Jesse threw his head back and groaned while Arthur began to chuckle, though Jesse then found himself smiling a bit, too. Arthur’s funny remark seemed to have had the infuriating andwonderful consequence of easing the familiar sting of self-reproach.
Arthur lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “You see, I knew there was a part of you that enjoys my silliness.”
Jesse’s heart stuttered. Sometimes it seemed like Arthur was making a sincere effort tonotbe inconspicuous.
“I need to fix the paper,” Jesse said, intentionally ignoring Arthur’s too-familiar remark. “Do you want a corrected sheet, Mr. Hughes, or—”
Arthur snatched the paper out of Jesse’s hand.
“No, I’ll keep this one, thank you,” he said, folding up the paper.
Arthur tucked it into his inner breast pocket and then patted it like it was a treasured keepsake and not the pitiful evidence of Jesse’s mistake that it really was. Jesse tried not to let himself obsess about it as he fixed the forme. He had to endure a bit of light teasing from Thomas over his error, regardless. God, he couldn’t wait to leave. For oh-so-many reasons.
Afterward, once Jesse had corrected it, he walked over to the punch clock. Arthur came with him.
“I ought to be leaving now myself,” Arthur said. “So, I would be happy to see you home, Mr. O’Connor. I imagine that the streetcars can be very unreliable right now, what with the snow.”
“Uhm... yes, that would be helpful,” Jesse said carefully. “Thank you, Mr. Hughes.”
In only a matter of minutes, both of them were ready with their outerwear, and the moment they were outside, Arthur let out a forceful exhale, as though those last few minutes they’d spent in the shop with Jesse’s colleagues had been the most trying of his life.
“Wecan, in fact, travel together to your neighborhood, yes?” he said before then tacking on Jesse’s name in what had to have been the most playful tone of voice possible. “Mr. O’Connor.”
Smiling, Jesse let out a breath through his nose. “Assuming you still want to spend time together, yes, I should hope so. I’m not waiting for a streetcar while you ride over without me in your winter carriage.”
“Actually, I came here in a sleigh. One of those Albany cutters.”
“Really? Where is it?” Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I left it with my horse,” Arthur said with a shrug.
Dear God, had the man ever set foot outside his home?
Jesse wrinkled his nose. “Well, I hope it’s still there. Someone may have stolen it.”
“Oh, God, that’s not likely, is it?” Arthur asked, his eyes widening. He immediately whipped his head forward, then let out a sigh of relief. “Nope, not stolen. I see it there.”
“Next time, you should find a place for it.”
“Well, I typically travel with my coachman. But for what I hope are obvious reasons, I came here by myself this time. Truthfully, I’ve only ever taken the sleigh out one other time, and it was when I had traveled to see a friend of my parents’, so I simply left it in their mew. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to park the thing when I came here this morning.”
Warmth swirled in Jesse’s chest. Arthur had changed his method of transportation for him. It was so unexpected, so unlike what Jesse would have ever thought someone like Arthur would do, and, ohGod, it was so incredibly sweet (though a little stupid, too, since the man hadn’t had the sense to move his presumably expensive sleigh off of the street corner).
After a few more paces, Arthur and Jesse reached the sleigh. Thankfully, it had stopped snowing a while ago and not much snow had fallen into it. Arthur walked over to his horse. Meanwhile, Jesse ran his hand over the sleigh’s painted wood—red with black-and-gold trim—and then took notice of the fabric on the seat, which was nearly the exact same shade of crimson. It was one ofthe nicest sleighs that Jesse had ever seen. He hadn’t seen many of this size, either. Normally, in the wintertime, Jesse saw some of Chicago’s wealthier families traveling in carriages whose wheels had been replaced with runners, and that alone brought on a blizzard of envy. He’d felt envious of those even as a kid.
Jesse could still remember the first time he had seen one. He and his father had been visiting a market outside their little neighborhood. Upon seeing the carriage flying past them, Jesse had excitedly asked his father if he’d ever be able to ride in one. In response, his father had simply laughed at him.
And now, Jesse was about to ride in something equally, if not more, luxurious.
“It’ll be a bit of a tight fit for the two of us, but I won’t mind,” Arthur said as he untied his horse from the hitching post. He threw Jesse a wink. “No, I won’t mind at all.”
Jesse couldn’t imagine ever becoming accustomed to Arthur’s blatantly flirtatious comments. After Arthur removed his horse’s blanket and folded it, he climbed into the sleigh and held out his hand to help Jesse inside. Jesse took it.
“Have you ever been in a sleigh before?” Arthur asked. Jesse shook his head and muttered a soft “no” as he settled onto his seat. “Ah, well, I’m happy to provide you with the experience, then!” Arthur exclaimed. After a pause, he narrowed his eyes, looking inquisitive. “Actually, considering the amount of snow, how’d you make it here this morning?”
“I, uhm, I walked,” Jesse said.
“Walked?!”
