“Hey,” he says, and I have a sudden need to take my towel off and fix my wet hair.
“Hey,” I say right back to him, not sure what to say.
“Ari wanted to thank you for washing her,” he says with a smile, and for the first time since I’ve met him, he almost looks carefree. “And to tell you that you forgot your phone here.” He picks up his hand and shows me said phone.
“I was just looking for it,” I say. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“I heard it ringing, and I think I saw that Miller called,” he says, and I raise my eyebrows now. “Not that I was looking,” he starts fumbling his words. “I thought it was my phone, and then when it stopped ringing, I saw that the screen saver was Zoey, and well, I put two and two together.”
“You are just a regular Sherlock Holmes,” I joke with him. He laughs, and I love, love, love the sound of it. I love how it’s a hearty laugh. I love that his chest shakes, and I love the way his eyes go just a touch softer.
“I mean, I don’t know about that since I just found out that a onesie can be taken off other ways, but I can definitely find the owner of a phone left in my house.” He chuckles again. “Do you want to come get it now, or would you like to just get it tomorrow when you come over?”
“Um,” I start to say. “I guess I can get it tomorrow.”
“Great,” he says. Ari whines now and arches her back. “I’m going to go and get this one to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Great,” I say, and then he hangs up the phone, leaving me just looking at myself.
“He’s so out of your league,” I say to myself. “His focus is on one thing, his daughter,” I repeat again, closing the computer. “Not you.” I push away from the counter. “His daughter and making a name for himself.” I look up at the ceiling, telling myself all the reasons it’s not okay. If only my heart was on the same page.
I fall asleep to the sound of him telling me his story again over and over. The night feels as though it is never going to end, and finally, when the sun starts to rise, I fall asleep until almost noon. I’m even shocked at myself when I grab my iPad and bring it to my face with one eye closed. I do my usual by checking emails, and then I open Instagram. His posts come up right away, and I think I’m seeing something wrong because he’s made seven posts today.
“What the hell have you done, Ralph?” I ask myself, sitting up in bed.
He posted a picture of his cereal with the word: Yum.
“Oh my God,” I say out loud, my thumb clicking his name now and seeing that he also posted a picture of a running shoe on the treadmill, then a picture of his foot in a skate, and then after all of that, a picture of a protein shake. I see that the only person who has liked his stuff is his agent Becca.
My hand flies to my call list before I can even comprehend what it’s doing, and he answers on the first ring. “Hey there,” he says, his voice full and almost booming. “I took your advice,” he says. “I posted on Instagram.”
“I saw,” I say, and I close my eyes. “And I’ve decided that I’m going to do you and the world of Instagram a huge favor.” He laughs now. “I’m going to take you on as a client.”
Chapter 12
Ralph
I knew that I would be seeing her today since I had her phone, and I am going to pretend that wasn’t the reason I was so excited when I woke up this morning. I did my normal routine, but something about today just made me smile. I worked out harder, I skated harder, and then when I walked out of the shower, my phone rang, and there she was. I told myself it was because she was going to help me, but I know deep down it was because she was going to be around. That isn’t to say I didn’t have guilt, fuck, but the guilt can bring you down the black hole faster than you know what to do with it.
When I hung up with her last night, I smiled, and my heart felt light, but then, the darkness came. The guilt crept in when I sat down and rocked Ari to bed. The guilt remained as strong as it was the first night I came home with Ari. Guilt for not being in the room with her when she delivered our daughter, guilt for not being the man she needed or deserved. Guilt weaves its way into your soul and never lets you go. And as soon as you think you’ll be okay and that you can breathe just a touch lighter, it comes back in and sucks you back down.
She sounded sleepy when she called as though there was a frog in her throat, and then she said the words I’ve been hoping for. Well, moaning out my name wasn’t an option, so this was second or maybe third best. “I’m going to take you on as a client.”
