Chapter One
“So…did you say yes?”
Towel drying herself, Sophia Nardovino paused to stare at her cell phone which was set to speaker on the bathroom counter, questioning if she’d heard her mother correctly.
“Sophia? Are you there?”
“Yeah, Ma.” She sighed. “Nothing’s changed. I told Gino no for tenth time, and I’m still here drying off.”
Her mother’stskechoed through the phone. “You’re too hard on that boy. What’s so bad about marrying him? He comes from a good Italian family.”
Unlike her mother, that wasn’t one of Sophia’s requirements for a husband. Nor was being a slick womanizer. Besides, she didn’t want to get married just yet. She was focused on building her set design portfolio for her career.
“It’s the perfect match,” her mother continued. “His family is into real estate. Your family is in construction.”
“Doesn’t make him the right fit for me.” Using her towel, she wiped the mist off the mirror of the master bath in a condo that used to belong to her college friend’s brother. Brandi told her Keiffer was now living in Harland County, Texas, near her, and insisted Sophia use the place while she was there building sets for her friend, Phoebe—a Broadway star who was opening her own theatre in the Poconos.
“Why doesn’t that make him right for you?”
She blinked at her mother’s question, and a snort rippled up her throat. “Well, for one, he’s an arrogant ladies man.” Something she’d never tolerate.
“So was your father before we started dating,” her mother pointed out. “You just need to give Gino a chance.”
Eww.
A shudder ricocheted down her spine. “I did, Ma. Last year. Remember? I went on a date with him, because you, Dad and Gino kept badgering me.”
“Once isn’t enough to get to know someone.” Her mother’s tone was borderline scolding.
Sophia snorted again. “Believe me, one date with Gino was too much.” Bile raced up her throat at the memory.
The instant she’d opened her apartment door, she knew it was a mistake. A big one—with a slick grin and unexpected attitude to match.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
“What was so wrong with the date?” her mother asked, as if Sophia hadn’t told her several times already.
“The fact I couldn’t breathe, for one thing.” She shuddered again. “He wore so much cologne, Mrs. Switzer’s cat across the hall sneezed three times.”
“That’s her fault for snooping.”
Sophia lived in a well-maintained building in Queens, with nice neighbors. “Ma, her door was shut.”
“Then she shouldn’t have left the poor thing out in the hallway.”
She shook her head. “The cat wasn’t in the hallway. She was inside Mrs. Switzer’s apartment…behind a closed door.”
“That’s still no reason not to go out with the guy again,” her mother insisted.
“Yes, it is,” she insisted right back. “He killed my taste buds. Everything I ate that night tasted like his cologne. Then there was the lovely stop at a club where he danced with at least three other women, while I sat and watched.” Granted, that was after she’d refused to dance with him again. He’d lost that privilege after assuming it was okay to let his hands roam freely over her body.
There was only man she’d grant that privilege, but their fling was a long time ago. Ryder was probably married with several children by now.
She wondered briefly if she’d run into him while in the Poconos.
“Maybe he was trying to impress you with his moves, or something.” Now, her mother was reaching.
She laughed outright. “Trust me, Ma. You would be less than impressed with his moves that night.”
