Walk on the Wild Side

by Donna Kauffman

  She paused while rubbing her skin, recalling the brief moment when she’d collided with Nick. What if part of her new life included a little fling? A fling with a real man. Not the dried-up, corporate-ladder climbers her grandfather relentlessly matched her up with.

  Nick D’Angelo was definitely all real man.

  She fanned her newly heated cheeks. Boy, was he ever.

  But how could she have a fling with him and work for him, as well? So what were her options? She could find another job that might be more suitable to her and stay in the neighborhood. But what job could she take? She hadn’t a clue.

  She left the bathroom and winced at the sudden voluble argument that erupted behind the kitchen door. Maybe she would go outside for a few minutes, after all.

  She spied the sign for the festival as she went out the back door. It was two weeks away. The same weekend her probation period would finally end.

  Attending the festival would be her reward to herself for sticking it out. And also her deadline for deciding what the next step in her new life would be.

  If it included staying in the neighborhood a while longer, would it also include trying to get one Niccolo D’Angelo into bed?

  RUBBING HIS FACE, Nick looked at the clock on his office wall. One forty-five in the morning. He groaned when his back protested as he moved in his chair. It had been a hell of a long day. But Carlo hadn’t quit, they’d somehow survived until the produce truck showed up…and he’d been too blessedly busy to think about Sunny.

  Much.

  He might not have had any time alone with her, but with him pulling triple duty waiting tables and helping out in the kitchen, they’d been almost on top of each other all evening long. His body, tired as it was, got aroused each time he thought of her. Apparently there was no such thing as being too tired to want Sunny. If there was, he’d have reached that zenith hours ago.

  He heard a noise in the hallway. With surprising speed, he stood and crossed to the door before giving his actions too much thought. Sunny was passing on her way to the back stairs.

  “Hey.”

  She jumped, then turned, a hand pressed to her heart. “I’m sorry, you startled me.”

  Her hair was a damp mat against her head, barely held in place by her sliding hair net. Her cheeks were more pale than flushed, and her eyes were dull from fatigue. He wasn’t sure who he resented more in that moment, her for taking on a job she had no business being in or him for letting her work herself to the bone.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “No, I just…” Something flickered in her eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was…hope? “I know I’ve worked you really hard this week, but it is appreciated.”

  The flicker died. “As long as your appreciation shows up in my paycheck.”

  “Do you really need the money?” He held up his hand when anger flashed in her eyes. “I’m really not trying to pry. It’s just that I can’t help but wonder. I mean, we both know you’re not meant for this lifestyle.”

  She folded her arms and leaned against the far wall. “And just what lifestyle am I meant for?”

  “Did your family cut you off or something?”

  She continued to stare at him.

  “Okay, okay, so it’s none of my business. I just hate to see you so worn out.”

  “And if I’d stayed home with my granddaddy and grandmommy, I could be dallying about in a life of ease right now instead of doing an honest day’s work? Is that what you’re saying?”

  He shook his head and raked his fingers through his hair. “Obviously I’m more tired than you are, because I’m not handling this remotely well. Go on up to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow. If Tina and Roberto come back on tomorrow, maybe I can shift one of them to the kitchen for a few hours and give you some time off.”

  “Not necessary,” she said sharply. “As long as I get my day off on Monday, that’ll do.” She moved away from the wall, and his hand was on her arm, stopping her, before he even realized it.

  She turned and looked from his hand to his face, surprise in her eyes.

  He let go, but he was surprised, too, at how reluctant he was to do so. He couldn’t deny he wanted to follow her upstairs to bed. And not for sex. That alone shocked him into backing up a step. This need he felt to tuck her into bed, maybe stroke her face until the exhaustion was smoothed away a bit, watch her fall asleep…definitely wrong. Wanting Sunny—when he allowed himself to think that way—was supposed to be all about sex, about pleasure. Nothing more.

  “You’ll…you’ll get paid. On time. With a bonus for all the extra hours,” he said, stepping inside his office.

  She nodded, but her gaze stayed on his.

