One of the Guys

by Jessica Strassner

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, kissing him hungrily. They stopped for a second, to catch their breath, and then leapt on each other again. “Do you know how hard it was for me to sit next to you up there?” Chris cupped her face in his hands and pulled away to smile at her. “I’ve wanted to do that all night.”

  Kate stared up at him in surprise. She didn’t have a clue what to say to that.

  “I gotta get back up there,” he said.

  She nodded. “Go get ‘em.”

  Beaming at her, he kissed her quickly on the lips and jogged back through the parking lot back to the stairs. She watched him hustle up the stairs, still reeling from his kiss.

  *

  Kate was sitting at her desk doing paperwork the next morning, when her cell phone rang.

  “Do you have any plans next weekend?” her mother asked.

  “Um…” She flipped through the calendar lying open on her desk. She had been hoping that her plans would include another date with Chris. “I just have a wedding Saturday morning. That’s it.”

  “Oh, good. Then would you mind doing your father and me a huge favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Would you chicken-sit?”

  Kate laughed. “Would I what?”

  “And watch the pigs?”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “No. Your father and I are going to West Palm for the weekend for Chuck and Jeanine’s fiftieth anniversary party and we need somebody to feed the chickens and gather eggs.”

  “Wait a second. I’ve seen the pigs, but when did you guys get chickens?”

  “I would ask the neighbors, but they’re going to visit family in Georgia that same weekend. Can you please do it?”

  “Sure, sure,” Kate sighed. “I can probably get there sometime in the late afternoon. Is that okay?”

  “That’s perfect. We’ll be back sometime Sunday evening. I don’t suppose we’ll get to see you?”

  “I don’t think so… I have an early appointment on Monday.”

  “Maybe one of these days your father and I will just come visit you.”

  “You guys can come visit anytime. It’s still your house, you know,” Kate said. “Look, Mom, I’ve got a lot of paperwork to do…”

  “Okay. I’ll call you Friday night to give you directions on the pigs and chickens. And you’ll have to be careful with the new electric fence! Don’t touch it. Your dad and I have both gotten zapped,” she giggled. “And wait until you see our garden! We still have watermelon on the vine and…”

  “Okay, Mom, I’ll see it on Saturday. I’ve got to go.”

  Kate finally managed to get off the phone with her mother and get back to her paperwork. After a few minutes, her cell phone rang again. She glanced at it and saw Chris’s name on the screen. “Hello?”

  “Hey, what are you doing?”

  “Paperwork. What are you doing?”

  “Editing pictures. Guess who won poker last night.”

  “I’m guessing you did.”

  “That’s right. We played until after four in the morning.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “Nope. I’m freaking exhausted.”

  “I bet,” Kate said. The line was quiet for a moment, and Kate had an idea. “I don’t know if you’re interested, but Jackson was going to bring some steaks over and we were going to cook out. Do you want to join us?”

  “That sounds like a plan. If I can finish these pictures and take a nap first.”

  “Great. I’ll call and tell Jackson to pick up another steak. See you around seven?”

  “See you then.”

  Kate hung up with Chris, took a deep breath, and then called Jackson. “Jack? Hey, it’s Kate.”

  “Hey, Kate, what’s up? I’m at the butcher. Anything else you want me to pick up for tonight?”

  “Perfect! Get another steak.”

  “Oh? Who else is coming?”

  Kate drummed her fingers on the desktop. “Chris.”

  “Oh.” Jackson paused for a minute, and Kate could tell that he was probably trying to process what, if anything, Chris’s invitation to dinner meant. “Okay. Sure, no problem. Anything else? I got stuff for baked potatoes. Good thing I got extra.”

  “That’s great. Thanks,” she said. “Lucy said she was going to get some wine and something for dessert.”

  “All right. I’ll see you later.”

  “’Bye.” Kate hung up the phone and sat looking at it. Should I call Lucy? Should I tell her? What’s she going to say?