I smile from ear to ear and sit down to slip on my shoes. “Is that so?” I chuckle. “Why is that?”
She laughs, and I hear the sheets rustling. “Are you still in bed?”
“I am. Actually, I’m out of bed now, but yes.”
“It’s noon,” I say. “A little bit after noon.”
“I know.” I hear her starting the coffee machine. “I had a rough time sleeping last night, and then I saw the sun come up, and boom, I drifted off to sleep.”
“Basically, you went to bed when I woke up?” I say, getting up and looking in the mirror at my blue jeans and a white crewneck shirt that fits me like a glove. First time I am wearing anything other than sweats or shorts. Grabbing my keys off the bench, I walk out of the arena and press the button to unlock my truck doors.
“Where are you?” she asks when I slam the truck door.
“I’m actually on my way to an event.” I start the truck and put on the aviator sunglasses. “Becca set it up for a couple of her clients.”
“Where?” she asks me right before she takes a sip of coffee, and I suddenly think back to yesterday. The whole diaper blowout, and how she placed Ari in the sink and was splashed on and didn’t care. Then she turned around, and my heart stopped. I didn’t think it was beating in those thirty seconds it took for me to get the words out of my mouth. She stayed there in front of me with her white shirt completely soaked, showing me her perfect pink pebbled nipples. I swear I think my mouth salivated, and if I would have stared any longer, drool would have come out of my mouth. I wonder if she’s walking around the house naked. I close my eyes at the stupidness of that. Why the fuck would she be naked? I wonder what she wears to bed. I shake my head when I hear her call my name.
“Hello, are you still there? Ralph?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Sorry, Bluetooth connected wrong.”
“Can you text me the address?” she asks, and I look at the screen of the Bluetooth. “I can be there in about forty, depending on traffic.”
“What?” I ask, surprised. “You’re coming?”
“Yes,” she says. “It’ll be a good time to get some pictures and go over a couple of things. Will Becca be there?”
“She said she would,” I say. “Do you want me to pick you up?” The words come out of my mouth before I can even think about them. “I’m at the arena now and can be at your house in about twenty minutes.”
“I can make it work,” she says. “If anything, I can take an Uber home later.”
“Or I can drive you,” I say. “I’ll see you in twenty.”
“See you then,” she says, and then I press the end button on the screen. I grab my phone again and call Miranda, who answers right away.
“Hey there,” she says, and I hear Ari in the background saying da-da-da-da. “We were just talking about you.”
“I can hear that,” I say. “How is her day going?” I ask. This is going to be the longest I’ve been gone from home, and my stomach was in knots this morning when I kissed her goodbye.
“It’s going amazing,” she says. “She just had her lunch, and we are going to go take a nap soon.”
“I don’t know what time I’ll be back,” I say. “I should be finished at four, but it may go over.”
“It’s fine,” she says. “I can get dinner started for you.”
“No, that’s fine,” I say. “I’ll pick myself up something. I’ll try to call and check in when I can.”
&
nbsp; “Don’t worry about anything here. We are fine,” she says. “Have a good afternoon.”
“Talk to you later,” I say, hanging up as I pull up to Candace’s house. I get out and walk to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, I turn to look at the houses while I wait. I really like this neighborhood. The houses are normal size, unlike the monster of a house I’m living in now. It’s way too big for me. It was way too big in the beginning, but I bought it because Cassie liked it. I hear the locks and turn around, but I’m not ready for what I see. She stands there with a huge smile on her face, and I can’t help but return the smile. “Hey,” I say, and I’m not sure if I should kiss her cheek. Is it normal to want to do that?
“Hey,” she says. “I was just slipping on my shoes.” She motions to the shoes in her hands, and I watch as she slips her feet into the sexiest shoes I’ve seen in my life. Or maybe it’s just the way she puts them on. She’s wearing a long dress that’s full of colorful flowers, goes well down to her knees, and isn’t tight at all. A white silk shirt with little sleeves on it, tucking into the skirt. Nothing screams sexy about the outfit, yet my cock is dying to get out.
