I do as my wife asks and take a bite. This one is filled with pink frosting. “Uh, I think there are some mixed messages.”
Jessa just takes the other half of the cupcake, taking a bite for herself. Then she kisses me, frosting lips and all. “No, Josh. We’re having twins. A boy and a girl.”
I drop my head, chuckling. “Okay, not sure how I missed that — but Jessa, really?”
She nods, her eyes filled with happy tears. “I’m so happy,” she says. “We are going to have three little ones.”
“They are already the loves of my life,” I tell her, kissing her softly — this woman, who has spent the last six years devoted to me, our family. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have her as my wife. “But truly, muffin compares to you, Jessa.”
You Guac My World
The Way To A Man’s Heart Book 3
When I show up at the local pub for Tacos and Trivia, I finally meet my match.
Kourtney is smart, sassy, and simply put: sexy as hell.
But she doesn’t see it.
She covers her curves in bulky clothes, but I’m determined to get under this bookworm’s skin.
We may be here for trivia night, but it’s her I want to know.
Two rounds of margaritas later, it’s clear — this taco night changes everything.
Kourtney doesn’t just make me hard — she guacs my world.
Dear Reader,
Don’t let anyone treat you like free salsa.
You’re guacamole, baby!
And I know you’re EXTRA!
Believe me, Kaden is here for it! He likes his sauce HOT!
xo, frankie
Chapter One
Kaden
Grunting, I do a final pull-up, then jump to the floor, sweat rolling down my chest.
“Damn,” Josh laughs. “You beat my time.”
I shrug, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat away. My buddies and I all work out at the same CrossFit gym, and it’s a constant competition to see who finishes the workout fastest.
“Everyone beats your time,” Vance says, making fun of Josh. Ever since he and Jessa got engaged, he’s been slacking. Josh’s mind is on her — not the workouts.
I admit it makes me slightly jealous. Not that I want Jessa — but I do want someone. Ever since Matt and Josh found their girls, it’s got me thinking. Finding a partner isn’t the worst idea.
But I don’t meet many women. I own a chain of successful carwashes throughout the region, and mostly deal with high school guys looking for their first job. In fact, I just hired a new one, Billy, last week.
The business practically runs itself most days and I have enough free time to date. It’s just… where do I even start? I’ve been out of the game for a long time.
I’m not the sort of man who would use a dating app. I prefer meeting people face to face. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned.
As we walk to the locker room, the guys start talking about their plans for the night. Vance has a date but he’s being mysterious, which has me wondering who this girl of his is, but I don’t press. It’s his business.
Josh and Matt are apparently watching The Bachelor with their women. I laugh, wondering how things changed so quickly with my buddies. At least there are a bunch of us who are still single. I don’t want to be the last man standing.
“What about you, Kaden?” Josh asks. “Meeting up with Grady?”
I shake my head. “Nah, he’s got training at his store tonight.”
Josh smirks. “Let me guess — you’ll get takeout and watch Jeopardy like an old man.”
“Hey,” I laugh. “I’m not judging you and your reality TV shows.”
“Fair enough,” Josh says, leaving me alone.
Maybe it’s lame not to have any exciting plans, but it’s a Tuesday night. I call my mom as I leave the gym, thinking maybe I can bring her dinner.
“I was just thinking about you,” she says. “Trista was telling me that she has a date. Got me wondering about my only son. Are you seeing anyone, Kaden?”
“No.” I grunt. “But would you like to tell me who my sister is going out with?”
My mom laughs. “Kaden, she’s a grown woman.”
“She’s also my little sister,” I remind her. “It’s my job to look out for her.”
“Well, I don’t know much. I think it’s a guy from one of her classes,” Mom says. “Why don’t you call her?”
“I will,” I say. “But I was calling to find out what you were up to. Any plans tonight?”
“Linda and I are going to dinner and a movie. It’s Tightwad Tuesday.”
I chuckle. Mom has always liked a bargain. “Alright, well, I love you.”
“Love you too. And I expect to see you on Sunday for dinner.”
“I’ll be there.”
I hang up and send my sister a text, but she doesn’t reply. My stomach growls and I realize its already dinner time. I decide to head into O’Malley’s and grab some bar food.
When I step inside, I realize there is some event going on — Taco and Trivia night. I lift my eyebrows at Sylvia, the bartender. “Really? Tacos at an Irish pub?”
Sylvia laughs. “The boss thought it might drum up some business. You in?” I must pause for a beat to long — truthfully, I like trivia and love tacos. “It’s partners — and table four needs a buddy.”
I turn to the table she points at. I swallow. Hard. My cock twitches. One look and it’s already got plans. Big ones.
The woman sitting alone there is too damn gorgeous to be by herself. “I’m in,” I say, taking my beer and heading toward a night that just got a hell of a lot more exciting.
Kourtney
It was a dumb idea.
I knew even as I agreed to it, but I thought maybe… finally… it was time. Time to take a leap of faith and take a chance on love. A chance on me.
For the first time in my life, I swiped right and made a match. Not wanting to text this possibility into the ground, I insisted on a date. My first date in ages. Years?
