Page 164 of Rose
He laughed. “Way older than twenty-six.”
“Pfft. I highly doubt that,” she said, glancing up at his face. “You look young—like, I’ll guess... twenty-eight?”
“I’m thirty-six,” he said.
She damn near choked on her own spit.
“Damn! That was a graceful way of calling me old,” he joked.
“No, no! I just didn’t expect that. You look young,” she said, recovering with a smile. “Black don’t crack, huh?”
“Exactly,” he grinned.
They slid right back into conversation, light, effortless. She talked about art, her favorite tattoos she’d done, stories of crazy clients. He mostly listened, soaking her in, memorizing every gesture, every laugh, every subtle expression she made while working.
Then something caught his attention.
His eyes wandered to the corner of the room, where a black monitor showed frozen footage of the lobby.
“Do you know your cameras aren’t working?” he asked, voice shifting slightly.
Ahzii looked up from the tattoo, blinking. “Yeah. My brother’s supposed to bring someone by tomorrow to fix them.”
William nodded, filing that detail away. Cameras were his thing. Tech was his thing. It was what had made him dangerous, and what kept him hidden. But for once, he wanted to use it for something good.
“I can fix them for you,” he offered.
Her eyes lifted, surprised. “You know how to fix cameras? What do you do again?”
“I never told you what I do, Beautiful,” he said with a slow smirk. “But yeah. I know how. I work in cyber-security.”
Lie.
But she didn’t need the truth, not tonight.
She raised a brow, clearly amused. “How much you gonna charge me?”
“Free,” he said, bold now. “If you let me take you on a date.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I’m not in a position to date right now. I’m too busy.”
“I can see that,” he said, eyes softening. “So how about this… I’ll fix your cameras. Free of charge. Then I’ll leave my number. And when you’re not too busy, you hit me up.”
He grabbed a pen and paper from the counter, scribbled his number, and handed it to her like a man placing all his hope in a single shot.
Ahzii looked at the paper, then at him.
She didn’t smile. Not at first.
Then, slowly, her lips curved. “Fine.”
And just like that, he smiled too.
Like she’d just said yes to a future neither of them knew was coming.
William stood on the stool inside The Escape Room, carefully adjusting the last security camera. The buzz of the night had finally settled. The art showcase had ended, and now it was just Ahzii, a few lingering staff, and him.
He jumped down from the stool, wiping his hands on a cloth before handing her back her phone. “All cameras are working now. I set them up to sync to your phone—live view, playback, notifications. Everything’s secure.”
