looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. The one with the umbrella wore a name tag. He shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, but I called for this cab.”
“Right.” She used the back of her wrist to shove the damp hair away from her face, blinking hard at the drop of rain that caught on her lashes.
“It’s okay, James,” the taller, dark-haired man said, “let her have it. I can wait.”
“But it’s gonna take another—”
“Really, it’s okay.” He opened the back door and turned to Emily. “Sorry about the confusion,” he said, regarding her with sincere hazel eyes and gesturing for her to slide in. “Please.”
She hesitated, her pulse quickening as she took in the perfectly shaped mouth and the strong angular jaw. He seemed vaguely familiar, except she didn’t know anyone here in Manhattan.
“Better hurry. Your packages are getting wet.”
She glanced down. Although she’d been partially protected by the umbrella, her soggy bags hadn’t. All she needed was for them to rip and spill their contents in the middle of the sidewalk. “Look, we can share the cab if you want,” she said, shoving the sacks into the backseat and out of the rain.
He looked surprised, thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
The guy named James seemed even more taken aback. “You sure, Nicky?”
He pressed a bill into the man’s palm. “If I don’t see you before then, have a good Thanksgiving.”
Knowing the umbrella was about to disappear, Emily quickly scrambled in beside her packages. They took up a third of the bench seat, so when the stranger slid in next to her, she found her thigh pressed firmly against his. The innocuous contact sent a shiver up her spine.
“Where to?” the cabbie asked.
“The Thornton hotel for me.” Emily lifted a couple of the totes onto her lap and slid over toward the far door, leaving a few inches between her and the good-looking stranger.
“And you, buddy?” The driver pulled into traffic, directly in front of another taxi.
Emily jumped, squeezing her eyes shut, waiting for impact and the crunch of metal to explode in her ears. Seconds later they were moving along with the flow of cars, and she cautiously opened her eyes. To her horror, she saw her hand clutching her seatmate’s thigh.
“Oh, my God.” She promptly drew back, but not before noticing the rock-hard muscle beneath her palm. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
He chuckled. “Not in the least. I’m Nick, by the way.”
“Mister, I need to know which way to turn at the intersection.” The driver glanced at Nick in the rearview mirror. “Where you headed…? Damn, you’re—”
“Um, I really wish you’d watch the road.” Emily tensed as brake lights lit up in front of them. This time she fisted one of the bags on her lap, silently vowing that she’d stick to walking while she was here.
“Let’s drop the lady off first, and then we’ll worry about me.”
“I don’t mind stopping for you,” Emily offered. “I’m in no hurry.”
“This is New York. Everybody’s in a hurry.”
Emily sighed. “Not me.”
“What? No hot date tonight?”
She smiled wryly. “A warm bath maybe.”
He smiled, too, and then turned his head to gaze out the window. He was clean shaven, and his dark wavy hair was cut short. His sports jacket fit his broad shoulders so perfectly it might have been tailored for him. No matter, it was cashmere and expensive. Made her wonder what he did for a living. A stockbroker, maybe? Or a lawyer? No, not a lawyer. Whatever he did, he kept himself in awesome shape.
She wanted to keep checking him out, enchanted with the attractive groove in his cheek when he smiled. But he turned back to look at her, and since it was too late to pretend she wasn’t staring, she said, “I should’ve stayed snug in that bookstore until the rain passed.”
He frowned. “You’re staying at the Thornton. You’re either a tourist or here on business.”
“Tourist.”
“And you’re spending your time in a bookstore?”
She felt the heat rise from her chest to her face. “I was looking for guidebooks.”
“Ah.” He glanced at her packages. “Which one did you get?”
Her cheeks really flamed then as her mind scrambled for an acceptable answer. She couldn’t very well admit she’d picked up Erotic New York: The Best Sex in the City. Mostly out of curiosity, not that she cared to explain.
The ringing of her cell phone saved her. She fumbled with the bags on her lap, looking for the ridiculously tiny purse she’d bought specifically for her foray into the big, bad city. No bigger than an oversized postage stamp, it barely held her cell, room key and wallet, but she liked that she could strap it safely and snugly against her body. It had to be here. And she hated to miss the call in case it was her wayward guide.
“May I?” Nick lifted the larger bag off her lap and onto his.
“Thanks.” She found her purse and managed to answer before it went to voice mail.
“Hey.” It was Marnie. “So, are you having the best time?”
Emily smiled. “I only just got here yesterday.”
“Plenty of time to get laid.”
“Jeez, have you been talking to my sister?”
Marnie laughed. “How’s the hotel? Tell me everything.”
“Um, the Thornton is great. I’ll be eating nothing but mac and cheese for the next three months after I get the bill, but yeah, it’s terrific.” She slid Nick a glance. He was looking out his window, but it was impossible for him not to overhear.
“Oh, come on. You’ve got to be rolling in dough since you never spend a dime on yourself. You don’t buy clothes, and you don’t go anywhere.”
“If that’s what you called to tell me, I’m hanging up.”
“No, wait.” Marnie laughed. “What’s your itinerary? What does your guide have planned?”
“Uh, that didn’t pan out.”
“What?”
“He stood me up.” Emily had lowered her voice, but quickly realized that had only guaranteed Nick’s interest. He was trying not to be obvious but she could tell he was straining to hear. She cleared her throat. “I don’t need anyone to show me around, anyway. I picked up a couple of travel books this afternoon.”
“Ooh, tell me you took my advice and got Erotic New York.”
“Take some time off, Marnie. Enjoy the holidays. I have to go.”
“Wait.”
