One Kiss Read online

  New Year’s Eve had been a flash of heat followed by cold fear when she’d run away. She might have to see if this slow burn could make her hang around long enough to not make the same mistake again. At the end of the night, she’d at least like to know his name. But not right this second. Right this second she needed to get herself cooled down and rid herself of the image of being naked with the stranger’s dark head at her suddenly sensitive breasts.

  ****

  Would it be weird to follow the girl with the mismatched eyes to the bathroom and nonchalantly stand outside until she came back out?

  Yeah, he was pretty sure that would be creepy. But her eyes threw him back to that New Year’s Eve with the wrench drop.

  And the kiss that had made him wish for more.

  Before that moment, he hadn’t thought it was possible to feel an instant connection. Boy, was he proven wrong. She’d fit against him like a song and, though it made little sense, his arms had not wanted to let her go. His whole body had wanted to stay out on that cold street for hours, locked in an embrace and feeling her soft lips move under his like a spell.

  When it was over, though, he’d stepped back, intending to talk to her. But then she’d been whisked away by the crowd, and he couldn’t find her again, even as tall as he was and able to see over the crowd.

  He’d chalked it up to a moment out of time and moved on with his new year, intent on starting anew, starting a slower-paced life that didn’t include fast-paced deals and always being on his game. Being here, though, reminded him of that moment on the square and the fact that he’d have given a lot to meet her again.

  And now she might just be here. What kind of coincidence would that be? Yet Melanie seemed to know every single person under forty in town, and most of them were here, drinking, laughing, and having a good time. Perhaps it wasn’t such a coincidence.

  He was rethinking the nonchalant standing when another woman knocked on the bathroom door and went in. A glimpse into the powder room showed no one in there. Where the heck had she gone? She couldn’t be a figment of his imagination. Could she?

  Melanie waved at him from across the room, then made a shooing motion like he should get with the mingling. He could ask her. He shouldn’t, since it would only spike her interest and make her rabid to hook him up. But he could ask her. Just casually, of course. In passing.

  Fortunately, Dillon walked through his field of vision at that moment and scared him straight out of that delusion. He’d just ask Melanie’s husband and hopefully avoid the third degree.

  Following Dillon into a room off the living room, Caleb hoped there wouldn’t be a ton of people in that room, too. He was used to being pretty solitary now, and the throngs out in the main room were starting to make his ears buzz.

  Thankfully, it was empty of other people, although full of a prime pool table and a dartboard set up under a green-shaded light.

  “Man, you are one lucky guy. This is a sweet setup.” The green felt on the surface of the table was barely marked, and the cue sticks standing up in a rack against the wall gleamed in the room’s low light.

  “Melanie will have my head if she finds you in here instead of out mingling,” Dillon said, but he was laughing.

  “Yeah, well, you’re lucky you’re already married.” Caleb crossed his arms and leaned against the table. He could pass some serious hours here, just trying to make the perfect shot.

  “It’s not so bad out there. I haven’t seen any wild shenanigans, and the majority of the people are decent.” Dillon stooped at the far end of the table and started placing striped and solid balls on the table.

  Would Melanie really miss him at the party if he and Dillon played a game and then he called it a night? Probably, but he wanted info, and he didn’t want to just blurt it out. He grabbed the triangle from the wall and chose a cue at the same time. Racking the balls, he tried to come up with a smooth way to not sound like a stalker, or a horny fourteen-year-old. To go with those eyes, she had some kicking curves he’d been able to feel even through her bulky jacket. His hands had itched for days to touch them again, and now she might be in the next room. He tightened his grip on his pool cue to keep himself from rushing out to see if it was her. Her name was a must before he did anything else.

  Then again, he was at a party meant for singles to hook up on Valentine’s Day. Rash, horny, teenagerish behavior would probably not be completely frowned upon. In fact, it was kind of expected, wasn’t it?

  “You’re first,” Dillon said, leaning on his cue.

  Caleb lined up his shot with the cue ball and contemplated how to approach demanding her name. In the end, he slammed his cue into the ball and just plain asked. This was Dillon. He didn’t know him well, but the few times he’d met him he seemed like a good guy.

  “So, not to be a creeper, but I could have sworn I saw a woman go into that little bathroom, and then she never came out but another woman went in and it looked empty in there.”

  Dillon used the chalk on the end of his cue and laughed. “You watching the bathroom now? That is kind of creepy.”

  Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “I’m kidding, man. Tall girl, light brown hair, curvy?”

  The description was apt even though it left out those incredible eyes and her pert nose and the way those curves suited her, down to her shapely calves. “Yeah, I think.” Play it cool.

  “That’d be Lore, short for Lorena. Prettiest eyes, other than my own wife’s, of course.” Dillon winked at him and chalked the end of his stick.

  “Good save.” Lore. He finally had a name, and it fit her.

  “You don’t stay with Melanie for long without learning a thing or two.” Dillon laughed. “Just waiting for you to take another shot.”

  “So where’d she go if she wasn’t in the bathroom when the other lady went in?”

