One More Kiss (A Too Many Men Romantic Comedy / Chick Lit Novel) Read online

  One More Kiss

  A Chick Lit / Romantic Comedy Novel

  Stephanie Rowe

  Copyright

  One More Kiss (A Chick Lit/Romantic Comedy novel). Copyright © 2020 by Stephanie Rowe.

  Copyright © 2005. Originally published as Unbecoming Behavior by Dorchester Publishing. The 2020 edition has been substantially revised.

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  Publisher: Authenticity Playground, LLC

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  Cover design © 2019 by Kelli Ann Morgan, Inspire Creative Services.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, disseminated, or transmitted in any form or by any means or for any use, including recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the author and/or the artist. The only exception is short excerpts or the cover image in reviews. Please be a leading force in respecting the right of authors and artists to protect their work. This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel or on the cover are either products of the author’s or artist's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or the artist. There are excerpts from other books by the author in the back of the book.

  The Buzz

  "I absolutely adored this book. With an endearing and quirky cast of characters, a plot that keeps you on your toes, and wonderful writing, it is a great chick lit read."

  ~ChickLitGirl (FIve-Star Amazon Review)

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  "A delightful chick-lit."

  ~Harriet Klausner (Five-Star Amazon Review)

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  "Funny, romantic, and heartwarming."

  ~Little D. (Five-star Amazon Review)

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  "I absolutely suggest this book to anyone looking to bring a smile to their face and lighten their mood. I am a forever fan!"

  ~BookGirl (Five-Star Amazon Review)

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  "Endearing and quirky!"

  ~Chicklitbooks.com

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  " I loved just about everything about this book."

  ~A Top Pick from Romance Readers at the Heart Reviews

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  "Fantastic!"

  ~Romance Junkies

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  "Utterly charming."

  ~Round Table Reviews

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Sneak Peek: Curse of the Dragon

  Sneak Peek: Pawfectly in Love

  Sneak Peek: Burn

  Sneak Peek: Rock Your Evil

  A Quick Favor

  Stay in the Know

  Books by Stephanie Rowe

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Even eye candy can't fix some Monday mornings.

  Unless the eye candy in question was way better than average, entirely unexpected, and decidedly mysterious. And occupying the office next to mine.

  I caught a glimpse of short, dark hair, a hint of five-clock shadow, and impressively broad shoulders as I sprinted past, but it was too quick to get any details. Would it be too obvious to walk by again and take another look?

  Probably. It was a law firm, after all. Circumspect behavior was always required. Not that being lawyerly and dignified was my best attribute. Or even in my top ten of marketable skills. It was probably a good thing I wasn't actually a lawyer.

  My job had nothing to do with a law degree, and everything to do with planning social events so delightful that the summer interns were more than happy to sign their life over to the firm at the end of the summer. And no, I don't have a jaded view of my job or anything…

  Well, okay. Maybe a little.

  My parents were utterly dismayed that my foray into the legal biz hadn't come with a law degree. But hey, I was twenty-four. I was old enough to be following my own path instead of my parents, right? Especially since I'd promised myself I'd be living my own dreams by the time I was twenty-five, which left me less than two months to figure it out and accomplish it.

  At least I'd finally broken up with Max, my boyfriend of way too many years. That was a start.

  "Morning, Isabel." I nodded at my secretary as I walked by, then stopped and retraced my steps. Isabel would know. "Who's my new next-door neighbor? The office was empty when I left on Friday."

  Isabel looked a little frazzled, even for a Monday morning at seven-thirty. "Blaine Hampton. He's a new partner they hired from outside."

  "Partner?" He'd looked way too young to be a partner. "Already?"

  "Comes from money," she whispered. "Lots of connections. He'll bring in loads of business."

  Ah, excellent. Just my parents' type. Perhaps I should cozy up to him and make him my new boyfriend. Wouldn't that do a lot to get me back into the McCormick family good graces? I hadn't been there since I dumped Max, who they all thought was my ticket to respectability.

  "Bad news," Isabel continued. "Your event on Friday night? Cancelled. The place had a fire on Saturday night."

  "Cancelled?" I felt my heart start to do weird little palpitations, as it always did when I felt an encounter with the firm's managing partner coming on. "I don't have an event for Friday?" Friday night was the culmination of the first week for the summer interns. An impressive event was of critical importance, and I'd had the ballroom booked for seven months. Cancelled?

