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Chapter One

A man didn’t maketime but, with a little luck and a lot of hard work, hopefully not forever With planning and diligence, he could make amends And that had been Julian Dane’s blueprint for how to live his life for the last two hundred and seventy days

He’d been clean and off drugs for way longer, but the ti and hurt an innocent woman haunted him more than his past addiction So he counted his sobriety from that day on The day he’d decided to act like a decent hue

He walked out of his Alcoholics Anony, his close friend and sponsor by his side He’d tried Narcotics Anonyestion of his old therapist, he’d related s, their twelve-step progra he was powerless over his addiction, includingeverything he’d learned in all his affairs And everything in between

“You up for dinner?” Nick Cantone, his sponsor, asked

They often caught a bite after a

“I told Lauren I wouldn’t be ho to eat with friends,” he said, referring to his wife

Julian’s erin

They headed for a small diner on the corner, a typical New York City haunt, and chose an e across from each other on the plastic seats Julian didn’t need to look at the laer and fries would suit him fine The waiter poured them water and took their orders

They sat in silence for a fewunless Julian brought it up first And though he was feeling pensive, he wasn’t in thewith sobriety, didn’t s There had been a time he’d self-medicated as an escape, and he had lost hiether now but didn’t kid hiram

“So I was thinking,” Nick said as Julian picked up a glass of water and took a drink, “it’s tiame I want to introduce you to a woman I ith I think you tould hit it off I happen to know she’s looking for a decent guy And if you’re not interested in a relationship, I know another chick who’s s hookup”

Julian raised an eyebrow in surprise “You playing matchmaker now?”

A grin split Nick’s face “No I just happened to overhear water cooler conversation at the office” Nick owned a real estate coossip

“I’” Julian’s freelance cyber security business was picking up He’d hired outside contractors and things were finally going well He wanted to keep his focus where it belonged

“Next thing I know you’ll telljust fine,” Nick muttered

Julian rolled his eyes Everyone thought they were a comedian

Although he’d be the first to ad he wasn’t currently dating and hadn’t had a hookup, as Nick called it, in a while He could date the last tihs, but that would lead hiht always led nowhere