I hadn't always been from the city, even if that's where I'd been living lately. I replied with a shrug and nothing else.
Her mouth quirked upward. "So you're not denying it?"
"Do I need to?"
With something like a snicker, she replied, "No. Some things are just obvious."
I gave her a long look. "Why do I get the feeling I was just insulted?"
This made her blush. It was cute as hell, even as she rushed to say, "I didn't mean it as an insult."
Cute save. Not convincing, but cute.Still, I refused to be sidetracked. "So? Am I hired?"
She stared up at me. "You're really serious?"
The longer we talked, the more serious I was. Up close, I could see the shadows under her eyes – not makeup shadows – real ones, the kind you got from too many late nights and not enough help.
I could change that – at least for a while.
But not forever.
Like I said, I was nobody's hero. I just needed food and a place to hang out. The fact that she needed help was only a bonus – good for herandfor me.
For my part, the time would pass a lot quicker if I was busy.
But the timewouldpass. And then? Like a summer tourist, I'd be on my way.
I held up a finger. "One caveat." I paused to let it sink in. "It's temporary."
"How temporary?"
"A month."
She brightened. "A whole month?" She said it like a kid who'd just discovered candy came in bucket sizes. But then her expression turned wary. "But what if you don't like it?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
She looked around. "Well…it's not exactly a luxury establishment."
"Maybe I'm not a luxury guy." Sure, I'd learned to enjoy life's finer things, but that didn't mean I'd gone soft.
She bit her lip. "Well, you don't seem like onenow, but…" She shrugged and never did finish the sentence.
I wasn't gonna let her offthateasy. "But what?"
"Well…the first time I met you, I was pretty sure you worked on Wall Street."
Now that was a joke.So I did the only thing I could. I laughed.
It was her turn to ask, "What's so funny?"
"I've never been there."
She looked surprised. "You mean to Wall Street?"
"That's the one." Oh sure, I'd been to New York and a whole slew of other cities. But I wasn't a trading-floor kind of guy. "I hate to break it to you, but it's not my kind of place."
"Oh." She was silent for another beat before asking, "So, do you have a resume?"
