One More Kiss (A Too Many Men Romantic Comedy / Chick Lit Novel)

by Stephanie Rowe

  He glanced back over his shoulder. "Shannon! Didn't even see you standing there. Come on with us." Then he kept walking without bothering to see if I came along.

  Great. Wonder if they'd be doing that if I was here with Blaine. Not that it mattered. I wasn't, so there.

  I stood there and watched the family reunion. Great. How exciting.

  Suddenly, both my arms were grabbed, and I was swept forward toward my family. I glanced up to find my attorney brother Ray and his lifelong best pal Noah Quinlan on either side of me. "Hi, guys."

  "We can't be letting you feel sorry for yourself," Ray said. "You have to get in there and mix it up."

  It occurred to me that I might look slightly like a loser being propelled across the room by them. "Can you please let go?"

  Noah released me, but Ray kept dragging me until I was in the middle of the mix up. "We're here," Ray announced.

  My family turned, and Ray and Noah got their round of hugs. I wasn't going to humiliate myself by announcing my presence and then comparing the response I engendered. Lindsay got her round of kisses and congratulations from everyone, and Geoff got a bunch of back slaps and handshakes. I gave Lindsay a hug. "I'm so happy for you." Ow. My face actually hurt from keeping a fake smile on it.

  She gave me a real smile. "Maybe someday you'll get married, too, Shannon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you."

  "Gee, thanks." I gave Geoff a hug too, and wondered how come he didn't smell like antiseptic. Shouldn't doctors smell like hospitals? Figured. He was rich, loved her, and he smelled decent.

  I stepped back as friends and business acquaintances swarmed the gathering, all of them wanting a moment with the treasured guests.

  "So, where's Max?"

  I looked up to find Noah standing beside me, having apparently retreated from the crush around Lindsay and Geoff. As usual, Noah looked totally hot. I'd had a crush on him since I was about three days old. But since I was six years younger than he was, he hadn't even looked at me until after I graduated from college. But then Max and I started dating, so Noah and I just flirted harmlessly. "I broke up with Max."

  Noah lifted an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't see that one coming."

  "Because he's so perfect?"

  "Because your family loved him."

  I sighed. "I'm trying to become my own woman. I want to make decisions for me instead of because my family wants me to." Noah was an interesting part of my life. He was like family, so he knew all my ugly secrets, including the one my family tried to hide from the rest of the world—namely, that I existed. Yet, he also wasn't my family, so I could complain to him and he sort of got it. In fact, it was a sort of joke between us that my parents would trade me for him if they could. Well, I tried to make it a joke, but I didn't find it very funny, actually.

  "Good." Noah put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. "Don't worry about everything so much."

  "Easy for you to say." Noah was a lawyer at the same firm as Ray. Obscenely successful, and a nice guy to boot. And did I mention totally gorgeous?

  He pointed across the room. "Someone seems to be trying to get your attention."

  I looked, and there stood Blaine, watching me.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Holy cow. Blaine had come. Hallelujah. For this, he could monopolize Isabel any time he wanted. "Sweet." I glanced at Noah. "I'll see you in a minute."

  "Sure."

  I walked across the room as demurely as I could, nodding at people I didn't recognize as if I were in great demand. After a torturously long time, I ended up in front of Blaine. "You made it."

  "Yep." He glanced around the room. "This is some kind of guest list."

  Though I really appreciated the compliment about my parents' ability to attract the crème de la crème of society, a quick remark about my very expensive dress would have been okay with me. Not that I was dwelling on Blaine's utter lack of appreciation of me as a woman. "Come meet my family. They'll start introducing you around."

  He nodded and followed me across the room. Not touching me, but close enough that people could very well assume we were walking together. We reached the little clump, and my mom was in the middle of a very juicy conversation with someone who I think invented oxygen or something lucrative like that. "Mom."

  She kept talking.

  "Mom!" I touched her arm and she looked at me.

  "Yes, Shannon?"

  "I want you to meet someone."

