Page 36 of The New York Nighthawks, Vol. 2

SKYE

Dempsey didn’t waste any time when it came to getting his ruined clothes cleaned.

Only a few hours after we parted ways at the coffee shop, he texted me with the address of the dry cleaners he’d dropped them off at and let me know they’d be ready the next morning.

I agreed to meet him here at ten o’clock, but I showed up early in case the cost was more than I was expecting, and I had to split the bill between my debit and credit cards.

Since I only had about twenty dollars in my bank account until I got paid for a catering gig I did last week, that was a very real risk.

The bell above the door rang when I walked inside, and I flashed the cashier a nervous smile. “Hi, I’m here to pick up a dry-cleaning order for Dempsey Tate. He’s meeting me, but I was hoping you could grab it now.”

I had expected her to balk at the idea of handing over his clothes to someone without the claim slip, but she just nodded and walked toward a rack of plastic covered clothes.

I could’ve been a stalker with a fetish for football players for all she knew, but I wasn’t going to lecture her about maintaining Dempsey’s privacy when she was doing what I wanted.

Although I would probably suggest that he switch dry cleaners after we left.

It didn’t take her long to find his order. Moving it to the small rack near the register, she tugged the slip from the top and looked at the total. “That’ll be twenty-six dollars and nineteen cents.”

I gulped as my glance slid toward the shirt and pants hanging next to me.

I had entire outfits that cost half that much but considering how expensive the suit he’d changed into looked, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the price to have his casual clothes cleaned.

The man lived in a different world than I did, which was why his joke about us getting married had been so darn hilarious, even though he’d tried to play it off as though he was being serious with his questions about what kind of wedding I wanted.

“Um, is there any chance I could split the charge across two cards please?”

She quirked a brow and heaved a deep sigh. “You sure you want to be paying for this guy’s cleaning if you can’t afford less than thirty bucks?”

“Never mind,” I mumbled, not wanting to get into a whole explanation of what had happened when Dempsey could show up any minute. Yanking my credit card from my wallet, I slid it across the counter. “Charge it to this one.”

Just after she swiped the card and was handing it back to me, the bell above the door chimed.

Proving that nothing could go right when I was around the hot football player that I hadn’t been able to get off my mind all night, he walked up as she rolled her eyes and said, “I guess you were right to want to split the cost between two cards because this one was declined.”

“Crap, sorry.” I pulled out a ten and a five before starting to dig through my coin purse, hoping there was enough change in there to cover the difference. “Let me pay in cash instead.”

“That won’t be necessary.” My cheeks were beet red as Dempsey whipped out his wallet and handed her a platinum Amex. “Charge it to this.”

I lowered my head to stare at my feet while he took care of the bill, not saying a word as I fought to keep my tears at bay as I tucked my cash back into my purse.

After signing for the transaction, he put the card and receipt back in his wallet, yanked the clean clothes from the rack, and guided me out of the store by placing his hand on my lower back.

“It looks as though I owe you another apology,” I whispered when the door shut with a jangle behind us. “I’m not sure why my card was declined. I just checked the available balance on it this morning, so I must have forgotten something that was due to be charged today. I swear I’ll pay you back.”

I mentally tacked a “somehow” onto the end of that sentence instead of saying it aloud since I didn’t want to embarrass myself any more than I already had.

“I don’t give a fuck about the money, Skye,” he grunted, gliding his palm around my side to cup my elbow. “Or the damn clothes.”

“Then why did we even come here?” I cried, the tears finally spilling onto my cheeks.

“Shit, fuck, don’t cry.” His expression turned frantic as he dragged me down the sidewalk toward a black Lincoln Navigator parallel parked a few cars down.

After ushering me into the passenger seat, he tossed the dry-cleaning bag into the back seat and hurried around to the other side of the vehicle.

Once inside, he turned toward me and interlaced our fingers, tugging my hands onto his lap and stroking his thumb across my palm. “I am so fucking sorry.”

I took a shuddering breath and pulled myself together enough to ask, “Why are you apologizing? None of this was your fault. I’m the one who spilled coffee all over you and then embarrassed both of us by offering to pay for your dry cleaning when I couldn’t afford it.

If anyone needs to ask for forgiveness here, it’s me. Definitely not you.”

“Except you never would’ve been in that position if I hadn’t latched onto your offer as an excuse to see you again,” he explained with a sigh.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, shaking my head.

“So here’s the thing…remember how I asked you to marry me yesterday?”

A watery laugh sputtered out of my mouth. “Um, yeah. That’s something I’ll never forget.”

“I’m glad my proposal was memorable.” His dark-blue eyes burned into mine. “Because I meant it.”

“No way,” I breathed, my mouth slackening. “I thought you were joking.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I got that by how hard you laughed.”

“Crap, if you were being serious”—which was very hard to believe—“I owe you yet another apology.”

“No, that’s on me, too,” he insisted. “Although you’re gorgeous as fuck, having some guy pop the question minutes after you meet has to be pretty damn unbelievable.”

My cheeks heated at his compliment, which he seemed to actually mean judging by the sincerity shining from his eyes. “It doesn’t make much sense. You could literally marry anyone you wanted, so why me? I’m a total mess.”

“I like your mess.” He lifted one of his hands to rub his thumb across my cheek. “It makes you more interesting.”

Those butterflies that seemed to always be around when Dempsey was near took flight in my stomach again.

“Okay, setting aside how smart you are to recognize my awesomeness when I haven’t even cooked for you…

why propose to a woman you just met at all?

Is there some inheritance you’re going to miss out on if you’re not married? ”

“Close.” His deep laughter filled the interior of the SUV as my eyes widened.

“I’m in the running for a big endorsement deal that will let me turn a lifelong dream into a reality, but my agent found out that they’re balking at using me because the company wants someone more settled to represent their brand.

To them, that means a family man, and my close relationship with my parents and brothers doesn’t count. ”

A lock of my hair fell over my shoulder as I tilted my head to the side, mulling over his answer. “This lifelong dream of yours is important enough to marry someone you don’t even know?”

He blew me away when he explained about the community centers he wanted to open.

I’d already figured out he was a nice guy, but his desire to help kids went beyond being kind and proved that Dempsey was a man any girl would be lucky to have in her life.

“And there isn’t a woman in your life you could ask instead of me? ”

“I couldn’t even tell you how long it’s been since I dated anyone.”

His admission made me a little too happy, considering he was just proposing a marriage of convenience, not confessing his undying love at first sight to me.

The scariest part of this whole thing was the very real possibility that I would fall head over heels for him and end up with a broken heart when this was all over.

“Is it okay if I take a little time to think about it?” His lips parted, but before he could tell me he needed an answer right away, I rushed to add, “Because I can’t say yes when I can hardly wrap my head around the idea of getting married, even if it’s only for convenience and not forever.”