Then the outer door to the ladies’ room opened again.
“Portia?”
The last voice in the world she expected.
“Aleks?”
It couldn’t be.
She peered through the crack between the door and the wall. And there he was, dressed in a well-cut suit, looking like he’d walked out a high-end menswear catalog. In the ladies’ room. Her mouth dropped open and her brain fogged, just a bit.
Portia opened the door just enough to glare at him. “What are you doing in here?” she hissed. “This is the women’s restroom!”
“You looked upset. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Concern coated his words.
Her heart melted a little bit. She ignored it. “Are you following me?”
Aleks sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’m not following you. My employers decided to have dinner here tonight.”
Portia dropped her head against the door with a thunk. Of all the restaurants in the city... The universe must really hate her. “Did they see me?”
Please let him say no.
“I don’t think so. Mrs. Solveig might have seen Dizzie, though.”
“Ugh. That’s... almost worse.” “Almost” because Dizzie would have to deal with them, not Portia.
Aleks shrugged. “That’s not my problem. At least, not yet.” He stepped closer. “What’s the matter?”
“I...” She trailed off. No matter what he said, she couldn’t keep dumping Tommy on Aleks. It wasn’t fair to whatever was happening between them. She stepped out of the safety of the small cubicle. “Grief. It was grief.”
He grasped her shoulders and pulled her close.
She went willingly, melting into his chest. Aleks wrapped his arms around her. His woodsy cologne tickled her nose, bringing to mind cold nights in front of a fire. She snuggled closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“What if someone comes in?” she worried half-heartedly. Her day was already ending spectacularly badly. What would be worse—the newsies, Dizzie, or Mrs. Solveig walking in on them? Right now, in the comfort of Aleks’s arms, Portia wasn’t sure she cared.
“The door’s locked,” he whispered against her cheek. “We have a couple minutes. Probably.”
Wrapped up in each other, they swayed slightly in the quiet room. Portia focused on his steady heartbeat as it thump-thump-thumped under her ear.
“How was your day?” she asked. The question felt completely natural. Was it too soon to feel that? It had to be too soon.
“Boring,” he told her. “Mrs. Solveig didn’t want to do anything but wait in their suite. She’s sure that Dizzie will change her mind and want to join them, so she spent the entire day waiting for her call.”
Portia shivered. She understood dwelling in grief, but Killian and Dizzie seemed truly happy. “That’s a lost cause,” Portia said.
“I know,” he said. “I’ve tried to get them to see it, but they insist that my implant is making me stupid.”
A growl rose from her throat. “You can’t let them get away with that.” She raised her head to look at him. “If they don’t recognize your potential, they don’t deserve you.”
“There she is,” Aleks crooned. “The most badass woman in the city.” He smoothed his hand over her hip. “Feeling better?”
She stared up at him. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“Do what?”
“Get me riled up at the Solveigs so I forgot that I was sad?” It was kind of genius.
