After The One (The One Series Duet) (42 page)

“Yeah, she’s right,” Bryce agreed, smiling dotingly at Koko. “We had a lunch meeting with the bachelors for the upcoming sessions and the bachelorette for the summer session the other day. One of the bachelors is an executive for a big music magazine and he said Winters Wonderland is the next big thing.”

“Did you tell Julian that? That’s awesome. Thank you both.” I let my eyes scan the room until I saw Julian laughing with Scott and Andre. I smiled. “All compliments for the success of Winters Wonderland go to Julian and his hard work. I can only take credit for helping with some of the décor.” I pointed around the corner to my huge corner office. “Bryce, did I tell you that I’m going to be working here full-time as in-house counsel starting in January?”

“Yes, you may have mentioned it a time or two,” he laughed. “But you didn’t mention Evan getting so big. It seems like you were just pregnant.”

“He’s growing so fast.” With a quick glance at Koko, I added, “I was pregnant and then he was here two seconds later. And now he’s a toddler. It all happened so quickly.”

Oblivious, Bryce just smirked. “Evan is a cute kid. You two did good.”

“Thanks.”

“Speaking of kids…” Koko started, turning toward Bryce. “Can we talk?”

My heart started pounding with nerves and my face froze. I was pretty sure I said goodbye before I fled the scene, but I couldn’t be positive. Even though in my heart I knew Koko was going to be fine, I was so nervous for her. I knew she didn’t want to have to choose, but she would. I also knew that if it didn’t work out with Bryce, she would probably give up on relationships for a very long time.

Please God, let this work out in her favor.

“That’s a hot little dress for someone pushing a stroller,” Lenny commented, smacking me on the ass.

I turned with raised eyebrows and smacked her ass in return. “That’s a hot little dress for someone who is over her ex-boyfriend.”

She pursed her lips as she tried not to smile. “I am over James and he was never my boyfriend.” She paused. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to remind him of what he’s missing.”

“The only reason you two aren’t together is because he took that job in Seattle last year. That doesn’t mean you don’t still have feelings for him. And it’s clear that you do.” I looked her up and down with a nod. “You look hot.”

Lennon wore a fitted black and white polka dot dress that hugged her body sexily. Her brown hair was hanging in loose curls around her shoulders. Bright red shoes and lipstick completed the look against her honey-toned skin.

“I’ll always care for James, but we ended over a year ago. By the way, since you brought him up, is he here?” Lenny asked in her best effort to be nonchalant.

“Yes, I saw him when we first arrived, but then we left out to…” I let the sentence trail off and wiggled my eyebrows.

She laughed. “I get it. Trust me.”

“But we could head over and ask Julian,” I offered.

“Sure. And just so you know, I’m dating someone so I’m not looking for James for any reason except normal curiosity.”

We started walking toward Julian who was standing with James, Omar and Keisha.

“Who are you dating? You didn’t tell me that a couple of weeks ago!”

“Yeah, it kind of just happened. It’s weird. I don’t know. The whole dating the boss thing is…“ She interrupted herself and looked at me. “I’m dating Ethan.”

My eyebrows shot up. “What? Ethan Diaz? Owner of Breakers Bar, Ethan?”

She nodded, scrunching up her nose. “Weird, right?”

It was more shocking than weird. Lenny always said that Ethan wasn’t her type and Ethan said the same about her.

More proof that anything can happen.

“I’m shocked, but I think it’s great! He’s a nice guy and he’s cute and he’s a really good person. It’s only shockingly weird because of how you were adamantly opposed to the idea of dating him three years ago.”

“I know. Tell me about it. But one day, we were putting bottles away in the stock room and he brushed by me and I don’t know what happened.”

The look on her face told me she knew exactly what happened.

“Well good for you, Lenny!” I gave her a squeeze as we continued walking. “I’m happy for the two of you.”

As we got closer to Julian and his friends, I felt Lenny’s uneasiness.

“I haven’t been around James since we broke up and the thing with Ethan is still really new,” she whispered as she clutched my arm, pulling me to a stop. “Don’t let me fuck him.”

I would’ve laughed if Lenny’s eyes weren’t pleading with me. I could see that she was serious.

