Just One Kiss (Very Irresistible Bachelors Book 2)

by Layla Hagen

  Her voice was bursting with excitement. I liked that I was the reason for that.

  “Perfect. What’s the schedule?” I asked.

  “Well, the two of us are home already. I need to leave in about three hours. Isn’t that too early for you though?”

  Damn, it kind of was. On days like this, I had to be on top of things even after the stock market closed.

  “I’ll be there on time and just bring my laptop with me,” I said. I wasn’t missing out on time with my girls for anything.

  ***

  I was at Heather’s place at six o’clock on the dot. She opened the door for me with a huge smile. She looked phenomenal, wearing a black suit. The skirt reached just above her knees. Her legs looked endless in high heels.

  “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

  “Good evening to you too.” Her smile grew more pronounced. She took my laptop bag, placing it on the small chair next to the closet. I kissed her as soon as I stepped inside the door. I hadn’t seen her in two days, but this hunger I felt for her was insatiable, as if it had been two weeks. I wrapped a hand in her thick hair, tilting her head, kissing, claiming, marking her as mine. Her lips were slightly swollen when I pulled back. I ran my thumb over her mouth, pressing on the upper bow.

  “Ryker, don’t,” she whispered weakly.

  “What? Just kissing you for good luck. So you can focus better.”

  “Well, if you keep it up, all I’m going to accomplish is to daydream about you during the interview.”

  I took a large step to one side, keeping my hands up in surrender.

  “I don’t want to jeopardize your professionalism. Where’s Avery?”

  “In her room. So, I’ve left puzzles out, and if she wants to watch cartoons, she’ll tell you what her favorites are on Netflix.”

  “Babe, we’re going to be fine,” I assured her. “What time will you be back?”

  “Nine or ten.”

  We heard Avery stomp through the apartment, running toward us.

  “Ryker, you’re here!”

  “I am.”

  “Be a good girl, okay, Avery? Listen to Ryker,” Heather said.

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “Okay. I have to go. Call me if you need help with anything.”

  She fiddled with the strap of her bag, clearly wondering if this was a good idea.

  “I’ve got this,” I said. “Go. Don’t be late.”

  She smiled before taking off.

  Once it was just the two of us, Avery took my hand, bringing me to the kitchen.

  “Can we order pizza?” She pointed to a take-out menu pinned on the fridge. “We always order from there.”

  “Sure.”

  “Yes.” Avery clapped her hands, instantly lighting up. Should I be suspicious? I almost texted Heather to ask if there was some rule on pizza, but I’d just told her I had everything under control.

  After ordering one pizza for us both, I told Avery, “It’ll take forty minutes for the delivery. What do you want to do until then?”

  “I want to paint.” That brilliant smile was still on.

  “Okay.”

  I had no experience whatsoever with kids, but I was a fast learner. Within five minutes I realized there was a fundamental rule: I had to be very specific.

  Case in point: I should have asked exactly what she wanted to paint. I assumed she’d bring out a coloring book, but instead Avery wanted to paint her own palms.

  “Wait, let me see if that’s safe,” I said.

  The package said it was water soluble, which was reassuring. I opened my laptop, checking the latest emails from clients while she played. By the time our pizza was delivered, Avery was walking around with blue palms, despite washing her hands once.

  The delivery guy nearly broke a rib from laughter when Avery held up her hands, proudly declaring, “We can’t wash it off. I have blue hands now. But if you put the pizza on my arms, I’ll be really careful not to get paint on the box.”

  She stretched her tiny arms, pointing with her chin to them. I placed the box on her arms, watching her walk slowly to the kitchen, balancing it carefully, as if it was a prized possession.

  “Even if it says water soluble, try shampoo,” the delivery guy said once Avery was out of earshot. “My three-year-old painted his whole body once.”

  The trick worked. Avery pouted while the color washed off, but her good mood was back once we were sitting at the table, devouring the food.

