Only One Touch (Only One 4)

Dragging my ass out of bed, I head into my walk-in closet to get dressed. It’s the size of a bedroom with clothes on all four walls sorted by color and then by designer. I pick out tight black pants that fit me like a glove and a black lace halter top with a tight black jacket cut down in the front to show the lace under it. I set the clothes down on the bed and go into the bathroom and curl my hair. I have my hair and makeup done in thirty minutes, and I get a text telling me the car will be here in ten minutes.

I slip on my clothes and then walk over to my shoes, grabbing a pair of gold Louboutins. My feet scream at me for putting them through this torture. “It hurts to be beautiful.” Grabbing my black Hermes purse, I walk out of the penthouse and make my way down to the waiting car.

The driver opens the door as soon as he sees me. I usually drive, but I figured that I could have a couple of drinks. “Thank you,” I say, getting into the car. I spend the drive over scrolling through Instagram and see a couple of pictures from my clients that I like.

When we pull up to the restaurant, I put the phone back in my purse, and the driver comes over and opens the door. “I’ll be waiting right here when you are ready.”

“Thank you,” I say and walk into the restaurant. The whole place is shut down just for us. People are lingering everywhere, and I look around, spotting Candace and Ralph talking to Miller and Layla. I make my way over and see balloons scattered around the room. “Happy Birthday,” I say when I get close enough to them. Candace looks up and smiles at me. She is a sought-after social media specialist. I met Ralph three years ago when he first got traded to Dallas, and he had no agent. I signed him after meeting with him for five minutes. He was genuine and down to earth, and then his whole life turned upside down.

“Becca,” Candace says, coming over to me, “I got your bracelet.” She shows me the Cartier one I bought her. “It’s stunning and so thoughtful.”

“It was my pleasure,” I say, and I show her the same one on my wrist next to my gold Rolex. “I saw you looking at it the last time we were together.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Ralph says. “Made the bracelet I got her look lame.”

I laugh. “Oh, please.” I walk to Ralph and kiss his cheek and then do the same to Miller and Layla. Miller is another one of my clients. He’s the it boy on the ice, Mr. GQ they call him, and was the most eligible bachelor before Layla got her hooks into him. Now they could parade a whole harem of women in front of him, and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. “Where is Manning?” I ask of the third person in their trio.

“His son had a hockey game or something,” Miller says. “I think it was an excuse not to hang around with Murielle.” We all laugh. He’s kept it a huge secret that he’s been trying to get divorced for the past four years, and she refuses to grant him one. She actually took their son and ran away when he served her with papers the first time.

“Anyone care for some champagne?” the server asks us, and I smile, grabbing a glass.

“To Candace,” I say. Holding up my glass, I add, “And to the two guys who do what they're told.”

“Cheers,” everyone says, and I take a sip of the champagne.

“Let’s grab our seats,” Layla says to us, and we walk to sit down at the table.

When I sit next to one of the rookies, who smiles at me, I groan inwardly and think here we go.

Chapter 4

Nico

I park my BMW SUV in an empty parking spot, then get out and walk to the restaurant. I’ve been on the go since five this morning. I spent three hours working out all the frustration I had from yesterday.

The meeting lasted five hours yesterday. We picked it up again today for another four hours, but I think we finally found a way to get the expiring contracts signed without going over my cap. I pull open the door to the restaurant and look around. The restaurant is closed just for us, which is something we always have to do to enjoy our time.

I stop as soon as I walk in, shaking one of the guy's hands. I look around then to see if I can spot Ralph, who is right beside Candace. “Happy Birthday,” I say, handing her the gift Lizzie bought.