Page 177 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 2

Maybe I’m making a bigger deal of this than I should? Fortunately, she’s too caught up in listing her bags online to care what I’m doing.

I return to pour another short glass of whiskey. I’m not looking to get drunk, but the amber liquid has taken off the edge and allowed me to sink into the exhaustion instead of fighting it.

Looking up at me from the couch, she almost seems disappointed. “Is anything off-limits?”

“Nothing is off-limits. I have nothing to hide.” I look up and add, “Except that closet.” I point at the one near the second bedroom-slash-office because I like fucking with her.

Marlow’s eyes go wide, intrigue shaping them like flying saucers. “Really? What’s in the closet?” She’s on a mission and makes a beeline for it. Not that I’m going to stop her.

“I wouldn’t open that if I were you—Ah, too late.”

As she stands there staring, her jaw drops just a little. “I thought I’d find a skeleton or two, but nope,” she says as her eyes find me across the distance that divides us. “It’s even better. The records aside, you have an impressive number of versions of Monopoly. I didn’t know you were so into games . . . board games, that is, and Monopoly specifically.”

“It was my favorite game growing up.”

“That explains your job. What do you do again?”

I chuckle. “Finance. I started as an intern at my parents' company, and then became a stockbroker. Eventually, I moved into wealth management with the Christiansens.”

Her brows cinch together, and she says, “I knew you dealt with money, but why did I not know the details?”

“Guess you never asked.” Shrugging, I take a pull of whiskey.

“Hmm.” She reaches into the closet and starts touching things. “And that’s what you do now?” When she glances back at me, she asks, “Wealth management? I could have used some advice.”

“Debt abatement, consolidation of assets, bankruptcy consult, your situation isn’t my specialty.” I pull a bottle of wine from the wine fridge and set it on the counter.

She bends to get a closer look inside. Popping back up, she crosses her arms over her chest and shifts her weight onto her right side. “So you advise wealthy people how to get wealthier?”

I pluck the cork out using the corkscrew and grin. “No, I used to.”

Marlow’s eyebrows shoot up. “Then what do you do now?”

“Sit on the other side of the desk.”

It takes a moment, but I see when it dawns in her eyes like a sunrise over the blue ocean. Her arms lower, and she looks around the apartment as if she’s seeing it for the first time. Really seeing it.

“But you still go into work when you’re not saving damsels in distress,” she says so matter-of-factly.

“First, I didn’t save you, Marlow. You’re going to do that. Secondly, I like my work. I invest in companies that are changing the world. Sometimes, people just need someone to believe in them. That’s what I do.”

Satisfaction grows her smile, and she nods. “Thank you for everything you’re doing for me.”

“You don’t need to tell me thanks.”

She finally comes closer. Leaning against the counter with only an inch or two at most between us, she dips her fingertips under my shirt and into the top of my pants. “What if I show you instead?”

“I’d be okay with that.”

I’m whacked on the chest. “Onlyokay?”

“What do you want me to say? If you want to thank me with a blow job, I’m not going to stop you.”

“God, Jackson,” she says with a pretty epic eye roll and matching grin, “you’re so crude sometimes.”

Before she escapes, I run my hand around the smooth skin of her neck to the back and hold her there with her sass and snark intact as well as her eyes fixed on mine. She’s enjoying this more than she’ll let on. Fucking gorgeous, even in her irritation. “You can just call me Jackson, no need for the formal God part.” I’m whacked again, causing me to burst out laughing. “So that’s a no on the blow?”

She snatches the glass of wine and then returns to the couch, giving me a little wiggle of that ass as a tease. Settling back down into the leather, she sips after leveling me with a glare. “Is this how it’s going to be around here?”

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