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“Once people get past the accent and think I’m not some Mafioso, that’s when the respect comes in,” Joey stated, “it took a long time to convince people to believe I’m legit; that we’re all legit.

No one doubts us anymore, I’ll tell you that much.”

Zoe was impressed. She had never met anyone as driven as her. It was refreshing to see a man to pursue his dreams and not just talk about them; something she was unfortunately used to living in L.A. Everyone was an aspiring something but very few actually pursued what they spoke of.

After each dinner date, Joey would always walk Zoe back to his mother’s home and kiss her goodnight. It was never a simple peck on the cheek. No, that wasn’t Joey’s style. He was slow, sensual, and earth-shattering. His lips were demanding and explored Zoe’s neck and collarbone, not leaving an area untouched.

When he forced her against the wall, pressing his body onto hers and wrapped her legs around his waist, Zoe wanted Joey to forego the “friendship” they were forming and just fuck her already. But she knew the rules. Whatever situation that occurred with his family was affecting his ability to get close with her. If they both wanted just sex, it would’ve been that.

But they both didn’t want just sex. Truth was, they really didn’t know what they wanted.

They
did
know, however, they wanted more than just that one week.

She let out a light sigh and clutched her arms around her stomach as she felt the tingling butterflies dance. Oh, there went her heart thumping so hard, Zoe thought it was going to pound its way out of her chest. If she concentrated enough, she could remember the scent of his cologne as it tickled her nose whenever he was around.

The way Joey held her hand – aggressively – as if he was he saying,
this is my woman.

And that rich baritone of his, whispering in her ear as his lips devoured her neck and his hands wandered all over her body; touching her everywhere but the places she wanted him to touch her the most.

Zoe briefly put a hand on her chest. Was she breathing? She temporarily stopped and had to take a few breaths to release the obvious sexual tension and frustration.

Was she enamored? Yes. Was she in
like
? Most definitely. Was she in love? No, though she didn’t quite believe it. Joey was everything she wanted and needed in a man. The only problem was, he was 3,000 miles away.
Of course, he is. The man of my dreams has to be in a
faraway galaxy.

It was that reason Zoe kept her feelings about Joey in check. She wasn’t certain that when she boarded that plane back to L.A., Joey simply didn’t call on one of his other girls to fill the void.
He’s probably fucking one of them right now
, Zoe smirked. Though she couldn’t believe what she just thought. She knew she wasn’t the only one yet Joey treated her like she was. It was a typical player mentally – treat them all the same but not one was more special than the other.

Zoe wasn’t going to be Joey’s number one if she couldn’t be the
only
one. The problem solved itself – Zoe wasn’t going out to New York anytime soon and Joey didn’t mention any travel plans to L.A.

Now if she could stop fantasizing about him whenever she got off, everything would be just fine.

****

their office, “welcome back, stranger.”

Eli walked over to his desk and dropped his keys and cell phone on it. He slouched on his leather chair and forced a grin on his face. His week-long sabbatical wasn’t a vacation, by any means, but he needed to clear his head. It was still cloudy with a web of confusion. He didn’t want to be with Faith at the moment, but he wasn’t entirely sure that Simone was going to be his end-all. Truth was, Eli didn’t know
what or who
he wanted. “Hey,” he finally spoke after a short silence, “does everyone hate me?”

“Oh, I think hate is a strong word,” Joey briefly looked up from his Macbook, “but

disappointment is probably more accurate. Maybe a bit of ignominy.”

“Thank you, Mr. Perfect Score on His SATs.” Eli replied.

“Shame and disgrace,” Joey replied, “is that better?”

“Great,” Eli hissed, “I officially ruined the reputation of Madre’s.”

“I wouldn’t say that. It’s not like you’re the first employee to make a stupid mistake and you won’t be the last. But it’s probably in your best interest to lay low for a minute until this all soothes over.” Joey closed his laptop and turned towards his brother, “but I do want to talk to you about all of this.”

