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“Yeah, that is now obvious,” he laughs, shaking his head slowly.
“Sorry about this; it’s just that… you literally reminded me it’s been a few hours since I last kissed my wife,” I say.
My lips burn quietly. My heart sinks deeper and deeper into an abyss not of my making. My stomach feels tight, each muscle in my body having responded to her within that kiss. Damn, I have a feeling our souls somehow touched. It’s insane. It’s surreal. And yet it happened.
“I’m glad you two found each other,” John says after a long pause. “You certainly belong together, and that kid of yours is a dang sweetheart, even though he looks nothing like you, Todd.”
“He has his personality,” Becky manages, her voice quivering slightly as she tries to laugh.
I don’t know how she can do that when I can barely breathe. The kiss wasn’t supposed to happen. We both knew it might come to this. We even talked about it a couple of times, but we figured we’d cross that bridge once we got there. Well, shoot, we’re past it now. What are we going to do? How are we going to address it? I can’t even find the right words to form a coherent sentence right now.
“I’m also glad you’ve kept your family out of the public eye,” John adds. “Having met them, I can see why you decided to protect them. I probably would’ve done the same. I did, in fact, the best I could with Tamara and the kids, but she insisted on coming out with me, to let the world know I wasn’t without defense, you know? She’s my lioness,” he says, lovingly gazing her way.
The man has a soft spot. Clearly.
And I think I may have finally touched it. We’ve definitely nailed this first meeting. I dread to think of what’s to come—I’m not worried about selling the act anymore, though. I’m worried about being around Becky, about us getting closer and closer until there is a big enough fire that neither of us can resist. I can still taste her.
I’m in so much trouble.
CHAPTER14
TODD
Ihaven’t been able to get that kiss out of my mind.
The feel of her lips pressed against mine, the taste of her… It’s doing things to my senses. It has been for a while now.
Days have passed since that momentous first brunch with John and his family. The big barbecue is coming up fast, and while I’m still undeniably nervous, one thing is for certain: John was genuinely impressed by my faux family. Elliot was a hoot, a delight for Tamara and Sunny to play with, and Becky held up her end of the bargain with nothing but grace and good humor. It was a good day. It was probably one of the best days of my life, even though it was built on a lie.
Becky and I haven’t spoken much since. We’ve had better synergy; that much I’m sure both of us agree on. We are slightly more relaxed and warm when we’re together, and Elliot has picked up on this, too. He’s eager to be with me as soon as he sees me, his little hands reaching out and demanding physical contact. It kind of melts me on the inside. I feel proud that this tiny human cub has grown so fond of me, of all people, in such a short span of time.
We haven’t addressed that kiss, either. It had to be done. I’m not sorry about it, and she didn’t seem too bothered. Hell, if I didn’t know any better, I could swear she secretly enjoyed it as much as I did. I’m still drunk from that moment, pining for more and wondering how I might get that close to her again. We’re performing an act for a savvy businessman; ours is a simple transaction, a professional relationship at best. Yet every inch of me is dying for more of Becky, for deeper access into her most private and personal aspects.
To mitigate some of these afterthoughts, I invite her to have dinner with me as a means of thanking her for all the work she has put in thus far. I’m nervous and excited because I know this is the kind of dinner where it’s only just the two of us. We can focus entirely on each other, and that usually leads to small but significant moments that I can spend the following days just thinking about.
I pick her up from her apartment building. Callie is babysitting Elliot tonight. But it’s Becky who has my immediate attention. She’s wearing a simple but remarkably effective tight burgundy dress, with a chic black blazer on top. The dark red fabric hugs her body in all the right places, bringing out the kind of curves that would easily drive a man crazy. My hands grip the steering wheel so hard that the knuckles have turned white. Her silky brown hair falling over one shoulder isn’t doing me any favors, either. Everything about Becky right now demands that I touch her, that I kiss her, that I claim her and that I let no one ever hurt or disappoint her again.
“You look stunning,” I say, trying to keep my grin under control.
She laughs lightly. “It’s literally something I just threw on. Elliot was fussy all afternoon for some reason, and I barely had any time left to prepare for a… let’s call it a public outing.”
“Or a dinner date. Sounds a bit more accurate.”
“Oh, okay. A… dinner date.” Despite the subtle makeup, I can see the pink roses blooming in her cheeks as she settles into the passenger seat and puts the seatbelt on. “So, where are we going?”
“You mentioned you haven’t had any really good Chinese lately, so I figured I’d show you the best Chinese place in the whole of San Diego,” I tell her, kicking the car into gear. “It’s pretty upscale and most people might say that it’s pretentious, but the chef there is a friend of mine and a true specialist in Mandarin cuisine, born and raised in Tianjin. If you want authentic Chinese cuisine, his is the place you go to.”
“I trust you on this,” Becky replies, smiling gently. “You seem to know your way around this city better than me.”
I chuckle softly. “Nah, I just have more time to go to bars and restaurants, being the proud husband and father of no one.”
“Right, the single life,” she giggles.
We talk a lot when we’re together. About our childhood and the dumb crap we used to do while growing up—my experiences and hers are markedly different on account of her siblings. I was an only child so I was able to get away with plenty of shenanigans before I turned into the family’s black sheep and went down my own path. Becky believes it’s part of the reason I strayed from the Connors flock. I never had anyone hold me accountable, and deep down I probably didn’t identify with them as much because they didn’t try harder to keep me in line. By the time I chose to do my tech stuff for a living, it was too late.
We talk about her original ambitions, too. In her early twenties, Becky wanted to become a product designer. She saw herself designing phones and gadgets for tech startups that aimed at making people’s lives better. She ended up doing graphic design work because it was easy and always in high demand while she took her sweet time to find and apply for the best product designer job possible. One thing led to another and then to Luke, and everything changed with Elliot.
“This place is incredible,” Becky whispers as we’re led through the Mandarin Dream. “It’s like something out of an epic Chinese movie… you know, with the flying kung-fu masters and slow-motion fighting…”
