Only One Kiss (Only One 1)
The minute I say the words, my stomach gets all upset, and Becca cheers out loud. “Good. Fuck, it’s about time.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “I’ll let you know what she says, but let’s get a backup plan ready just in case.”
She laughs now. “You silly, silly boy.” I can even picture her sitting in her office, leaning back in her chair. “I’ve already got plan B, C, D, and even E in place.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I ask her.
“It’s why you pay me the big bucks,” she says and hangs up.
The next day, I try not to think of her as I dress Ari in a one-piece shorts outfit that looks like jeans and has little white hearts on it. I look at the headband that comes with it. “What do you think, Ari?” I ask, holding it up on my finger. “Do you want a big bow in the middle of your head?”
She moves her hands up and down and kicks her feet. “Okay, you asked for it,” I say, putting it on her head and then looking at her. She just looks at me smiling, and I have to wonder if it’s too tight on her head. “Is that on tight?” I bend down and kiss her feeling her soft skin. “Let’s go.” I pick her up and snap a selfie of the two of us and finally put it on my Instagram.
Me and my only girl.
I caption it and then turn it off, tucking the phone into my pocket. Only then do I see how we are dressed almost alike. I’m wearing navy blue shorts and a light blue V-neck T-shirt with white sneakers. I grab the Babybjorn and her pacifier as we walk out the door. “Are you ready to go make all the boys jealous?” I ask her as I buckle her into her seat and kiss her right before sticking the pacifier in her mouth. If everything goes the way it should, she should sleep until we get there since Nico’s house is about an hour from mine. I stop at Starbucks on the way there to kill more time so she can nap longer. I also drive way under the speed limit.
When I pull up to his house, I see a bunch of cars all in his massive driveway. I park on the street so if I have to leave, it’ll be easier. I grab the whole seat this time to let her sleep, and when I get there, I’m about to walk into the backyard when I see her walking up the driveway. Her head is down so she doesn’t see me, and it gives me a minute to look at her. She’s wearing a one-piece tank dress that is shorter on one side and shows her leg. Her long blond hair is loose. She finally looks up, and I see that she’s wearing aviator glasses. She smiles but then looks down, stopping when she gets to me. It’s fucking awkward, or maybe it’s just me. “Hey,” I say, and I’m about to say something else when I see one of my teammates and my good friend Miller walking up the driveway dressed in almost the same outfit as me.
He looks up and smiles and then stops next to Candace, bending and kissing her cheek. “Hey, beautiful.” Then he looks at me. “Hey there, big guy,” he says and puts his arm around her shoulder.Chapter 7Candace“Hey there, big guy.” I stand here with Miller’s arm around me, and my heart is speeding up just a touch, but it has nothing to do with Miller. It has to do with the man who smiled at me and looked like he was in pain or maybe upset I was even here. He looks at me and then at Miller, and then his eyes go to Miller’s hand that is draped over my shoulder.
When Miller called me two days ago to invite me to this barbecue, I wasn’t going to come. I don’t usually mix business and pleasure, but he told me that some of my other clients would be there, and it would be a great time to just see them. I started working with Miller two years ago, and to say he’s the biggest player in Dallas is an understatement. It also doesn’t help that he’s drop-dead gorgeous and has been on GQ twice.
“I’m good, man,” Ralph says, avoiding eye contact with both of us. “I’m going to get in there and get Ari out of the sun,” he says and walks away from us. I take a second to watch him and then shrug off Miller’s hand, and he laughs.
“We should date,” he says.
“We should not. Ever.” I laugh at him and push him. He tries to put his hand over my shoulder again, and I push it away, scrunching my face. “I don’t know where that hand has been.” We walk behind the house, and I see that people are scattered all around the huge backyard. I want to pretend I’m not looking for where Ralph went, but I’d be lying. I spot his back to me as he puts the baby chair by his feet under the huge awning near the door.