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That was happening less and less these days. I had lived in the house with Dad and Bubbe through college and during my year on Wall Street, but I left for Boston when I was offered a spot at Harvard. I had no regrets, but the demanding schedule of classes, studying, and interning had reduced my bimonthly visits to holiday weekends and breaks.
I pressed my nose to the cold glass. My dad would love being stuck at home on a snow day like this, when he wouldn’t have to empty trash cans at the crack of dawn and could sit in his armchair all day if he wanted. Before college, I’d join him. We’d playRiskand watch old movies until we crashed on the faded plaid couch in the living room. A snow day in Flatbush was magical; in Boston, it often felt cold and unfriendly. Except maybe in a house like this.
The front doors swept open with a bang. I jumped from the windowsill, sending my phone onto the floor with a clatter. I scrambled down to find it, and when I stood, I found four pairs of eyes staring at me.
There were three men, all of whom appeared to be in their thirties or early forties and who were dressed impeccably in tailored suits and the kind of cashmere overcoats that cost as much as my food budget for a year. One had brown hair and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. Another had a mustache framing very thin lips.
The third was probably the handsomest man I had ever seen. Clean shaven but for a bit of stubble, he had a ruddy, tanned complexion that betrayed a life that couldn’t be lived entirely in an office, and ear-length, sandy-blond hair brushed back from his face. The wind had made a few stray locks topple forward in that sexy, carefree way only certain men can pull off. He looked edible.
The other person was a very pretty woman, also dressed in a suit and overcoat, albeit much more fitted ones. With black hair tied back from her face, very pale skin, and bright red lips, she was beautiful in that severe way only a few very powerful women can pull off. All four people stared at me as though I were a stray animal that had managed to find its way inside the house. Come to think of it, that wasn’t entirely incorrect.
“Sterling,” said the mustached man with a mischievous grin. “You didn’t tell us you had company waiting for you.”
“No,” said the woman in a tone that implied she was not at all happy with my presence. “He didn’t.”
“I didn’t know I had,” said the blond man, who, even as his companions turned toward him, continued to stare at me in a way that made me feel frozen in place. Our eyes locked. Even in the dim light, I could see that his were a brilliant blue, the color of an Alpine lake. I felt my mouth drop slightly, but couldn’t do anything about it. I stood like a damn statue, completely transfixed. He was absolutely mesmerizing, but I couldn’t have explained why.
“Sterling? You all right, man?”
The brown-haired man’s voice broke the spell, and my cell phone clattered again to the floor as I lost my grip. I blinked, able to move and speak at last.
“God, I’m so sorry,” I said, scrambling down for my phone. “I’m a friend of…um…Ana’s…shit, I’m on my way out.”
I practically tripped as I ducked around Sterling and his friends, running down the hallway toward the stairs. I thundered down to the servants’ quarters, dug my coat and shoes out of the front closet, and opened the door while I was still pushing my arms into my coat.
The clear sounds of Ana and Eric’s ecstasy rang in my ears as I escaped into the intensifying blizzard, reminding me yet again of what I couldn’t quite attain. As I started the long walk across the park to the nearest T station, I recalled the blazing blue of Sterling’s eyes. Somehow, I doubted the women he knew ever had that problem.
Three
It wasn’t until I was about halfway through the park that I heard a voice echoing behind me.
“Wait! Miss! Fuck, I don’t know your name, but will you juststop!”
I turned to find Sterling bounding doggedly through the snow. He stumbled, nearly fell on a crack in the sidewalk, but rebounded with the reflexes of a trained athlete and caught up with me in a couple more steps. A few more errant locks fell across his forehead, and I was faced with a smile that made my legs feel as if they were immersed in a hot tub, not the frigid New England air blowing up my skirt.
“Do you always go wandering through the Common after midnight?” he asked as he regained his breath. “It’s not exactly safe. Especially for someone like you.”
I didn’t have to ask what he meant by that, considering my size and gender. Instead, I flushed, suddenly embarrassed by my idiocy. I wasn’t some hayseed from the hills. In my desperation to escape that house and the very disturbing effect that, well,this manseemed to have on me, I had done what every city dweller knows not to do: wander a public park at night.
“You left without saying goodbye,” Sterling said with a sardonic lift of an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name. Or what you were doing in my house.”
“God,” I said, finally finding my voice, able to look everywhere but directly at him. Like the sun, he exuded energy so bright I couldn’t see clearly. So instead, I rambled.
“I’m so sorry about that. I’m a friend of Ana’s, your housekeeper. She just let me in for a minute but had to go, uh, deal with something in her room. I didn’t have any cell reception down there, so I came upstairs to find a signal. She had no idea, really, so please don’t blame her. I didn’t mean to intrude in your, space, truly, and, um...”
I didn’t stop babbling until Sterling placed his hands on my shoulders and bent down so his chiseled features were level with mine.
“It’s okay,” he said slowly, and I found myself rolling my eyes at his playful tone before I could stop myself.
“Sorry,” I repeated, but the babbling stage was over.
“Your name?” he prompted again, releasing my shoulders and standing back up straight.
It was then I realized again how very tall he was. A frame that must have been close to six-four filled out a charcoal-gray suit in a way that made me wonder just how much time he spent wearing a suit and how much time he spent at the gym.
“Yum,” I whispered before I could stop to think.
“Your name is Yum?”
