One More Kiss (A Too Many Men Romantic Comedy / Chick Lit Novel)

by Stephanie Rowe

  Although, as it turned out, looked like Yvonne had been correct to be concerned about Dave's female friends.

  Go with your gut. That's what they say. Yvonne should have gone with hers and chained Dave to her bed.

  I sighed. "You can sleep in Emma's room tonight. She's staying at Blaine's."

  "Thanks."

  I felt guilty at the relief that consumed Dave's features. What kind of a friend was I to turn down a friend in need, even if I didn't agree with what he'd done? "You can stay as long as you want."

  He grinned and gave me a hug. "I love you, Shannon."

  "Yeah, yeah." I pushed him off me. "How about that cake? I could use some chocolate. I've never harbored a fugitive before."

  Dave and I were halfway through part two of the Lord of the Rings trilogy when my buzzer sounded. I glanced at the clock. Ten fifteen. Van.

  I jumped up and hit the buzzer. "Hello?"

  "Is Dave there?" The tearful voice sounded suspiciously familiar.

  "Phoebe?"

  Dave leapt up. "Phoebe's here?"

  I buzzed her in and watched the change that came over Dave. The tense lines left his face, his eyes were bright, and he was smiling.

  Okay, so maybe that looked a little bit like true love. I'd never seen his eyes go that sparkly when he was talking about Yvonne. It was usually more shuttered, like he was afraid she'd leap out of the woodwork and catch him being a bad boy hanging out with his friend Shannon.

  On the plus side, with Dave dating Phoebe, I was no longer persona-non-grata in Dave's life. So that was good, right?

  I opened the door to my apartment and walked into the kitchen to dispose of the cake dishes.

  I heard the door open, a murmured greeting between them, and then the distinct sound of sloppy kissing.

  It was one thing to let Dave stay here, while maintaining my disapproval of marital infidelity. It was something else entirely to have my adulterous friends using my apartment as a sex haven. Rules were going to be needed.

  After they got through their dog-in-heat greeting.

  I had no interest in going out there and observing that.

  "Shannon?" I turned in time to be attacked by a desperate hug from Phoebe. "Thank you so much for letting Dave stay here. You’re the best. I'm so sorry."

  I rolled my eyes and patted Phoebe's back. I didn't really feel like I was the best at the moment. I actually felt really weird and awkward.

  Dave grinned at me from the door. He did look happy. "So, Phoebe, how did it go?"

  She let go of me and turned to Dave. "It was awful. Awful." Tears trickled down her face, and her lower lip started to tremble.

  He held out his arms, and she flung herself into them. They stood like that for a long while, holding each other, Dave whispering little things into her ear while he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

  Dammit. I wanted someone to hold me like that!

  Wonder if there were any married men in my building. Maybe I could woo them away from their wives...

  The buzzer rang again, and I squeezed past the pretzel of love and hit the intercom. "Hello?"

  "It's Van."

  I looked at my friends. Yes, Van's timing was great, wasn't it? "Come on up."

  By the time Van made it to my apartment, Phoebe and Dave had migrated to the couch where they were all snuggled up and whispering. I had just decided to send them to Emma's bedroom when Van walked into the apartment, courtesy of the door I'd left open.

  He was wearing shorts and sneakers and a tee shirt. The baseball hat looked totally cute on him. He was sporty and athletic, but not at all like Noah. Better than Noah. So much better, because he looked like Van, and Van was who I wanted right now. My heart leapt at the sight of him. "Hi!"

  He grinned at me. "You look cute."

  I forgot what I was going to say for a moment, surprised by his comment. I could tell from the look on his face that he meant it, and it made me feel good. I looked down and realized I forgot I was still wearing the dress from the baby shower.

  Then my good feeling faded as I remembered that it was the same dress that had been around my waist while Noah was sucking on my breasts in the coatroom. Suddenly I felt extremely sluttish and embarrassed.

  "What's up with the blush?"