  My mom's eyes drifted off my face to Blaine, who was standing right next to me. She looked at me again, then at him, then turned her back on her little group and faced me. "Who is this?"

  "Blaine Hampton. New partner at M&S. Just moved up from New York City."

  Blaine shook my mom's hand. "So nice to meet you, Mrs. McCormick."

  "Oh, call me Celeste."

  I could see the wheels turning in my mom's head as she assessed his suit, his watch, and his haircut.

  "What firm were you with in New York?" she asked.

  Blaine rattled off a name I didn't recognize, but my mom nearly passed out with glee. As a lawyer, she would know these things more than a peon like myself. "And you're here with Shannon?"

  Blaine glanced at me. "Yes. She was kind enough to invite me."

  "Oh, she was, indeed?" My mom must have sent some vibe to my dad, because he was suddenly standing next to my mom, receiving the Blaine introduction. He sent me a few quizzical looks too, but Blaine admitted to my dad as well that he knew me and was there on my invitation.

  Thankfully, my parents were far too proper to do something as unseemly as ask whether he was messing around with their daughter, but it was apparent the possibility had settled in both their minds, as my dad offered to take Blaine off to meet the rest of the family. I bid them farewell, and watched my dad escort Blaine off into the McCormick family inner circle.

  It was like Max all over again, only this time I wasn't actually dating Blaine, so I wasn't going to reap the benefit of my association with him for long. My mom tucked her hands around my arm while we watched Blaine congratulate Lindsay. "He's quite handsome, Shannon."

  "Yep."

  "And dresses well."

  "Yep."

  "And a partner already?"

  "Uh huh."

  "At such a young age. Impressive." My mom sighed. "I'm glad to see you're finally putting that job of yours to good use. I suppose it could be useful to leverage it to land one of the partners there, and then he could support you while you go back to school."

  "I'm not going back to school. And I'm not going to use my job as a platform to prostitute myself into the arms of a lawyer." Two seconds with my mom, and all my goodwill was gone. Not that I'd really expected anything to change, but still. I'd hoped that the presence of Blaine might take some of the heat off me for at least the evening. My parents could tell all their friends I was with Blaine, and then everyone could conveniently forget that my job was a support position in which I earned less than the annual vacation budget for each member of my family.

  I heard my dad introduce Blaine to someone else, and he definitely used my name as the connection. See? Daddy McCormick was proud because I was able to bring Blaine to the party. He needed to use all opportunities to make his little black sheep look better.

  Not that I was cynical or bitter or anything like that.

  "This could be a little awkward," my mom said.

  I didn't like the tone of that comment. I pulled my arm away from her and eyed her. "What could be awkward?"

  "Oh, nothing. Must be off. I see an unattended guest." My mom vamoosed before I could corner her, and I had a very bad feeling in my stomach.

  Max.

  She'd invited him.

  He was here somewhere. Lurking. Stalking.

  I turned slowly, inspecting the room very carefully. Then I did a second circuit. No Max.

  Why didn't I feel reassured? And how dare he be present when I was only eighteen hours from relapsing into an I-can't-live-without-Max state? I was w
ay too vulnerable to face him right now. Max represented safety, so I needed to hide from him until I pulled myself together.

  But I wouldn’t hide. I was here with Blaine, and I was going to own him by the time the night was through.

  Blaine was in a little group of gray-haired men who all looked very dignified, and they were shaking hands with Blaine and looking pleased to meet him. Great for him.

  I looked around the room again. All these people talking to each other. Not to me. Which is why I'd wanted Emma to come, so I'd have someone to stand with.

  Dave's wife was back in town, so he couldn't make it.

  Phoebe had gone off to visit her fiancé in Chicago.

  Emma was flirting with boys in a bar. The fact she was getting paid for it didn't help me feel better, given how little she actually cared about any job she'd ever had.

  Blaine was completely blowing me off.

  My family was ignoring me.

  And to think I'd been dreading this party. How ridiculous. Maybe I should look for Max...

  "Shannon!"