“Seriously, hanging up now.”
“You sound odd.” Marnie paused. “Are you with someone?” Emily took a heartbeat too long to respond. “Good God. You are. Why didn’t you say something.”
“Goodbye, Marnie.” Emily flipped her cell phone shut and then switched it to vibrate because her friend’s persistence was legendary. Although if she thought Emily were with a guy, maybe she’d lay off for a while.
Emily felt Nick watching her, and she furtively looked his way again. That’s when she saw that the tote bag sitting on his lap had torn. It wasn’t a big tear, but enough that her new lacy black panties were sticking out of the bottom corner.
“Thank you,” she said, and carefully retrieved the bag and stuffed it into another one.
“Small quarters,” he said, “so I couldn’t help but overhear. You’re looking for a guide?”
“I was, but it’s silly really. I mean, who doesn’t know what to see in New York, right?” She abruptly turned her face and stared out at the cheery Christmas displays twinkling from the store windows. Who would put up the tree? Not her mother. Emily always did that the day after Thanksgiving.
God, why had she overreacted with her sisters? She should be at home right now, thawing the turkey and baking pumpkin pies. She shook her head. Away for two days and already homesick.
“You okay?”
His voice startled her. She’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Fine.” She darted him a look and silently cleared her throat. “Just tired. I had a tough travel day yesterday with everything so crowded and intense.” She had to quit being a baby. She was going to have a terrific time.
Everyone was right. She was too much of a hermit and needed to step out of her comfortable life. The more she’d hidden out, surrounded by her books and computer, the less social she’d become. But this was her big chance. She was going to rock this city and have all kinds of wild stories to tell Marnie and her sisters.
She would. She absolutely would. Or else, lie her ass off.
3
DAMN, WAS SHE CRYING? With growing apprehension, Nick watched the reflection of her heart-shaped face in the window. She nibbled her lower lip and stared forlornly at the pedestrians crowding the sidewalk who were making better time than they were. Her chin quivered, or maybe that was the trick of the light coming through the rain-splattered glass. Was she upset about not having a guide? Or maybe she was just plain lonely.
He turned away and ordered himself to forget about her. She was a grown woman. If she wanted company she would have brought a friend. He focused on two young women in absurdly high heels, huddled under one umbrella and rushing to cross the street. He often liked being alone himself, so that was easy to understand. What he needed to do was mind his own business. Next time he was gonna use the car service. No more cabs for him. And definitely no sharing.
He tensed when he thought he heard her sniffle. Slowly he angled back toward her, regarding her from the corner of his eye. She wasn’t crying, but was messing with her phone. Her dark head bent forward, her cute, slightly upturned nose wrinkled in concentration and her fingers worked quickly. Probably texting someone to meet her. Didn’t matter to him. Not his business, he reminded himself.
“Do you know—?”
“What are you—?”
They both spoke at the same time.
“Sorry,” she murmured, tucking her phone into her purse. “Go ahead.”
“After you.”
She smiled wryly, flashing both dimples. She really was cute, with her wavy collar-length hair swinging as she moved her head. Her eyes looked like they might be brown, but the lighting wasn’t good enough for him to tell for sure. “I forgot what I was going to say.”
He chuckled. “Me, too.”
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and blinked at him, her head tilting slightly. “I know this sounds crazy, but you look familiar.”
The driver’s head bobbed suddenly, and Nick caught the man’s eye in the rearview mirror. Nick narrowed his gaze in warning. She didn’t know who he was, and he liked it that way.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but gasped when the cab swerved sharply to keep from rear-ending a bus. She clutched the back of the driver’s seat, and with the other hand, tried to stop the packages on her lap from sliding to the floor. “Please tell me we’re close to the Thornton,” she muttered.
A brown shopping bag ended up on the floor, and he reached to retrieve it, but she quickly snatched it up as if she thought he were going to steal the thing.
“Not too far,” he said, leaning back.
“Close enough that I can walk?”
“Only if you don’t mind hiking twenty blocks in the rain.”
“Twenty blocks?” Her alarmed gaze lowered to the ticking meter. “You don’t think that’s far?”
With the rain and heavy traffic, it had taken fifteen minutes to go only a few blocks, and they’d already racked up quite a hefty fare. Nick hadn’t given it a second thought, but then he wasn’t on a budget. Anyway, he planned on dropping her off first and paying the whole thing.
“I’m going as fast as I can, miss,” the driver said, and then angrily muttered something in Italian and purposely lurched the cab forward when a black Mercedes tried to squeeze in front of them. A couple of explicit hand gestures were exchanged between the two drivers and then all was calm again.
Crazy, but Nick kind of missed the horn honking. A few hotheads ignored the law to cut back on noise that had been instituted some years back and still leaned on their horns as if that would make the traffic go any faster, but overall, the city was a quieter place.
Nick noticed her death grip on the armrest and, to distract her, said, “I don’t think I caught your name.”
“Emily.” She relaxed her hold and slid him a brief glance. “Emily Carter.”
“So, where are you from, Emily Carter?”
“Berber, Indiana.”
“Is that anywhere near Logansport?”
She lifted her eyebrows at him. “About fifty miles. I can’t believe you’ve heard of it.”
“I grew up across the border in Pilner, Illinois.”
“Really? So you’re a tourist, too.”
“No, I’ve lived here for about ten years now.”
“Big change.”
“Yep.” He nodded. “It took a while to get used to the faster pace.” He could feel the driver staring at him in the rearview mirror again, but he felt confident he’d made his point and the man would keep his mouth shut.
“You said your name is Nick, right?”
“I did.”
