Only One Kiss (Only One 1)

I open it and see it’s from Candace. “Did you seriously just text me?”

She smiles. “Yes, in case I forget or you forget.”

I read the text out loud. “Things to do: hire photographer, get info on the type of charity, schedule workout shots, talk about hiring an assistant.” Shaking my head, I start the truck and pull away from her house. “One, I don’t need an assistant.”

“Maybe not now, but you never know,” she says and then looks at me. “Can you stop at Starbucks?”

“Sure,” I say, pulling into the upcoming Starbucks. I’m expecting her to give me her order, but instead, she leans over and shouts out her order. The smell of fresh apples fills me because she is so close. “Do you want anything?” she asks, and all I do is blink, trying to form words.

“Um,” I start. “Iced coffee.” She gives them the order, then goes back to her side. She slides me her phone. “What is this?”

“It’s the app so I can pay for it,” she says, and I pfft at her and roll my eyes.

“You aren’t paying for this,” I say, and she looks at me. At least I think she does. I can’t really see with her glasses. When we pull up, I take out my card to pay for the drinks, and then I hand her the pink drink with berries in it. “I’m assuming this is yours.”

“Yes, a berry refresher,” she says and rips open the white paper off the green straw. “So good.” I grab my coffee and place it in the cupholder. “So where is this event?”

“A sports store,” I say. “One that does memorabilia and stuff.”

“Oh,” she says. “Those usually do really well.”

“Yeah, it was advertised on the radio and shit,” I say, and when I pull up, I’m shocked to see that a line has already formed. “That’s a lot of people.”

“This is great,” she says, smiling and starts snapping pictures as soon as she gets out. I hear some of the kids call my name when I climb out of the truck. Lifting my hand, I wave at them at the same time a sports car parks next to me. I walk beside Candace as the door opens and watch as the captain of the team steps out. “Well, well, well.” She smiles at him. “If it isn’t Mr. Manning Stevenson.”

With a smile, he walks up to her and bends down to kiss her cheek. “Aren’t you married?” I say the words before I can stop myself, and he laughs at me.

“Don’t remind me,” he mumbles, and I just look at him. “I didn’t know you would be here,” he says to Candace, and I have never wanted to throat punch someone more in my life.

“You should have brought your wife,” I say. They both look at me, and he’s about to say something to me when Becca shows up.

“There they are,” she says, getting out of her Range Rover. She’s in a pink pantsuit and looks likes she’s wearing the same shoes as Candace, but hers just don’t look sexy. “My two favorite people.”

“Yeah, right,” Manning says as she walks over to him, and he bends and kisses her cheek.

“What’s with all the kissing?” I ask Candace, and she laughs. “Seriously.” I point at him. “He’s married. How do you think his wife would feel?”

“Well, I’ve met his wife,” Candace says. “She’s a bitch.”

I’m about to ask her if she’s interested in him when Becca comes over to us. “Oh my gosh, Candace!” She kisses her now. “I’m so happy to see you here.”

“Well, I thought it would be a good time to get a couple of shots for Ralph’s Instagram,” she says, and Becca laughs.

“Does this mean you're taking him on as a client?” she asks, clapping her hands together. “Please say yes.”

“Did I have a choice?” Candace says, looking at me. I want to throw my arm around her shoulders and pull her to me. “Did you see his Instagram?”

“I almost reported him,” Becca says, and now everyone laughs but me.

“It wasn’t that bad,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“It was pretty bad,” Becca says and then walks to the door with Manning following her.

“Why don’t we get something to eat after this?” Candace says. “We can go over things.”

“I’d love that,” I say, looking down and then up at her. “But I want to get home to Ari. I haven’t been gone this long from her before.”

“Oh, we can make plans when you’re done,” she says, putting her hand on my arm. “It’s a fact that babies don’t know the time. So even if you haven’t seen her for seven hours, she will feel like it’s five minutes.”

“How do you know that?” I ask. The wind blows, and her hair flies in her face. My hands itch to push it behind her ear. Right before she answers me, I hear Becca call my name.