  Kate’s thoughts were interrupted as Julia poked her head in the door. “Hey! I just wanted to tell you that Mr. Banks gave me a call yesterday. He was completely raving about his daughter’s wedding. He said he was going to tell everybody to use Bride Ideas for any of their events. Good job.”

  “He was a sweet man,” Kate smiled.

  “He was definitely impressed with you,” Julia said. She came in and perched on the edge of Kate’s desk. “So how’s it going?”

  “Great!” Kate said brightly. “I’m just finishing up paperwork from yesterday.”

  “I mean, besides work. How’s everything? How’s life? Are you seeing anybody? When are we going to plan a big, elaborate wedding for you? How come you’re not married?” Julia teased, asking Kate’s least favorite questions.

  Kate giggled. “Not anytime soon. I’m not even seriously dating anybody right now. I’ve just been really busy.”

  “Tell me about it,” Julia sighed.

  “How is everything with you?” Kate asked.

  “Okay…” Julia said. Her voice trailed off, and Kate wondered if Julia meant ‘okay’ as in everything was fine, or if everything was ‘okay’ but not really. “I was wondering… And this might sound weird… But we spend so much time in here working, and we never really get to do anything outside this place. Do you think maybe some night we could get together, just the two of us, and hang out or something?”

  Kate smiled. “Sure. That would be nice.”

  Julia nodded. “It really would. I feel like all I do is work, work, work. I go home to Alex and Allie and that’s like a whole other job in itself. Cooking and cleaning and entertaining. It would be nice just to get out for an evening and relax. I never get to have girl time anymore.”

  “Sure. Let’s plan on doing something soon.”

  “I’d really like that,” Julia said. “Thanks.” She slid off the desk and went back into her office, leaving Kate to finish her paperwork.

  Kate turned back to the folder in front of her. She liked the idea of spending some time with Julia. She was a great person, but the truth was, they were always so busy in the office that they rarely got to do anything together socially. She jotted a note on a Post-It to remind herself to set up a date to go out with Julia.

  Kate sorted through her invoices and typed numbers into her spreadsheet. Then she printed off her reports, saved her files, and shut her computer down. She sorted her reports into the clients’ folders and carried them to Julia’s office. Julia was on the phone and she waved. Kate held up the folders to show Julia that she was finished before placing them in the basket hanging on the wall by the door. She waved goodbye to Julia and went back to her office to pick up her phone and her purse.

  She flicked the lights off in her office and closed the door, excited to go home and get ready for dinner with Lucy, Jackson, and Chris. Smiling, she perched her sunglasses on her nose and headed out into the sunlight.

  *

  “Chris is coming here for dinner?” Lucy asked over the roar of the hair dryer.

  “Yeah, what’s the big deal?” Kate asked, curling the ends of her hair under with a fat, round brush.

  “You could have told me.”

  “It sounds like you already know.”

  “I mean you could’ve told me before.”

  “Didn’t Jackson tell you?” Kate asked.

  “Well, yeah, but you could’ve told me.”

  “
What does it matter if you already know?”

  “I don’t know!”

  “Then what’s the problem?” Kate asked, finally switching the hair dryer off.

  Lucy shrugged. “I don’t know. How’s it going with you two?”

  “Fine, I guess. We went on one date that started out bad and got better. I already told you all about that. We kissed a couple times and that’s it. I filled you in on all that. And… he’s coming here for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh my God, so you’re really dating him.”

  “Date. We went on one date. That’s it.”

  Lucy sat down on the edge of the tub. “Maybe it could work.”

  Kate laughed and opened her makeup drawer. “We’ll see. Taking it slow. Just seeing where it goes, remember?”

  “You’re dating the man-whore.”

  “Don’t call him a man-whore while he’s here, please.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Be nice to him. He’s Jackson’s friend, too, you know.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Lucy said. “I’m going to go make the salad.”