Eli held up a hand. “Joey, I really don’t…”

“This isn’t about you, man.” Joey dismissed his brother’s refusal, “this is about Nate. How is he doing?” Joey didn’t care who was in Eli’s bed at night as long as his nephew was being provided for.

Wonderful. Ecstatic. Hopeful. Those words came to Eli’s mind and it pained him. Not

because of the situation but what resulted from it – Faith’s
new friend
, Darren. She didn’t say they were dating but that “family photo” they took at Disney World made it seem like Eli was never in the picture. Furthermore, Nathan’s reaction didn’t help matters; constantly talking about what Darren did and how excited he was to meet one of his heroes.

Faith made it clear – if he could move on, so could she and do it just as quickly and more hurtful. “He’s holding up,” Eli replied quietly, hoping the hurt in his heart didn’t come out in his voice, “we’re making things normal for him as possible and he’ll start staying with me during the week once I get my own place.”

“So you’re not going to live with Simone?”

“It was never a plan,” Eli admitted. He contemplated living with her but something in his gut told him it would be a bad move. “I never thought about it.”

“I hope she knows that,” Joey commented.

“She will soon enough,” Eli replied, “so what’s been happening with you? How are your girls?”

Ah, yes. Joey’s girls. He totally forgot about them the moment he saw Zoe. There were no phone calls, no one-hour visits, no communication from his end to theirs the entire week Zoe was in town. Not that he had missed much. Delilah left several nasty voice messages, with each one progressively getting angrier. Everleigh called for new ballet slippers and the price tag made Joey wonder what kind of dancing she was really doing. Nevaeh requested more paint and Joey knew her well enough that she wasn’t going to settle for the elementary school brand. Coco wanted to go shopping – on Joey’s dime, of course – and Alondra simply didn’t bother him at all.

Never once did Zoe mention anything about Joey’s wealth. If anything, she seemed

unimpressed by it.

She had dated many wealthy suitors before – actors, musicians, doctors, lawyers, trust-fund babies. Her former classmates had grown up to become reality stars or prominent players in the entertainment and sports industries. She could tell the difference between a Rolls Royce Phantom and Ghost just by how they looked.

She was also bored with the lifestyle.

Her parents were wealthy doctors and had spoiled Zoe and her sister growing up, traveling to different countries and cities. A typical family vacation in the Mitchell home was a week-long trip to somewhere exotic like Fuji or Anguilla. A typical family vacation in the D’Amato household was spring break and going to Manhattan.

Zoe was fluent in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese, showcasing her skills one night over dinner. Joey was impressed by her being multilingual but secretly he paid no attention to what she said. It was how she said it that made his cock twitch with anticipation. The way her lips would purse together and coo. How her almond brown eyes sparkled with interest. How throaty her voice became at times, full of passion and want.

It was no surprise to neither one of them, that after each evening out, their goodbye kiss would turn into an hour-long dry-humping make out session like they were virginal teenagers.

Joey really wanted to make love to Zoe and he knew she wanted him to. But he wasn’t

going to. Not until he could sort out the feelings inside him about what was going on with his brother. Not until he could deal with the possibility of having a long-distance relationship and all that it entailed. And definitely not until he could cut loose his girls. If he wanted Zoe, she would have to be the only one and it was something Joey, surprisingly enough, was willing to do. Even if it meant a long-distance relationship had a spectacular failure rate.

She was worth the effort. “I haven’t seen them,” Joey replied, “and not planning to, neither.”

“Oh?” Eli blinked a few times and a slow smile curved his lips. “That would mean

someone took over the top spot, wouldn’t it?”

Joey had confided in Eli about a lot of things but he wasn’t sure how trustworthy his brother was. Still, he was a better option than Kieran, Nick, or Tony. “Okay, I’m going to tell you something but you better not tell anyone about this.”

“What?” Eli stood up and closed the office door. He pulled up a chair and sat across from his brother. “What’s going on?”

A brief moment of hesitation crossed Joey’s mind before he finally spoke. “It’s Zoe, all right? Zoe and I are dating.”

“Dude, K is going to kick your ass.” Eli replied slowly, emphasizing every word.

