Only One Regret (Only One 5)

"Go watch television," I say, pushing him out of the door and slamming it shut. The sound of his laughter fills the whole house.

"Do you need an extra ten minutes?" he shouts.

"Do you want me to come visit houses with you or not?" I ask through the door.

"Fine," he concedes. "I’ll be downstairs."

I shake my head and walk back to my bed, flipping the pillows over to find the purple vibrator. When I got home last night, I tossed and turned for over an hour before I decided to take care of myself. I fell asleep right after, forgetting to put it away. I tuck it in the side drawer and then go to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I comb out my hair, the curls from last night still intact, before I head to the closet.

I slide a pair of black jeans on with a hole in the knee and then walk over to the built-in drawers, taking out my white lace bra and putting on a white silk camisole on top of it. I grab my black jacket and black patent Louboutins and head downstairs. I can hear the television playing, and when I look into the family room, he’s sprawled on the couch, watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey. "Aha," I say to him, and he looks over at me as I slide the shoes on. "Caught you."

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asks, and I put the jacket over my shoulders. "Where do you think you’re going?"

"Cooper, for one, you always go with 'Erika, you look amazing,'" I say, holding up my finger. "And two, we are going to visit million-dollar homes. I have to look the part."

He gets up, shaking his head. "My whole outfit cost forty-five dollars," he says, and I look at him and tilt my head.

"I bought you those sneakers. They were two hundred and fifty dollars." I turn, grabbing my black purse from last night. "Now, do you want me to come with you or not?" He grabs the remote and turns off the television. "And I can’t believe you watched that without me," I pout, walking to the front door, and he closes it behind us. I grab the sunglasses from my purse. "It’s brighter than a bleached asshole out here," I state, and I can hear him stop walking. Looking over, I see him put his hand on his stomach and laugh out loud.

"Only you, Erika," he says, walking to the SUV and opening the door for me. "Only you can be dressed classy and say something like that."

I grab his chin in my hand. "Only you would expect more from me." I get on my tippy-toes and kiss his cheek, this time coming way too close to his lips. "That would be your first mistake." Dropping my hand from his face, my body feeling off-kilter for a second. "Now, don’t make me regret going out on a Sunday." I get in the SUV and look up at him. His eyes are so crystal blue I can see through them.

"Oh, trust me." He smirks at me. "You’ll never regret anything with me," he says before shutting the door.

I put my hand to my stomach, watching him walk around the SUV, the whole time wondering What the hell is going on?

Chapter 11

Cooper

I pull up to the third house, and just from looking at it I know it’s the one. It’s why I showed it last. I had a feeling it was for me, but I wanted Erika to see it. "This is the last one," I say looking over at her, and her mouth is open.

"It’s so pretty," she says, looking at the two-story house. "I mean, the second one was really pretty, and it had a tower," she says, making me laugh. "But this." She smiles big. "There are two balconies on the second floor. The girls will love that." Something inside me settles that she is so happy with the house.

"Shall we go see it?" I ask, and she nods her head. When I showed up at her house this morning, I knew she would come with me. I also knew I couldn’t make this decision without her.

I reach for the handle and open the door, and Erika steps out before I do. The two-car garage has a room on top with a balcony. "What are the chances that the girls are going to try to sneak out of that window?" She points at the balcony.

"I’m going to have a state-of-the-art alarm all over the house. You won’t be able to open a bathroom door without me getting an alert," I announce, and she gawks at me. "My father did it, and we turned out fine."

"Really?" she questions, folding her arms. "You think you turned out fine?" She tilts her head. "Not sure about that one." She turns to walk up the path, and I go with her. My arm goes around her shoulders. "I love the big windows,” she says as we walk past three huge windows toward the large brown front door. She looks over at me, her face beaming. "You ready?"