Only One Kiss (Only One 1)

My eyes flutter open, and I just look at him. “Is she up?” I look over his shoulder.

“She is,” he says, “which is why I kissed you at the door.” He winks at me, laughing, and I push him away.

“Shut up.” I walk past him, picking up my bag, and as he walks next to me, our hands graze each other. I walk into the living room and see Ari sitting there in the middle of the room with toys all around her. “Good morning, princess,” I say. She smiles at me, and I grab her, bringing her up and kissing her neck. “Did you sleep well?”

She babbles at me. “She did. She slept a full six hours,” Ralph says, and I look at him. “Are you sure about this?”

“Ralph.” When I say his name, he walks over and kisses me on the lips right in front of Ariella. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I can.” He winks at me. “And because I love when you say my name. Now, she’s just had a bottle,” he says to me. “She usually goes down for a nap or two.”

“We got this,” I say and then look at Ariella. “Don’t we?” She closes her eyes and scrunches up her nose. “Is there anything else you feel the need to tell me?”

“Well, she likes to have cereal, but I should be back for that,” he says and then looks around. “Make yourself at home.”

“I will,” I say. “Don’t you have to go?”

“I do,” he says, kissing Ari on the cheek and then looking at me. “I’m going to kiss you so I hope Ari is looking the other way.”

I don’t even try to argue with him. I just kiss him back, and when he steps away from me, I look at Ari, who is too busy trying to get her hands to go into each other. “Be safe,” I say, and he just smiles.

“I’ll call you, and if there is anything . . .” he says nervously.

“Go.” Shaking my head, we walk him to the door and wave as he drives away. “Your father, I tell you, Ari. He’s too much.”

Walking back inside, I start setting up my day. I clean up the kitchen a bit, and when she starts to get a bit cranky, I grab a bottle and sit with her on the couch while I go over my emails on my phone. When she falls asleep, I put her down in her crib and then look around. This room is so bland, I think to myself. There is no color; it’s just cream and cream. I close the shades a touch, and my eyes avoid the picture of Cassie. When I walk back out, I grab my laptop and get ahead of my schedule, and when she wakes up from her nap, my work for the day is done.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” I ask as I carry her out, preparing her a bottle and then looking in the garage for a stroller. Cardboard boxes fill half the garage, and I’m shocked when I see his name on all of them. I’m still searching for the stroller when my phone rings. I don’t even check to see who it is before I answer. “Hello?” I say and then hear my brother’s voice, and then I realize that I’m on FaceTime. “Hello,” I say to the phone when I see Zoey sitting on top of Evan.

“Auntie CanCan, can I come over?” she asks me. I smile at her, my heart hurting a bit more as I think about how much I miss her.

“You can come over anytime you want to, sweetheart,” I say. Ari babbles next to me, and my brother comes into view now.

“Where are you?” he asks, and then I see Zara come into the picture as she holds her coffee cup in front of her mouth while her eyes widen.

“I’m actually helping Ralph out,” I say, hoping that I sound like it’s a normal thing and not that I’m actually falling for him. Or that I’ve decided to throw the only rule I had out the window for him. “He had to fire his babysitter and was stuck.”

“What?” my brother asks. “Why would he fire her?”

“She showed up at his house, and well, she thought that he wanted her to do a lot more than just watch his daughter,” I say, giving them the PG version instead of the drawn-out one. Walking out to the garage and back into the house.

“Wow,” Zara says. “This is why we are never going to hire babysitters.” She glares at Evan, who holds his hands up. “Bitches be crazy, Evan.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Zoey says. “Bitches be crazy.” It’s my turn to laugh.

“Don’t say that,” Zara tells her. “It’s a bad word.”