  I briefly considered the viability of tearing my hair out and racing through the halls sobbing uncontrollably, but I immediately dismissed the idea. Damage to my hair aside, it was dangerously close to that "unbecoming behavior" that my firm liked to fire people for. It was a nice, vague term, infinitely useful for tweaking to fit any situation the firm didn't think was up to par. Seeing as how I was but a lowly social director, I didn't bring enough value to the firm to be able to get away with any untoward behavior.

  So instead of freaking out, I smiled courageously and said, "Can you make some calls and see if you can find another venue?" Excellent, Shannon. Way to keep your voice calm. See? I could be a lawyer. I was totally able to handle stress.

  "Ahem." Someone cleared his throat behind me, the kind of attention-getting noise of someone who's a little annoyed that no one has noticed them yet.

  I turned around to find potential-new-boyfriend himself (aka new well-connected pa
rtner) standing behind me. Early thirties at most. Killer blue eyes.

  And to think I complained regularly about working in a law firm. I took it all back. "I'm Shannon McCormick. Your next-door neighbor."

  He looked at me blankly. "You live in my building?"

  Okay, so he was a literal guy. He'd never get my oh-so-witty sense of humor. So, I pointed to my office. "My office is next to yours." Lest anyone become super impressed that I had the office next to a bigwig, I was actually in a windowless office that had once been a storage room. He had the corner office with two sides of windows.

  But, hey, location, location, location, right?

  Those blue eyes flicked toward my digs. "Oh." He didn't sound impressed. "I'm Blaine Hampton."

  "It's great to meet you." When I shook his hand, I actually felt my stomach do this little somersault. Blaine was totally hot. A bit of a haughty name, but very hot guy.

  "Isabel is your secretary?" he asked.

  "Yep."

  "How much of her time do you usually take?"

  I paused, startled by the edge to his tone. Slowly, I cleared my throat. "A couple hours a day, on average. It can be more when the summer interns are in session."

  Smokin'-hot-next-door-neighbor pursed his magnificent lips. "Well, I have a big deal I'm working on this week that will take most, if not all, of her time. So, you may want to plan ahead."

  My mouth gaped open before I could stop it. A thousand protests bubbled up in my head, most vividly, the one that said that if I didn't deliver an optimum intern experience, I would lose my job. I wasn't a lawyer, but what I did was hugely important. We had to win the best of the best from all the other top law firms who wanted to hire them away from us. And to do that, I needed help. I needed Isabel.

  He raised his brow at me, as if challenging me to argue with him.

  So, all my protests faded, replaced with a simply, wimpy one-word protest. "What?"

  "I'm working on an important deal," he repeated. "I need Isabel."

  I glanced at Isabel for defense, but she simply shrugged apologetically. "You two are my split now," she said.

  Blaine turned to go back in his office, not even waiting for my answer. His dismissal chased away my shock and replaced it with anger spiced with indignation. Just because I didn't have a law school degree on my office wall didn't mean I was some unworthy pond scum. "Excuse me? Blaine?"

  He paused in his doorway. "Yes?"

  "I have a lot going on this week. I run the intern program, and they arrive in a half hour. My event for Friday night just got cancelled, and I need Isabel's help to make alternative arrangements, not to mention, all the logistics of the events already planned. It's not like I can just not have these things done." My parents might think lawyers were better than social directors, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let some partner walk all over me, even if he was drool-worthy.

  He lifted an eyebrow. "You're welcome to take it up with Otto, but somehow I think he'll opine that a six-billion-dollar merger is more important than your interns' lunch plans. That's why I have you as my split. Because my work can take precedence."

  Was he kidding? The pretentious-beast-who-was-no-longer-a-boyfriend-candidate wanted me to take it up with Otto Nelson?

  It was impossible.

  Because I was flat-out terrified of Otto.

  He was the managing partner. Seventy-three, totally old school, believed it was a lawyer's prerogative to be an ass to every single person who worked with him, from junior partners all the way down to secretaries.

  He scared the crap out of everyone. Including me. Oh, except apparently Blaine, who had somehow gotten Otto on his side. With Otto in his corner, Blaine could indulge in all the unbecoming behavior he wanted, and he'd never be held accountable.

  Blaine flashed me a dimpled smile that would have brought me to my knees if I weren't already feeling so inspired to grab him by the neck and throw him out the window.

