Only One Kiss (Only One 1)

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “I would have knocked.” She stands there in army color loose pants that cuff at the ankle. She is wearing a shirt that shows off way too much skin. It comes just above her belly button and has small spaghetti straps that are hidden by her hair. Her tan arms look soft. “You look rough.” She closes the door behind her as quietly as she can.

“She was up half the night,” I say, turning and walking into the house. “I don’t know if it’s a full moon or not, but she ate every second hour.”

“She’s going through a growth spurt, maybe?” She walks to the kitchen, putting the bags that she was holding on the counter. “I can come back later when you guys are both up.” Ari starts to stretch, and I look down to see that she is opening her eyes.

“I think she’s getting up,” I say as I rub Ari’s back. “We went back to bed at seven. I didn’t know she’d be out this long.” I walk over to the couch, then sit down.

“Do you want me to make her a bottle?” she asks from the kitchen. I look over at her, but I don’t have the energy to do anything.

“Please,” I say. “You just press the button.” She walks toward the machine in the kitchen.

“I know. I have one for Zoey,” she says, and I hear the machine working. Ari now does more stretching as her bum lifts up, and her small fists reach up above her head.

“Good morning,” I say, and she smiles at me, and all the loss of sleep erases when I see her face.

“Do you want me to feed her so you can get dressed?” she asks, and I look down at myself.

“If I get dressed, will you get dressed?” I ask her, and she looks at me. “I have just as much skin showing as you do.”

“What?” she asks, almost shocked. “This is fully covered.” She looks down at her outfit.

“I see stomach, arms, shoulders.” I start naming the body parts. “Top boobage.”

“Boobage?” She repeats the word.

“It’s the part that shows the top of the boob,” I say.

“There is no top boobage.” She pushes her hair behind her. “See.”

“Oh, I see, and I still see it,” I say, and Ari holds out her hand for the bottle. She bends down to grab Ari, and my cock goes on full command as I see down her shirt at the satin bra that is holding her together. Her eyes go from Ari to me. I move in, and my lips find hers for one second before I move back again. She looks at me, her eyes opening slowly now. Her finger goes to her lips, touching them.

“I . . .” I start to say.

Candace picks Ari up and kisses her neck, not saying anything about the kiss. “If I have to cover boobage, you have to cover the tentage,” she says, turning and walking away from me. My eyes fly down to my shorts, and I see the tent definitely lifted. “I’m going to go change her diaper while you take down the tent.”Chapter 15CandaceMy heart thumps in my chest so fast I can hear it echoing in my ears as I walk away from him. My lips still tingle from his kiss. It came out of the blue, and if I didn’t see it, I would think it didn’t happen.

When I showed up on his doorstep this morning, the last thing I expected to see was a sleepy Ralph, which is hotter than a fully awake Ralph. His hair all over the place, screaming for you to run your hands through it. Then holding Ariella with one hand to his naked chest. A chest that shows you how hard he works out in the gym, and fucking gym shorts. I always wondered why men would wear jogging pants or gym shorts with no boxers under them. He literally just showed me everything he had to offer, and all the warnings that I had in my head about not being with him just pushed it to the side.

I walk into Ariella’s room and stop for a second before going in. The neutral cream nursery has plush cream carpet that my feet sink in as I walk over it to the cream-colored changing table with a memory foam pad on it. I place her down and look over at her crib, which is again cream with a lace coming from the ceiling draping over the sides of the crib. It’s a princess-style crib, for sure. I look over at the matching rocking chair that has a book on it and the built-in wall units beside the crib that have little pieces of Ariella. Her footprint in clay, her birth picture, and right beside it a picture of Cassie.