“Who’s Jonah? I’m Max, lady. And I’m on the clock.”
He pressed his mouth against the crushed velvet at her crotch and huffed. She nearly passed out. “I’m going to peel you like a blue velvet banana, and you’re going to like it.”
They both began laughing. “Okay, that was weird,” he admitted. “But no weirder than your offer…”
She gently tugged his curls and he rose to his feet again. “I don’t need a ‘pass’ or one shot at some fantasy,” he whispered, trailing his finger between her cleavage until he reached her chin, and nudged it up. He kissed her sweetly. “You’re my fantasy. Funny, Feisty. Fuck, I am peeling this thing off you. That bow was obviously fake.”
“There’s a zipper, silly.”
Jonah turned her, slowly tugging the zipper until it revealed her tattoo. He kissed her shoulder wordlessly, reverently, as he continued to lower it, its metal teeth parting with a sigh. She breathed deep as he kissed down her spine, all the while still unzipping. Down on one knee again, then the other. Exposing the small of her back to the cool air before warming it with his lips. Catching the top of her thong in his teeth and letting it snap. “And whose is this?”
“All mine.”
“All yours,” he echoed, rising to full height again behind her. Without the zipper to hold it in place, the velvet had slipped down her arms. True to his word, he peeled one side off, then the other. The last of the fabric dropped to a velvety pool at her feet.
She turned to face him, stepping out of the velvet and into his waiting arms.
Somewhere in the tiny apartment, someone’s phone trilled the crisp, urgent alert of a video call coming through.
“Is that yours?”
Their voices in unison made them laugh.
“If it’s mine,” Tzipi said, “It’s probably my mom calling Kara on FaceTime while she power walks. It’s their mother-daughter bonding time, apparently.”
“So even your mom didn’t know about – ”
“No way. She would’ve been on the first plane here.”
The video ring stopped, and the audio ring began. And now it was the unmistakable peal Kara had set for family only.
“If it’s your mom calling twice…” Jonah pondered.
“I’m naked!” She hissed, as if the phone had eyes and ears.
“Just saying. If it was my mom –” he reasoned.
“The bunker queen of Jewish moms?”
“Exactly. Double-call territory? The Messiah could be on his or her way.”
The ringing stopped. Over on the nightstand, the phone began lighting up with texts like the eighth night of Hanukkah. Her stomach dropped.
Jonah had the ability to make her forget all about the shit she’d stepped into, and now it was rising up. Rob, Hannon, the press…any number of things could’ve all hit the fan by high noon.
He climbed into the rumpled covers, holding up a corner of his blanket up for her to slide in. “Whatever’s going on…we’ll face it like the fortune.”
“In bed?”
“Yep. And no regrets.”
She cozied up to his solid wall of a chest, the sheet covering hers. Took a deep breath, and opened her texting app.
“It’s…me. I mean, my phone! Kara.”
I couldn’t get married without my best friend
I love you, Tiz.