  “This is an awesome evening,” Avery declared, taking a huge bite from her slice of pizza. Damn, how could it be so easy to make this little girl happy?

  “What do you want to do afterward?” I asked her.

  Avery chewed slowly, frowning, as if she was deep in thought.

  “I have a kitchen in my bedroom. Do you want me to show you how to play with it?”

  “Sure. We can start right now if you want, and just take our food with us?”

  “We’re allowed to take pizza to my room? Ooooh, that’s so cool.”

  Right. That enthusiasm clued me in that Heather must have some rule against eating in the bedroom, but fuck it. I’d already screwed it up, why take it back?

  “We’re making a huge exception. Just for this evening.”

  Avery practically jumped out of her chair. “Ryker, you are the best.” She threw her little arms around me in a hug. I laughed, ruffling her hair. We took the cartons and napkins to her room, putting everything on the floor.

  “Only cool people are allowed in my room,” she exclaimed.

  “So I’m cool?”

  “Yes.”

  The thought that this small creature was already so attached to me was getting to me in a way I couldn’t even describe. There wasn’t much space to move around between her toys and the furniture. She’d have a whole lot more space at my condo. Even the smallest room was bigger than this one.

  Jesus, my own thoughts were scaring me... but not enough to keep from imagining the logistics of this, how everything could work out.

  For the next half hour, she patiently explained how the “kitchen” worked, and I tried real hard not to tune her out. I failed more times than I succeeded.

  “Avery, your pizza will get cold.” In her excitement, she’d forgotten to eat.

  “Okay. Okay.” She sat down cross-legged, eating with small bites, glancing around her room. Her gaze stopped at her desk, and then she kept looking between me and the desk, as if trying to figure out something.

  “Ryker, can I draw you a friendship card?” she asked after a while.

  “Sure.”

  “So you want to be my friend?”

  I winked. “I thought I already was.”

  She looked at me wearily. “So I don’t have to call you Dad?”

  I’d started gathering our pizza boxes, but froze in the act, swallowing hard.

  “Do you want to?”

  She shook her head. “No. I want you to be my friend. Because friends always stay.”

  Avery sounded satisfied, as if she’d found the perfect loophole. Pressure gathered in my chest in a matter of seconds. Jesus, I couldn’t believe my ears. It wasn’t just her words, but the way she’d said them, with so much nonchalance, as if she was informing me it was cold outside tonight. It slayed me. I tried to see things from her perspective, and it was remarkably easy. Kids’ worlds weren’t complicated. She’d been disappointed before, so that was the only thing she’d come to expect. Disappointing children should be illegal. If I had a kid, I’d never leave it. Ever.

  I had no idea what to tell her. Should I even say anything? Explain that things weren’t black and white? No, I had to talk to Heather first.

  After we took the empty pizza box back to the kitchen, Avery brought a sheet of paper and crayons into the living room. I was sitting on the couch, she was lying on the floor on her belly, bent over the paper. She scribbled “Friedsip card” on it and drew two figurines just below it. Didn’t take a genius to figure out it was supposed to represent
the two of us, even though we looked nothing like the drawings. She shoved the card in my hands after she was done.

  “Thanks, Avery.”

  I detected a hint of wariness in her eyes. Damn, I wanted to erase that. I knew how it felt to have that security blanket stripped from around you. It sucked. I wanted her to have the safety of knowing that both her parents would be there no matter what. But what did I even know about that?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Heather

  “Troops, I’m home,” I called the second I entered the apartment. No one answered. In fact, the whole place was suspiciously quiet. I returned earlier than I’d thought so it wasn’t Avery’s bedtime yet. Considering she usually fought tooth and nail for any additional minute, I wasn’t sure what was going on.

  Tiptoeing to Avery’s bedroom, I discovered her sleeping soundly. Oh, wow. That was a first.

  Hearing the water running in my bathroom, I headed that way. Ryker was showering. Oh, yum. He was just... perfection. Taut skin and toned muscles everywhere I looked. I rarely had the opportunity to just drink him in like now, so I planned to take advantage of it for as long as possible.

