Page 200 of The Sinner: James

“May I?” he asks, charming me with a smile.

“I’d rather not have you smoke in here. You can have your cigarette when you go back,” I say.

He pushes back an amused grin.

“Hmm...”

He tucks the lighter into his pocket and flicks the unlit cigarette with his tongue, giving me a slow once-over.

“Are you still on the clock?” he asks, talking around his cigarette while lifting his gaze.

I flash a faint smile.

“I canceled the job. Your friend will get a full refund, and I might owe him money.”

He tears the cigarette away from his lips.

“What the hell did he do?” he asks.

“The same thing you could’ve done had you not left.”

“That’s not how you run a business,” he says, amused, gesturing with the hand gripping his cigarette.

“Well. It’s my damn business, and I run it how I want.”

I ponder before I speak.

“It’s almost Christmas... It’s been a good year so far, so I can consider it a treat before I go on vacation.”

“A treat?” he asks incredulously.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Even with me being a jerk.”

I smile.

“Desirable men are usually jerks.”

“Not Lex, though,” he argues.

I chuckle.

“Yeah. Not him. He’s the exception to the rule. Or maybe he likes me,” I say.

Grinning, he presses his lips together and locks his jaw.

His eyes dip again, his fingers going through his hair as he muses over something.

“I want to hire you again,” he says.

I think about it for a second and click my tongue.

“I’m no longer available, and I’m actually on vacation starting right now. You two were my last clients for the year.”

He looks at me, unfazed.

“I’ll double your rate... Whatever your charge for a week, you’ll get twice as much,” he says, business-like. “One week. My entire stay in New York.”

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