  Kate sharpened her eyeliner pencil, letting the shavings fall into the garbage can. “I’ll be there to help you in a couple minutes,” she called. She did her makeup quickly, then went into her bedroom and shut the door. She flung her robe off onto the floor and stood in her closet in her underwear, trying to decide what to wear. It’s not like they were going out for dinner, but she still wanted to look nice. She flipped through her clothes, pushing tops and skirts back and forth. She finally decided on a long brown prairie skirt and a turquoise tank top. Comfortable, but she still looked nice. The turquoise looked really nice against what was left of her summer tan. She started digging through her jewelry box for a pair of silver earrings, but heard a car in the driveway, so she decided to skip them. She opened the door to her bedroom just as Lucy was heading to the front door.

  “You want to get that?” Lucy asked.

  Kate opened the door. “Hey!” Jackson said, standing there with two brown paper bags.

  “Hi,” Kate said, opening the door for him and taking a bag from him. They both went to the kitchen and Kate started unloading the food. Jackson kissed Lucy before taking the steaks from Kate. He laid them out on a platter and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Kate got out the plates, bowls, silverware, and napkins and went out by the pool to set the patio table.

  Kate arranged everything around the table and then went behind the bar to find the matches. She walked around the patio, lighting candles all over the place – the bar, the patio table, hanging in stained-glass holders from the ceiling. When the sun went down all the way, the patio would be twinkly and sparkly. Just as she blew out the last match, she looked up and saw Chris coming out onto the patio. “Hey,” she said.

  Though he had creases around his eyes and still looked sleepy, he smiled a bright smile and held his arms open. Kate went to him and gave him a big hug, thinking how good it felt to be held in someone’s arms.

  *

  Much to Kate’s relief, dinner went smoothly. Lucy behaved herself, and it seemed like she was actually enjoying herself around Chris. After the boys cleared up the plates and retreated into the kitchen to do dishes, Kate nudged Lucy’s leg with her toe. “He’s not that bad, right?” she asked.

  Lucy shrugged. “I guess not. I’ve never really hung out with him before.”

  Kate smiled with satisfaction. “See? So who knows? If this ends up really going somewhere…”

  Lucy covered her eyes with her hand. “Okay, Kate, can I be honest with you?”

  “Yeah. Of course.”

  “Please don’t, like, get your heart set on marrying this guy.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “Okay, first of all, you’ve only barely started dating…”

  “But we’ve known each other for a few years!”

  “…and I just don’t know how serious this guy is. I don’t want you to get hurt. That’s all.”

  Kate folded her arms across her chest and pouted. “Okay. But that’s not going to stop me from having fun,” she said.

  “Fine. Have fun.”

  “I haven’t had fun in awhile.”

  “Go for it.”

  “And by that, I mean that I haven’t had sex in awhile.” She tried to remember the last time Max had spent the night. It had been a couple weeks, at least. Eventually, she was going to have to put an end to the whole “friends with benefits” thing once and for all, if she and Chris got serious.

  Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Do you think… You and him?” she asked, nodding towards the house.

  Kate shrugged. “No idea. Maybe.” She thought about their first kiss. And the kiss in the parking lot after the poker game the other night. Whoaaa. “I bet it’ll be good.”

  Lucy shuddered. “Too much information.”

  “Yeah,with the way he kisses… I bet it’ll be really good.”

  Lucy stuck her fingers in her ears. “Laaaa! Lalalalala! I’m not listening!” She sang, getting up and moving over to one of the lounge chairs.

  Kate got up, too, grabbed both of their wine glasses, and joined Lucy on a lounge chair. They both collapsed laughing. “Seriously, though. I need to get laid.” Kate handed Lucy her glass.

  Lucy took a sip of wine and raised her eyebrows in warning as Jackson and Chris rejoined them on the patio. Jackson sat at the end of Lucy’s lounge chair and lifted her feet into his lap. Kate curled her legs up to make room for Chris. It got quiet.

  “So, what were you girls talking about?” Jackson asked.

  “We thought we heard… singing,” Chris added.