“I’m going to get my bag.” She turns and walks away, and I see her hair tied back on the sides. She grabs her bag and comes back. “Are you sure you’re okay with driving?” she asks, and all I can do is nod my head, my mouth dry. “Don’t you look nice,” she says with a smile as she puts on her sunglasses. I hate that I can’t see her eyes anymore.
“You look summery,” I say, and I want to close my eyes and groan when she laughs.
“I’ve never been called summery before.” She walks beside me, and with her heels on, she reaches my chin. I walk to my side of the truck and then look over at her as she gets into the truck at the same time as me. I grab her phone from the cupholder and hand it to her. “Thank you,” she says and starts going through things. Her fingers type away, and then my phone rings, telling me there is a text.
I open it and see it’s from Candace. “Did you seriously just text me?”
She smiles. “Yes, in case I forget or you forget.”
I read the text out loud. “Things to do: hire photographer, get info on the type of charity, schedule workout shots, talk about hiring an assistant.” Shaking my head, I start the truck and pull away from her house. “One, I don’t need an assistant.”
“Maybe not now, but you never know,” she says and then looks at me. “Can you stop at Starbucks?”
“Sure,” I say, pulling into the upcoming Starbucks. I’m expecting her to give me her order, but instead, she leans over and shouts out her order. The smell of fresh apples fills me because she is so close. “Do you want anything?” she asks, and all I do is blink, trying to form words.
“Um,” I start. “Iced coffee.” She gives them the order, then goes back to her side. She slides me her phone. “What is this?”
“It’s the app so I can pay for it,” she says, and I pfft at her and roll my eyes.
“You aren’t paying for this,” I say, and she looks at me. At least I think she does. I can’t really see with her glasses. When we pull up, I take out my card to pay for the drinks, and then I hand her the pink drink with berries in it. “I’m assuming this is yours.”
“Yes, a berry refresher,” she says and rips open the white paper off the green straw. “So good.” I grab my coffee and place it in the cupholder. “So where is this event?”
“A sports store,” I say. “One that does memorabilia and stuff.”
“Oh,” she says. “Those usually do really well.”
“Yeah, it was advertised on the radio and shit,” I say, and when I pull up, I’m shocked to see that a line has already formed. “That’s a lot of people.”
“This is great,” she says, smiling and starts snapping pictures as soon as she gets out. I hear some of the kids call my name when I climb out of the truck. Lifting my hand, I wave at them at the same time a sports car parks next to me. I walk beside Candace as the door opens and watch as the captain of the team steps out. “Well, well, well.” She smiles at him. “If it isn’t Mr. Manning Stevenson.”
With a smile, he walks up to her and bends down to kiss her cheek. “Aren’t you married?” I say the words before I can stop myself, and he laughs at me.
“Don’t remind me,” he mumbles, and I just look at him. “I didn’t know you would be here,” he says to Candace, and I have never wanted to throat punch someone more in my life.
“You should have brought your wife,” I say. They both look at me, and he’s about to say something to me when Becca shows up.
“There they are,” she says, getting out of her Range Rover. She’s in a pink pantsuit and looks likes she’s wearing the same shoes as Candace, but hers just don’t look sexy. “My two favorite people.”
“Yeah, right,” Manning says as she walks over to him, and he bends and kisses her cheek.
“What’s with all the kissing?” I ask Candace, and she laughs. “Seriously.” I point at him. “He’s married. How do you think his wife would feel?”
“Well, I’ve met his wife,” Candace says. “She’s a bitch.”
I’m about to ask her if she’s interested in him when Becca comes over to us. “Oh my gosh, Candace!” She kisses her now. “I’m so happy to see you here.”
“Well, I thought it would be a good time to get a couple of shots for Ralph’s Instagram,” she says, and Becca laughs.