“I like Ethan, but James was like my kryptonite,” she admitted in a hushed tone. “I wanted James to see me and want me, but I don’t actually want to fuck him. I mean, I do, but I know I shouldn’t because I want to see where this goes with Ethan.”

I nodded. “I understand. I can’t stop you from doing anything you don’t want to do, but if you stay in my line of sight, I’ll give you a nonverbal pep talk.”

“It’s not me that needs the pep talk…” She pointed downward and gave me a look.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I got you. Just stay away from situations where it’s just you and him. And don’t talk about anything sexy.”

She nodded as we approached the group.

“Mama!” Evan cheered when he saw me, but he still clutched to his dad’s neck.

I understand, baby.
With my arms holding on to Julian, I leaned in to kiss Evan’s chubby cheek.
I’m the same way with your dad, too.

“My turn,” Julian stated before I moved out of his personal space.

I planted a lingering kiss on his lips.

“My turn,” Keisha called out, causing everyone to laugh as we hugged. I hugged Omar and James next.

“So what’s new? What did we miss?” Lennon asked after giving a quick hug to everyone in the group.

“Julian was telling us that he had no idea about the surprise. I thought I’d blown it when we talked a couple of days ago, but he had no idea,” James answered her, staring with obvious interest. He seemed to realize what he was doing and shook himself out of it. “He didn’t think twice about me saying I’d see him soon.”

“In my defense, my birthday is tomorrow. I figured, we were going to do something for my birthday sometime this month,” Julian replied before looking at me. “No wonder you were on my ass about missing my flight on Saturday.”

The Winters Is Coming tour was over Friday night, but due to a New York meeting Saturday afternoon, he wasn’t scheduled to be home until Saturday night. The meeting went well and Julian scored the contract to collaborate with two of the biggest musical artists of our time. But the meeting went so well that it ran longer than expected and he missed the flight. He wasn’t able to get home until three o’clock Sunday afternoon. His late arrival only left time for him to shower and change before we needed to get on the road to the surprise party.

I smiled up at him. “I wanted you to have a nice ‘congratulations on your world tour and happy birthday’ party and I was scared you were going to miss it. People traveled from near and far to be here.”

“Yes, Julian. And if you didn’t show up, I’d expect to be reimbursed for my travel. Driving that long, arduous hour on a Sunday afternoon was really difficult for me,” Bryce noted jokingly as he appeared next to James with Koko in tow.

I tried to read Koko’s facial expression, but she refused to look my way. My stomach knotted.

I hope the conversation went well. Please let it have gone well.

“…with Omar,” Keisha announced, excitedly to the group.

Everyone with glasses cheered. Those without offered their congratulations.

Crap! What did I miss?

I looked at my beautiful friend with the dark, shoulder-length hair, dark brown eyes, and rich brown skin and she glowed. Not just because she wore a white dress that made her look like she was a sexy angel. She had the kind of inner glow that—

She’s pregnant?!

My mouth dropped open as I looked at her with the thrill of exhilaration pumping through my veins. “Are you—?”

“Going to start a nonprofit together!” Keisha nodded excitedly.

“Nice! Congratulations!” Not the news I was expecting, but I recovered quickly.

I was happy that they planned to help underprivileged youth together in San Diego. I was excited that they were excited about their joint venture. But Omar and Keisha were perfect together and yet, they made every excuse known to man to downplay what they felt for one another.

In every way, they were a couple. But if put on the spot and asked, they said they were taking it slow—they had been taking it slow for the last year and a half. I loved Keisha and Omar together and although neither of them was dating anyone else, they wouldn’t admit to being together.

At our March girls’ night out outing, almost six months prior, Keisha drunkenly admitted that she was in love with Omar. When I asked why they weren’t officially together, she said that relationships end so if she never gave in and established a relationship, what they had wouldn’t ever end. The conversation broke my heart and the next morning, she didn’t remember saying it and she didn’t want to talk about it again.

“Where’s James?” Lenny asked, causing the conversation to halt. “I meant, Scott.” Her cheeks heated as James ogled her from across the circle we’d created. Tearing her eyes away from James, she looked at me. “Where’s Scott?”

I discretely put my hand on Lenny’s back and gave her a reassuring pat. Clearly, she had James on the brain. “I’m not sure. I know he’s here though.”

