Money Man (King Maker 1)

“Matt got it for me,” she said sheepishly.

“And I gave you lessons on how to use it. It’s New York,” he said.

Matt was a cop. It made sense.

“I’m going to grab a shower,” he added.

“You can use mine,” Lizzy offered.

She must have caught my indecision.

“My stuff is in there. Don’t worry. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”

I glanced heavenward as I shook my head.

He laughed as he closed the door to the bathroom.

I opened my mouth to speak, thinking about the clothes I’d left on the floor, but didn’t. My bra and panties wouldn’t be the first he’d seen.

“I’m sorry about that,” Lizzy said, gun pointing at the floor.

“What’s there to be sorry for? It is his room. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Don’t. You can share my room.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. Your couch isn’t the worst thing I’ve slept on.”

I’d grown up sleeping on beds made of straw. Everything we had was made by hand or gotten from trade. Mattresses weren’t a necessity.

“He’s leaving tomorrow,” she said.

“It’s fine. Really. I should be looking for my own place.”

“Bails,” Lizzy said, fear on her face. “You don’t have to go. In fact, I really like you here.”

“Thanks. But I’ve intruded long enough.”

I’d never lived alone. From sharing one small room with my sisters, to sharing a dorm room, to living with Scott, I’d never been alone. As scary as the thought was, it was also a little exciting.

“I should get dressed before your brother gets out.”

She nodded and reluctantly left. I scrambled to the drawers to find something to put on. I’d barely pulled on one of my old cotton nightgowns I hadn’t worn in years when the bathroom door opened.

Matt stopped in his tracks and eyed me.

“My God. You look like a Puritan.”

I tried to laugh it off. Modesty was required in our community. The nightgown covered from my neck to my toes. Scott hadn’t approved, but I couldn’t throw them all away. They were a reminder of home. Something I could put on in the safety of my room when I got homesick.

“It’s warm,” I said, unable to explain to Matt why such barriers were needed.

Water sluiced down his chest to the towel wrapped around his waist. He was a fine specimen of a man, but that pull I felt toward Kalen and sin, wasn’t there between Matt and me.

“You know, it’s actually kind of hot. It makes me wonder what’s under it.”

My breath hitched. That wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

He stepped closer, too close.

“Bailey,” he said my name full of promise.

“Matt, we can’t.”

I wanted to step back, but his warm hands cupped my cheeks as his forehead dipped to meet mine.

“Why not? I’ve wanted you for a long time and I’ve seen how you’ve looked at me.”

“So what, we have this one night and you leave and go back to Chicago and our friendship is ruined.”

“Bailey,” he said. “I came to New York because of you.”

“What?” I repeated with a hitch in my throat. I’d crushed on him forever, but he’d never paid me any attention, other than being his sister’s best friend.

“I think I’ve always liked you. Probably since the first day I saw you in my sister’s room.”

“But you ignored me,” I retorted, trying to make sense of what he was saying, even though it was clear.

“Yeah, I was a bastard. I knew I wasn’t ready to settle down. I never wanted to hurt you, and if I’d asked you out back then, I would have. So I waited.”

“You waited too long,” I said, realizing more than ever there was someone else I was interested in.

“Yeah,” he huffed. “That bastard sank his hooks in you, and I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen.” He paused. “Sorry, I’m not trying to throw that in your face.”

He was right, but so wrong. Scott was the past.

“But you left,” I said, because he’d transferred to the University of Chicago after his sophomore year.

“Yep, and you two were pretty serious. I thought I’d lost my chance. And hadn’t I? You were going to marry him, according to what Lizzy told me this summer. Then I got a call from her saying that you’d left him.”

“But you didn’t come for Christmas,” I said, thrown completely off by this conversation.

He sighed. “You know things aren’t right with my dad and me. He still doesn’t like the idea that I don’t want to take over the family business. That I want to be a cop.”

“You should have come home,” I said. And not for me, I thought. I knew firsthand that his parents were crushed by his retreat from the family.

“I know, but I’m here now. For you, I’d be willing to try a relationship. I haven’t had one of those in a long time, but you’re worth it.”