And here I am. Waiting.
He’s an hour late. And I’ve eaten a basket of chips and guac.
When I look at my phone, I see his text:
I came. I saw. I left. No offense, but you’re not my type.
I blink back tears. What an asshole.
And how is my dick-o-meter so wrong? Why would I choose a jerk like him in the first place?
I know why. It was self-sabotage in the worst way. Even his profile pic screamed douchebag. Yet I went for it.
Am I that desperate for a man?
The waitress brings me a margarita — I didn’t even need to place the order. It’s like the girl code told her I needed a pick-me-up. I take a sip, trying to breathe through the humiliation.
I’ve always felt confident in my skin, even if my curves are more ample than the girls on the covers of magazines have. But now? I exhale. This stings.
By my third sip, I’m in recovery mode. I’m not going to let a lame guy determine my state of mind. That’s on me to control.
“Welcome to the First Monthly Tacos and Trivia Night! Everyone have a partner?” a guy says into a microphone, walking to the center of the bar.
I groan. This is my cue to go. The whole point of coming here for this was that it was my idea for a low-key date. But sitting here at a two-top alone?
“Can I join you?” a man asks from behind me, his voice low.
I turn on my stool, spinning to face him. One look and I feel weak in the knees, and I’m not even standing. Maybe drunk? No. This is just my second margarita and it’s still mostly full. I don’t know what I’m feeling — I’ve never felt this before. Flushed. Famished. Faint.
Like I’m falling.
But where?
“So, what do you say?” he asks. “The first round is about to start.”
I nod feebly, wondering why this man — this hunk of a hottie with clear blue eyes and dark black hair, who towers above me with a muscular physique —
wants to be my partner.
I mean, there are men. And then there are men.
He’s next level.
“Um, sure… of course,” I say, biting my bottom lip, and he gives me a warm smile and sits across from me. “But I have to warn you.”
He lifts his eyebrows. I take him in. All of him. And I feel him sizing me up too. I’m suddenly glad I came here for a date that ditched me. I look as cute as ever in a purple dress, my hair is curled and I feel pretty. I feel like myself.
“What’s the warning?” he asks, his voice rough and rugged.
“I’m really good at trivia,” I tell him with a smile.
He chuckles. “Well, maybe tonight you’ll have met your match.”
Chapter Two
Kaden
“I’m Kaden,” I tell her after ordering guacamole and tortilla chips, along with a plate of tacos. She tells me her name is Kourtney. “I’ve never seen you here before.”
She brings her margarita to her lips, licks the salt. Fuck, it looks sexy.
“I don’t usually come here. But my boss mentioned a trivia night and I thought it would be a good first date.”
I frown. “You’re on a date?” Her cheeks turn red as Sylvia brings me my food. “Oh, thanks Syl,” I say. Kourtney’s eyes trail after Sylvia as she walks away.
“I was. Or was going to be. It doesn’t matter.” Kourtney shakes her head, flustered. Telling me it does matter.
“What happened?” I ask, but before she can answer, Tim, the manager, is back out with his microphone starting the trivia night. We’re each given an iPad and a buzzer. He explains that he will read each question aloud and four multiple choice answers will pop up on our devices. Whoever buzzes in first with the correct answer scores a point. Simple enough. There are eight teams here to play.
“First category is Literature and Fiction,” Tim says.
“You ready for this?” I ask, dipping a chip in the guac.
She sighs. “You sure you want to do this?”
“You mean play one of my favorite games with the hottest girl in the bar? Uh, yeah.”
Her cheeks turn red and her eyelashes flutter. Her long blonde hair looks so silky I want to run my fingers through it. Hell, I want to sweep these tacos aside, pull her up on the table, and do my best to guac her world.
Tim asks the first question. “Harry Potter attended what school?”
We both reach for the buzzer without even looking at the iPad.
Tim calls on us. “Hogwarts,” we say in unison. Our eyes meet and we both laugh.
“That was hardly trivia,” I joke, and Kourtney agrees.
“Totally,” she says. “They could try to stump us with something like, how many staircases does Hogwarts have?”
“Which is 142.”
She laughs out loud. “Wow, I’m impressed.”
“Yeah?” I smile as Tim reads the next question.
“Who was the author of Les Misérables?”
Our hands meet at the buzzer in unison again. “Victor Hugo,” we both answer, smiling. The night is suddenly turning into something more than exciting. This is fun. Plain and simple.
The rest of the Lit Fic rounds goes like that, and so do the sports questions — Kourtney impresses me with her Major League Baseball knowledge.
She shrugs, sipping her margarita. “My dad and brother always follow the Mariners,” she says.
“You close with your family?”
“It’s just the three of us,” she says. “My mom died a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I tell her. “My dad passed when I was young, so I understand. So now it’s just Mom, my younger sister Trista, and me.”
“Both our families are the Three Musketeers,” she says.
I nod, lifting my beer and clinking it with hers. “I like that.”
The next few rounds go quickly, and we are wildly in the lead. When it gets to geography though, we both falter slightly and miss the first question.