  I whirled around to find Emma grinning at me. "Emma! You're here!"

  "You bet." Emma was wearing a very short little skirt, a silk blouse that was a bit more daring than your standard business attire, but still perfectly respectable. Not a beer girl outfit. "How's it going?"

  "Terrible. I had my millisecond of fame when I introduced Blaine to my parents, but then I became obsolete." I was so glad to see her!

  "They're just intimidated by the fact that you'll live a happy life instead of being trapped by money and power," Emma said.

  "I'm really sorry about last night," I said. "You were right that I shouldn't call Max. I never called him." I wasn't going to apologize for getting mad at her for all the other things she said. I still resented that, but I needed her. So I'd forget about the rest of the night.

  Emma threw her arm around my shoulders. "No worries. I'm sorry, too."

  She didn't specify, and I didn't push her. I had a feeling neither one of us wanted to revisit the specifics of that discussion at this time.

  "Let's go visit your sister," Emma said. "I want to congratulate her."

  I followed Emma as she marched across the room, flashing smiles at anyone who looked her way. Big hugs for all my family, and friendly chatter with them all. It was interesting how my whole family seemed to love Emma, even though she was the antithesis of everything the McCormick name stood for. I supposed that was the difference. She didn't actually have the McCormick name, so she was free.

  She returned to my side. "Did you see Noah? He's looking really tasty."

  "No kidding." My brother's best friend was in the group with Blaine now, and they were looking pretty chummy.

  "Did you ever fool around with him?"

  "Who?" Blaine or Noah?

  "Noah. You guys always flirted."

  "Nope."

  "What a waste."

  "Yep." Not that Noah mattered. I had my sights set on Blaine now. He'd seen me in my cocktail dress, been too awed by my beauty to risk comment, was now aware of the family that I brought to the table. Oh yes, he was all mine.

  Blaine must have felt my psychic thoughts, because he looked over at me. Then he smiled.

  I smiled back.

  Then he excused himself from his little party and walked toward me. Oh, yes. Here it came. He was going to officially declare his lust for me.

  He got closer, and his grin got bigger. Wow. Nice dimples.

  Then he held out his hands. I lifted mine to put them in his, but instead of taking my hands, he grabbed Emma's and pulled her close, giving her cheek a kiss. "Emma! You made it! I'm so glad you were able to shift your work schedule so you could come for a bit."

  Nice day.

  Emma grinned at him. "This is great. I can come to this party, and then you can still go with me to the bar."

  Um, what?

  "You look great, by the way," Blaine said.

  "Thanks," she said.

  What, do I have a rat on my head or something?

  "Come over here. I want you to meet someone who might have an interesting job for you." He grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her across the room, back to his little clump.

  Whoa.

  What had just happened?

  Alternate reality or something? Please?

  I watched Blaine introduce Emma to his gray-haired cronies, saw Emma smile and toss her hair in that cute little way she had. I watched the exchange of business cards. Well, Emma took one and put it in her purse. It wasn't as if she had any business cards to offer.

  It was dawning on me that perhaps it hadn't been my smartest move to leave the bar early on Thursday night, with Blaine and Emma there alone. What had happened after I left?

  Was that why Emma had showed up at the party tonight? Not to support me, but to pursue Blaine?

  Just as I felt a rising burn inside me, I caught myself. Emma would never go after Blaine. She wouldn't. She knew how I felt about him, and that would be enough. I took a deep breath and decided the best option was to get away for a moment and regroup, so I headed off to find the bathroom.

  I enjoyed the beautiful bathroom for a good ten minutes, having a nice little pep talk with myself in the mirror. A pep talk that forayed into a generally supportive discussion with my reflection and an admonition to go back down there and socialize. If Emma could do it, so could I? Right? Surely not every over-achieving person at the party was a social snob? Some of those folks would be interested in the ordinary Shannon McCormick, sans graduate degree and everything, right?

  Of course right.

  Feeling much better, I fixed my hair, touched up my makeup, did a cleavage check, then opened the door.