  He wondered what she was thinking. What she was wanting. Him?

  “Good night,” he said, his voice deeper, rougher. Fatigue, he told himself. He needed to sleep, was all.

  She paused, and his heart began to kick up. Apprehension? Or anticipation?

  “Good night,” she said softly.

  His simultaneous relief and disappointment told him it had been both. He made a mental note to call in a few more reinforcements tomorrow. He had to spend less time in the kitchen with Sunny.

  He stayed in the hall and listened to her footsteps as she climbed the stairs. He was still standing there, lost in thought, when the springs squeaked as she settled into her bed. Didn’t it figure that Joey’s bedroom was directly above his office? He swore under his breath and reluctantly went back to work.

  7

  “SO, WHAT are you going to wear?” Andrea flopped on the bed, then oomphed when her four-year-old daughter leaped on top of her. “Callie, Mommy doesn’t want to play trampoline right now.” The bright, dark-haired little girl giggled and jumped on her again. Andrea gave a mock roar, rolled her daughter onto her back and wrestled until they were both laughing too hard to continue.

  Sunny turned to her closet, smiling. Andrea was great with her kids. So were all Nick’s sisters. She’d never really given any thought to her future where kids were concerned. Lately, however, she’d begun to.

  “What am I wearing?” Sunny laughed and stared in her closet. Her wardrobe had changed. Dramatically. The clothes she’d had Carl deliver what seemed like a lifetime ago hung unworn in her closet. How had she ever thought her staid designer clothes would be suitable here? And those were the casual clothes she’d worn in college.

  Nick’s sisters had taken her shopping after her first paycheck. That was the day Sunny had discovered the thrill of bargain shopping. In fact, she was quite proud of how she’d applied her business acumen to making her paycheck stretch. Yes, she had a platinum card, and she’d used it precisely once. To pay Joey that first month’s rent in advance. From then on she’d been determined to make it solely on her own. And she had, she thought, as she fingered the bright red sundress she’d gotten yesterday. Pride filled her as she turned to Andrea.

  “I’m not attending the wedding. I’m working in food prep, so I’m pretty sure that means the standard black pants and white jacket.” She turned and held the white jacket against her chest. “A real fashion statement, don’t you think?”

  Andrea sat her daughter on her lap and began fixing her pigtails. “Well, there is always after the wedding.”

  Sunny sighed. There was no use trying to get Andrea off her matchmaking kick. And, if she’d admit it, lately she’d had a hard time getting her own mind off of it. She’d given a lot of thought to her fling idea. Nick’s comment last week about her not fitting in had stung more than a little, mostly because he’d been right.

  “Is Nick driving you to the ceremony?”

  Sunny rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You just don’t give up, do you?” She pulled on a white cotton T-shirt, pulled the starched jacket over it and buttoned it up. “This is not a date. There is no dating.”

  Andrea’s daughter looked at her. “Don’t you like my Uncka Nicco?”

  Sunny’s smile caught but held. She knelt in front of the dim
pled little girl. “Everyone loves your Uncka Nicco. He’s my boss and I have a great deal of respect for him.” She looked above Callie’s head directly at Andrea. “But that’s all there is and ever will be between us.”

  Andrea opened her mouth, but Sunny stared her into closing it again. However, her aggravating little smile told Sunny she hadn’t given up. Sunny swallowed a groan and stepped into the little bathroom to pin her hair up under the hairnet.

  “Speaking of your uncle,” she heard Andrea say, “why don’t you go on downstairs and see if he’s ready to leave.” Callie scampered out, and Andrea came to lean in the bathroom doorway. She looked at Sunny’s mirrored reflection. “Why?”

  For once, she wasn’t teasing or pushing. Sunny turned and pulled the last bobby pin from between her lips. She jammed it in her bun and answered honestly. “I won’t be here forever, Andrea. Nick is right. This isn’t my life.”

  Andrea was smart enough not to be insulted. Sunny had made it clear often how much admiration she had for all the D’Angelo family had accomplished.

