“This is different,” he said.
“Just give it some time, okay? Then if you’re still worried, I’ll mention it to Rob and Tony.”
He nodded grudgingly. “So, how are things with you and Terri?”
“Good.” At least he hoped so. She’d been…off lately. She’d been quieter, more closed up than usual. They used to talk on the phone nearly every evening, and the conversations would sometimes last for hours. But lately, they could be sitting in a room together and she barely said two words to him. Sometimes she was so lost in thought, she would seem to forget he was even there.
Maybe it was that she’d been anxious about getting pregnant. Or they just needed time to get used to living together. Whatever it was, he hoped that she would be back to her old self soon. He was beginning to miss his best friend.
“Your mom mentioned that the two of you are planning to start a family soon.”
“When did you talk to Mom?”
He hesitated, then said, “At your wedding.”
Why did Nick get the feeling that wasn’t the only time? And why would he be contacting Nick’s mom? Was he harassing her?
Nick made a mental note to ask his mom about it.
“Yes, we’re planning on starting a family, but it looks as if it might take a bit longer than we’d hoped.”
“So, Terri really isn’t pregnant?”
“You shouldn’t listen to gossip, Dad. It’s beneath you.”
He pushed himself to his feet. “If my son would talk to me once in a while, I wouldn’t have to.”
Maybe, he thought, as his dad stalked out, slamming the door behind him, if you hadn’t been such a rotten husband and father, I would.
But those words would mean nothing to him, since the great Leonardo Caroselli took no responsibility for his past bad behavior. It was always someone else’s fault.
Nick stewed about it for the rest of the day, and began to think that it would ruin his entire evening. When he got home later with the pizza and a bottle of wine, he went searching for Terri, worried that he might discover her curled up in bed crying. Instead, he found her in her office, so focused on her computer screen and the design she was working on, she hadn’t even heard him come in.
“Pizza’s here,” he said.
She turned, surprised to see him, then smiled and said, “Hi, is it seven already?”
In that instant the stress of the day, with his mounting frustration seemed to melt away until all he felt was…happy. And content. But hadn’t she always made him feel that way?
He hadn’t fully appreciated that until just now.
“I have something to show you,” Terri said. “But first…”
She got up from her chair, put her arms around him and hugged him hard. And damn did it feel good to hold her. So good, he didn’t want to let go when she backed away.
“What was that for?”
“For being so patient with me, and for being such a good friend. We’ve gone through some pretty huge changes in the last month. Everything happened so fast, we didn’t have much time to prepare ourselves. But at the same time, in the back of my head, I had this idea that we had to hurry, that if I didn’t get pregnant right away, if I missed the deadline I set for myself, it would never happen. I think maybe that’s why I didn’t get pregnant. I was anxious about everything.”
“I’ve noticed that, the past week or so, you haven’t been yourself. Like you’re here, but you aren’t really here.”
“I know. And I’m sorry I’ve been so self-absorbed. But from now on, I’m back to being my old self. I promise.”
“Good, because I’ve missed you.”
She smiled, then gestured to the calendar on the wall above her desk. “See that highlighted week?”
She had marked the twenty-third to the twenty-seventh in blue. “Yeah.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“Um…Christmas vacation?”
“That’s the week I’m due to ovulate.”
Nick laughed. “Are you serious?”
She smiled and nodded. “That would be a pretty awesome Christmas present, don’t you think?”
“It certainly would.”
“I think this time it will work.”
“And if it doesn’t?” He hated to see her get herself all stressed out again.
“If it doesn’t, we try again in January. I just want to relax and let things happen naturally.”
“And they will,” he said. He had a really good feeling about this.
* * *
But just when he thought he had everything figured out, thought he knew the plan, a few days later she threw him another curve ball.
Terri’s car was parked in the garage when Nick got home from work a few days later, but the apartment was quiet. He looked in the obvious places. Her bedroom, her office, even the laundry room behind the kitchen, but he couldn’t find her, or a note explaining where she’d gone. He was about to grab his phone to call her, thinking she may have gone down to the fitness room for a quick workout before dinner, when he swore he heard the sound of running water from the direction of his bedroom.
He walked down the hall to his room and stepped inside. “Terri?”
“In here,” she called from his bathroom, and he heard what sounded like the hum of the sauna jets in the tub. Was she cleaning it, maybe?
The bathroom door was open, so he walked in.
Unless she liked to do housework naked and submerged in the water, she was not cleaning anything.
He stopped beside the tub and folded his arms. The water came up to her neck, and with the jets on high, he couldn’t see more that a blurry outline of her body, but that was enough to kick his libido into gear. “Something wrong with your tub?”
She smiled up at him. “Nope.”
Okay. And she was in his tub because…
“I’ve been thinking about it, and if we want to get it right this time, if we really want me to get pregnant, maybe we could use a little more practice.”
“If you’ll recall, I actually suggested that we practice first. You said no.”