  Dillon smirked. “How do you know she didn’t come out? Did you really watch the door the whole time?”

  “You’re as bad as your wife.”

  Dillon slapped him on the back while he grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Blowing out a breath, Caleb figured he was in for a penny, in for a pound. “So where did she go?” He lined himself up for his next shot but scratched it.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Dillon was obviously enjoying this, the bastard.

  Caleb laughed with him, because it really was absurd. He wanted to be single. He’d just ended his marriage, and going after a girl just because her eyes were different and he remembered her lips being as soft as cotton candy was not the sanest idea. And yet…

  Dillon lined up his own shot. “Look, I’ll put you out of your misery. Lore probably went into the office that’s connected to that bathroom. She knows where the key is to open the office door from there.” He moved slightly left to line up better. “She did not want to come here tonight, but since Melanie’s her best friend there was no way she was going to get out of it. She probably just needed a breather. She knows this house maybe better than I do.” Dillon hit his stripe and called out his next mark. “She’s in and out of here a lot when I’m out of town and Melanie is lonely. Good girl, fun, not really one you want to mess with, though. Melanie would have your balls in a clamp faster than you could draw a breath.” The stripe went in the hole as if on a track. He lined up for the next.

  Melanie’s best friend. Christ. It was just his luck she wasn’t some casual acquaintance. Pursuing Lore might not be in his best interest. Yeah, he liked Melanie and Dillon, but he also liked his balls and was a little afraid of what kind of person could be best friends with the radio station’s resident busybody.

  But he appreciated Dillon being straight with him. “Thanks for the info.”

  “Hey, not a problem. This party is only going to be a success if Melanie feels she made some lonely people come together.” He rolled his eyes at that. “Now I can tell her you’re interested in Lore, which will make her happy. She’s been after her for years to get back
in the dating pool. Poor girl had to walk down the aisle at our wedding with my cousin Larry.”

  Years? Was that her decision, or was something really wrong with her? It was one thing to ask about a girl but another to ask about her mental state.

  “So she’s single?”

  “Yep. She’s a waitress over at that super-expensive restaurant, Wilfred’s, and she volunteers the rest of her time with at-risk teens, teaching art.”

  “Huh.” He tried not to act interested and fuel Dillon’s laughter again, but really he was.

  “She also owns the building on Main and South, the one with the art gallery on the main floor, and rents out the apartments above it. Lives there herself, as a matter of fact.”

  Caleb cracked a smile as he aimed for the next ball. “Why do I feel like you’re selling me a prize horse?”

  Dillon laughed again, but this time with him. “Not at all, but I love Lore, and I’d like to see her happy, too. Feeling like the third wheel when you’re out with your own wife can get a little old.” He spread his arms wide and shrugged.

  Caleb left it at that as he called his next shot. He dropped the subject, turning the conversation first to stock portfolios, which he still dabbled in, and then asking who had designed their house.

  Twenty minutes later, Dillon led him out of the billiard room through a door into the office mentioned before, but the room was empty. When they left there, Caleb was almost convinced Melanie must have some type of “you’re not doing what I want you to do” radar. She beaded right in on him and Dillon with a scowl on her face. Dillon blew her a kiss, and she smiled at him, then immediately scowled at Caleb again. He blew her a kiss, too, and she shook her head with a reluctant smile. She mouthed the words “mingle or game?” and he quickly talked to the person to his right. A woman who immediately began testing the size of his forearm.

  He stood there until he could make his excuses and then started wandering in and out of rooms, looking for Lorena but not finding her anywhere. Maybe she’d been lucky and ducked out. He checked his watch. It had been an hour. The hour he’d promised himself he’d stay. He couldn’t leave now, though, not until he found out if Lorena had been the one at the wrench drop and if she was available for a cup of coffee, at least to start.

  Chapter Three

  “The first time was fine, but you can’t hide out in here for the whole party. How am I supposed to find you someone, so we can double date, if you keep coming into the office?” Melanie stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.

  Lore tried out that fake smile again, but this time Melanie caught on.

  Stepping into the room, Melanie closed the door behind her. She looked perfectly suited to the elegant furnishings, with her tailored pencil skirt and drapey-sweater and high heels. She laid a hand on Lore’s arm. “It’s not really that bad out there, is it?”

  Melanie’s chin trembled, and Lore’s stomach dropped. If she started crying, Lore would be the worst friend in the world. Melanie just wanted everyone to have what she had. Lore respected that and even loved her for it. But maybe she just wasn’t ready. It had been years since she’d been in a serious relationship, and of the few dates she’d gone on, none of them had presented anyone who made her want to take on the joys and complications of trying to fit someone new into her life.

  She patted Melanie’s hand. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just not into this tonight. The party is wonderful, and you did a great job. It’s me.”

  “Well, if you’d get out there and do something, I bet it would be better. You have to dive in again at some point. It’s been six years since Ricky died, honey. I see all those false smiles you give people, and I know there’s no time limit on grief, but I don’t think he’d be happy to know you haven’t given anyone else a real chance.”

