The woman who’s somehow wonderfully, fantastically mine.
Well, as long as I don’t fuck things up anymore.
Shoot.
I need to fix things, stat.
That’s when I start running.
There’s not a moment to waste.
I run out of the park, down Fifth Avenue toward my home, dialing and dialing, reaching voice mail every time.
But voice mail won’t win.
I’m a resourceful man. I strike business deals for a living. I know how to work my way around a problem.
I call her best friend, and he answers.
38TRIPP
Nearly two years ago,The Red Door restaurant
I raced up the stairwell to Leo’s apartment, taking the steps two by two, not bothering with the elevator.
I had to get his ass in gear.
I reached the fifth floor, sprinted down the hall, and banged on the door.
A few seconds later, he yanked it open. “I told you I’d be downstairs in five,” Leo said. “Is your watch broken?”
“I don’t wear a watch.”
“No kidding.”
“We gotta go. I’m telling you. Now. Time’s a-wasting.”
He laughed. “Like the restaurant won’t hold the reservation for you?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not the point. The point is I got us into The Red Door, and now I don’t want to wait. C’mon.”
I’d snagged a table at the hippest new spot in all of Manhattan. This place was so cool, and I was sure it would inspire a whole new spate of dishes at my restaurant. Lord knew, I needed the help.
Not to mention, I needed some dough to pay the overdue bills.
But I wasn’t going to worry about that tonight.
There would be time to worry.
For now, it was Leo and Tripp hanging out, eating the best food, and living the single life in New York City.
A few minutes later, Leo shut the door behind him, and we took off for the restaurant.
Soon we were dining on bacon-wrapped shrimp, succulent butternut squash ravioli, and mushroom truffles, and I was in heaven. “This is so good. Why don’t I have this on the menu at my place?”
He laughed as he took another bite of the mushrooms. “Because you’d be stealing another chef’s dishes?”
I waved a hand dismissively. “Who cares? I need truffles on the menu. And I need them now.” I banged a fist on the oak table.
“Do it, then, man. Just do it.” He lifted a glass of iced tea and offered it to clink with mine.
My iced tea.
I tapped my glass. “See? I’m a good boy.”
“Keep it up, man. Keep it up.”
“I will. I absolutely one-hundred-percent promise that I will.”
I could turn over a new leaf. Tonight, I was going to start over. I hadn’t had a drop in a few weeks. I was trying. I would keep trying. This was the beginning of a new life.
And hell, in this new life, Leo could be with Lulu. I could see them together. I knew he was in love with her, even though he denied it that one time I brought it up. I needed to tell him that promise was dumb. She wasn’t mine. She hadn’t been in a long, long time.
He didn’t need my permission. Didn’t need my blessing. I wanted him to be happy. Hell, he was the best friend I’d ever had, and he should have the world.
“So, that woman I met recently? Amy?”
I nodded. He’d mentioned her a few times. “The one you wanted to ask out?”