  That didn’t stop Andrea from folding her arms, however, and settling firmly against the door frame. “So?”

  Sunny’s mouth dropped open, then she shut it. “So, I can’t believe you really want to keep thrusting me at your brother when you know damn well nothing can come of it.”

  “Oh? There’s a law now forbidding rich girls from marrying self-made men from the other side of town?”

  Sunny’s gaze narrowed. “Unfair. You know it’s not about money. It’s more than cultural differences. You know what I face going back to. How in the world would I ever combine my life with his? Even if I found a way, he’d hate my world.” She pushed gently past Andrea and sat on her bed to put on her shoes. “I hate my world. And why am I even talking like I’m marrying the guy in the first place?”

  Andrea sat next to her and put her arm around Sunny’s waist. “Yeah,” she said, smiling deeply when Sunny looked at her. “Why are you? Hmm?”

  Sunny dropped her chin to her chest and sighed.

  Andrea rubbed her shoulder. “We wouldn’t push if we didn’t think the two of you were already so attracted to one another that everyone can practically see the sparks fly.”

  Sunny gave Andrea the eyebrow lift.

  Andrea shrugged. “Okay, so maybe we would have pushed a little. But we’re not stupid. Nick has no trouble getting women. It’s not like we’re trying to fix up a hopeless case here. But there’s just something about the two of you—”

  Sunny took Andrea’s hand in both of her own. “I won’t lie. I’m attracted, okay? Obviously you know that.”

  “He is, too.”

  Sunny wondered about that. She didn’t intercept as many looks as she had, or thought she had, earlier on. But every once in a while she’d catch him staring and…She shook that thought off. “Even so, I have a lot of things to figure out right now.”

  Andrea was only a year older than Sunny, but the wisdom in her eyes was ageless. “There is no bad time to fall in love, Sunny. Ask yourself which you’d regret more when you’re eighty. Turning your back on a job, a place to live? Or a man who might be the one you’ll share your whole life with? If it doesn’t work out, at least you know. Walk away, and you’ll never know.”

  Before Sunny could respond, Callie came bounding into the room. “It’s time to go!”

  Andrea scooped her daughter up and swung her high, making her squeal. “Then we’d better go!” They left the apartment with laughter and more squeals in their wake, leaving Sunny to wander behind them, lost in thoughts she’d rather not be having.

  NICK FOUND his attention wandering to the bride and groom more often than necessary. The reception was going smoothly. Or as smoothly as these things tended to go. But the wine was flowing freely and the band was playing and people weren’t so concerned that there had been more cannoli than napoleons.

  “They look happy, don’t you think?”

  Nick turned to find B.J. standing next to him. “As much as this shindig costs, they’d better be happy or I’ll hear from Mrs. Costanza about it.”

  B.J. laughed. “Well, silly me for thinking you might see more than dollar signs in this thing. I don’t even know why I try. You’re not exactly the sentimental type.”

  Oddly, that assessment stung. It shouldn’t have—she was completely correct. “I’m sentimental about some things,” he protested. At her questioning look, he thought for a moment and said, “I always wear my Bears jersey during home games.”

  She smacked him on the shoulder, and they both laughed. But her words stayed with him.

  He found his gaze straying to Sunny as she hustled out with another tray of champagne glasses. He could all but feel his sister’s speculative gaze, so he turned to her and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for pitching in today.” He nodded to her middle. “How’re the bambinos today?”

  The most serene smile crossed her face as her hand drifted to her belly. “I think they’re in training for the WWF. But so far, they’re welterweights.” She grinned at him. “Ask me again in another month and I’m sure I’ll be giving you an earful.”

  On impulse, he kissed her cheek. “You’ll do fine, Barbara Jean. You’re a wonderful mother. And don’t worry, John will catch up to speed. Or I’ll catch him up for you.”

  He’d meant it as a joke but was shocked to see tears spring to his baby sister’s eyes. “Oh, Niccolo.” She suddenly flung her arms around him and hugged him. “I take back what I said. So what if you’re stubborn and won’t see what’s right in front of your nose. As a brother, you’re not too bad. Most of the time.”

