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See, she might not have close friends, but Bernie knew she normally had an oatmeal raisin cookie when she indulged. “Finished a job for a client.”
“Good for you. Beautiful young woman like you shouldn’t be cooped up in her apartment working all day.” Bernie was pushing sixty and constantly trying to set her up with an assortment of relatives and friends—and they were legion. She’d always politely declined.
He added a bottle of water to her order without asking. It was both comforting and annoying. Was she that predictable? No, she’d gotten the brownie, hadn’t she?
If that was the extent of her impulsiveness, she’d dug herself into a big rut.
“I’m heading to the park. Thanks,” she added as she paid, but Bernie was already talking to the next customer.
What was wrong with her today? She loved her life. Yes, she lived in a tiny, hole-in-the-wall apartment, but it was in New York Freaking City. It was everything she’d dreamed it would be. Sure, it cost a fortune to live here. Even making a decent living, she had to cut corners to make ends meet. Hence the shortage of brownies in her life and the thrift-store clothes jammed in her minuscule closet. But every sacrifice she’d ever made was worth it.
Her phone rang as she strolled down the block. She dug it out of her bag and smiled when she saw the name on the screen. “Hey, Brenda.” Her friend worked at the thrift store Zoe frequented and waitressed three nights a week at a swanky restaurant.
“I’ve got tonight off. Want to head out to the Green Door?” Nightclubs popped up overnight in the city and disappeared just as fast. The Green Door was new and relatively unknown. That meant drink specials which fit her budget…if she didn’t eat out for a week.
Normally, she’d be sensible and decline, but she was still feeling the sting of realizing she was in a rut. “Sure.”
“Really?” Brenda’s surprise made her roll her eyes.
“You want me to go or not?”
“Sure. Usually, I have to talk you into it. Hang on a sec.” In the background, she heard the murmur of voices. Her friend was calling from work. She stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change.
“Gotta go.” Brenda sounded slightly harried. “How ’bout we meet there around nine?”
Before Zoe could reply, the line went dead. Stuffing her phone in her bag, she stepped off the sidewalk. A horn blared. Tires squealed. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and yanked her back. The deli bag slipped from her hand and dropped to the ground. Off balance, she would’ve ended up on her ass except she rammed into someone.
What the hell!Heart pounding, mouth dry, she trembled.
“Watch where you’re walking, lady,” the driver yelled, speeding away. Stunned, all she could do was blink. It had happened so fast.
“You okay?” The voice was impossibly deep and vibrated in the very marrow of her bones.
Tilting her head back, she stared up and up. Holy cow, he was one of the biggest men she’d ever seen, and every inch of it was prime. The black T-shirt he wore stretched across an acre of shoulders and clung to rock-hard abs. At a loss for words, she catalogued his features. He wasn’t handsome. That was far too tame a word. Primal sprang to mind. His face was all hard, sharp angles, his jaw stubborn. She curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching up to touch him to make sure he was real and not some figment of her overactive imagination.
Maybe I’m dead and this is heaven?
His hair was pure white and pulled back from his face in a short tail. But this guy wasn’t anywhere near ancient. No, he was young and vibrant and smoking hot. She didn’t think it was dyed, either. Not a single dark root in sight, and maybe it was stereotyping, but he didn’t seem the type to dye it. That meant it was hereditary.
He held her at arm’s length, his lips compressing into a hard line. “Lady, are you okay?”
Tongue-tied by his mere presence, she nodded.
“You need to watch where you’re going.” Releasing her, he walked away without a backward glance.
He might be handsome as sin, but his personality sucked. Okay, that wasn’t fair. He’d saved her life. She’d cut him some slack. He likely had somewhere he needed to be.
Glancing down, she found her deli bag. By some stroke of luck, it hadn’t gotten squashed beneath the tires of a car or trampled by passing feet. She grabbed it and checked. The sandwich was slightly crushed. The brownie was unharmed.
Zoe took a deep breath. “You’re okay.” Despite her reassurance, her stomach churned, and she couldn’t stop trembling. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the scare she’d had or the man who had saved her. Probably both in equal parts. Forsaking the park, she headed home. Her unexpected hero was already out of sight.
Sighing, she went to rub her hand against her forehead and clunked herself with the deli bag. “Get with it, girl.” Clasping the bag to her chest, she slowly walked home and dragged herself up the stairs. She wasn’t hurt, but she’d had a shock.
After kicking off her sneakers, she took her meal to her desk, which stood in front of her one window and doubled as her dining table. Staring down at the street, she ate by rote, not tasting the delicious sandwich.
“I wonder what color his eyes are.” Sunglasses had covered them, but she’d sensed the intensity of his gaze from behind the tinted lenses. Giving a sigh, she reached for the brownie. “Stop it. It’s over. He’s gone. You were two ships passing in the night, even if it was daytime. Maybe he’s your guardian angel.”
That made her laugh. He was too badass. Whoever he was, he was anything but an angel.