“Does this mean you're taking him on as a client?” she asks, clapping her hands together. “Please say yes.”
“Did I have a choice?” Candace says, looking at me. I want to throw my arm around her shoulders and pull her to me. “Did you see his Instagram?”
“I almost reported him,” Becca says, and now everyone laughs but me.
“It wasn’t that bad,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“It was pretty bad,” Becca says and then walks to the door with Manning following her.
“Why don’t we get something to eat after this?” Candace says. “We can go over things.”
“I’d love that,” I say, looking down and then up at her. “But I want to get home to Ari. I haven’t been gone this long from her before.”
“Oh, we can make plans when you’re done,” she says, putting her hand on my arm. “It’s a fact that babies don’t know the time. So even if you haven’t seen her for seven hours, she will feel like it’s five minutes.”
“How do you know that?” I ask. The wind blows, and her hair flies in her face. My hands itch to push it behind her ear. Right before she answers me, I hear Becca call my name.
“Ralph!” she shouts, and I turn to look at her. “It’s time.”
Chapter 13
Candace
I watch him turn and walk into the store, but I stop to say something to Becca before walking into the store. Becca motions with her head to follow her, and I walk behind her into the cool store. Two tables are set up in the back of the store, and Manning and Ralph are already sitting down signing things. “Is it just the two of them?” I ask Becca, looking around at all the memorabilia they have.
“No, I have two more clients coming in two hours, but they do football, so we thought it would be easier to break it up as hockey and then football,” she says, looking around. I take out my phone and snap a candid picture of Ralph signing a jersey and then smiling at the owner.
“He should post that he is here on his Instagram,” I suggest. “Excuse me.”
I walk over to the table as he finishes with the owner, and then he looks at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say, getting close to him. “Where is your phone?”
“In my pocket,” he says, taking it out and looking at Manning, who just shakes his head and looks away. “Why?”
“I want you to go on Instagram and do a story,” I say. He just looks at me, and I hear Manning start to snicker next to him. “You don’t make me take out my phone.” Manning puts both of his hands up. I grab my phone and show Ra
lph the steps, and he looks at me like a deer in headlights.
“I don’t know what to say,” he says, looking around and then reaching for his bottle of water that they placed on the table next to the Sharpies.
“All you have to say is ‘hey everyone, come down and see me today at blank, blank, blank,’” I suggest.
“That’s weird, no?” he asks.
“You posted a selfie of your eyeball,” I say.
“That wasn’t a selfie. It was an I got my eye on you,” he says, and I roll my lips and try not to laugh. “Okay, fine, it wasn’t good.”
I take his phone from him. “I’ll record you. All I need you to do is tell them where you are.”
Manning pushes away from the table, and I look at him. “I do not want to be on social media,” he says, and I look up at the ceiling. It takes Ralph seven tries before I can post it, and when I finally do, the owner lets us know they are letting people in.
“I’m going to keep your phone and post pictures during the event,” I say.
“Miranda says she’s going to call me if she needs me,” he says, and I just smile at him.
“I’ll come and get you if she calls,” I say. The heat of his shoulder shoots through me when I place my hand on it. I wish him luck as I walk away to the side where I can take some pictures but still be out of the way.
“I have to tell you . . .” Becca comes to stand beside me, and I look at her. The woman screams business, she also screams don’t fuck with me, or I’ll tie your balls in a bowtie and make you wear them.
“This sounds serious.” I try to make the situation lighter and to let my heart calm down. As I look from her to Ralph, who smiles with the fans and chats with them.
“It is,” she says as fans walk into the store. “I was about to call in a favor.” She starts to talk as we move to the side out of the way. “He needs your help. I have two amazing deals waiting for him, but the sponsors are afraid to take that step with him.”
“Because he’s practically an unknown,” I say, and she nods her head. “His fan base is solid,” I say. “I checked the fan boards last night.”
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