Only One Kiss (Only One 1)

“I didn’t mean to,” she says, laughing, “but it’s trending on Twitter.”

I close my eyes. “Of course it is,” I say and then look over to see that Zoey has laid down and asked for Zara to cover her.

Evan leans over and kisses Zara’s neck. “Sweetness,” he says softly, using her nickname and then burying his face in her neck.

“Barf,” I say, getting up. “Go to your room,” I say. “And cover Zoey’s eyes before you scar her.”

“She’s used to me loving on my wife,” he says, “so nothing will scar her, but I do have some news for you.” He looks over at me. “Everyone is coming here tomorrow for a pool party.” My mouth opens and then closes, and he just continues to talk as my eyes bulge out of my head. “What else was I supposed to do? You have the pool.”

“Who is everyone?” I ask, folding my hands over my chest. I know exactly who everyone is, but I want to see him squirm.

“Well, my in-laws,” he says and then puts his hand up to stop me from talking. “It’s not my fault no one can travel without each other. This is Zara’s fault.” He looks at Zara, who glares at him. “No one can be alone.”

“Your in-laws are a hundred people.” I look at Zara. “No offense but they can be a bit . . .” I try to be as polite as I can.

“Overwhelming,” she finishes the sentence for me. “And I get it, but I promise it’s not a hundred people. It’s actually only Justin and his family who are down this time.” I don’t listen to anything else she says, thankful we’re only talking about a couple of people and not the whole family.

I don’t have a chance to say anything before my phone rings, and I see that it’s another client of mine. “What is with today?” I mumble to myself, picking up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Candace, it’s Jeremy.”

“Hey, Jeremy,” I say, grabbing my calendar and flipping it to his page. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” he says, and I hear the waves crashing in the background. “Sitting out on the patio in Malibu.”

“Sounds divine,” I say, smiling. “Are you enjoying summer so far?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m still in the middle of training.” I nod my head. What people don’t realize is that the summer break isn’t really a break for the athlete; it’s when they actually get ready for the next year. Their training is sometimes even more intense during the off-season than when they play during the year. “I was actually calling to schedule a couple of things to promote.”

“I can definitely get those on the calendar,” I say.

“I wonder if you can add me to your calendar,” he says, laughing, and I ignore it.

“What were you planning on doing?” I ask.

“My foundation is having their annual celebration,” he says. “You should come down.”

“Oh, I think you told me that,” I say, looking at my calendar and see the notes that he gave me yesterday. “Yup, I have it down. I’m going to start posting about it tomorrow. I even set up a special link for people to follow via your website.”

“That is perfect, just like you,” he says, and I remain quiet, not sure what to say. “I might be in Dallas in a couple of weeks.”

“Are you coming here for business?” I ask. Looking at my notes, I don’t have anything about him coming to Dallas.

“Just coming down to check things out, and I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner while I’m there,” he says, and I stop, looking at the paper. “Maybe we can have dinner and then who knows . . .”

“Um . . .” I start. “I would have to check. Evan is in town, so I’m spending some much-needed family time with them.” When I look over at Evan, he’s looking at me, almost glaring.

“Oh, yeah?” he says. “Then why don’t we meet for lunch? Or what if I flew you out here, and you can stay at the beach house?”

“Jeremy,” I say, my voice going low. “That sounds amazing but . . .” I say, and he laughs.

“That but gets me every time,” he says. “One of these days, Candace, I’m going to fire you, and then you will have no other excuse.”

I laugh. “Good to know. Now, are we still okay with everything we discussed earlier?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Talk soon.”

I put the phone down after I end the call and shake my head. “Was that Wagner?” Evan asks, and I nod. “What did he want?”

“That’s confidential.” I look at him and wink, and Zara laughs.

“That’s code for he wanted to take your sister out,” she says, and Evan whips his head to look at me.

I put up my hand before he can open his mouth. “I said no.” Evan lets out a deep sigh of relief. “Besides, you know my rule,” I say. “I never get involved with a client.”