“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.”
“Okay, Mama,” she says and then looks at the phone. “Auntie CanCan, can you come here?”
“Oh, I wish, baby girl,” I say. “But I can’t come just now.”
“It’s not fair,” she says, then looks at Evan. “Can we go there?”
“Soon,” he says, and she gets off his lap. I walk over to the couch placing Ari in my lap as she looks at the phone. “So why are you helping him?”
“Leave your sister alone,” Zara says. I want to thank her, but Evan just looks over at her.
“Why do I have to leave my sister alone?” he asks her, and then he must get to something because he turns and looks back at the screen. “Do you work for him?”
“I do,” I say, hoping he remembers my rule never to get involved with anyone I work for.
“See, she works for him, so she won’t get involved with him,” he says almost like a kid when they stick their tongue out at their sibling.
“Sure,” Zara says. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. She’s a grown-ass woman, and she doesn’t need anyone’s permission to date anyone.”
“Can I know why you guys called me?” I ask them when Ari is over their conversation and arches her back and tries to turn around.
“Zoey wanted to chat,” Zara says, looking at the camera, and when she’s about to say something else, the front door opens, and I look at Zara, widening my eyes.
“Okay, got to go, bye,” she says, disconnecting, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I am not ready for the questions that my brother is going to ask me. Fuck, I’m not ready for the questions Zara is going to have for me when she calls me back. This is followed up by a text that comes to my phone as soon as I hear Ralph speak.
Zara: You owe me a fuck ton of answers.
“There you are,” he says. I look over at him and see he’s dressed almost the same way as when he left, and when he comes closer, I can smell the hockey on him, and it’s not a pleasant smell.
“Eww,” I say when he gets close enough, but Ari lights up and reaches for him. “Don’t you dare. You need a shower. Why would you come home without showering?”
He kisses Ari, who taps his chest and doesn’t care that he smells like an old bag of cheesy chips. “I missed you guys.” He avoids my eyes and looks down.
“You’re lying.” I laugh, pointing at him. “You didn’t think I would be okay.” I get up, shaking my head.
“It’s not that,” he says quickly. “It’s just I didn’t want you to have an extra burden.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I say, throwing my hand up in the air. “I was fine. We were going to go for a walk,” I say. “But I couldn’t find her stroller.”
“It’s in my car,” he says, and I look at him almost like he has two heads. “I didn’t think you would need it.”
“Well, I was going to go for a walk with her,” I say, not wanting to overstay my welcome. I mean, I’ve never been in this position before. “But now that you’re home, I guess I’ll head out.”
“Why?” he asks, and I shrug.
“I’m sure she is more comfortable here, but . . .” I say the truth, shrugging. “It’s . . .”
“Why don’t I go hop in the shower, and then we can go and get a stroller,” he says, not bothered by what he just said. “Then we can get some lunch and take her for a walk.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. He just looks at me, and the look in his eyes is something different.
There is a lightness that wasn’t there before. “Never been more sure of anything.” He comes to me and bends down to kiss my lips. Forgetting about the way he smells, I just put one hand on his head, and I let him kiss me.
Chapter 22
Ralph
I run toward the shower, and then I turn back around. “You know,” I say, and she looks at me. “If she was sleeping—”
She shakes her head. “I’m not even going to let you finish that sentence,” she says, turning around and walking to the kitchen. “You better go and shower, or I’m going to take Ari, and we are going to go out for lunch without you.”
“I was just going to say that you could have washed my back.” I hold up my hands now. “But whatever.”
“I’m giving you three minutes,” she says, and I look at her. “And that tentage is not okay.”
I look down, and my cock is ready to come out and play. “I’m going to need more than three minutes,” I say. “I mean, unless you want to—”
“If you say another word, Ralph.” She shakes her head, and I can see she is just as affected by me as I am by her. “So help me God.”
“Fine, I’ll rub it out fast, and then I’ll be ready.” I don’t wait for her to reply before I run into my room and take the fastest shower of my life. I grab my black Calvin boxers and then a pair of black shorts with a white polo shirt. I brush my hair back with my hand, and when I go in search of them, they aren’t in the living room. “Candace,” I call her name, looking around.
“In the bedroom!” she yells, and I walk back down to Ari’s bedroom and see that she is changing her outfit.
“Is everything okay?” I ask. Walking in, I stand next to her, wrapping my hand around her shoulder. Candace looks up at me.
“You smell so much better,” she says and then looks at Ari. “You smell that, baby girl? It’s called soap.” She picks her up and I see she has dressed her up in a pink rose romper that I’ve never seen before. “You are so pretty.”
“Where is that from?” I ask while she puts on a pink headband, and the only thing that Ari does is squeal and drool.
“I bought it yesterday,” she says, “but I washed it this morning.” She kisses Ari and then hands her to me. “Do you want to grab something to eat now or after the walk?”
