taken note of Thalia’s scrutiny. He gave her another flickering smile. “I wouldn’t have offered to wait for your chaperone to join us if my intentions weren’t of the purest. They are, though. I have a proposal to make.”
“A proposal?” Thalia was proud of her deadpan. “Mr. Ryker, this is so sudden.”
Ryker chuckled, a delightful burst of amusement that made him look as young as Thalia. “That’s funny. You’re funny, Miss Cutler.”
This observation did nothing to endear him to her, so she said nothing. In Thalia’s experience, people who said things like “You’re funny” were seldom good judges of what was actually amusing.
“I have a business proposal,” Ryker continued.
“I will do my utmost to conceal my disappointment,” Thalia assured him.
“You aren’t disappointed at all.”
“Well spotted.” Thalia took another look at the carriage and its coachman. “You’ve been waiting all this time.”
“I have, yes. Would you care to wait for your companion inside the carriage?”
“How thoughtful of you, sir. That’s not necessary. I won’t accept your kind offer. I prefer to walk.” Thalia gripped her furled umbrella like a walking stick and set off toward Sixth Avenue. Window-shopping would just have to wait.
“Excellent. I’ll walk with you.” Ryker matched her pace exactly.
“Oh? What about Mr. Nutall?” Thalia stopped for a meaningful look back at the elegant carriage. “I’m sure he will appreciate your resources more than I do. He’s much older than he looks, you know.”
Ryker grew serious. “But I prefer your company.”
“What a shame, for I prefer solitude.” Thalia turned her back on him to cross the street.
“That is a pity.” Ryker, impervious to the snub, came with her. “You’ve come to quite the wrong place. New York is a city full of possibility, but solitude is not easy to come by.” He took her arm, but only to hurry them both out of the path of an oncoming horse-drawn bus.
“So it seems.” Safe on the far side of the intersection, Thalia gave Ryker a meaningful look but his grip on her arm remained. She turned the meaningful look into a cold stare. “Let me go.”
Begging her pardon, Ryker released her and took a step back. As he did so, Thalia sidestepped to use a passing pushcart as cover and left him behind, lost in the crowd. She doubled back a block before she crossed the street, taking care to keep as many shoeshine boys, street vendors, and pedestrians between them as possible.
Thalia turned down Sixth Avenue and made for Twenty-Third Street, the nearest El stop. The train would cost a whole nickel, but the speed would be worth it. Briefly she toyed with the notion of cutting across Madison Square to Fourth Avenue. The Rapid Transit subway was new since her last stay in the city. She had wondered what it would be like to travel underground, but her curiosity would have to wait. For the moment, Thalia focused on eluding Ryker.
Traders were more fun to talk to than Thalia had expected, but distressingly slow to take a hint. Such a pity. Ryker was the best-looking man she’d seen in ages, and she was running away from him. Still, it was hardly the first time a personable young man had believed that expressing his admiration for her earned him the right to impose on Thalia’s time and person.
Ryker had waited outside the Ostrova Magic Company while Thalia and Nutall had inventoried the Cutler storage unit. That had not been a short period of time. Thalia found that level of interest from him alarming. Ryker was too rich for the likes of Thalia, rich in every sense of the word. Ryker was like an elaborate dessert. Tempting to risk a taste, but how much would it take to make her sick? Not much.
At Twenty-Third Street, Thalia crossed into the chilly shade cast by the tracks on the east side of Sixth Avenue. She climbed the iron staircase to the uptown ticket booth. The harried-looking white Solitaire woman in front of her had four children in tow. Once Thalia paid for her ticket and dropped it into the platform chopper box, she pretended to be part of the little group. She carried it off well enough to earn a tired smile from the woman to acknowledge Thalia’s help in herding the children.
Slowly, the bustle of the city restored Thalia’s good temper. She was able to ignore the encounter with Ryker and focus on her own situation. She was out of work, yes. But she was not out of opportunities. At that