My Last Hot Kiss

Nine

Kayla gave him a sad little smile and shook her head. "Let's just keep this night a fun memory. My life is complicated. I have two twins who aren't talking right and a roof that needs replacing and a minivan that's bound to need another new tire before too long. You don't want to get messed up in my messy life. I'm too frazzled for a long-distance relationship."

Noah looked down at his cowboy boots for a moment and then looked into her eyes, making her heart flutter. The corners of his mouth turned up in a naughty-boy smile and he reached up and lifted a stray strand of hair from her face, brushing her cheek with his warm fingers. "Okay, you win. It was nice spending time with you, Kayla. Good luck with everything."

"Thank you. Goodnight." She lifted her face and leaned toward him. He closed the distance and placed his lips on hers in a sweet, lingering kiss.

He pulled away, gently held her hands, gave them a little squeeze before letting go. "Goodnight."

Kayla stepped into the limo and slid along the cool, smooth leather seats. She poured herself another glass of champagne as the car sped along the darkened back roads toward Three Lakes. She checked her watch, leaned her head back against the seat, and said out loud, "Two years since sex. Fourteen months since a date. But whoohoo, only two minutes since my last , hot kiss."

"Did you say something, miss?" The driver's voice squawked from the speakers.

Kayla giggled. "No, just talking to myself." She took a sip of the champagne, gazed out the windows, and replayed the night in her mind the entire way home.

***

On Monday, the icky early-spring weather switched over to warm, sunny, first-green-shoots-of-grass weather. Kayla maneuvered the minivan around the largest pothole which seemed to have somehow grown even wider and deeper in the last two days, and swore softly as the car jounced. "Dammit!"

From the backseat, the twins piped up in unison, their diction clear as the blue sky outside, "Dammit, mommy. Dammit!"

Too shocked for a moment to do anything but slam on the brakes, Kayla put the minivan in park and turned to look at the little angels in their carseats staring at her with their big, blue eyes. "Donut," she said. "We say donut. Can you say donut?"

"Donut, donut, donut!" they chanted, and all three of them laughed and clapped together. Did Kayla feel a little bad about teaching them to swear and then having to teach them how not to swear? Yes. But was she happy they were starting to speak American English, no matter how crass? He....eck, yes!

They were still laughing when the phone rang. Kayla picked it up and pressed the answer button. "This is Kayla."

"Hi, Kayla. It's Darby from W . . ."

"KLP. Yes. Hi, Darby. What can I do for you?" Kayla winced as her neighbor's muddy pick-up truck went by and honked his horn long, loud, and obnoxiously at her. For the hundredth time in recent weeks, she thought about putting the house up for sale and getting out of Three Lakes, maybe moving closer to her mother and her job in Flynn.

"We were wondering if you'd mind going on air this morning to talk about the concert."

"Oh, sure. Just for a minute, though. I'm dropping the kids off at daycare."

They had their on-air conversation, and after the station went to commercial and Darby was about to hang up, Kayla blurted, "I really have to thank you for giving tickets to both Noah and me. We had such a good time. It was the best evening. But I'm confused. Why did you say there was only one winner and one ticket?"

There was a silence, then Darby said, "Noah didn't tell you? I figured he had. No. There WAS only one ticket. After the contest, he called us back. He said he thought you sounded like you had a lot on your plate with the job and the two kids and he wanted you to go to the concert instead. He gave up the prize so you could enjoy a nice evening out."

Kayla felt a little dizzy. She gripped the phone. "So why was he there? How did he get that seat beside me?"

"Well, after we got off the phone with Noah, Trent and I talked to the station manager. We thought Noah deserved a...well...a reward for being so selfless. We were kinda feeling the mush inside, if you know what I mean. And by then we'd found both of you on your social media and thought you looked around the same age . . ." She trailed off.

"So you decided to play Cupid?" Kayla tried to sound outraged but failed. She was actually delighted by all these revelations, like there was hope for humanity after all.

"I guess so. Sort of. We got Noah the extra ticket and said it would be up to him if he wanted to introduce himself to you or not. We were thrilled to see you together at the concert having such a good time. We thought . . . well, we hoped . . .I guess it didn't work out, huh?"

"Darby, I really appreciate what you and Trent tried to do, but I can't talk about it right now. Thank you so much for the wonderful evening, though. It was a night I'll never forget."

"Call again sometime," Darby said. "You know. If anything changes."

Kayla laughed. "You're incorrigible." Then, "Um, do you still happen to have his phone number?"