  Curse Van and his perceptiveness. "I'm not used to you commenting on my appearance." Which was true, too. It sounded better than, "I was thinking about how my nipples had been between another guy's teeth only a few hours ago." I knew we were just friends, but suddenly I felt wildly uncomfortable talking about other guys with him.

  Instead, I grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward the living room. "I have surprise guests. Sorry."

  He didn't look bothered by the news. "No problem."

  Why was I annoyed at his complacence? It wasn't as if I wanted him to want to be alone with me? I mean, sure, I was beginning to consider him my special friend, but that didn't mean that he should be averse to sharing me with others, just because I was starting to feel that way.

  God, I was so confused. Because I did care. I wanted desperately for Van to think about me the way I couldn't stop thinking about him. I had to get over that, and fast.

  I cleared my throat, but it did nothing to get Dave and Phoebe's lips detached from each other. "Hey! I have company!"

  They broke apart, their eyes all misty and dreamy. As I said, I had to admit I'd never seen either of them look that happy. Not that it made what they'd done all right, but it did complicate things a bit for me. "This is Van Reinhart. Van, meet Dave Siegal and Phoebe Thomas."

  They exchanged greetings, then an awkward silence descended over the room. It was too obvious that Dave and Phoebe wanted to be left alone to grope each other.

  Against all my morals, I found myself saying, "Maybe you guys would want to be alone. Emma's room is open. She's staying at Blaine's tonight."

  They didn't move. Finally, Dave said, "That won't make you feel awkward?"

  "Well of course, but not as awkward as having to watch you two make out on my couch while I have company."

  They exchanged glances, then Dave stood up and pulled Phoebe to her feet. "We won't have sex."

  Van grinned, and I shuddered. "I would really prefer not to hear the details, okay? Just go in there and keep it quiet."

  "Can I stay over?" Phoebe asked.

  Yeesh. I felt like the mother of teenagers. "Fine, but please don't make it a habit. This whole thing is still weird for me." How was I supposed to sleep with Phoebe and Dave making little love noises on the other side of the wall? I mean, sure, I could observe that they both seemed happy, but I wasn't exactly feeling all warm and snuggly with the whole concept just yet.

  Phoebe grinned, and they ran off to the bedroom, slamming the door with extra zeal.

  "Let me guess," Van said. "Those are your friends who are having the affair?"

  I frowned. "Does it make me a bad person that I'm letting Dave stay here? He left his wife and Phoebe broke up with her fiancé this weekend, so it's in the open, but I'm feeling really weird about it."

  Van rubbed my shoulder. "Friendship is important. I think you're doing the right thing, but I also think it's fine to be uncomfortable."

  I was glad Van appreciated that there was something odd about it. If he thought philandering spouses was ordinary and fine, then it would worry me that he might think it was okay for him.

  Not that it would matter to me how he handled his romantic relationships. He was my friend the way Dave was. If Van left his wife someday, it wouldn't be me he was leaving. I had to remember that. "Want some cake? Dave brought it to bribe me."

  "Sure."

  I set Van up with some cake, then plopped myself next to him on the couch. I sat sideways facing him, my bare feet shoved under the cushion he was sitting on.

  "Who are the flowers from?" Van asked the question so casually I was almost suspicious.

  "Dave. More bribery."

  He nodded. "So, how was the baby shower? F
ill me in."

  I gave Van a blow-by-blow of the affair, including the April fiasco, but omitting the Noah thing. For some reason, I felt weird telling him about it. When I finished, Van cut himself a second piece of cake. "Sounds like you handled it well."

  "Thanks to your advice. I've already decided to declare you my official savior."

  He grinned and held up a forkful of cake. "Want a bite?"

  Oh, wow. This was intimate. "Sure."

  He slipped the cake into my mouth, so careful not to jab me with the prongs. I tried not to think that his lips had been on that same metal only moments before. It was practically like kissing.

  But not.

  He said nothing, but his eyes became a little darker.

  I felt like mine were too.

  "So..." He began, but his words trailed off before he finished the sentence.

  "What?" I watched him scoop another piece of cake onto his fork and wondered if he'd feed me again.

