Page 14 of The Gilded Heiress

I was off the stoop in a flash. “You bounder!” I yelled after the man as I hurried to the child’s side. It was a young boy. He couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old. “Are you hurt?”

He grinned and held up a fancy gold watch.

My mouth dropped open. “Tell me you didn’t pinch a watch from that man.”

“I didn’t pinch a watch from that man.”

He was clearly lying. “You little scamp.” Straightening, I put my hands on my hips. “And here I thought you were hurt.”

“I am hurt,” the boy said as he scrambled to his feet. “My ass’ll be sore all week!”

“That’s not a very nice word for someone so young.”

After he slipped the watch into his pocket, he dusted off his dirty and torn trousers. “I’m not young. I’m nine.”

Goodness, he was small for his age. Something tugged at my heart. “I’m Josie,” I said, thrusting my hand out.

“They call me Sticks.” He gave me a hearty pump of his hand.

“Why Sticks?”

“Because when I follow someone, I don’t lose ’em. What’s your story?”

“I’m here from Boston. Going to be a Broadway singer.”

He squinted up at me. “Can you sing?”

“I should hope so, if I hope to make it to Broadway.”

“Then sing already.”

I frowned down at him. “As easy as that?”

“What, you need an invitation?”

Did he think I hadn’t sung on the street before? That I was shy? I strode over to the apartment building’s steps and turned

to face the street. Then I drew in a deep breath, opened my mouth, and sang. It was one of the songs I performed a lot on

the street back in Boston. An attention grabber, this tune used to get me a lot of money.

People stopped to watch as I went on. I didn’t give it my all, not like I would if I were collecting tips, but I sang clearly and well.

It felt nice to be outside, singing in front of strangers.

I liked the attention and hoped I might bring a bit of happiness to one person’s dreary day, similar to when the nuns sang at the Children’s Asylum. It always used to make me feel better.

When I finished, the crowd applauded and I took a little bow. Several people asked where I performed, but I told them to ask

me again in a few weeks. “For right now, only here,” I said with a tiny shrug.

A man shoved his way through the crowd, a deep scowl on his face.

Leo.

He was carrying two sacks, one in each arm. They looked heavy. He charged right up to me. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Making friends.” I gestured toward where Sticks had been standing a second ago, but saw that he’d disappeared. Huh.

“You can’t sing on the street anymore,” Leo snapped. “We’re not giving the goods away for free.”

“The goods?”

“Your voice. Your talent. Come inside and help me put all this away.” He indicated the sacks in his arms. Without waiting

to see whether I agreed or not, he started up the steps. When I wasn’t right behind him, he hollered, “Josie!”

I hurried to open the door for him, then trailed him inside. “Why are you so cranky?”

“Because these sacks are heavy and you didn’t listen to me.”

He jerked his chin, indicating I should proceed him up the stairs. I tried to explain. “I was bored, and I didn’t see the

problem with getting some fresh air.”

“Fresh air! You were giving a show out there.”

“Would you feel better if I put a jar down for tips?”

“No.” He ascended the next flight. “I’d feel better if you didn’t get lost or taken advantage of here. I would feel better if you stayed inside, where I said.”

“I’m not a dog, Leo.”

“I’m well aware,” he muttered under his breath.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing. Listen, this is a big city full of unscrupulous people. Stay safe and don’t deliberately cause trouble.”

“God forbid I have any fun or meet anyone new,” I grumbled.

He was breathing hard outside our door. “Unlock it, please, Your Majesty.”

I took out my key and fit it into the lock. When the door was open, Leo went in and dropped the bags on the table. He leaned

over, exhaled, and shook out his arms. I strolled closer and peered into the sacks. “What did you buy?”

“Food.”

“I offered to go with you. I don’t know why you’re so mad. I figured you’d be gone awhile.”

“Why would I be gone any longer than necessary?”

“Because you were in such a hurry to get away from me. I thought you were going—”

I clamped my mouth shut. There was no reason to admit what I’d really thought. Leo might get the wrong idea.

He studied me carefully from under the brim of his hat before slipping it off his head. “Where did you think I went?”

I waved my hand in a vague gesture. “Around.”

He leaned on the chair back with one hand, his expression turning stormy. I could almost hear the clap of thunder due any

moment. “Around where, Josie?”