“I’m good. I had a protein shake in the car on the way home, but I can also eat.”
“Good,” she says and smiles at me. “I had food delivered.”
“How?” I ask, and she shrugs.
“I made the order online this morning when you left.” I watch how she gets kind of shy, and I can’t help but smile. “I didn’t know how long you would be gone.”
“But you ordered for me also?” I ask, and she glares at me.
“Well, I didn’t want to be rude in case you came home and saw me eating,” she says, avoiding my eyes still.
“Look at me,” I say, and she rolls her eyes before looking up at me. “You ordered me food?”
“No.” She shakes her head in defiance. “I ordered myself food. I just ordered too much.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Whatever,” she says.
She tries to walk past me, but I catch her around the waist. “Not so fast there.” My voice comes out soft, and she doesn’t put up a
fight. “Thank you,” I say. “For watching Ari and for getting me food.”
“You’re welcome,” she says. “But this doesn’t change anything.”
I shake my head and lean down to peck her lips. “Everything changed the minute I put my lips on you.”
“It was curiosity,” she says softly. “We were both curious about things.” I walk with her to the kitchen, and only then do I notice the brown takeout bags on the counter that I missed before when I was looking for them.
“Okay,” I say, putting Ariella in her high chair and giving her a couple of toys to keep her busy. “Let’s say we were both curious. But now that I’ve kissed you and tasted you, I’m a whole lot more curious.”
I walk over to the bags and take out the two meals she got. The first one is a huge bowl of salad with chicken on top. “That’s mine,” she says, and then I grab the one at the bottom, and it feels heavier.
“I got you steak and some steamed veggies with rice.” I put my container down next to hers and walk over to her. She looks like she is going to run, but she doesn’t. She stands there, and when I get to her, my hand goes to her waist. I pick her up and place her on the counter in front of me in one swift move.
“Ralph,” she says my name as her hands go to my chest, and I hope she can feel how fast my heart is beating. She puts her head down, and her hair falls around her face.
“Candace,” I say softly. She looks up at me, and I tuck the hair behind her ears. “I’ve been in one relationship my whole life,” I say. I don’t know why I’m bringing this up, but I want her to know everything when it comes to me. And I selfishly want to know everything about her.
“It was with Cassie. We broke up quarterly because I just couldn’t get there with her. There was a step that I just couldn’t take, and she knew it. But then we would spend two weeks apart, and she would call, and it would start the routine all over again.” My heart hurts, not for Cassie, but knowing I did that to her. “She wanted an all-in sort of relationship, and even though I said I would be all in”—I shake my head and swallow the lump—“I was never all in.” I take a deep breath. “I want to be all in, and I want to do it with you.”
“But—” she starts to say, and I put my finger on her lips.
“But let’s just have lunch, and then we can go for a walk. I don’t want to hear your buts, and I don’t want you to tell me we shouldn’t be doing this. Let’s just—”
“Have lunch.” She smiles shyly at me. “But.” I groan now when she says the word but and she chuckles. “How about . . .?” She opens her legs, and I step closer to her. “You thank me properly.” Her hands pull me even closer, and she tilts her head back. “I mean, I did buy you lunch.”
Smiling at her, I tilt my head to the side, leaning in and taking her lips. I slide my tongue into her hot mouth at the same time as she puts her hands around my neck and pulls me in closer. Our tongues wrestle with each other. My cock presses against her as she wraps her ankles around my waist. “If we don’t stop . . .” I pull back, and the sound of us panting fills the air. “You’re going to be my meal.” I watch her eyes widen as she blinks. Her legs fall from around my waist, and she just looks at me.
“I think it would be a good time for me to go,” she says, and I look at her. “I have things that I didn’t do this morning.” She pushes away from me, and I watch her hop off the counter. She walks around and kisses Ari.
“Maybe tomorrow we can do the whole walk thing.” She grabs the salad. “I have to go.” She puts the salad in the bag, and before I know it, she’s out of the door.
Instead of going after her, I sit at the counter and eat the meal that she ordered. I send her a text that goes unanswered. I feed Ari and play with her, the whole time thinking about Candace. I replay the scene over and over in my head, making a plan.
“What do you think, baby girl?” I ask her as I change her diaper and prepare a bag with more bottles than I need. “Do you want to come with Daddy?” She just smiles at me, and I snap a picture of her. “Want to go for a walk?” I ask, and she bounces a bit. She whines when I put her in the car seat, but I put the pacifier in her mouth, and she settles down. We make a quick stop, and when I get to her house, I pop open the trunk and get the stroller out and set Ari in it. She looks around, not too sure of what and where she is.
“Okay, here we go,” I say as I move the stroller to the passenger side and grab the big pink bouquet that I’d stopped to pick up on the way. I asked them for every single pink flower they had. I walk up the driveway, and I hold my breath before I press the doorbell.