“I guess I was wrong.”
Though it would be all too easy to pretend that he believed her just to get laid, they were both better than that.
“That’s an interesting theory. Now, you want to drop the bull and tell me why you’re really here?”
* * *
Terri should have known that Nick would call her out, that he would demand total honesty from her. And as annoying as it could be at times, he kept her honest.
“It’s not like you to play games,” he said, looking disappointed in her. “If after twenty years you can’t be honest with me—”
“I miss you,” she blurted out, hating how vulnerable the words made her feel. “I know I’m not supposed to, that we’re just friends unless I’m ovulating, but I can’t help it.”
“Are you saying that you want a sexual relationship outside of baby-making?”
Honestly, it was all she could think about lately, and she was tired of fighting it, tired of feeling as if something was missing. But maybe he didn’t feel that same way. “If you think it’s a bad idea—”
“I didn’t say that.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket and hung it on the hook next to the shower stall.
“I know it wasn’t part of the plan,” she said. “But I’ve begun to think that the two of us going nine months without any sex is a slightly unrealistic goal. I like sex, and we do it really well together, so why not?”
“You don’t think it will complicate things?”
“Why would it? We both want the same thing—to have a baby without getting tied down.”
He closed the lid on the toilet and sat. “I thought you were still looking for Mr. Right eventually.”
“Instead of trying to find him, I think I may just sit back, relax and let him find me. There’s no rush.”
“So what happens with us after the baby is born?”
“We get divorc
ed, like we planned.”
“And we start seeing other people?”
She shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
He looked skeptical. “It wouldn’t hurt your feelings, or make you jealous to see me with someone else?”
“I’ve seen you with lots of women and it never bothered me before.” At least, not enough to impact their friendship. Sure, it might be a little strange at first, but they would adjust. Hell, for all she knew, they could be completely sick of each other by then. Going back to a platonic friendship might be a huge relief for them both.
But considering how long it was taking Nick to respond, maybe he didn’t think it was such a hot idea. He had been pretty hands-off lately, not so touchy-feely as before. Even when they slept together in his bed the other night, he hadn’t put the moves on her. Maybe he was only interested in sleeping with her when they were trying to make the baby.
He rested his elbows on his knees, his hands folded under his chin. He was deep in thought, as if maybe he was trying to come up with some way to let her down easy.
A knot formed in her stomach, and she started to get the distinct impression she had just made a big ass of herself. But it was too late to back out now. Not without making herself look like an even bigger ass. The one time she took a chance and put herself out there on a limb—
“You’re sure about this?” Nick said.
She nodded, feeling a slight glimmer of hope.
“Really sure?”
“Really sure.”
“Because not touching you the past ten days has been hell on earth. So you can’t just sleep with me once, then change your mind again. Either you’re in or you’re out. There’s no middle ground. Agreed?”
Whoa. “Agreed.”
“Now that we have that settled,” he said, grinning and tugging his tie loose, “scoot over.”
Thirteen
“Earth to Nick!”
Nick’s attention jerked from the notepad he hadn’t even realized he’d been doodling on. Everyone at the conference room table—his dad, his uncles, plus Rob, Tony and Elana—was looking at him.
“Sorry, what?”
“Have you heard anything we’ve said?” his dad snapped, as if Nick were a stubborn child and not a capable adult. Well, maybe not so capable right now, but that really wasn’t Nick’s fault.
“Currently sales for the quarter are down,” Nick said, regurgitating the only snippet of the conversation he’d heard so far.
“Is that it? You didn’t hear anything else?”
“Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Have you tried a sleeping pill?”
“Leo, he’s still a newlywed,” Demitrio said, winking at Nick. “He’s not supposed to sleep.”
Yeah, and Terri had kept him up particularly late. They made love after the nightly news, then at 2:00 a.m. he woke to find her buried under the covers doing some pretty amazing things with her mouth. But starting today they had to abstain until she ovulated. And though he never thought he would catch himself thinking it, he was ready for a break.
Since the first day of their honeymoon, the sex had been great, but this past week she had been insatiable. They made love in the morning, either in bed or in the shower, and if he had no meeting scheduled for lunch he would come home for a quickie. Yesterday he’d asked her to bring him a report he’d left on his home office desk, and when she got there, she’d had that look in her eye. Then she locked his office door and he knew he was in trouble.
They did it some evenings right when he got home from work, and always when they got into bed at night. They had done it in the tub, on the sofa, in his office chair and about a dozen other places. It seemed as if every time he turned around, she was poised to jump him.
Not that he was complaining. But, damn, he was getting tired.
“We’re considering bringing in a consultant,” Demitrio told him. “Someone to view our line with a fresh set of eyes. Someone who could help us update our marketing without losing the essence of who we are as a company.”
“Who are we thinking of?” Nick asked, noticing that Rob, as marketing director, did not look happy.
