In Bed With The Boss Page 0,50
“What areyoudoing here?” Toby recognized him at once. It was the dark, rough-looking Italian guy from the maintenance department at work: Richie.
“I was supposed to meet Brad here last night,” Richie said. “He promised he’d be here this weekend. We were supposed to spend the night together. But he had a family thing and couldn’t come at all. He said I could stay until around six. He said you wouldn’t be home until later tonight.”
Toby smacked his palm against his forehead and rolled his eyes. Now he knew it was time to put a stop to this.
Chapter Four
While Toby went into the living room to put on his pants, he heard shuffling sounds coming from the bedroom. A minute later, Richie appeared in the doorway wearing a black turtle neck sweater and beige slacks. His dark hair was still messy and he needed a shave. His stubble was so thick it almost looked dark green. But Toby couldn’t help notice that he was just as attractive in his street clothes as he was in his work uniform.
“I’ll just brush my teeth and make up the bed,” Richie said. “I onlyslepton the sheets. But I’ll put on clean ones and then I’ll get out of here and leave you alone. Sorry about this mix up.”
“Ah well, no harm done,” Toby said. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. At least it happened with Richie and not some guy Toby didn’t know. He liked Richie; he thought he was the most handsome man he’d met in New York. He was facing Richie but not actually looking at him. He stared down at the floor and ran his hand down back of his head. “Don’t worry about the bed. I’ll take care of it.”
“No,” Richie said, “I insist. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t change the sheets. It’ll only take me a minute. I’m getting pretty good at it. Brad doesn’t know how to change a sheet from a pillow case.”
Richie glanced up at him and nodded. This made sense. Though Brad always left the apartment neat and clean, sometimes the sheets were on inside out, sometimes they were crooked, and sometimes they were absolutely perfect. He assumed Richie was the one who left them perfect.
While Richie changed the sheets and did what he had to do in the bathroom, Toby went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. His legs were still sore from sitting in the car for so long and he couldn’t stop yawning. He yelled into the bedroom and asked Richie if he wanted a cup and Richie said no. By the time Toby was on his second cup, he walked to the window and looked down at the street. Everything was pure white and there wasn’t a car, a bus, or a person to be seen. Thick clumps of snow had gathered at the windowsill and the wind was blowing so hard Toby could feel cold air slipping through the cracks. There had to be at least two more inches on the ground since the women had dropped him off.
When Richie appeared in the doorway, he glanced across the room and said, “Everything’s back to normal now. I guess I’ll be heading out.” He had a deep, smooth voice and his thick New York accent was adorable. He thought Richie could do much better than Brad Lindsay, but that was none of his business.
As Richie reached for a heavy black overcoat he’d left hanging over a kitchen chair, Toby glanced out at the snow again and sighed. It was coming down in fine flakes, on a slant. “Where do you live?”
Richie dug into his coat pockets for something. He pulled out a pair of black leather gloves and said, “The Bronx. Parkchester.”
“How will you get back?” Toby asked. “I haven’t seen a taxi or a car pass by in the last fifteen minutes. It looks like the entire city has come to a standstill.”
Richie laughed and pulled a scarf out of his other pocket. “I’m a New Yorker. I’ll take the subway. It would cost me a fortune to take a taxi up to The Bronx. And I doubt there will be many drivers willing to take me up there in this weather. I’ll be fine.”
Toby knew the subway was about four blocks away. He hadn’t seen any signs of human life on the street either. He glanced at Richie’s feet and saw he was wearing black loafers. This was a holiday