  “Gee, thanks.” He hugged her. Pregnancy hormones. His sisters had been pregnant often enough that he knew it was best to smile and nod and hug a lot.

  She punched him on the shoulder even as she kissed his cheek.

  “Ow! Hey! What’d I do to deserve that?”

  She smiled sweetly as she turned to walk away. “That’s to keep you on your toes. Wake up, Nick, and smell the bridal bouquet. Our family heritage is more about this—” she patted her belly “—than this.” She nodded toward the long banquet display tables. “Without one, what’s the point of working so hard for the other?”

  Nick opened his mouth to reply, but she was gone. Pregnant women.

  “I think that about does it.”

  He turned to find Sunny standing behind him. Her eyes were shining, her face glowing. “You look like you could go another eight hours,” he said.

  “I’m wiped out, but it’s a good kind of tired.”

  He tilted his head and gave her a wry look. “You sure you feel okay? Had a bit of the bubbly, did you?”

  His gibe didn’t dent her mood one bit. She was as bright as her name, and he found himself completely enchanted.

  Danger, danger, Nick D’Angelo.

  “It’s just I’ve never witnessed a big Italian wedding before. It’s so emotional and…loud.”

  “What other way would a wedding be? It’s a celebration.”

  She shook her head. “In my neck of the woods, weddings are formal affairs where it’s all about having the best guest list and all the right people associated with the planning.” She did that eyebrow thing and raised a pretend cigarette holder to her mouth. “You know, this was far better than Muffy and Vernon’s wedding last year, darling. How clever of them to have rented the entire Sears Tower for this little affair. Is that The Donald I see over there?” She dropped her hand and the upper crust accent and added, “The weddings I’ve been to have had all the excitement of a corporate merger.” She laughed. “Which, come to think of it, most of them are.”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” he said. “All those same things are going on here, just with an old-world accent. Tradition and heritage are big things in my world, as well. Bringing these two families together has probably been as tricky as the Time-Warner merger.”

  Sunny’s attention wandered to the bride as she danced by on the arm of her glisteny-eyed fath
er. “Well, all I can say is you know how to have a good time while doing business.”

  Nick followed her gaze. It was the weirdest thing, but he had this sudden vision of what it would be like to whirl around the dance floor with his own daughter on his arm on her wedding day. The panic that should have immediately followed such a thought didn’t rise and choke him like it would have a few weeks ago.

  “Her father’s only teary-eyed because he knows he hasn’t gotten my bill yet.”

  Sunny rolled her eyes. “You can make this all about work if you want, but leave me my fantasies, okay?”

  He grinned and moved closer to her, and his mouth was by her ear before he knew it. “And just what fantasies do you have, Sunny?”

  SUDDENLY THEY WERE standing far too close to one another, and the room seemed stiflingly hot. I shouldn’t have provoked him. Sunny tried to shift her attention to the dance floor, but somehow he filled her entire line of vision. Any hope the question was rhetorical died when she looked into his questioning eyes.

  She shrugged. “Nothing specific. Just that I was never that little girl who grew up dreaming of her wedding day, planning out every little detail in my head. But…” Her gaze drifted from his, even if she only saw the dancers in her mind’s eye. “But today there was so much…. Well, this sounds silly and trite. But there is so much love here in this room. Between the bride and groom, of course, but also between their families and for their families.” She looked into his eyes. “Warmth and love in such abundance. Maybe if I’d known it could be like this, I’d have been dreaming about it, too.”

  He brought his finger to her chin, and Sunny felt a shuddering sensation shoot through her at his touch. It was gentle and brief, just a stroke along her jaw before he moved his hand away.

  “I thought all princesses had fairy-tale lives with fairy-tale princes and Cinderella weddings.”

  “Maybe my life isn’t the fairy tale you want to think it is.”

  “I was just coming to that very same conclusion.” He shifted the tiniest bit closer. “Maybe if you told me more about it, I’d have a better understanding.”