XOXO

It’s smart.

I’ve traveled down this road before. I swear I’d never do it again.

It was with Judd’s former assistant.

Her name escapes me, but her body was the escape I needed when it felt as though the world was closing in on me.

I’d invested everything, including the futures of my two closest friends, in a business I wasn’t sure would launch.

Every night I’d leave the office uncertain if the clients I chased during the day would ever call me back. Judd’s assistant saw the stress I was under, and she took me under her spell.

It was good while it lasted until she decided that a few random, blurry pictures she’d taken with her cell phone would give her the leverage she needed to cut a deal with me.

She wanted ten percent of my shares in the company in exchange for a promise from her that she’d keep the photographs private.

I didn’t give a shit if she posted the pictures in Times Square.

I was nude.

I called her bluff. She went to Judd, and he worked out a severance deal with her.

That was the only time I let a woman I work with catch my attention, until now.

“I said the meeting went well, didn’t it?” Judd nudges my shoulder with his. “Are you in some big money trance?”

I laugh at that. It’s the phrase he used to throw at me when we were kids, and I’d get my weekly allowance from my folks. It was just a few dollars but, at the time, it felt like a fortune. I always did the same thing with it.

Two thirds of it went into a shoebox under my bed. I blew the other third on candy and comic books. By the time I was ten, I was delivering newspapers with my father following close behind. That turned into two afterschool jobs in high school.

By then, almost all the money I earned, I saved.

“The Cunninghams are good people,” I comment as we wait for the light to cross the street.

We just left the restaurant after spending a few hours with two of our favorite clients celebrating their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary.

“My dream is for Judith and me to make it as far as they have.” He tugs his suit jacket closer around his body. “It’s windy tonight. It’s coming at us from the southwest.”

“You two will make it,” I assure him because I’m starting to understand what has kept him and Judith fighting for their marriage. “What’s the forecast for tomorrow?”

He looks up at the darkened sky. “Sunny and fifty-five degrees. There’s a slim chance of showers late in the day and a bigger chance that my best friend is falling in love.”

The light changes, but neither of us moves. “Which best friend is falling in love?”

“The one who took Marti’s insults at lunch today with a smile.”

“My grandmother teases me, and I take it like the Calvetti that I am, “ I point out. “So you’re obviously referring to someone else.”

“He’s the same guy that brought flowers to the Cunninghams and arranged a video call with their daughter from Denmark.” He gestures for me to follow him across the street. “He’s also had a smile on his face for days. What’s she like, Dominick?”

“One-of-a-kind,” I answer as we hit the sidewalk. “There’s something about her that just makes my world better. I can’t explain it.”

“That’s not just the sex talking?” He laughs. “Good sex can mess with a man’s head.”

I tap him on the elbow as we continue walking up Fifth Avenue. “We haven’t gotten there yet. We’ve kissed, and that was something, Judd. Jesus, that kiss.”

He stops mid-step and yanks on the sleeve of my suit jacket to stop me in place. “You haven’t fucked this woman you’re falling for? How the hell is that possible?”

“I need her to know that she’s important to me,” I say aloud for the first time. “I need her to feel I’m there for more than a fuck.”

He taps my cheek with his palm. “I’m feeling this. This could be your Judith, bud.”

I swat his hand away. “Don’t go there. This is a one-step-at-a-time deal. There’s no rush to get anywhere.”

“Do you answer when she calls you?”

Laughing, I nod.

“Fuck. Dominick Calvetti has gone and fallen in love right before my eyes.” He narrows his gaze. “Hold onto her because I like this version of you. You deserve to be happy.”

“It’s not love,” I say even though I’m not sure what I’m feeling for Arietta. “It’s like.”

“It’s a hard like, but without the hard dick.” He shrugs. “I need to meet this mythical creature. She’s kept you at bay while making you smile. This woman is something else.”

“You have no idea.” I slap him on the back. “I’m heading back to the office. You’re on your way home.”

“Is that a question?” He laughs. “It sounded more like an order than a question.”