'All right?' said Jack, looking directly at the suit and towering a good foot above him, causing the suit's eyes to trail up to his face.
'All right, mate,' he replied, but the way his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat and his brows rose showed he was anything but.
Jack smiled, wolfish and seemingly pleased by how nervous the man was. 'I'm not your mate,' he said, taking the time to look him over. Now the suit was the one who felt small. Jack turned his attention to me.
'Kate, you seem to have met with an accident.'
I could have played it down, defused the situation, but as I glanced back at the now-pale face of the suit, I couldn't help myself.
I shrugged. 'I guess I'm just a dozy cow.'
Jack folded his arms across his broad chest. 'Now why would you think that?' he asked, amusement lining his face.
I went to reply when the suit started to delve into the inside of his jacket pocket. 'Listen, let me make it up to you,' he said, frantically thumbing through his wallet, shelling out layers of money onto my table. 'Let me buy you a drink – here. And dry cleaning, yeah, let me fix you up.'
'And her meal.' Jack nodded to the table.
The man glanced down at my partly eaten meal, confused, before looking back at Jack.
'It's gone cold, ruined.'
'Oh, right, yes, of course.' He pulled out another bill onto the pile and I almost snorted in disbelief. Jack simply watched, amused, like a cat toying with a mouse.
'So no hard feelings, yeah?'
Jack turned his dark brown eyes to me in question. I turned to the suit and shrugged casually.
Jack breathed out a laugh. 'Well, who said money can't buy happiness?'
Against my better judgement I laughed, thinking how bizarre my lunch had become and how this really was the worst seat in the house. The nervous laughter of the suit brought Jack's attention back to him and he reached past me to scoop the cash off the table. 'You can go now,' he said abruptly, while counting the notes.
The suit nodded. 'Right, yes,' he stammered, excusing himself for a quick exit.
Jack held the money out to me, and my eyes flicked to the neat little parcel he had created with the rolled-up notes. When I didn't take the cash, he grabbed my hand and shoved it into my palm. 'Spend it wisely, Miss Brown.' He smiled and I was aware of his skin on mine, burning like a brand. It almost distracted me from the devious glint in his eyes.
'Back in a minute,' he said, then walked to the gents', opened the door carefully, and disappeared. I stood near my table, confused, then looked at the wad of cash in my hand.
'What just happened?' I said to myself.
'Gotta hand it to Jack, he knows how to handle a crisis.' The kitchenhand who had delivered my meal appeared next to me, clearing the table and wiping up the spilt cider. 'You finished?' His eyes flicked to the half-eaten lunch.
'Oh, yes, sorry, I am.' I grimaced, feeling bad about the waste, and wondering what would happen when Jack returned. I wasn't in the mood for small talk, I didn't want to get to know him, and I really didn't want him to get to know me. What could I say? 'Oh, I'm just living on the second floor of my nana's terrace, looking for excuses to sneak out even though I'm twenty-five years old.' Even in my mind it sounded hideous. I had to get out of here, and fast.
'Excuse me.'
The kitchenhand stilled with his hands full.
'Do you do bar tabs? Credit?'
'Yeah, we do.' He nodded.
'Oh, great. Listen, I have to go but would I be able to set up a tab for Jack? He'll be back in a minute, but I just want to, well … ' I held out the money.
He grinned broadly. 'I defy any man to say no to that,' he said, before nodding toward the bar. 'Hand it over to Leo, he'll fix it up for you.'
'Thanks,' I said, wasting no time and heading straight for the bar. I was keen to get away from the Stanhope Arms and put this whole event down as yet another awkward memory I would choose to forget.
As I quickly made my way back down Gloucester Road, I glanced at my watch and sighed with relief; I would make it home in plenty of time.
At least you got one thing right today.
And that's when I heard my name.
'Kate, stop!'
Chapter Six
It was one thing to see a very attractive man running toward me. But to see said man running with a red leather handbag slung over his shoulder? That was something else. The sight of my bag made me skid to a rather abrupt halt.
Oh shit.
'Forget something?' he said, unhooking the bag and handing it out to me.
'Thanks,' I said, taking it from him. For the first time (without concussion, anyway) I took in the sight of Jack Baker close up. I had to lift my eyes to look at his very handsome face. Not literary-classic handsome, mind you; he didn't have the curly hair and broody stare of Mr Darcy, the kind of man I had dreamt of finding on my British expeditions. He was tall and built in all the right places, with olive skin. His dark hair was cropped and he had the slightest dusting of stubble along his strong jawline. His brilliantly white, slightly imperfect teeth were revealed by a cheeky smile, a smile which lit those warm brown eyes that were framed by dark lashes. Lovely.