  “Had your fill?” Ryker asked in a teasing tone.

  “Not by a long shot.” I grinned, shrugging. I’d been so lost in the act of admiring him that I hadn’t realized he was watching me.

  Ryker’s mouth curled up in a smile. He moved one finger in a come here motion. I walked toward him slowly, eyeing the spray of water. I stopped at the edge of the shower, heart beating wildly. Was this drop-dead sexy man really here, in my shower? Or was he a vision? I ran a hand from one shoulder to the other, tracing a pattern over his chest, feeling his wet skin under my fingers. He kissed me the next second. Oh, yeah. He was real.

  The touch electrified my lips, and the way he explored me made me weak in the knees. I clasped his shoulders, needing more support. Next thing I knew, Ryker’s hands were gripping my hips. What was he planning?

  He pulled me with him under the shower, getting my clothes completely wet. I half laughed, half yelped.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “What’s it look like?” He grinned widely. I was full-on laughing now.

  I wasn’t spontaneous, but Ryker was making me discover all sorts of things about myself. Like the fact that I relished these small, unexpected moments.

  He kissed me again before I could answer. Pressing my back against the tiles, he deepened the kiss, exploring me with so much urgency that I felt on fire. Not just the simmering kind, but a full-on inferno.

  I felt wanted, claimed with every stroke of his tongue, every inch of skin he bared.

  I had no idea when he’d undone the zipper of my skirt. I’d been too consumed by feeling his hard, naked body pressed against mine. When I was buck naked, he turned off the water, and we both stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around me and another around himself before pulling me in a bear hug.

  “My clothes are drenched,” I said, glancing at the pile. I would have pinched him, but he had me firmly captive in his hug. “Why did you pull me in the shower?”

  “I didn’t plan on it.”

  “So you just couldn’t help yourself?”

  “Exactly. Just saw you standing there and wanted you with me.”

  I sighed, just sinking against him. Well, I was completely disarmed now. I disentangled myself from his arms, turning around, running my fingers over his chest.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Getting my fill of you. And shhhh... your voice is too sexy. It’s distracting me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He was silent right until I reached the hem of the towel he’d wrapped around his lower body.

  “Heather....” His voice was dangerously low.

  “All done, had my fill.”

  “Really?”

  “For now,” I amended.

  “We’ll see about that.” Ryker’s smile was wolfish now. And his voice was still in that lower octave that made my entire body tingle. “How was your evening?” he asked.

  “Excellent. The interview was just what I needed. I’m going to edit it tomorrow morning while it’s still fresh.”

  “You can do it tonight if you want.”

  “Ha! I’ve got you here to kiss and touch as much as I want, and you think I’ll waste my time editing?”

  “Happy to know I’m more important than editing.” He wiggled his eyebrows, but then he swallowed hard, looking at me intently. “I want to talk to you about something.”

  “Okay.”

  “So... Avery made me a friendship card today.”

  “Oh, that’s cute. She does those sometimes.”

  “Yeah... but she made that after telling me she’d prefer if I was her friend, and not her dad. Because dads leave.”

  My vision faded at the corners. I blinked a few times. My throat wasn’t just dry now; I had a lump the size of a fist at the base of it too.

  “She... she said that?” My voice was shaky.

  “Yes. And I was thinking, why don’t you two spend some time at my apartment too? Maybe then she’ll trust that I want to stick around. That I’m here to stay.”

  Air rushed out of me. I hadn’t expected this, not in a million years.

  “You want us at your apartment?” I whispered. Yes, I was double-checking, but I just couldn’t help myself.

  “Yes. I want you two to be part of my life. You’re more important to me than I even thought possible, Heather. Both of you.”

  “Ryker... wow, this is so surreal,” I whispered.

  He frowned. “And you don’t want it?”

