Only One Touch (Only One 4)

“What was what?” I pretend not to know what she’s talking about, but I know exactly what she means.

“Don’t do that.” She folds her arms. “You kissed me.”

“I’ve kissed you many times before,” I point out, taking off my jacket, assuming she isn’t going to kick me out on my ass. I toss the jacket on the chair in the corner.

“You kissed me in the middle of a public restaurant with eyes on us,” she says, and I wait for her to finish. “You kissed me in front of Manning.”

“Okay.” I take off my cuff links, walking over to the bedside table and placing them on there.

“Nico,” she says my name. “We haven’t even discussed what this is.” She points at me and then to her. “This whole thing.” Her hand goes in a circle. “Whatever this is.”

“I thought we spoke about it,” I say, and she glares at me. “I told you I like you.”

“Well, I like Manning,” she says, and it’s time for me to glare. “You don’t see me kissing his lips.”

“That’s not funny.” I put my hands on my hips.

“I’m not trying to be funny.” She mimics my stance.

“What do you think this is?” I ask, and she tilts her head.

“I have no idea what it is,” she answers right away. “I was not putting a label on it. I thought we were friends with perks.”

I glare at her, and she doesn’t finish her sentence. “Do you have any other friends with—”

“I suggest you think about that question before you say it out loud,” she warns. “What is this?”

“It’s a man and a woman who enjoy spending their time together,” I say, and it sounds stupid even to my ears. She rolls her eyes. “Okay, fine.”

“You kissed me in front of a lot of people,” she says softly. “You kissed me in front of Manning. It’s my work, and I have a reputation.”

“I know,” I say softly, and I go to her. “But I’m not sorry about it.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Nico,” she says. “You didn’t even talk to me about it.”

“That’s because it happened so fast. I didn’t expect it to. I walked into the restaurant, knowing I was going to see you. What I wasn’t expecting is how it would feel seeing you after two days. Then I walked in,” I say, “I saw you, and I missed you. I didn’t think about anything but kissing you.” I put my hands on her hips. “But you’re right. I should have spoken to you about it. We should have had the conversation.”

She steps out of my reach. “You are right. We should have a discussion about this.”

“Perfect.” I put my hands in my pockets. “Why don’t you start?”

“What are we going to tell people?” she asks, and I just look at her.

“I don’t usually have to answer to anyone.” She tilts her head to the side. “I don’t.”

“That makes two of us. But that you kissed me in a room full of people, so the rules have changed.” Fuck, if I didn’t think she was hot before, the no-nonsense Becca makes me even harder.

“So we are dating,” I finally say.

“Exclusively?” she asks, and I glare at her. “It’s a valid question. We haven’t had a talk about our past.”

“Considering it is in the past, I don’t see why we even have to discuss that part,” I say. “Are you saying you haven’t been exclusive up to now?” She glares at me, and the thought of her with someone else makes my blood boil.

“I’m not even going to justify answering that. So we got that part checked off. Let’s discuss the dating part.” I wait for her to start. “Phone calls.”

“At least one a day,” I say, and she raises her eyebrow. “I like talking to you before bed,” I admit to her.

“So do I,” she says softly. “So at least once a day.”

“I know we both work like crazy.” I’m the one who talks next. “But I think making time for each other has to be a must.”

“I agree,” she says. “Lies. I won’t put up with them.” I nod. “We are both grown ass adults. If we have to lie to each other, it defeats the purpose of us even dating. If at any time it’s not working for one of us, tell the other.”

“Sleepovers.” I get to the good stuff.

“What about them?” she asks, smirking.

“I want them,” I say. “If I’m home and you’re home, I want us to be together.”

“I can do that,” she says, and I just look at her. “Fine.” She throws up her hands. “I want us to be together also.”

“So I think we’ve covered everything,” I say.

“I have to tell my brothers,” she says. “It’s only fair.”

“I’ll tell Lizzie.” I look down. “She kind of already knows, but I’ll confirm it.”