“Scott is talking to a modeling agency outside,” James answered even though Lenny still refused to look his way.

“Modeling agency? He’s a model now?” Julian seemed surprised and his eyes lit up. “And that asshole always called me the pretty boy.” He laughed. “Good for him!”

“He didn’t mention it when I called to confirm that he was coming today. He only said that he was bringing a guest,” I recalled as I pursed my lips. “And now that I think about it, he never said who his guest was.”

“Probably that new girlfriend of his,” Keisha speculated. “Omar was working out and I picked up his phone and Scott told me he had a new lady in his life.” She shrugged. “He told me I’d meet her tonight.”

“So does no one know who he’s dating?” Koko asked, scanning the group. Everyone shook their heads.

Bryce had an odd smile on his face. My eyes narrowed as we made eye contact and his smile grew. “Bryce…”

He chewed his bottom lip nervously, as if he were put on the spot. Relief relaxed his features. “Ask him.” He nodded his head toward the door where Scott was finishing up a conversation with my parents and Julian’s parents.

With olive skin, hazel eyes, and short brown hair, Scott looked the part of a model in his polo shirt and jeans as he strutted across the room toward us.

“Getting ready to take over the catwalk, I see.” Lenny whistled as he joined us.

He looked at Omar. “That’s why I can’t tell your ass anything,” Scott laughed, punching his arm good-naturedly.

Omar chuckled. “It wasn’t me.”

James nodded. “It was me. It’s my fault. That’s on me, man.” He looked at Lenny. “I was distracted.”

“He’s still distracted,” Omar pointed out, causing both James and Lenny to laugh awkwardly.

“Speaking of distractions, Scott, word on the street is that you have a new girlfriend and no one has met her,” Koko blurted out.

Scott eyed us all with a wolfish grin. “You’ve met her. You know her. You just haven’t met her as my girlfriend yet. We’ve been dating for a couple of months now. Wanted to keep it quiet to see how things progressed and things are going pretty well.”

“Please don’t say it’s Mya.” I clasped my hands in prayer.

Mya and Scott were hot and heavy for a solid month and then things took a turn when her ex-husband appeared back in her life. She and Scott hadn’t been dating long so she waffled back and forth between them until Scott ended it. Scott took a break from dating and was not interested in the idea of getting serious with someone for a long time—until now.

“No, it’s not Mya,” Scott responded with a shake of his head. “It’s—”

“Dinner will begin in five minutes. Please find your seats,” DJ Dre called out from the DJ booth, interrupting Scott’s announcement.

None of us moved.

“Who is it?” Julian asked.

“Tell us!” Lenny demanded.

“The suspense is killing me!” Koko clutched her chest dramatically.

Everyone else was silent, waiting with baited breath.

I wanted to know just as badly as everyone else, but the chefs had started cooking at the serving stations and between Julian’s late flight and an active toddler, I didn’t get a chance to eat all day. The aroma that permeated the air smelled so good, it was distracting.

“Hey! What are you guys doing?” Bailey asked as she walked up with my grandma.

The blonde bombshell had her thick hair pulled up into a high bun and she wore a sexy blue dress that matched her eyes. I hadn’t had a chance to see Bailey all summer because of her show so it was a pleasant surprise to see her.

“I’m going to find my seat,” my grandma announced without slowing down. “Bye kids!”

“Bye Grandma!” I called after her with a laugh.

After everyone greeted Bailey, I threw my arms around her. “Hey! I didn’t see you when you came in. Your RSVP card had a big question mark and a happy face so I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it.”

Bailey laughed loudly. “Ah! I forgot about that. I sent that as a joke, but I meant to follow up and tell you I was coming. But I’ve been distracted with work and other stuff. And then as soon as I got here, I spilled wine on my dress and your grandma came out of nowhere like a fairy godmother and helped.”

“Well I’m glad it worked out. I can’t even tell you spilled wine anywhere,” I mentioned, eyeing the dress as she turned around. “But I can tell you’ve been doing something. Your legs look great!”

“Thank you! I’ve been working out a little harder these days.”

“I need the guest of honor and his crew to also be seated so we can open the serving stations,” DJ Dre joked from the DJ booth causing everyone to laugh.