“Knox spent the summer in Italy,” Kirby says, trying not to let me feel uncomfortable by the whole Josephine thing.
“Oh, that sounds like heaven.”
“It was,” he confirms. “The kids had a blast and they picked up so much Italian, it was cute.”
“How old are your kids?” I ask him.
“We have three: ten, eight, and five. Two boys and a girl.”
“Fun, my sister has three-year-old twins,” I say, smiling at him when his eyes about come out of his sockets. “Boy and girl, both daredevils.”
“I think having two boys first was a mistake. They are all fun and loving and then you have my daughter, who I just knew was going to be chaos personified.” He shakes his head. “The other day, her brothers told her it would be fun to use the top of the plastic bin to slide down the stairs.” I can’t help but laugh. “In case anyone is wondering, it’s not fun. She about broke five bones in her body and her head smashed into the wall.” I put both hands in front of my mouth. “You would think she would learn her lesson, but the only thing she learned is to put on a hockey helmet the next time.”
“Sounds like a smart kid to me,” Kirby pipes up, “unlike her father.”
Knox is about to say something else when Josephine calls his name from across the room. “Excuse me, duty calls.”
He walks away and I slip my hand in Kirby’s, stepping a touch closer to him. “He’s nice, I like him.” He just nods as I stand in front of him. “Is this okay?” I ask, lifting my hand with his.
“Do you not want to hold my hand?” he asks me, and I roll my eyes when he kisses my fingers and then drops our hands to our sides. “You look beautiful,” he tells me softly, “so fucking beautiful.”
“Oh yeah?” I smile up at him and want him to bend his head just a bit to give me the sign he wants to kiss me before I take the big step and kiss him.
“Oh good, you’re here.” Our heads turn to the side where we see two blonde women coming toward us. “Kirby,” one of them says as she turns to the girl beside her. Both are wearing little black dresses, one has red shoes on, the other one has electric blue shoes on. “I want to introduce you to my oldest friend, Belinda.”
“Well, not old.” The blonde looks at her as she tucks her hair behind her ear. “But we’ve been friends a long time.” The minute she says that, I get the feeling she’s trying to set them up.
I let go of his hand and he immediately turns to look at me, and I just smile up at him. “I thought you and Belinda would hit it off.”
“Oh,” Kirby says and I am about to turn around and head away from this conversation because, well, I am not sure I want to be here while he’s being set up with another woman. I take a step to turn away and then stop, turning back and not willing to slink off into the background but instead letting them know that he’s mine.
Turning back to him, I move into his space. “I’m going to go and get a drink at the bar, honey.” I kiss his neck. “Do you want something?” I don’t wait for him to answer before I turn to the blondes. Belinda looks like she wants to die on the spot, and the other one looks at me with a glare like I just ruined her evil plan. “Hi,” I say, moving my hand from his hand to extend it to the women. “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Lexi.”
“Oh,” the girlfriend says.
“Do you want anything from the bar?” I ask them and they both shake their heads.
“I’m sorry,” the blonde says, “excuse us.”
I don’t say anything to them as they turn to walk away, turning once more to look at us. I stand here staring at them until they disappear into the sea of people.
“What?” I ask when I look up at Kirby and he looks like he’s about to burst out laughing.
“Nothing.” He puts the hand that is holding my hand on my lower back, making my arm twist back. “I was just thinking, I like this Lexi.”
He pulls me closer to him, and the smell of his aftershave makes my knees weak. “Is that so?”
“Well,” he says softly, and even though we are in a room with about five hundred people, it feels like it’s just me and him. His eyes are on mine. “I like every Lexi.” I put my hand on his chest, my finger playing with his lapel. “The kind one, the soft one.” I can see his eyes twinkling, and I know the next thing isn’t going to be as sweet. “The one who lets me—” I put my hand on his mouth to stop him from saying the rest of whatever it is he was going to say, and he laughs under my fingers before kissing them. “All of them.”
I shake my head and I’m about to say something to him when a man comes out rushing toward him. “Kirby, it’s your turn at the blackjack table number seven,” he states, “and there is a lineup waiting.”
“Great, I need chips,” he tells the guy, who nods his head and then looks at me.
“I’ll have them at the table.”
“Want to come with me?” he asks me.
“I guess so,” I reply and he turns, pulling me with him as he looks for the table he needs to be at. I see the line of women there and I about gag out loud. “This is it.” I point to the table. “Your harem awaits,” I joke with him. “If only they knew you snore sometimes.”