  “I do. I do. I’ve just been so concerned with looking out for us... you know, just trying to protect us from being hurt, that I’m not even sure I know how to be truly happy without worrying about losing that happiness. Oh God, I’m not even making sense.” I buried my face in my hands. I wasn’t coherent. What was wrong with me?

  I felt Ryker lean in, clasping his fingers around my wrists, lowering my hands.

  “You are making sense, babe. And don’t worry, you’ll be so happy that you’ll just forget to be afraid. I’ll simply leave you no choice.”

  He was beaming widely now. I laughed as some of that anxiety just melted away. I was so immensely happy. He wasn’t put off by my fears. He wanted to fight them alongside me.

  “I know how Avery is feeling,” he said, pushing strands of my wet hair behind my ears. “My dad left when I was young. I don’t even remember him too much, honestly. But I do remember how shitty everything was for my family. How abandoned we all felt, like we were just afterthoughts. Leaving kids should be illegal.”

  “Yeah, it should,” I whispered, wiggling my arms around his torso, wanting to be a little closer to him. I wanted to protect him. From what, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like he needed my protection anyway, but maybe I could take his mind off those unhappy memories. Yes, I could definitely do that.

  “I don’t know if I can give you two something I didn’t have, or at least don’t remember. But I sure as hell want to.”

  I couldn’t believe he actually doubted himself.

  “I think you can do anything you want.” I looked up at him, kissing his jaw, feeling like my heart was about to explode.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  I nodded firmly, kissing down his neck.

  “Didn’t know you held me in such high esteem.”

  “I definitely do.”

  “And you didn’t tell me before... why?” His teasing tone was back. Mission accomplished. I’d distracted him.

  “Doesn’t quite pack the same punch if I say it repeatedly. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”

  “I see.”

  I smiled against his chest when he gripped my hips, pulling me flush against him. I continued kissing down his torso as if nothing had changed... even when he undid my towel, letting it fall to the floor. I’d discovered a new side to Ryker tonight, and honestly a new
side to me as well.

  “You’re very important to me, Ryker,” I whispered against his skin, taking off his towel as well. He tilted my head up, drawing his thumb under my lower lip.

  I was going to combust under his gaze. I just knew it. He pulled me back up until our lips were level.

  “What are you doing to me, Heather?” he murmured. “Since I met you, I keep wanting things I never even thought about before. I imagine them down to every last detail.”

  I couldn’t believe he wanted me and Avery to spend more time at his apartment, to be part of his life. I’d never felt so... precious. As if he was willing to do everything for me.

  “I want you so much. All the time,” he went on. We moved to the bedroom, walking clumsily, too busy touching each other to pay much attention to our surroundings. Ryker tilted my head back, just holding me like that for a beat before sealing his lips over mine. I groaned at the primal way he claimed my mouth—passionate and demanding. He was pure fire. He skimmed his hands down my body, teasing the sides of my breasts with his thumbs before descending even lower.

  Sliding his hands under my ass cheeks, he lifted me up. I groaned, digging my fingernails in his arms when my clit collided with his hard-on. He hoisted me up slowly, drawing the entire length of him across my opening, teasing my clit more and more until my legs were shaking before lowering me down so I was sitting on the edge of the bed.

  ***

  Ryker

  One taste was all it took for me to become insatiable. I just couldn’t get enough of her lips; I wanted to explore them every way imaginable. Gentle, and hard, then gentle again. I was in completely over my head. It hadn’t ever felt this intense. I pushed her hair to one side, gathering it in my fist, tilting her head so I could explore her neck all I wanted. I drew my mouth slowly over her skin, enjoying every time she caught her breath, the way the muscles in her entire body seemed to strum together as I went lower. When I reached her shoulder, I changed course, moving lower toward her breasts. I let go of her hair, looking up at her when my mouth hovered just over her nipple.

  Heather’s eyes were wide and full of lust. I could ask anything of her, and she’d give it to me. And that was exactly what I wanted: her complete surrender.