“That’s why we’re keeping this on the low. I know what’s at stake and so does she.” Joey didn’t like keeping secrets from the family but he took Kieran’s threat to heart. He was determined to prove his older brother wrong.

“And what if K finds out about you two? What are you going to do then?”

“I’ll tell him to suck it up and deal with it,” Joey casually shrugged, “what he thinks about me is his problem, not mine.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, bro,” Eli shook his head, as if he was amused by what Joey told him, “if you hurt Zoe,
you
become K’s problem. You know how important that fashion line is to him and Tee. He’s going to explode if you’re the reason why it’s not successful.”

“I’m not going to hurt her,” Joey replied, his tone sounding like he was trying to convince himself, Eli, and anyone else for that matter. “I just want to see where this goes.”

“I’m just saying,” Eli held up his hands in defense, “this could be really good or really bad.

When do you plan on seeing her again?”

“I’m flying out to see her in a couple of weeks.” Joey made the travel arrangements the night Zoe left. “And I’ll be out there for almost a week. I already contacted the vendors and other contacts, letting them know I’ll be away on a small vacation for a week but they can reach me via cell phone and e-mail if they need to get a hold of me.”

Eli raised an eyebrow. “Heh.”

“Spill it,” Joey countered.

“The last time you postponed business meetings to be with a girl,” Eli stood up and

stretched, “was never.”

Thirteen

Fall in Los Angeles was definitely different from fall in New York.

When Joey got off the plane at LAX, he immediately felt the blazing hot weather as it smacked him in the face. If he hadn’t known better, he could’ve sworn L.A’s fall was more like their summer. It was hot, sunny, and not a cloud in the baby blue sky. He brought his sunglasses as an accessory but he didn’t think he would actually use them.

The flight was uneventful. He answered e-mails and went over meeting notes. His

thoughts, however, were not centered on any business. All he thought about was Zoe. He wondered how she was doing, even though they spoke almost every night by phone. If phone wasn’t a good enough option, they did video messaging. That option Joey preferred because not only could he see Zoe’s beautiful face but also get a very generous peek into her ample cleavage as she wore low-cut tops and too-tight tank tops during their chats.

They had discussed in length about Joey’s upcoming visit and Zoe promised it was going to be a vacation he would never forget, taking him to some of her favorite places and hot spots.

When the topic turned to sleeping arrangements, Joey mentioned a hotel he had found that wasn’t too far from Zoe’s condo and she frowned at the suggestion.

“I was hoping you would stay here,” she suggestively said.

Joey rubbed his chin and leaned forward to the screen. “If I spend the night there, I can’t
guarantee our relationship will still be platonic.”

“Maybe that’s what I want,” Zoe’s tongue briefly wet her lips.

Joey felt his jeans tighten upon the memory. He made sure he packed an extra box of

condoms just in case.

It wasn’t the potential sex that made him nervous. The trip was going to determine if there was a future between the two of them. A long-distance relationship never worked and Joey had been in plenty to know that firsthand. But he was willing to give this, whatever it was, with Zoe a shot. He didn’t want to spend his life pondering ‘what if?’ when he could reminisce and smile, ‘I did.’

Just as long Kieran had no knowledge of it.

****

Zoe crossed her arms as she kept side-stepping, enough where if she added a few more moves, she would be country-line dancing.

She didn’t know why she was so nervous. Joey told her his flight itinerary and she had made plans for them for that week. She took an impromptu vacation from Fits and Giggles and didn’t have to explain to Kieran why she was suddenly going on vacation in the middle of October. Everything was falling into plan.

Maybe that was the problem. Everything was perfect.

She tried to convince herself that Joey would never be serious about her. That his player reputation would get the best of her and she would be cursing herself for being so stupid once he finally showed his hand. Yet, every phone conversation…every video session…the sexual innuendos became blatantly obvious with the two of them almost talking dirty to each other.

“If I wanted to get into your pants, we wouldn’t be talking about your ambitions and goals
because I wouldn’t care,” he smiled over the computer screen, “you’d be too busy praising
Jesus for my tongue.”