By the time she’d stopped laughing, we were coming to a stop in front of her building, and she was still smiling wide. I was having trouble looking away. Julia’s smile took over her whole face. As I stole one more look at her face, I realized that I would probably be willing to do a lot of crazy shit trying to coax more of them out of her.
When she spoke her voice was still ringing with humor. “You already know he can’t come anywhere near Corona. Dominican mom and dad from PR.”
The Queens burst out of me before I could stop it. “He doesn’t know much, if he ever let you go.”
I held her gaze, because I meant it, but what had flames licking low in my gut was how she locked those brown eyes with mine. She wasn’t shying away from the compliment. This woman knew what she was worth.
Something in the energy between us kindled and caught fire and I had to grip the steering wheel hard so I didn’t do something we would both regret. I wondered if she felt it too. And maybe she did because when she spoke I could hear a tremor in her voice that was more than the AC.
“Thanks for the ride, Rocco, and for showing up early.” She raised her eyebrow, hands on her big purse. “Even though it’s still sort of nerve-wracking being around you, tonight was fun.” I didn’t have to ask why I made her nervous.
“I’m glad you let me stick around.”
She nodded and went to open the door, but kept her eyes on me. “Monday I’ll check in with you about the visits. I was thinking you could come and see the after-school program first. I sent you the details in an email.”
I nodded as she waited for a response. “I’m sure whatever you have in mind will work great.”
She dropped her gaze to her lap for the next part, and I knew the night was about to be truly over. “I don’t want to muddy the waters, Rocco, not just because I want to keep my job, but because this work is too important.”
“I know.” But I didn’t, if I was being honest with myself. Trying to get something started with Julia was the height of foolishness. I still wanted her though.
“The families we work with are mostly undocumented. This program is one of the few in the state that operates with fully private funds. Losing it would be devastating.” I knew that already, but hearing the emotion in Julia’s voice made me flinch. She was doing something amazing and good, while I was trying to make rich people more money.
Her phone pinged and she jumped before fishing it out of her bag. When she looked at the screen, a type of smile I hadn’t seen yet bloomed on her face.
I cleared my throat again, trying to get myself together. “I better head home.”
She looked up and quickly shoved the phone in her bag. “It’s my best friend, Alba. She wanted to know if I’d survived the evening. She’s very invested in me not continuing to live like a social pariah.”
Right, Julia’s life was here in Dallas and mine was waiting for me in New York.
But before she stepped out of the car, she turned around and it was like she could see right into my head. “I liked having you in the group tonight. Maybe we could keep things friendly?”
She stressed the last word, but her smile was warm and I wanted to grab onto it before it was gone. I dipped my head and felt something a lot like happiness pulse in my chest. “Of course.”
She seemed satisfied with my answer and with a final nod she opened the door and stepped out into the warm Dallas night.
I watched her walk along the paved path, her long skirt lifting as she moved. When she finally got to her door, she looked back toward me, before walking into her apartment.
As I pulled out of her parking lot, I tried very hard not to read into the fact that maybe for the first time in my life, someone had turned around for me.
Chapter Six
Rocco
“Come in.” I tried not to snap at whoever was knocking on my office door Monday afternoon. I was about to head out to do the site visit of Julia’s program. I’d been thinking about her nonstop since I’d dropped her off on Friday night, and it felt like I hadn’t seen her in an eternity.
So of course the two people in this whole company I couldn’t stand had to come in for a one-on-one. Right behind Phil Brentwood, the CFO of Sturm’s, was thirty-two-year-old Duke Sturm, the third heir to the department store empire. Duke was the only son from the second and short-lived marriage of the store’s founder, Donald Sturm. Rumor was that Donald had met Duke’s mom at a photo shoot for the company and started an affair that ended his marriage with Mitzy and Muffy’s mother. So the bad blood here went much deeper than conflicting views on the future of the business. I knew what a guy with a chip on his shoulder looked like and Duke had something to prove. So far he’d been cordial to me, but in every interaction it was very clear he considered me the hired help.
“Hey, Rocco.” Phil was really fucking fake, but at least he shook my hand. Duke just glared. He was not taking his half sisters’ approach, that was for sure.
“I love saying your name, it’s so New York.” Phil did air quotes when he said New York and I remembered why I thought this guy was an asshole.
“It’s where I’m from. Can I help you gentlemen?” I looked at the large wall clock directly above the office door, I was polite, but I didn’t have to be subtle. “I’m about to go and visit one of the foundation programs.”
Phil held up his hands, his usual greasy smile fixed on his face. “Oh, we stopped in at the perfect time, then. That’s exactly what we wanted to talk to you about.” I resisted the urge to shudder, but just barely.
I stood there silently waiting for Phil to get on with whatever he came to see me for. After a moment he looked at Duke, who apparently was just here for moral support or to make sure Phil didn’t fuck up on whatever he was supposed to tell me. “We know that you’ve been meeting with the twins, and that this week you’ll be dealing with their little hobby projects. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about that.”
