One Little Kiss (Smart Cupid)

by Maggie Kelley

  Or was it? Had she sent in the profile after their breakup this morning? If you called ending a no-strings situation a breakup? Had she played him by sending in the bachelor profile? So she could follow it up with an exclusive on his new book? Selling him out as some win-a-date bachelor, betraying every minute they’d spent together, every intimacy they shared. No. That was bonkers. That wasn’t Kate. Yes, she’d been hurt and angry. Hell, he was furious with himself for his mistake, but that didn’t mean she’d done anything on his level. He was the asshole. Not her. But still, the whole thing didn’t add up.

  He turned on his heels and strode back down to Chambers to catch a cab over to the Smart Cupid office where he hoped to find her—and some answers.

  …

  Fifteen long minutes later, Jake strode into his sister’s office. “What the hell?”

  Jane looked up from her desk, cool as a damned fruit smoothie, as if she’d been expecting him. “I know, it’s unexpected, but the publicity might be a good thing.”

  “Jane, you know how I feel about all the celebrity bullshit.”

  “Jake, you wrote the book. Did you expect no one would read it?” She gave him a look that said be serious. “Did you think you’d roll back into Manhattan without anyone noticing? Come on.”

  He tore both hands through his hair. Took a breath. Tried to stay calm. “Where’s Kate?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s working from home today, and FYI, Kate had nothing to do with…the situation.”

  “The situation. You mean my surprise publicity blitz?” he said, his voice laced with irritation.

  Jane paused, opened her candy drawer and took out a Twix, a Snickers, and a King-sized pack of Twizzlers.

  Jake took in the sugar-laden stash. Shit, this is a three-candy-bar problem. What the hell is she going to say next?

  “So, you haven’t seen the Cosmo article?” Jane asked.

  Dread seeping through his system, Jake dug his phone from his pocket. “What Cosmo article?”

  He swiped his screen and dozens of new tweets stared back at him.

  @Cosmopolitan Hey, Cosmo girls, check out Jake Wright’s bachelor profile on our website today. #nostringsattached.

  @Cosmopolitan Is Jake your Mr. Wright. Enter now to win a date with Manhattan’s favorite sexpert #nostringsattached

  @Cosmopolitan Sexpert Jake Wright talks boxers, blondes & fantasy. Bachelor Profile on newsstands next week. #nostringsattached

  “Oh my God.”

  A tight smile stretched across his sister’s face. “You’re trending.”

  “This is a nightmare.” He swiped a hand across his face. “How the hell… So this wasn’t that son-of-a-bitch ex-agent…she turned in the damned bachelor interview.”

  “No, she didn’t.” Jane drew in a breath and confessed on the exhale. “Kate didn’t turn in the profile. I did.”

  He reached down deep and tried to stay calm. “Janey, I told you, no way in hell. I don’t want to be an Internet bachelor.” He flipped the phone around so she could see it. “Win a Date With Mr. Wright. Seriously?”

  “I never meant for the magazine to publish it,” Jane said, apology in her tone. “I only sent it over to get Kate a shot at Cosmo. Hell, she earned it—flying off to that damn island of yours, dealing with your issues, cracking open that walled up heart of yours.”

  Jake collapsed onto the loveseat and stared at the screen. “Jesus, I don’t want to be a bachelor. I want…” He let his words trail off.

  Jane sighed. “I leaked the information about the new book, too. The exclusive interview was going to be Kate’s big shot at her dream job.”

  He looked at Jane. “What do you mean cracking open that heart of yours?”

  “Does it matter?” His sister raised an eyebrow. “Thought you wanted no strings.”

  No strings? But did that mean he had to be alone forever?

  “Hold on,” he said. “Was this whole thing a setup?”

  “I thought something might happen between you two.”

  A smile lifted the edges of his mouth. “You got good aim, Cupid.”

  Jane looked at him, smiling back. “Damn good.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Maybe she should move back to Ohio. She’d spent the last few days trying to piece her heart back together. She’d even gone back to Coney Island to ride The Wheel, knowing it was time to conquer her own fears. To be brave, not for a relationship, for herself.

