He picked up his work clothes and slipped them into the bag. One last look around the office and he strode out the door, locking it behind him. He wished he’d driven the Camaro that morning, but the truck would have to do, and he climbed in and headed downtown.
Nikki felt herself getting more and more nervous as the afternoon went on. Finally, at four thirty, she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Marla, would you mind if I worked in back for the rest of the afternoon? I can’t cope with another customer right now.”
Marla looked at her with pity on her face. “Nerves getting to you, hon?”
“Yeah, is it that obvious?” Nikki tried to smile, but only succeeded in making herself look more strained.
“No. And you’re bound to be terrified, but it’ll be fine.”
“I know. It feels right, but I feel so, I don’t know, guilty.” Nikki pushed a dust bunny around with her toe.
“Now, honey, if Randy could talk to you, he’d tell you to get on with your life. I’m sure all he ever wanted was for you to be happy. And you haven’t been, not alone. It’s time to explore, see if there’s someone out there for you.” She put an arm around Nikki’s shoulder. “Want to go on home? I can manage.”
“Oh, god, no! At least here I have things to keep me busy. And he’s meeting me here.”
“Really? Hope he gets here early. I’d like to at least catch a glimpse of this guy. Carol says he’s like a Greek god.” He really had that effect on women, she’d noticed.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but he is ridiculously good-looking.” Nikki wore a wistful smile as she talked about him. “I have no idea why he’d be interested in me.”
“Because you’re such a cutie! Now have a good time. Do you have some, you know, protection?”
“Oh my god! I can’t believe you just asked me that!” Nikki cried, slapping Marla playfully on the shoulder.
“Well, now, honey, one can’t be too careful these days!”
“I have absolutely no intention of sleeping with him tonight. Or anytime soon.” Nikki thought for a minute and realized that might not be accurate. Her nightly fantasies told her she did want him. Just maybe not tonight. Definitely not tonight.
“Just checking,” Marla laughed. “Get on back to the stockroom. I’ll work out here. There’s plenty back there to keep you busy.”
Nikki worked through the afternoon until about five fifty. She ran to her SUV and got her dressy clothes before Marla left.
“I thought I’d hang around, but I’m getting hungry. I’ll see you Monday, okay? You’ll fill us in!” Marla hugged her before leaving.
Nikki went to the back and changed. She’d picked out a pair of skinny jeans with jewels on the back pockets and kitten heeled thong sandals. The top she’d chosen had a sweetheart neckline to accentuate what little she had in the boob department. She changed from her regular bra into a more substantial one with a little bit more lift and light padding – something to hide those pesky nipples and give her a tiny bit of cleavage. The jewelry she’d picked out sparkled even through her hair, which she took down and left free. It was her greatest asset, and she wanted it to be front and center tonight.
When she’d dressed, Nikki did a once-over. She’d done her toes the night before, and they looked cute with their bright pink polish. She checked her nails – perfect. Looking into the mirror, she was disappointed. No one special, just a woman pushing the far edge of middle age, breasts no longer perky, and a tiny little bit of a bulge at the waist. Why had she agreed to do this? He wouldn’t want her. Tears threatened, and she sniffed hard. Oh, well, she’d said yes. Even if he never asked her out again, she’d have a date under her belt. She hoped she could be something a little better than boring during dinner.
When she walked out into the shop, she noticed that a card had fallen off the counter, and she stooped down to pick it up. At that moment, she heard the door open and turned. When she saw the man standing in the doorway, she almost gasped out loud. He was so beautiful, so unbelievably, incredibly, heartbreakingly stunning, that she shook to her core. And he was looking straight at her! “Hi!” she managed to stammer.
Tony looked her up and down. “Wow – you’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen in a long, long time! Ready to go?” he asked, holding out his arm.
In that moment, she knew what the right answer was. “Yes. I’m ready.” And she knew she really was.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I don’t think there’s anything you can put on a pizza that I won’t eat,” Tony announced, looking at the menu.