  Both girls giggled. Kate shot Lucy a cautionary look. Lucy shrugged. “Just being silly.”

  Jackson nodded. “Goofy girls,” he said, leaning over and giving Lucy a sweet kiss on the lips. Kate sighed. She couldn’t help being envious of Lucy and Jackson. They were made for each other. When was she going to find someone like that? She looked at Chris, who was peeling the label off of his beer bottle. He yawned. Would it be like that with Chris? It was too early to tell.

  “What time is your meeting tomorrow?” Lucy asked Jackson.

  “Seven-thirty,” he replied. He glanced down at his watch. “I should probably get going. I need to get some stuff together tonight so that I’m ready in the morning.”

  Lucy nodded. She moved her feet from his lap and Jackson got to his feet. “Good night, Kate,” he said, bending down and giving her a hug. “Chris,” he said. The two guys fist-bumped.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Lucy said. Holding hands, the two of them went into the house.

  “They’re cute, huh?” Chris asked.

  “Yeah,” Kate nodded. “Made for each other.”

  “And what’s their story again?”

  “They hooked up in high school. Jackson was nuts about her back in the day and it kind of freaked her out. They broke up and both of them were so stubborn they avoided each other for years. They ran into each other last year at my birthday party and that was that. They hooked up all over again.”

  “But Jackson was married, right?”

  “Yep. And Lucy was engaged.”

  Chris let out a whistle. “Crazy.”

  “I guess love will make you do crazy things.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Chris said. He took a long sip of his beer.

  Kate chewed on the inside of her cheek. Whoa. What the heck did that mean? Chris liked to joke around a lot, but just then, he sounded like he was pretty serious. “No?”

  “Nope. Never been in love.”

  “Really?” she asked in surprise.

  “Nope. You?”

  Kate paused, her mouth hanging open. Why was she so surprised by that? She’d never been in love, either. “Me, either,” she said.

  “I should probably get going, too,” Chris said abruptly. He seemed weirded out by the conversation.

  “Oh. Um. Okay.”

  “I’m just really tired, and I’ve got some mee
tings lined up tomorrow. Lots more editing to do, too.”

  “Right.”

  “So… I’ll see you sometime this week, right? What are you doing this weekend? You said Saturday was a slow day for you, right?”

  “Yeah,” Kate said. She didn’t want Chris to leave just yet, but all of a sudden he seemed like he was in a hurry to get out of there.

  “So maybe we can do something on Saturday night?”

  “Sure,” Kate agreed, hugging her knees to her chest. At least he still seemed interested in seeing her again. Then it dawned on her. “Oh. Wait. Shoot. I’m going to my parents’ house Saturday.”

  “Oh. Visiting the parents, huh?”

  “Yes. Well, no. Visiting their house. And… their chickens. They’re going out of town and need me to take care of the animals.”

  “Animals?” Chris asked.

  “They have pigs, too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. My dad’s idea of retirement was moving to ten acres in the middle of nowhere to farm and do all the stuff he did when he was a kid. My mom looooves it.”

  “I bet.”

  Kate giggled. “Not really.”

  Chris got to his feet and stretched. “So… We’ll get together again soon.”

  “Sure,” Kate said. She got to her feet. “Unless…” Chris looked at her expectantly. “Never mind.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I don’t know what you’ve got going on, but maybe you could come up there with me on Saturday. I’m only staying the night and hanging out a little bit on Sunday to make sure everything’s okay.”

  “Actually,” Chris said, reaching his arms around her waist, “I’m open on Saturday. Just doing an engagement shoot out at the beach in the morning. No weddings on the books for Saturday.”

  “Really?” Kate asked, sliding her arms around his neck. “So, would you want to go with me?”

  Chris shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  “I mean, it really is in the middle of nowhere,” she warned.

  “There’s got to be something to do up there, though, right?”

  “Oh, I’m sure we can think of something,” she said, standing on her toes and kissing him.