  She’d walked all over the city. Spent days crossing items off her New York bucket list. Practiced Tai Chi in Columbus Park. Went to the boathouse in Central Park. Indulged at Serendipity.

  But nothing stopped the ache in her heart.

  More than three days had passed, so Jake was obviously back on the island, enjoying his peace, and she was still here, sitting on the apartment-sized sofa in her walk-up. Why not move back to Ohio? She’d written up a spec piece, not the exclusive, but a piece called “Making Over Your Love Life.” She’d emailed it directly to the editor at Cosmo, but she’d heard nothing. Even after Jane’s recommendation. No exclusive. No Cosmo.

  Maybe she really was just the blonde girl from Ohio, destined to marry the neighbor’s son and wear a hard hat for the rest of her life. Don’t hyperventilate. Do. Not. Hyperventilate. No—she just needed to think.

  Obviously, she needed to stop dating. Completely. Even her walk on the wild side had turned out to be a disaster. Was this really what she inspired? Men taking off? Leaving donuts? No strings? No love? Because her relationship with Jake had felt different—real. She eyed her cell phone. Not wanting more news of her so-called bachelor, she’d turned the damn thing off hours ago, but now she wondered if she ought to call him. Give him a chance to explain. No—she didn’t need an explanation. She had needed her exclusive. Even if he hadn’t signed the contract, the man had owed her an exclusive. They’d had a verbal agreement. Although she missed all their non-verbal stuff, too. Hell, she missed him. But love had found her once, and even though he wasn’t The One, despite the pain, she was happy to have experienced the kind of love she’d always believed in.

  Maybe that love would find her again.

  Then, just as she was about to give in and indulge in a marathon session of Dr. Phil On Demand, she heard a car horn blare outside. She wrinkled her nose. Probably a taxi. Or moving van. Welcome to Brooklyn, she thought. I’ll be booking a U-Haul next week. She picked up the remote and settled in the corner of the loveseat. And that’s when she heard it—the grating sound of her fire escape being pulled down. Her mind raced ahead. Someone was climbing up the fire escape. Like any good New Yorker, she carried pepper spray, but like any good Ohio girl, she’d left it in her purse. In her purse—in the closet—with her cell phone. She reached under the loveseat and picked up the baseball bat her dad had given her when she’d left for New York. Heart in her throat, she walked over to the window.

  Outside, a cab was parked haphazardly on the concrete sidewalk, and near the bottom of the twisty metal ladder stood Jake Wright, balancing a box of Krispy Kremes in his hand.

  What in the world… She could have smashed him with a baseball bat. She set down the bat and opened the window, her heart racing. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Jake smiled and continued up the shaky metal to the small landing outside her window. He handed her the donuts and anchored his arm against the metal grate, looking adorably, painfully sweet in his worn denim and Yankees T-shirt. She shook her head as tears pricked at the backs of her eyes. He looked so perfect, so frustratingly, wonderfully perfect. Dammit. A little hope sparked in her heart all over again.

  He reached for her hand. “Is that any way to talk to your soul mate?”

  Her voice was quiet. “My soul mate?”

  “God, I hope so.” He climbed in the window in such an endearing way that she almost forgave him everything, right then and there. He took the donuts from her trembling fingers and set them on the windowsill. “Kate, I know I probably d
on’t deserve you, but I love you. I do. I think I’ve loved you from the moment you tumbled down those stairs. I love that you can’t handle more than one martini or a ride on the Wonder Wheel, and I’m not sure how our relationship turned into love, but it did. At least for me, and I know that I don’t have to hide anymore, because this time around love is right. Maybe it’s hard to believe in The One until she’s standing right in front of you.” He brushed a sweet kiss across her lips. “You are The One. My One.”

  There it was. Everything she wanted to hear. Everything she wanted to believe. She slipped her hands from his and bit down hard on her bottom lip. “How do you know—how do you know I’m The One?”

  Jake took her hands back into in his. “Do you know what I’ve been doing the past two days?”