“Except maybe liver?” Nikki grinned but didn’t look up.
Tony frowned. “Oh, my god, did somebody give you that awful magazine article to read? I swear, that horrible thing will follow me to my grave.” He feigned horror.
Nikki laughed. “Yes, someone did. It was enlightening.”
“Oh, I bet. By the way, major airbrushing there,” he grumbled.
“I don’t think so. Looked pretty real to me. And it was Kelly who gave it to me, by the way.” She snickered as she looked over the menu.
“Great. I’ll have to remember to thank her for that. It kinda creeps me out that she’s been holding onto it for this long. She must be a literary stalker.” He picked up a breadstick and bit into it.
“I’m surprised you asked me out. Kelly has a ‘thing’ for you, if you know what I mean.”
Tony snorted. “Not my type. At all. She’s so, well, I don’t know, fake?”
“You mean they’re fake, don’t you?” Nikki grinned.
“Guess so. I mean, I’d rather have small and real than big and fake any day.” He blushed a little when he said it.
“Let me tell you, mister, when it comes to me, what you see is what you get, good or bad,” she told him, still grinning.
“When I look at you, all I see is good.” He smiled at her. “Besides, I haven’t gotten the impression that anything about you is fake. You don’t seem the type. Now, I’m starving. Wanna share a pizza? Or did you have something else in mind?”
“No, pizza’s fine.” She closed her menu. “Order whatever your favorite is. I’ll eat it, I promise. I’m curious to see what you order.”
“Okay, then, my choice.” He motioned the server over. “We’ll have the Adolpho Classic. Anchovies?” he asked Nikki; she nodded. “Anchovies it is. Thanks.” The server hustled away, leaving them alone. The Adolpho Classic – typical guy, Nikki thought, meat, meat, and more meat, with a little cheese for something that might pass for variety.
“So, here’s where I think we’re supposed to make conversation. I’m not very good at this, really out of practice, but I’ll start. So you’re a widow?”
“Yes.”
“And you were married for how long?” he asked.
“Almost thirty years,” she answered, looking at the tablecloth.
“If this is too painful, we can talk about something else,” he said in apology.
“No, no, it’s okay.”
“So, thirty years is a long time. What was your secret?” He smiled.
A wistful look came over her face. “Communication. In everything, diet, finances, recreation. In bed,” she added. I can’t believe I said that.
That got Tony’s attention. “Really? You managed that? That’s pretty rare.”
“That’s what I hear. But I have a simple theory. Wanna hear it?”
“You’re talking about sex, so I’m all ears. Well, not all ears, but . . .” He grinned, resting his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands.
“Okay, funny guy! Well, I’ve always said people can do it, take off their clothes and crawl into the sack with a perfect stranger, perform the most intimate activity two people can perform, and then walk away and never talk about it. And that’s just nuts, you know? They can talk about politics, religion, the weather, finances, everything, but not sex. And if they want to have really great sex, they should talk about it, don’t you think? At least I think they should.
” She stopped and noticed he was staring intently at her – sort of awkward for her – and she was rambling, mostly because she was so nervous. “Well? Say something.”
“I think,” he stated matter-of-factly as he raised his wine glass to his lips, “you are both brilliant and absolutely correct. And I can’t say I’ve ever done that with another human being. Well, with one,” he corrected.
“Your wife, um, ex-wife.” She took a sip herself.
“Actually, no. But that’s a conversation for another time.” He set his glass back on the table. “Anyway, you’re absolutely right. People should be able to talk about it.” He added, “About sex.”
“So, what happened to your marriage, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“No, I don’t mind you asking, but that’s a conversation for another time too. Way too dark and intense for tonight. I’d like to keep things a little more cheerful, if that’s okay. But I have to tell you, I know about your kids, too – Annabeth told me. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I’d do without my two.”