  "What's the status of Noah? And Blaine? And Max? And any other men I might not know the name of?" He put the cake in my mouth and drew the fork out slowly. "What's your status, Shannon?"

  My stomach fluttered. What did he mean by that?

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  "My status? You mean like, am I dating any of them?" My mouth felt dry all of a sudden.

  Van studied my face. "Not just that. Are you still hung up on them?"

  Does kissing Noah a few hours ago count? "Nothing is going on with any of them."

  He was looking at me really intently, and I met his gaze. "What if Noah comes knocking at your door?" he asked. "Are you going to go back to him?"

  Ah... Of course I was. So why didn't I want to admit it? I finally shrugged. "Depends."

  "On what?"

  "If he's begging. If I'm not interested in someone else by then. If I decide that being with him won't put me in Dave's situation." I hugged my arms around my legs and rested my chin on my knees. "I won't get married until I know it's right. I'm not going to marry a guy who thinks there is someone better out there."

  Van nodded slightly. "And you're not sure where Noah fits in?"

  I felt a fuzz on my shins and realized I needed to shave. How totally embarrassing. "I'm beginning to think that Noah isn't enough." I grabbed a blanket and laid it across my legs. "If it was right, really right, then he would have been committed from the first minute, you know?"

  "What about you? Were you committed to him from the first minute?"

  I pursed my lips and rocked back and forth. "I think it's difficult to separate twenty years of a childhood crush from the reality of an adult relationship."

  "So..."

  I looked at him. "So, I'm unsure." It was incredible how much I didn't want to admit all this to Van, but I had no choice. I couldn't lie to him, could I? No. We didn't have that type of relationship.

  He picked up my hand and started playing with my fingers.

  Wow. Talk about butterflies in my belly. And these weren't platonic butterflies. These were hot, sexy, major hormonal butterflies. I took a deep breath, trying to stay rational and sane.

  He'd never given me a signal, even a little one, that he was interested in being more than friends with me. Friends played with each other's fingers, right? Don't read anything into this, Shannon. "So, tell me your secret, Van," I asked, trying to distract myself from what he was doing with my hand. "What do you do in your spare time? Are you really a stripper?" Yeah, I knew he wasn't, but maybe if he believed I really thought he was, he'd tell me the truth to keep me from drawing erroneous conclusions about him.

  He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed the tip of each one. "It's not the right time to tell you."

  I swallowed hard, trying to remember how to breathe as he kissed my fingers. "Why not?" I watched his lips play with my fingers and wondered whether anyone had ever passed out from fingertip kisses, because I was certainly teetering on the edge. Noah who?

  "Because you'll hate me."

  I tried to concentrate on his words, but his lips were taking all my attention. "I seriously doubt I could hate you."

  "When I believe that, I'll tell you my secret. I don't want to be judged."

  What kind of person did he think I was, that I'd hate and judge him because of something he does with his life? "Van."

  "Mmm..."

  "I need honesty in a relationship."

  He went still, then he lifted his gaze to mine. "Do we have a relationship?"

  My heart was beating fast. "Of sorts."

  He gave the palm of my hand a long kiss, then released it. "I'm not interested in being anyone's second choice."

  What could I say to that? He was right. "And I couldn't choose someone who isn't being honest."

  His eyes were dark. "Then I guess we're at an impasse."

  I didn't want an impasse! I wanted a kiss! Not just anyone's kiss. I wanted Van's.

  Oh, wow. Did that make me a total slut, kissing two men within the same six hours, and liking them both? "I guess."

  "I should go." He stood up.

  "You can stay. Watch a movie," I paused. "As friends." I didn't want to say it, but I had to. I didn't want to scare him away by wanting more. But…did he want more? For the first time, I thought it was possible, and the thought was almost more than I could cope with.

  He eyed my thigh, exposed where my dress had slid up above the blanket. "I'm not in the mood for that kind of an evening."