“Her name is Caroline Taylor. She’s based on the West Coast, and she comes highly recommended. She’s not cheap, though.”
“Which is why I think we’re wasting our money and our time,” Rob said.
Nick was sure it had more to do with Rob’s bruised ego. If they brought in another chocolatier to develop new products, Nick would be insulted, too.
“Son, this in no way reflects on your job performance,” Demitrio said. “It’s quite common for companies to bring in outside consultants. We’ve been talking about a fresh look for the company, and I believe the time is now.”
Rob clearly wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t argue, either.
“I take it we’ve contacted her already,” Nick said. Undoubtedly, someone had mentioned this, but he’d missed it.
“Yes, and we got lucky,” Demitrio said. “She’s typically booked up for months, and sometimes years in advance, but the company she was supposed to start with in January went bankrupt. She’s all ours if we want her. And I have to give her an answer by the end of the week.”
Everyone, except Rob, of course, thought it was a good idea.
“Great!” Demitrio said. “We wanted to run it past everyone first, and the board will make a final decision tomorrow.”
Uncle Tony was up and out the door before anyone else had a chance to stand up. Though Nick tuned out most of the meeting, during the parts he did catch, his uncle Tony hadn’t said a word. Maybe his dad was right, and there was something going on between his uncles.
Nick knew that his uncle Tony had always followed the rules. He went to the right schools, graduating with honors and worked his way up through the ranks. Uncle Demitrio, on the other hand, had been a hell-raiser, uninterested in the family business, in and out of trouble with the law until he joined the army. Nick had heard his dad mention that while everyone else in the family had to earn their position, Demitrio had everything handed to him. Maybe that was causing hard feelings between Tony and Demitrio. But then, how did Aunt Sarah factor into that?
As Nick walked back to his office, Rob caught up with him in the hall. “So, any baby news to report?”
“First try was a bust.”
“I’m sorry. How did she take it?”
“Not well at first, but she’s okay now. We’re just going to take it one cycle at time.”
“Besides work, Tony and I haven’t been seeing much of you lately.”
“That’s married life, I guess.” Nick stopped in front of his office door and leaned on the jamb. “Maybe after Christmas we can all go out. Maybe even for New Year’s.”
“We could do that.”
He was quiet for several seconds, and Nick asked, “Something on your mind, Rob?”
“I feel as if I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“When you told us you were marrying Terri, instead of congratulating you, we accused you of doing something underhanded.”
“And threatened to kick my ass, if I recall correctly.”
“And it was a lousy thing for us to do. A person just has to see you two together to know that you really love each other, and not only that, it’s obvious you’re best friends. Which I think is really cool. If only it could be that way for everyone, there would never be another divorce. You really don’t know how lucky you are to have her.”
“Believe me, I know.” And the more he thought of divorcing Terri, the less he liked the idea. He was beginning to wonder if the feelings of love that he’d been having for her were the romantic kind. And he had the distinct feeling that she was wondering the same thing. In their entire relationship he had never felt so close, so…connected. Not to her, and not to anyone else for that matter.
Most of his relationships—the semi-serious ones—rarely lasted much more than a month or two before he sta
rted to feel restless and smothered. With Terri, it felt as if there weren’t enough hours in the day to spend with her. But at some point, they were going to have to make a decision. In his mind, he was pretty sure the decision was already made.
“Did you get her a Christmas present yet?”
“Not yet,” Nick said. “But I have something in mind.”
“First Christmas as a married couple. It better be special.”
“Oh, it will be,” he said, although he had no clue how he was going to wrap it.
* * *
On the Saturday before Christmas, which was two days before she was due to ovulate again—yeah, they were both climbing the walls in anticipation—Nick and Terri braved the crowds and four inches of freshly fallen snow to finish up their holiday shopping. They had both been so busy with work, they hadn’t had time to get a tree. It seemed silly to go all-out so late in the season, so they picked up a pre-lit, battery-operated tabletop version to set on the coffee table.
She bent and fluffed the artificial branches into what sort of resembled a real tree—a real, small tree—switched the lights on then sat back on her heels to admire her work. “Not too shabby.”
“What are we going to hang on it?”
She sat beside him on the sofa. “Your mom has a box of stuff that’s made for a small tree. She put it aside for us.”
“You want me to go pick it up?”
“Would you mind?”
“We’re supposed to get another six inches tonight. If we wait, we may not get the ornaments until after Christmas.”
“In that case you should probably go.”
“Did you want to come with me?”
She sighed. “I can’t. I have about fifty gifts to wrap. And if I recall correctly, you were going to help.”
“You choose. Decorations or wrapping, which would you prefer?”
She though about that for a second, then said, “Decorations, I guess.”
He pushed himself off the sofa. “I’d better go now, before the snow starts again.”
She followed him to the door and watched as he put on his coat and checked his pockets for his wallet and keys. “Anything else you need me to pick up while I’m out?”
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