Nikki choked back tears. “Thanks. So, I understand from the article that, besides Annabeth, you have a son?”
“Yes, Clayton.” He took another sip of his wine. “He’s got an engineering degree from UK. He works for the company too. I guess by now, because of the article, you know about the company . . .”
“You own it.”
“Actually, I own seventy-five percent. My family owns the other twenty-five. But they don’t have anything to do with the running of it. It’s mine. I’m the president; Clayton’s the general manager, and my cousin Vic is the general manager of the Lexington office. Clayton and Brittany have been married for eight years now.”
“No grandkids?” She chewed on a breadstick.
“No, unfortunately. Clayton and Brittany want one, but they’ve had problems, lots of failed attempts. Annabeth and Katie want one too, but artificial insemination is expensive and they haven’t been able to agree on which one will carry. They’re in no hurry, though; they’re kind of hoping the state will allow them to marry before too long. I think that’s more of a pipe dream – that’s not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Of course, if the Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional to deny gays the right to marry, well, then, the states will have to follow their ruling. Problem solved.”
“Exactly! I’m hoping that day is soon.” Just the way Nikki said it told him her sentiments were genuine.
“Me too. As for Clayton and Brittany, they just keep trying. They really want a baby. They’re already happy together, and that would just make them happier.”
“That would be so nice,” Nikki agreed. Lucky him – she’d never have grandchildren. “By the way, there was a woman with you in a photo in the magazine. Who was that?”
“Oh, that was Cheryl, my secretary. I guess you’d call her the sister I never had. She’s the best. Her husband is a great guy.”
“Everyone should have one of those, a sister. Or a brother.” Nikki wished she had a sibling. “I don’t have any.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got five of those counting my cousin Vic, and sometimes it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Tony laughed.
The pizza showed up at that moment, and it smelled so delicious Nikki decided she could eat some of it even though her stomach was still a nervous, knotted mess. She thought of something and giggled a little.
“What?” Tony asked, a puzzled look wrinkling his brow.
“You’ll think I’m crazy, but I have these made-up names for people at the gym because I don’t know their real names. Like Kelly; I called her Boobalicious.” At that little disclosure, Tony snickered.
“What about me? What did you call me?” He shot her a mischievous grin.
She hesitated – this was so embarrassing. “I called you The Italian.” She blushed and looked down at the table.
He stared at her, wide-eyed. “You’re kidding, right? It’s that obvious?”
“What’s that obvious?”
“Nikki, my whole family’s Italian. All of them. How did you know?”
“But your last name is Walters. Isn’t that German or something?” she asked, not believing what she was hearing.
“I don’t know – I was told he was Welsh. That was my great-great-great grandfather’s last name, and it’s been carried down through the family by the men for all these years. And the region the Cabrizzis came from – my mother’s family – in Italy was held by Germany until World War I, so I always assumed he was German, but that’s not what I was told. But he was the only one who wasn’t Italian – everyone else was Italian. Every last one.”
She couldn’t believe it. “No! But your brothers? Mark? Bart? Freddie? Bennie?”
“Yeah,” Tony nodded. “Marco, Bartolomeo, Federico, and Benecio. My dad was Marco as well. My mother is Raffaella. My name is actually Antonio. How did you know?”
Nikki didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t. I couldn’t,” she stammered. “You just looked Italian to me. I don’t know why I didn’t think Jewish, or South American, or Portuguese, but it was Italian that stuck with me.” She looked down at her lap. “Isn’t that funny?” she whispered, smiling that small, shy smile at him. His heart was melting and he felt powerless to stop it.
It didn’t take long for Nikki to realize that he loved to talk about his heritage. He had the story memorized, starting with his great-great-great grandfather’s parents taking him to Italy, home of his maternal relatives, to avoid the Civil War, and moving forward all the way to his own parents’ courtship and marriage. She was also surprised to find that his parents had sent each of their sons to Italy for their high school educations, letting them come home in the summers. But they all came back to live in the states to go to college.