  Then he shut the door in my face.

  Oh, God. What was I going to do?

  "Shannon?"

  Crap. Standing there still facing a closed door with my eyes scrunched shut probably wasn't quite the professional and together look I usually strove for. I quickly turned back to Isabel. "Okay, so can you help me find a place for Friday?"

  She gave me an apologetic smile that sent waves of terror thudding through my body. "I'll try to find some time, I promise. Mr. Nelson introduced Blaine to me and told me his work took priority over yours. You know I want to do your stuff, but..."

  She didn't need to say it.

  But Otto was a bastard who would think nothing of carving up Isabel into little pieces, and it wasn't worth risking her unfortunate demise helping me. It was totally understandable. A major problem for me, but I would have made the same choice she did.

  Trying not to pass out from stress, terror, and anxiety, I managed a smile. "No problem. Just keep me posted on what you can do."

  Isabel shot me a grateful look, picked up a file that wasn't mine, and walked into Blaine's office.

  I sighed as I turned to head back into my tiny office.

  Perhaps if I became really rude and demanding, then people would be afraid of me, and then I'd get some respect (and more importantly, help).

  But rude and demanding wasn't my thing.

  Besides, my job was all about being fun, nice, and approachable. I was supposed to run interference for the interns and keep them happy and pampered, so their summer experience outshone those of all their classmates who were interning at other firms around the city.

  That was my job: to be a professional entertainer. Swallow my pride. Keep everyone fat and happy, and I might survive to see another summer.

  Not that I was bitter. Or insecure. Or had self-esteem issues. Never. I didn't have time for such ridiculous emotions. I had twenty-seven minutes to make sure the breakfast buffet was set up, and the interns all had their name badges.

  I dropped my briefcase on the floor of my office and glanced at the note from Isabel that Friday night's event was a bust (tried not to panic). Then I deleted three voicemails from my ex, smoothed my bun, dabbed clear nail polish on the run in my nylons, and then marched into the hall to put on the Shannon Show.

  Some days I really enjoyed my job. Most of the interns were fun, smart, and motivated. They were psyched to be there, and excited to become lawyers.

  Other days were hard. Other days made me realize that I was working at a job that was going to suck my soul dry, and that it was my own fault I was stuck there.

  I could already tell today was one of the not-so-good days.

  Fourteen hours later, I knew I was doomed.

  "So then what happened?" My roommate and best friend Emma Jansen kicked off her spiky sandals and propped her bare feet up on my desk, showing off her new purple pedicure. "Did you find a new venue for Friday?"

  "A casino." I was going to lose my job over this, I just knew it.

  I was deeply afraid that gambling was at the top of the list for unbecoming behavior. But so was a total failure to do my job, which is what would have happened if I hadn't found a venue for Friday night.

  On such short notice, the casino was the only place I'd been able to find that was capable of handling the number of people I needed to accommodate for dinner and entertainment. Their menu was excellent. The dining room was gorgeous. They specialized in high-end corporate events. It had all the check boxes.

  Except it was a casino.

  I was really worried that taking the interns gambling was going to get me fired. But not having an event at all definitely would have gotten me fired, so it was a chance I'd had to take. Since I'd managed to come up with an alternate event, I had at least a slim chance of escaping unscathed.

  Now, it was almost ten o'clock on Monday night and I was just sitting down at my desk to return emails. Between the welcome breakfast, office assignments, lunch, dealing with crises, and the cocktail hour, I hadn't been at my desk to make phone calls until twenty m
inutes ago. "Isabel was occupied working for her new boss, so she wasn't able to make any phone calls," I explained to Emma.

  Or track down the missing tax forms for the interns. Or copy the firm's handbook when we ran out. Or anything else she would normally have done to keep me from completely losing my mind, going insane, and throwing myself down the elevator shaft.

  It was a good thing I hadn't been able to wedge the doors open.

  And I had tried. I'd stuck the heel of my shoe in there about ten minutes ago, just to see. Not that I would actually have hurled myself down there, but, well, you know, it was always good to know your options. You never know. Maybe Blaine would accidentally tumble down the shaft instead of me, if only I could get those doors open. Terrible tragedy that would be.

  "A casino?" Emma widened her eyes. "Really? That seems a little decadent for a stuffy place like this."