  On a whim, I shifted so my dress went even higher. Van's eyes glittered, and he caught his breath. My stomach flipped, and I knew we'd crossed a line tonight. How do we go back? Did we want to? There wasn't space for Noah and Van in my bed, and I didn't even know if either of them wanted to be there.

  So I stood up and let my dress slide back down. I echoed the regret in Van's eyes. Then again, he was a guy and I was a woman. Just because he liked the sight of my thigh didn't mean he'd want to date me or anything like that. It meant he was a man. "Yes, you should probably go."

  He nodded. "You should know that I'm not going to be working security for the next three weeks."

  I blinked. No Van? No casual visits? "Why not?"

  "Part of my secret life. You can call me though. I'll be around."

  I frowned. "But where will you be?"

  He kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later."

  Van let himself out, leaving me standing in my living room. Alone. So alone. My friends were having sex in the bedroom vacated by my other friend who was having sex. All of them were deeply in love. My relationship with my new best friend had taken a turn that might ruin our friendship, and even Noah couldn't make a move until he got permission. And since Max was completely history, I had no options there either.

  And Van…something had happened with him tonight. Something had changed, and I knew I couldn’t call him.

  Damn.

  I had absolutely no one to turn to.

  Which meant there was only one option. Make myself sick eating the rest of the cake.

  Jessamee flung my office door open and marched inside. "He doesn't even know my name."

  I set down my coffee and wiped the spillage off my blouse. Thank you Jessamee for scaring the crap out of me. "Who doesn't?"

  "Otto Nelson!"

  You should be grateful, you little snot. "So?"

  "So, I want him to know my name and advocate for me for a job. I say hello to him every day, but he ignores me." She folded her arms across her chest. "It's your fault. We've all been blackballed by our association with you."

  My gaze snapped to her face. "What?" Must stay calm. Must stay professional.

  "All the interns. How can we succeed when the person in charge of us is on probation? We've been talking about it for days, and I got nominated to come talk to you."

  I folded my hands under the table and ground my fingernails into the palm of my hand. "And what is your proposal?"

  "You need to quit your job."

  I had to close my eyes for a full five secon
ds before I could risk a response. When I did, my jaw ached with the effort of remaining externally serene. "I hate to disappoint you, Jessamee, but I'm not in trouble with Otto. He treats everyone like that." I shrugged in what I hoped was a casual, relaxed fashion. "I'm not the plague. I'm respected, and you're in good hands."

  Jessamee narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you."

  The little bitch. If I was an attorney, she'd never speak to me like that. But no, because I was the social director, she thought she could trounce all over me. I was so damned tired of being undervalued because of my job title! I stood up, placed my palms on my desk, and leaned forward. "Ms. Bouchillion, you will do well to remember several things if you want to be a lawyer. First of all, the support staff is critical to your success. I suggest you learn how to respect them. Second, the reason Otto hasn't noticed you is because I've been working overtime to make sure you and all the other interns are flying beneath his radar. He doesn't think highly of people. Period. If you get noticed by him, it will not be in a positive way. As an intern, you won't survive getting on Otto's bad side. I know that, and that's why I protect you."

  Jessamee walked over to the desk and faced me straight on. "You're wrong."

  I narrowed my eyes. "About what?"

  "Otto doesn't hate everyone who walks across his path. Only the people who screw up." She paused for emphasis. "I won't screw up. Give me an assignment working with him."

  "No." My brain was crashing against my skull, making me idly wonder if anyone's brain had actually spontaneously combusted. I tried to picture Jessamee hanging out my window with staples in her feet, but even that didn't lower my blood pressure.

  She leaned closer. "Yes."

  I narrowed my eyes. "And what happens if I give you an assignment with him, and he fires you?"

  "It won't happen."

  "And what if it does?"

  "It won't."

  I grabbed a yellow notepad and a pen and shoved it at her. "Write and sign a statement that you are begging me to be assigned to Otto, and that if it goes belly-up, you hold only yourself responsible. And write on there what I'm saying is going to happen, so you can't claim I didn't tell you." Maybe it was overkill, but I knew my job wasn't exactly secure.