Then he told her about his brothers: “Mark is an obstetrician in Portland, Oregon. Bart lives here; he’s an electrician and owns one of the electrical companies in town, Pinnacle. Freddie lives here, too; he has a finance degree and he’s a commercial banker. And Bennie has a degree in English and owns a bookstore in New York City. They’re all married, all have kids. And, well, here I am – The Italian.” He grinned at her until his eyes crinkled shut and he looked so cute that she could barely keep her hands off him. “What about your family?”
“Oh, we’re Scotch-Irish mutts!” Her laughter sounded like wind chimes to Tony, soft and lyrical.
He couldn’t help it; he reached across the small table and put his hand against her cheek. “Show me a mutt whose skin glows like that in this light, and I’ll swear there’s a pedigree there somewhere!” His heart skipped a beat as she pressed her cheek into his palm. Nikki’s eyes closed, and Tony thought he saw a hint of a tear in the inside corner of one of them.
Then her eyes snapped open; she reached up and took his hand from her face, but she held it in hers and dropped them to the table. Her fingers were fine and soft, and he felt a solid, strong energy coming from her, something positive and effervescent. She played with the ring on his finger for a second, then let go and grabbed a piece of pizza.
“So really,” he repeated, “what about your family, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Nope, don’t mind at all,” she said, holding the pizza. “But, as you said before, that’s a conversation for another time. Let’s eat this before it gets cold.” She gave him a wide smile and took a huge bite. He laughed at the pizza sauce in the corners of her mouth before taking his napkin and wiping it off. She laughed too. They were both having a good time and, for that little moment, it was just the two of them. The rest of the world fell away.
They made their way down the block slowly. Tony didn’t want the evening to end. They’d had so much fun, laughing and talking. He knew there were lots of important things they probably should discuss, but he just wanted to see Nikki laugh and smile.
Nikki couldn’t understand – how had this guy managed to stay unattached for so long? He was perfect in every way – gorgeous, smart, funny, warm, caring. Why hadn’
t some long-legged, big-breasted bimbo managed to snap him up before now? Was there something really wrong with him? If there was, she couldn’t identify it.
She waited, hoping as they walked he’d take her hand. Tony didn’t disappoint; halfway back to the shop, she felt his fingers playing along hers. She opened her hand and spread her fingers, and his had wrapped through and around them in an instant, almost instinctively. She’d forgotten how good it felt to hold someone’s hand, and she didn’t want it to stop.
They got to the parking lot and she led him to her SUV. He took a look at it and laughed. “I see this thing at the gym, but I still can’t believe it. I had you pegged for a sports car girl!” He looked it over again and couldn’t help but think how cute she’d look in a convertible, her hair blowing back.
Nikki laughed. “God, no. I couldn’t get all of my crap into a sports car!” She unlocked the door, opened it, and turned to face him.
“Well, I guess this is it.” Tony reached for Nikki’s hand again. “I don’t know about you, but this was the best evening I’ve had in, well, maybe ever. It’s been so much fun. I’m really sorry it’s over.”
“Me too.” She squeezed his fingers, and he squeezed back. She wondered if he was waiting for her to say that the night didn’t have to end, but she wasn’t ready for that step yet. Would he kiss her? She was hoping.
“So, be careful. I’ll call you in a little while to make sure you made it home okay.” He squeezed her hand again. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I’d like that.” I hope he means that literally, she thought. “Bye. And thanks for dinner.”
“No, thank you!” he called back, waving as he got into his truck.
Nikki started the Escape and pulled out of the parking lot, Tony’s truck right behind her. She turned right, he turned left, and she watched his taillights disappear down the street. It had been a perfect night. If he’d invited her to come home with him, she wasn’t sure she could’ve said no. Every cell in her body ached. Her panties were soaked and her nipples were so hard she was afraid their circulation was damaged. Everything about him called to her, to her heart and her body.