“This, baby girl, is the first step to wooing her.” I look at the flowers now. “Or at least I hope it’s step one,” I mumble.
I hear her footsteps approach the door, and then she unlocks it before she opens the door. Her eyes go wide when she sees me. “Hey,” I say, looking at how beautiful she is. She’s still dressed in the jeans from before, but I see her hair has been put up in a bun on top of her head. “We were wondering,” I start to say, suddenly feeling nervous. Shit, maybe I should have thought this through before showing up at her door. “I was wondering, and well, Ari,” I say and then stop. I look down at my girl smiling at Ari and moving her hands as she looks at her. “If you would like to go for a walk with us.”
“Ralph,” she says softly, and I have the sickening feeling that she is going to end things. From the tone of her voice and the way she hasn’t come out and got Ari or even spoke to her. My heart sinks. Oh my God, I did this. I pushed her too hard, too fast. I should have gone in slow, but I just couldn’t.
She’s about to say something else when I hear a man’s voice behind her, and my heart sinks. “Who is at the door?”
Chapter 23
Candace
When I pulled open the door, I expected it to be my pizza that I ordered. The last person I expected it to be was Ralph. He was standing there in the exact outfit he wore before, and he was pushing a stroller with one hand while the other hand held one of the biggest bouquets that I have ever seen. Ari was dressed as she was before, and she smiled at me, her hands moving a million miles a minute, and it took everything I had not to step into her and him.
I have to admit that when he kissed me on the counter, I forgot everything, including all my rules. That is what he did to me. With just one touch, I let go of my sanity. I took off fast so I could think, knowing that if I stayed close to him, I wouldn’t be able to.
“Who is at the door?” I see the look on Ralph’s face, and now it really does take everything for me not to go to him. “Jesus, I’ve been waiting,” Miller says from behind me and steps beside me, putting his hand around my shoulder like he always does. “Hey, man,” he says, smiling at Ralph. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” he asks, but his tone is just a touch pissed off, and I hear the crinkling of brown paper as he squeezes the flowers in his hand. “What are you doing here?” He puts his hands on his hips, and I tilt my head and side-eye Miller, who looks a bit shocked and surprised at his tone.
“Well, I had a meeting with Candace,” he says, now taking his hand off my shoulder. I look over at him as Miller looks at me and then at Ralph as he tries to figure out what is going on. And I guess he’s not the only one. “Wait a second,” Miller says. Putting his hand up, he points at the flowers in Ralph’s hand. “Hold on.” Then he points at me and then he takes his hand and pushes my head. “Eww, no, no, no.” His face grimaces. “Gross.”
“I’m right here.” I push his head back. “And you are the gross one.” Then I look over at Ralph. “Now that this is out of the way.”
He just looks at me, not saying anything, and then looks at Miller. “Aren’t you leaving?”
He laughs now. “I think that is my cue to get the fuck out of here, or he’s going to kick my ass.” He looks down at Ari. “Sorry for swearing, pretty girl.” He looks at me. “If you need anything, call me.” Then he looks at Ralph. “And I mean about work, not a booty call.�
� He puts his hands up. “You can be rest assured that there is nothing that Candace has that I want.”
I roll my eyes now and huff out. “Again, I’m still standing right here.”
Miller walks past Ralph and slaps his shoulder. “Good luck, dude.” He then looks at me. “She looks angry.”
“Miller, so help me God,” I say with my teeth clenched together as he now jogs to his truck and takes off.
“Candace,” he says, and I make the mistake of looking at him. “I got these for you,” he says, handing me the flowers. “We got them for you.” I bring the flowers to my nose and smell the roses.
“Come in. It’s hot outside, and Ari is going to get fussy,” I say, moving aside, but he doesn’t move.
“Are you sure that you want me to come inside?” he asks, and I just stand here. “I don’t want to interrupt.”
“You are not interrupting, and even if you were, he left.” I point at the empty spot in my driveway that Miller just vacated. Bending down and grabbing Ari out of the stroller and bringing her in the cool house, “I’m sorry,” I say, “for just running out before.”
“I want this,” he says. “This thing with us, whatever it is, whatever it’s going to be? I want it.” He looks at me. “Whatever happens in all of this, all I want is for you to be happy.” He steps closer. “Whatever happens, I want you to find love.”
“You can’t do that,” I say, blinking away my own tears. “You can’t just come in here and say all the perfect things when I’ve been sitting and staring into space all day long, thinking about you and this and us. And everything that will go with it, if we actually do whatever.” I don’t want to say the word dating, but he closes the distance between us and puts his hands on my face. I don’t think my heart could beat any faster. I don’t think I could fall for a more complicated man. I also don’t think I stood a chance.
Only One Kiss (Only One Series) Page 14