  Heart racing, she looked up at him. Unable to breathe, she shook her head.

  He smiled. “I sat down, and I started rewriting the book.”

  The tears she’d been holding back fell down her cheeks. “Really?”

  “Really.” Jake framed her face in his hands. “You are the woman who empowered me to write again, to trust my instincts. The book title is all wrong. Kate, I want the strings…all the attachments. Love, family, the city—everything.” His expression was so sweet, so earnest and true, she couldn’t help but keep falling for this man all over again.

  Jake wiped the tears away from her cheeks. “And do you know what I did right before I called Manhattan Taxi to drive me over here to Brooklyn?” He pressed a hard kiss on her mouth.” I spent the entire morning tearing up the new floors in my apartment.”

  “What?” She blinked. Not sure what she’d been expecting, but ripping up perfectly good hardwood had not been on any list of possibilities. “But, that’s…that’s crazy.”

  A deep laugh exploded from his chest. He kissed her again. “I know. It is. Totally crazy, but I’m not going to sell the place. Not now, not ever, and I want to fix the floors. I want to fix everything…with you…only you.” He smiled. She smiled right back, finally able to breathe. “You are my happiness, my fantasy, my paradise. You are my One. Let me be yours and I’ll spend the rest of my life making you a believer.”

  “Okay.”

  He pressed another fast kiss on her mouth. “Okay?”

  Wiping away the tears, she nodded. “Okay.”

  Then, as laughter bubbled up from her chest, Jake hauled her out the open window and onto the fire escape, but she knew she’d never want to escape this man. Holding her hand in his, he leaned over the edge and called out to the waiting cabbie, “She said okay!”

  Then he turned back to her and pressed her back against the narrow brick wall. “I am so going to kiss you right now.” And as he gathered her close and kissed her with all the passion a girl could ask for, the sound of the cabbie honking as he tore away from the curb, Kate knew she’d found her One. With the summer sun shining in the New York sky, Jake Wright gave her a sweet, mesmerizing, forever kind of kiss that seemed to shift the ground beneath her feet. Right there. On her fire escape. For all the world to see.

  “I love you, Jake.”

  “I love you, too.”

  And then this man—this endearing, sexy, incredibly hot man—offered up exactly what she’d been waiting for—hoping for—a gaze full of promises and a kiss guaranteed to lead to some really hot chips.

  Epilogue

  Sunlight reflected against the turquoise water as Island Time drifted along the edge of the cove. The island in November was calm and peaceful, hurricane season on the horizon, but no storms in sight, a thousand miles away from the city they both loved.

  Kate smiled at Jake, taking in the sight of her very own sexpert, the gorgeous man who aligned her ch’i, seduced her with sweet kisses and hot chips, and showed her that sexy is more than skin deep. Sexy is a state of mind.

  Maybe this really was what Deepak Chopra meant by the Law of Least Effort. She’d stopped searching for that perfect man, stopped expending all her effort on creating the right kind of romantic relationship, and found The One. Or rather, he’d found her.

  Her super-sized heart wasn’t big enough for all the love she felt, and yet she knew her feelings would grow with every day she spent with him. By focusing on one dream, she’d made all her dreams come true, and she hadn’t hyperventilated in weeks. Not even when the issue of Cosmopolitan with her first byline hit the newsstand.

  After the bachelor profile fiasco, her Cosmo editor had apologized for leaking the story, and they’d hashed out a fair contract. Revamping her love life had brought more than a career boost or guaranteed great sex; it had brought her love—real love—and if her article brought the next girl half as much joy, Kate would finally feel like a success. As for now, well, she was pretty happy personally researching her scoop, Making Your Love Life Go the Distance.

  Next to her, the man of her dreams gave her a sexy smile hot enough to melt her insides and pressed a rectangular package wrapped in plain brown paper into her hands. “For you.”

  A soft breeze warmed her skin, and she unwrapped the package to find a galley copy of Jake’s second book: Living Happily Ever After…

  His voice grew quiet. “Go ahead. Open it.”

  Fingers trembling, she turned to the dedication page as he spoke the words printed on the page. “For Kate, one more question… Will you marry me?”

