“No one expects me to travel alone, is what I’m saying,” Wesley went on. “Then, of course, you can’t walk into a bleeding ship terminal without catching a woman’s eye—”
“What woman?” Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows. “Loretta?”
“Oh, she gave you her name, did she?”
“Yes, but I didn’tcatch her eye.She just wanted to talk about tattoos. She lives in Brooklyn and she said if I ever want an artist recommendation, I can call her party line and...” Sebastian trailed off in the face of Mateo’s and Wesley’s matching flat stares.
“My point—which you’ve just made for me—is that it’s obvious you’re popular with women, and that is what gossips will see,” said Wesley. “It’s also obvious what a demanding prick I am, and so no one will be surprised when I require my traveling companion to assist me in my quarters. Or when I require him to worklate.”
Sebastian automatically glanced at the cabbie, who was leaning out the window and swearing inventively at a trolley.
Wesley leaned closer to Sebastian. “I’ve been watching him, you know,” he said, in a sardonic whisper. “He’s not listening to us. You seem to think I’m some sort of callow novice who requires your vigilance to protect my reputation, but I have done this before.”
Of course he had. In fact, somewhere here in New York was Wesley’s ex, the man Wesley had cared for so much he’d sailed across an ocean to try and win him back. Sebastian would have liked to find a reason to avoid ever thinking about it again, but back in Yorkshire, Wesley had spoken well of this man, whoever he was—might even want to visit him, while they were in the city.
And if that’s what he wants, you’ll support him, Sebastian told himself, as the taxi pulled up to the hotel.
They’d picked a hotel next to Grand Central Station, making it easy to catch the Ohio State Limited train the following afternoon. The Roosevelt was nineteen stories of brick in shades of gray and brown with rectangular windows across the higher floors. Near the ground, the second-level windows were arched and topped with carved faces, and black lanterns adorned the side along the street, their lights a warm glow in the gray October evening. There was a newsie on the sidewalk, just past the green-and-gold marquee.
“World championship!” the boy was shouting, as passersby slowed with interest. “Pirates versus Senators! Get the story in theEvening Post, just two cents!”
“Ooh, baseball.” Mateo elbowed Sebastian. “Get a paper.”
They got out and Sebastian gave the newsie a nickel, and then tucked the paper under his arm. He followed Wesley and Mateo through the wide doors into the white-and-gold lobby, a two-story space with pillars, two short staircases, and a crystal chandelier suspended from a gilt ceiling over an assortment of furniture arranged on the marble floors.
Sebastian resolutely did not think about how nice it would be to grab a rest in one of the leather chairs as Mateo stepped up to the suited man behind the check-in desk. Sebastian picked up a flyer on the counter and stepped back, next to Wesley. “The hotel has a rooftop patio.”
“So we can join the million tourists to admire thepretty view?” Wesley scoffed. “Please.”
“There are all kinds of things to see in the city,” Sebastian pointed out. “Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park. Did you know New York has a menagerie and a zoo?”
“No.”
“No, as in, you didn’t know?”
“No, as in, I’m not going to a damned zoo.”
At the counter, the suited man disappeared through a door into the back office.
“I’ve heard you can watch them feed the sea lions at the Bronx Zoo.” Sebastian casually held out the flyer to Wesley, twisting his arm so the top of the tattoo would be visible to Wesley under his sleeve. “I thought you liked lions.”
“You think you’re so cute.” Wesley’s lips had curled in a grudging smile. He leaned in, taking the flyer, bringing his mouth closer to Sebastian’s ear as he dropped his voice to an undertone. “You had best banish this notion that you can charm me into the zoo, or the park, or the roof. Because if you think I’ve gone that soft, then clearly I don’t fuck you hard enough.”
Sebastian nearly choked.
“Truly an unforgivable dereliction on my part,” Wesley said, as he straightened up. “Rest assured I’ll remedy that.”
“We’re in thelobby.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning to do it here.”
There was a loud throat clearing. Sebastian looked over at the counter.
“I don’t want to know what Fine just said to put that color on your face.” Mateo jerked his head toward the elevator. “We have a double room on six and Fine’s suite is on two. Our trunks are being taken up.”
Sebastian appreciated Mateo keeping up the charade. Wesley might think he didn’t need help protecting his reputation, but he wasn’t the one who could flatten police and reporters with a thought. Sebastian would stay careful.
The clerk in the suit was returning, a small stack of mail in his hands. “We’ve been holding some correspondence for you and Lord Fine,” he said to Mateo.