  There stood Max, leaning against the doorframe, as if he'd been waiting for twenty minutes. Blocking the door.

  Chapter Seventeen

  "Hi, Shannon. You look lovely tonight." Max smiled and took a step forward, as if he was going to walk right into the bathroom with me.

  I shut the door in his face. Then I locked it.

  He tapped lightly on the door. "Shannon, you can't keep avoiding me forever."

  I looked around the room. No windows. Figured. In the movies, there was always a window, and usually a rope ladder under the sink. I checked the ceiling. No ventilation shaft. Old country clubs like this apparently were not built for clandestine operatives to go racing around in their ceilings.

  He knocked again. "We've worked through everything before. We can do it again, but you have to talk to me."

  I sat down on the toilet. I could outwait him. It was, of course, terribly unfortunate I'd left my phone at home in the interest of carrying a very cute, teeny-tiny party purse.

  "Shannon." He tapped again.

  The toilet was too hard. I was going for the floor. It was carpeted.

  I sat down and leaned against the cabinet.

  He knocked again, and I heard a soft thud, like he was leaning his forehead against the door. "Shannon. I love you."

  Oh, God. I couldn't do this. I stood up and touched the doorknob, then stopped. Be strong, Shannon.

  "You love me, too," he said.

  I do! I do!

  No, I don't! Well, I did, but not the truck test kind of love. "Please leave, Max. I can't deal with this." How pathetic did my voice sound? I didn't have the strength to turn down his support tonight.

  Suddenly, I noticed Max wasn't talking anymore.

  Silence.

  I crawled to the door and peered underneath. Heels of men's dress shoes stared me in the face. He was still there, leaning against the door apparently.

  This was getting ridiculous. I was a grown woman. Surely I could walk out that door and shove him aside and make it downstairs without falling into his arms, right?

  Because if I started dating him again, then I'd soon be wondering once again whether he was really the right one for me, or whether the right one had passed me by yesterday at Starbucks because I'd been thinking about Max and hadn'
t noticed my true love.

  "Are you waiting for the bathroom?"

  Noah! I jumped to my feet and yanked open the door, jumping aside as Max staggered backward into the room. "Noah! Hi! Thanks for coming to find me!"

  I sidestepped Max and grabbed Noah's arm. "Let's go."

  Max was beside me in an instant. "Shannon! Would you just talk to me, for God's sake?"

  I saw Noah hesitate and start to extricate his arm from mine. I immediately tightened my grip and shot Noah a look. He'd known me since I was born. He should be able to decipher my silent orders to stay right where he was.

  He glanced at Max, then back at me.

  "Noah," Max said. "Let her go. I need to talk to her."

  I started pushing Noah toward the stairs. "Max, I can't do this. I can't."

  "You can't keep having your friends come between us," Max said, following us down the hall. "At some point, you're going to have to deal with me."

  I looked at him. "We broke up. It's over." Way to go, Shannon! Be strong!

  "No. It's not," he said.

  Oh, God. Look at those eyes. Like puppy dog eyes. He looked so sad. "Max..." No! Be strong! I cleared my throat. "Please leave me alone. Please."

  His eyebrows lifted, and I knew he heard the plea in my voice, the doubt. Dammit! Was I that weak? "Leave you alone so you can make a mistake that will ruin both of our lives?" he asked. "No way."

  "Are you aware that following me around like you've been doing is called stalking? It's against the law."

  He snorted. "It's not stalking. I'm trying to keep you from making a mistake."

  That was it. This discussion was getting nowhere. I started walking again, and Noah stayed by my side.

  This time Max stayed behind, but I knew it wasn't over. Especially when he shouted out, "This isn't over!"

  "Shannon?" Noah touched my arm as we reached the ballroom where the party was. "You okay?"

  "Fine." I looked around "Where's Emma?" God, I just needed my friends right now. Someone who would understand.

  "She had to leave."

  I felt my throat tighten. "What? Why?"

  "She and Blaine went to her job. She tried to find you, but she couldn’t wait."