Only One Kiss (Only One 1)

“It’s okay. Can you get her a change of clothes?” He nods and walks out of the kitchen, but this time, not so frantic. Ariella screams with glee as she splashes water everywhere, and by the time Ralph comes back with clothes in one hand, my shirt is about soaked through. “She’s almost done,” I say, and I rinse off her body with water, and she laughs and tries to catch the water in her hand. “Do you want to open the towel and take her? Or you can lay a towel down so I can wrap her.”

“I got her,” he says, opening a towel as I hand her to him, his arms securing her in the towel. I watch him, and he looks at me. His eyes narrow almost to a slit, and he looks like he’s glaring at me. I wonder if I did something wrong or if I overstepped somehow. The look he gives me makes my stomach sink, and I don’t even know what to say.

“Are you okay?” I finally have the courage to ask him.

“Why don’t you cover yourself up?” He avoids looking at me, and I look down and see that the shirt I’m wearing is completely see-through. The lace bra leaving nothing to the imagination. I turn quickly and put my hands in front of me.

“Oh my God,” I say, ignoring the fact that he just saw me half naked, and from the look on his face, I grossed him out. “I’m going to get going,” I say, keeping my back to him as I walk over to my purse.

“You can’t leave like that,” he says, and I look over my shoulder at him as he dresses Ariella. He rubs her cream on her as she now eats her toe. “Give me a second and I’ll get you a change of clothes.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. It’s fine; I’m going right home,” I say, putting the books into my bag and then taking the keys. “I’m fine,” I say and walk out of the room with my back to him. Once in the hallway, I run out of the house, slamming the door behind me. I ignore the smell of myself and ignore everything else until I walk into my house. I dump my bag at the door, not bothering to turn on the lights as I make my way upstairs to my bathroom. I peel the pants off me and put them in the sink with the shirt and my lace bra that didn’t help at all. I step into the shower to wash off and then wash my hair at the same time. Once out of the shower, I slip on my big white plush robe and wrap my hair up.

I walk out of the bathroom and force myself not to think about Ralph. Heading to the door to grab my bag, I take out my books and put them on the island as I walk to the bedroom and grab my laptop. I set myself on the counter grabbing some leftovers and heating it up. I walk over to the counter to grab my phone but don’t find it there. I walk back to get my bag and don’t find it there either. I hear my computer ping, but I ignore it as I walk to my bedroom, looking on the bed and then in the sink where I have my pants, and it isn’t there. I walk back out when I hear my computer start ringing, and I’m about to lose my shit going nuts for my phone. It stops ringing and then starts again, and I walk over, seeing that it’s a FaceTime call from Ralph. I accept and wait as it says it’s connecting, his face fills the screen with Ariella who is sitting on his lap looking into the phone.

“Hey,” he says, and I have a sudden need to take my towel off and fix my wet hair.

“Hey,” I say right back to him, not sure what to say.

“Ari wanted to thank you for washing her,” he says with a smile, and for the first time since I’ve met him, he almost looks carefree. “And to tell you that you forgot your phone here.” He picks up his hand and shows me said phone.

“I was just looking for it,” I say. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“I heard it ringing, and I think I saw that Miller called,” he says, and I raise my eyebrows now. “Not that I was looking,” he starts fumbling his words. “I thought it was my phone, and then when it stopped ringing, I saw that the screen saver was Zoey, and well, I put two and two together.”

“You are just a regular Sherlock Holmes,” I joke with him. He laughs, and I love, love, love the sound of it. I love how it’s a hearty laugh. I love that his chest shakes, and I love the way his eyes go just a touch softer.