“Hither. You know, yon. Nowhere in particular.”

“Did you think I went to a saloon? That I was planning to have fun all afternoon while you waited here?”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t?”

He shook his head, threw his hat on a chair, and dug into the bags. “You are unbelievable.”

My wayward thoughts kept spilling right out of my mouth. “Though you don’t strike me as a drunk. More like a—” I pressed my lips together, but it was too late.

Something heavy dropped onto the table. He spun to face me. “Go on, finish that sentence.”

Why couldn’t I just be quiet? I turned to put the food away, but Leo was suddenly right in front of me, holding gently on

to my arm. “Josie. Sweetheart. Finish that sentence.”

I wasn’t deceived by his endearment. His voice was as sweet as vinegar. “Let me go, Leo.”

“Not until I hear what you were going to say.”

He wasn’t wearing gloves and the heat of his grip sank into my skin. My stomach started doing flips and swirls under the intensity

of his furious glare, which seemed to bore right through my flesh and bones, right down to my lonely soul. He was so close,

the clean masculine scent of him flooding my nostrils, and I had to moisten my dry lips. He squinted in response and the gray

flecks in his blue gaze sharpened.

The air turned charged, the oxygen disappearing from the room, and I could scarcely draw in a deep breath.

What was happening? Were we fighting... Or something else?

“I don’t think I want to tell you,” I whispered.

The anger leached out of his expression, and his mouth hitched into a lopsided smile. It was a flirtatious look, one that

seared through every part of me. He could melt ice with that look. I had no defense against it, not at this close range. I

was caught, like a spider in a web.

That was when his thumb started a slow, deliberate back-and-forth over my arm. A simple up and down of one digit, but I could

feel the caress in every part of my body—my breasts, my toes. My ears. Between my legs. Heat unwound in my belly and my knees

trembled.

His tone dipped. “Come on, honey. Tell me what you really think of me.”

Like he’d mesmerized me, the truth tumbled from my lips. “More like a degenerate tomcat.”

I expected anger at the insult. Instead, he slid closer and gently brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You thought

I went out to find a woman to fuck?”

I hadn’t expected him to say the word. I’d heard it over the years, of course, but never in such close quarters by a man.

It was dirty and illicit. Forbidden. And tantalizing.

My mouth was too dry to speak, so I merely nodded.

He tilted his head. “Were you jealous?”

I wanted to lie. Badly. But I believed in telling the truth, so I nodded once more. A muscle jumped in his jaw as his expression

wiped clean. I waited for him to do something, say something, but the moment stretched, and my nerves wound tighter and tighter.

I was good at reading people, but I couldn’t figure him out.

Was he going to kiss me?

Did I want him to?

Leo was normally charismatic and cheerful. Right now, he was a statue—flat expression, with secrets lurking behind those brilliant

eyes. Without warning, he dropped his arms and stepped back. “You know, a night of debauchery is just what this degenerate

tomcat needs. Don’t wait up.”

He was nearly to the door by the time my brain restarted. “It’s four in the afternoon!”

“Never hurts to start early,” he called on his way into the hall. The door closed behind him with a snap.

Silence descended and I felt like the world’s biggest fool. Why had I admitted to being jealous? Now Leo would think I had

feelings for him. Which I didn’t. I just didn’t want him out with other women while we were here.

I was supposed to be his focus, no one else.

I stared at the door. Perhaps he’d come back, rethink his hasty decision. We’d have a good laugh over this, eat dinner, and then walk around the neighborhood a bit.

Except the door remained closed.

A sick feeling bloomed behind my ribs. Was he really going out to find a woman? I rubbed my sternum and tried to ease the

growing ache there. For a moment or two when he returned from shopping it seemed as if he cared about me, about my safety.

Now he was gone and had left me to fend for myself.

Soon it would be dark. Men were able to roam about on their own, but the second a woman was alone, every man in the vicinity

thought she was fair game—especially at night. Pippa often asked a bartender from the saloon to walk her home, if it was late.

It was too dangerous otherwise.

Leo would know that I couldn’t leave at night without an escort. This meant I was stuck inside until he returned.

I drew myself up straight. This was how he wanted to play it? Fine. I could be cordial business partners, nothing more, nothing

less. We owed each other nothing but a handshake on a dream.

And one way or another he would make good on his part of that deal.