“What is the capital city of Paraguay?” Tim asks, and he and everyone else in O’Malley’s turns and looks our way when no one else buzzes in.
I grimace. “Let’s narrow it down,” I say, looking at the multiple choice answers.
“I think it’s D. Asuncion,” she says, dipping a chip in the guac.
“You sure?”
She lifts her hands, her lips twisting. “It’s my best guess.”
She guesses right.
“How did you know that?” I ask.
“I went through a phase, planning my trip around the world.”
“Did you take it? The trip?”
She shakes her head. “No. My mom got sick and… I stayed put. Helped my dad out.”
“He’s lucky to have you,” I say, meaning it. It takes sacrifice to put the needs of your family ahead of your own.
“Final question,” Tim calls, cutting our heart-to-heart short. “Who’s ready?”
Kourtney
I look at Kaden across the table, and his eyes meet mine.
“What?” he asks, a grin on his face. He knows.
“This is just really fun. And considering how the night was going… let’s just say this is a big improvement.”
“What happened?” he asks, leaning in.
“A guy didn’t like the way I looked and left before he even said hello.”
“What a fool,” Kaden says, his eyes on mine. “He made the biggest mistake of his life.”
My cheeks burn under his gaze and I smile, feeling a warmth when Kaden looks at me that makes me think he means what he says.
Tim, the host, however, isn’t interested in our connection. He’s looking for a winner for his Trivia Night. “The final question, in honor of our Tacos and Trivia night, is, when is National Guacamole Day?”
Kaden groans. “Who would know this?” he asks just as I place my hand on the buzzer.
“November fourteenth,” I shout. Tim nods, impressed, and pronounces us the first-ever winners. He has a trophy the shape of a hard-shelled taco and he delivers it. The other tables clap in congratulations, and Kaden and I laugh.
“Let me get a photo,” Kaden says, and I reach for his camera to take one for him.
“No,” he laughs. “Of us, together.”
I lift my eyebrows, surprised he is being so sweet. Guys don’t usually ask for photos with me. “Uh, okay.”
He moves to my side of the table and we lean in, smiling for the selfie. “It’s perfect,” he says. “Mind if I send it to my buddies?”
“That’s fine,” I say, our shoulders touching, our bodies so close. “Can you send it to me too?”
He runs a hand over his jaw. “That means you’ll need to give me your number — you realize that?”
I press my lips together, feeling my stomach flip-flop. “Okay,” I say, taking his phone and entering my contact information.
“So, do you mind if I call you?” he asks, his eyes on mine. “Because I want to see you again.”
I lick my lips. “You do?”
He smiles. “But first I want this.”
He leans in and kisses me. It’s a good thing I’m sitting because my knees threaten to give out. With my eyes closed, the bar fades away. Kaden’s hand cups my cheek, and I feel beautiful in this moment — I feel wanted. He has no idea how I’ve longed for this.
His lips are soft, and I breathe him in, the salt of the margaritas on our lips.
When we pull apart, it’s impossible not to smile.
“Damn, girl,” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t want this night to end.”
I bite my bottom lip. “It’s only eight… it doesn’t have to end yet.”
Chapter Three
Kaden
As we walk out of the bar, I place my hand on the small of Kourtney’s back. It feels right leading her into the night, into possibility, into a future. Yeah, I know that sounds a little crazy considering I just met the girl a few hours ago, but the moment our eyes met, there was a spark. I felt
it and I know she did.
And damn, she's cute.
Placing her hand on the buzzer, answering the trivia questions with gusto, she wasn't holding back. She was all in and I love that about her. Her smile is infectious. Her laugh is sexy as hell. And that kiss? Fuck. It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
"What are you smiling about?" she asks, looking over at me as we walk onto the city sidewalk.
"I was just thinking how that was the best kiss of my life," I tell her frankly.
She laughs, her head falling back, her blonde hair swishing as she moves. "You're crazy," she says.
I step toward her, pulling her to me again, wrapping my arms around her under the light of the streetlamp. "No, it would be crazy if you told me you didn't feel the same thing."
I look down at her, the crook of my finger lifting her chin. I love the feel of her body in my arms, her curves, her softness, her big tits and her round ass. Damn, she's perfection.
"I felt it," she says. "I just…” She closes her eyes, her long lashes fluttering. “It's hard to accept. It's hard to believe that you feel the same thing I do."
"Someone hurt you?" I ask, "because girl, if you can’t see how incredible you look right now, you must be bruised.”
She sighs. We just met and pushing into such heavy territory might be moving too fast.
"Look," I say, "We don't have to talk about the past. Let's just be here right now. You want to go on a drive with me?"
She smiles. "You want to take me on a drive in your car? You're a stranger. You know that, right?”
"Am I though?" I ask. "You know my name."
"Yeah, I know your name," she says, her hands pressed against my chest. "I mean, it doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world," she adds with a smirk.
I laugh, squeezing her ass. Her eyes widen. "Sorry," I say.
"Don't be," she says, “I like it — how forward you are."
The Way To A Man’s Heart: Books 1-10 Page 7