  Her breath caught in her throat, and the world slowed all around them. Her heart ached with the joy of his question, with the sense of hope, and of possibility that anything can happen.

  Even love. Especially love.

  Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes as she took in the sight of him on bended knee, a ring in his hand. Her romantic fantasy come true. “Marry me.”

  “Yes,” she said with a watery smile. “I can’t wait to marry you.” She knelt next to him as the boat rocked back and forth in the waves, the world drifting by in a soft, romantic blur. “I always knew you were The One.”

  Jake slipped the ring on her finger. “Not exactly how I remember it.”

  Kate smiled. “Even when my mind believed it wasn’t going to last, my heart knew you were my soul mate,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Now if we could only get Jane and Charlie to tie the knot.”

  “Funny you should say that,” he said, pulling his phone from the pocket of his shorts, “Look what showed up on my email feed this morning.” Jake flipped his phone around so that she could see the words scrolling on the screen. Looks like a certain Manhattan Cupid’s tying the knot and you’re invited. #cupidwedding. #brooklyn #savethedate.

  “Should we make it a double wedding?”

  “Sweetheart, I plan on leaving this island a married man.”

  “Really?”

  “Hell, yes, I intend to marry you in Paradise,” he said, gathering her close in his arms, “and never let you go.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” A slow, sexy smile creased his handsome face, and he moved his mouth against her ear. “Know my ultimate secret fantasy?”

  She peeked over at him, her voice a hopeful whisper. “Sex on a boat?”

  “Sex.” His smile widened, and a wicked gleam lit up the Caribbean blue eyes she’d literally fallen head-over-heels for. “On a boat.”

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  Acknowledgments

  Writing is an adventure, a sometimes herculean task, not meant to be undertaken alone, and I’m lucky to have many people who support me through life’s wonderful, challenging times.

  And so, my endless thanks to Elley Arden, my friend and generous reader whose unique story ideas inspire me. To my fellow Entangled Authors and writing besties, Robin Bielman and Samanthe Beck, I can only say how crazy-lucky I am to have you as friends. One of these days Shirley Jump is going to get a big, sloppy kiss for offering the class that brought Sam Beck into my life, and in
troduced me to Robin Bielman. Sometime soon, we’ll all be drinking wine (plenty of it) and celebrating our adventures together.

  To Melissa Smith-Beckner, my BFF of almost forty years, thank you for all the madness, for encouraging me when I think—nope—and for always being there. I can’t remember a time when we weren’t friends.

  To all the folks at Entangled. How lucky am I? To Liz Pelletier and Heather Howland, thank you for your patience and generosity and love of romance. I am so happy to be part of Entangled. Big thanks to Christine Chhun, Bridget O’Toole, and my wonderful, eagle-eyed copy editor for bringing this book across the finish line and out into the world. To Heather and Stephen Morgan for making One Little Kiss the absolute best it could be, and to the amazing and kiss-worthy, Vanessa Mitchell, my fab editor and an awesome chick. Your faith in me made Smart Cupid possible. What more can I say? I thank my lucky stars for you.

  And to everyone who has read the Smart Cupid series, I am grateful beyond measure to each and every reader who has spent time with the series and its characters. I feel so lucky to be allowed to share these stories with you and I can’t wait for what comes next.

  Lastly, thank you to my husband and two little boys for managing dinner and soccer practice and baseball games and viola rehearsals. For missing me when I can’t be there. For loving when I am. There’s nothing and no one I love more in the world.

  About the Author

  After ten years of survival, aka working, in Hollywood, this former actress and current author of sexy contemporary romance is living happily-ever-after in Pittsburgh with her longtime sweetie, AKA Husband Number 1, and their two punky kids. When not carpooling to birthday parties or testing her gourmet cooking skills by throwing a frozen pizza into the oven, Maggie daydreams about sneaking off to Vegas or Napa, or even just the movies. A love of red wine, Italian food, and music round out her list of life’s greatest joys. Oh, and Tuesday night karaoke, totally underrated fun.