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ChapterOne
“Taxi!”
It was pouring with rain, and every part of her was soaked. Cars passed by too fast, kicking up spray from puddles so she had to jump out of the way, and of course that’s when the only free cab in New York City turned around the corner.
And a tall, suited guy – with an umbrella, damn him – stepped forward and held out his hand.
“Shit on a brick,” Grace muttered, because now that she was looking properly there was clearly a line. And she’d inadvertently skipped the whole thing.
Suit guy turned around, his brow raised. Then his eyes dipped, taking in her soaking clothes and her bedraggled hair. It had been almost twenty-four-hours since she’d left Paris, where the sun had been shining on the River Seine, regret filling her heart at leaving her favorite city in springtime and now here she was, stranded in a New York deluge.
“Did you say something?” the guy asked. He touched his bearded jaw with his free hand, his brows dipping as he looked at her.
“Nope.”
“I swear I heard you say shit on a brick.” His lips twitched. Damn, he was handsome, if you liked that sort of thing. Dark hair, perfectly clipped. Warm blue eyes. And lips that could do things to you.
If you wanted them to. Which she didn’t. Not least because she’d sworn off men for life.
Thanks Pascal.
“I said that’s the trick,” she lied. “To getting a cab, I mean.”
The yellow car pulled up at the curbside, causing a ruckus because three other people started running toward it.
“Are you trying to get a cab?” he asked.
“Nope, just enjoying the lovely New York weather.” She blinked off the droplets of rain that clung to her eyelids.
Suit guy laughed. “Take it. It’s yours.”
“I can’t. You have first dibs,” she pointed out. And so did all the others waiting in line. Who were staring at her with daggers in their eyes.
His lips twitched again. They really were good lips. The kind you could kiss, if you liked that sort of thing. Which she didn’t because she’d sworn off men.
Suit guy leaned forward to open the backdoor, and she was already beating herself up for not taking him up on his offer.
“Get in,” he said. “Before somebody steals it.”
Alarm bells rang in her head. Sure, he was pretty, if you were into older guys, but she still wasn’t getting into a cab with him. She’d watched way too many Netflix documentaries to be taken in by a good-looking face.
“It’s fine.” She stepped back, waving her hand. “I can wait.”
He rolled his eyes. “Get in.”
Handsomeandbossy. Which would be kind of dynamite if she wasn’t standing in the middle of a rainstorm, shivering because she was stupid enough not to unpack her jacket from her suitcase.
“I don’t know you,” she told him, and his lips twitched again. Rivulets of water were running down her neck. “We’re not sharing a cab.”
“I’ll share it with you,” the next man in line shouted at suit guy. “I don’t care if you’re a mass murderer.”
Suit guy lifted a brow at her. He wasn’t smiling anymore. He looked kind of pissed, actually, which was the effect she seemed to have on most guys nowadays.
“I wasn’t planning on getting in with you,” he said, and Grace immediately blushed. Somebody pushed past her and took a lunge for the cab, but suit guy blocked them admirably.
“Can you get in, please?” he asked. His voice was low, like he’d already had enough.
“Okay.” Grace nodded, finally resigned to breaking the standoff. “Thank you.”