  Lore’s eyes prickled, and her heart clenched. Ricky had been bigger than life, the other half of her that had fallen away on the day she got the call that he wouldn’t be coming home from the war. The wedding had been scheduled for four months from that day exactly. Every year it got easier to face that date on the calendar, but she still had no desire to get back into a relationship. With a sigh, Lore admitted Melanie was right, though, and it made her smile to think of her friend’s long-winded lecture, with the invite to the party, about having to move on, having to get back out there, that helping others wasn’t enough and she needed something for herself.

  Melanie’s arms came around Lore’s shoulders in a cloud of soft floral perfume. Her best friend and the one who had always looked out for her. “I don’t want to push you, but I want you to be happy. No matter how many times you smile, and how much good you do with the kids at the center, and how happy you make your fancy, high-roller customers at Wilfred’s, it’s not enough. I want more for you. Don’t you want more for you?”

  Lore hugged her back and really made herself think of the past several years. Was she lonely? Yes, sometimes. Did she wish she had someone to turn to in the middle of the night? Yes. Did she wish she had someone to share her life with? Again, sometimes. And sometimes it was easier to not get involved on that level. But being hugged and then kissed by that stranger on New Year’s Eve had reminded her of being safe, of being held tight, of feeling desire, and she had to admit she’d been struggling with wanting to recapture that at the very first opportunity. Not with someone like Brand but with someone who could love her.

  She heard Ricky chiding her and encouraging her in her mind, and she used her fingertips to wipe under her eyes. “Did my mascara run?”

  Melanie held her at arm’s length. “No, you and your eyes are gorgeous. Now, get out there. You can skip most of the games if you want, but you have to play the heart game. Promise me.”

  How bad could it be? Probably bad, but getting out of other games might just be worth it. “I promise.” She rose from the loveseat facing the cherry desk. “Why don’t I go make sure all the dishes are filled and see if anyone needs a new drink, until your heart game?” And maybe she could look for the big guy again, if he hadn’t left while she’d been hiding out.

  “Great idea, but you’re going to miss out on Spin the Bottle.” Melanie smiled innocently at her.

  “I definitely will be missing out on that one, even if you hadn’t given me permission.” They headed for the door into the hallway. “I can’t believe Dillon let you have these games in the first place.”

  Melanie waved a hand in the air. “Oh, stop. Dillon lets me do whatever I want because he loves me and he knows I’m harmless.”

  Lore hugged her friend again. “You are far from harmless. Maybe he’ll figure that out in about forty or so years.”

  Fluffing her hair, Melanie giggled. “Let’s hope not. I’ll see you in an hour for the game.”

  Checking the clock on her cell phone, Lore realized that would be a little beyond her requisite two-hour guilt stay, but she had a different outlook now and hopefully a certain tall man to ask Dillon about. No way would she ask Melanie, as the woman would have them married by a preacher in the front room before they left for the night if she asked a single question.

  She headed to the kitchen, praying that Brand either wasn’t in there or, if he was, his hands were occupied so she wouldn’t have to fend him off.

  ****

  He’d missed her again. Out of the corner of his eye, Caleb had seen Melanie and Lorena emerge from the hallway before Lorena had made a beeline for the kitchen. Could he slip in there without feeling like an idiot? No, probably not, since he had no concrete reason for it. And while it wouldn’t be as creepy to stand outside the kitchen door and wait for her to come back out, he didn’t think that was a good idea, either. He couldn’t count on another coincidence. He snorted when he realized he almost felt like that poor guy in the Cinderella story.

  Melanie called out for everyone’s attention, and when the room quieted down she got right to it. “I hope everyone is having a fabulous time and getting to know each other. I invited you all here tonight because life is about co
nnections and finding that special someone.” Dillon stepped up to her side, and Caleb did feel just a little twinge for what the other man had found with Melanie. She might be a busybody and nosy and bossy, but with all that it was obvious Dillon really loved her.

  Caleb couldn’t remember if he’d ever felt like that with his ex. He must have at some point, to walk down the aisle with her, but when it ended he wasn’t as sad as he should have been.

  He shook his head at himself because he’d just missed the announcement of the game. Suddenly he was pulled by the arm into the living room and made to stand in front of two teams to act out a scene from When Harry Met Sally. Maybe he should have left, now that he had Lore’s name. He could have looked her up later instead of having to pretend a fake orgasm in a deli.

  ****

  Melanie was ridiculous, and Dillon was just as bad for letting her play charades with romantic comedies as the main category. She’d peeked out of the kitchen a few times as she was washing the rest of the dishes and setting up the dessert Melanie wanted served before the last game of the night.

  The big guy—she wished she knew his name but hadn’t been able to catch Dillon to ask—was at the front of the room, huffing and puffing and throwing his hand over his brow. He was also laughing and looked like he was having a good time. Lore had restrained herself from giggling because at that point even his ears had turned red. He was big and he was gorgeous, but he also seemed really gentle, and she liked that. She liked a lot about him, and she didn’t even know his freaking name!

  “Who’re you staring at?” Melanie said, popping her head around the doorjamb where Lore stood transfixed by the way the man’s hands moved through the air.