“I have no other choice if I don’t want to wait for the next cab,” she answered.
The man glanced at his friend. “Guess we’re taking this lady with us. Okay?”
The other man mumbled a positive response and walked around the cab to climb in. The man she’d been conversing with smiled at her as he opened the door. “You’ll probably have to sit on my lap. The backseat isn’t very big.”
Her heart skipped just thinking about the closeness she’d share with a stranger, but what other choice did she have?
She shrugged. “I can adjust, but you’re the one who’ll regret it.”
He laughed and slid in and sat beside his friend. Once he was situated, he patted his lap. “Come on in, sweetie.”
Sweetie?Why did he call her that? She crawled into the cab and perched herself on his lap as gracefully as possible. His arms circled her waist, comfortably, which surprised her. When warmth spread through her body, she questioned this awkward and foreign reaction.
Once the door was shut, the man instructed the cabbie where to take them. The vehicle jerked into motion as it pulled out on the road.
Up this close, the man’s nearness caused a crazy pound inside her chest. His masculine scent of aftershave surrounded her and created little flutters in her belly. Tom didn’t wear cologne, and she suddenly realized she liked the manly smell.
“Were you leaving a party at the bar?” the stranger asked.
She looked at him. “No, not really. I was just meeting my boyfriend’s buddies.”
His eyes widened. “You left your boyfriend there?”
“Yes. I really wasn’t having a good time. Tom didn’t want to leave until later, and I have an early day at work tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Makes sense.”
She turned her face toward the window when his friend began chatting. It was hard not to listen, but what else could she do? From the conversation, she gathered the man whose lap she perched upon hadn’t seen his friend in quite some time.
“Hey, Montgomery,” the other men asked, “how long are you going to stay home this time?”
The man called Montgomery laughed, and his body vibrated from the movement. “Not sure. Until I’m bored, I guess. You know how I am.”
She sneaked a peek at him. Once in a while, they’d pass under a streetlight, and she glimpsed at his features. His shoulder length black hair was pulled back with a leather tie, and his groomed goatee was slightly darker in color. The only other thing she noticed about him was his heart-warming smile.
Before she could avert her gaze, he turned and caught her looking at him. Her heart hammered at being caught. She managed a smile, regardless.
“You see,” he explained, “I haven’t planted my feet in one place, yet. I wander all over.”
She nodded. “Oh.” She paused, and then asked, “All over where?”
“All over the world.”
She blinked with wide eyes. “What do you do for a living?” She didn’t quite understand why his friend chose that moment to laugh, but she kept her attention centered on the man with the great smile.
He chuckled. “A little of this, a little of that, but in my spare time, I model.”
Suddenly the man’s leg muscles beneath her hardened and her imagination ran wild. Men who modeled had tight, perfect bodies. What did he look like underneath his expensive tailored coat? Quickly, she stopped her train of thought. It didn’t matter what he looked like. It was inside a man that counted.
“Is that why you travel?” she asked.
“No, I travel because I can’t stay in one place for very long.”
She nodded, not impressed at all. Why did he look wealthy when it was obvious he didn’t have a steady job? “Is your family here in New York?”
“Yes. I was born and raised in this great state. How about you?”
“No.”
