“Other questions?” Dixon asked.
She heard herself ask, “How should Jude and I handle PDA in our roles as pretend boyfriend and girlfriend?” She had not given her brain permission to speak that.
“PDA?” Shannon asked.
“Yes. We'll have to sell Cedric on the idea that we have chemistry and we'll have to do that, in part, through outward affection. Right? In order to appear convincing?”
“No,” Jude said. “It will be enough to treat each other in a way that communicates closeness.”
Gemma pursed her lips with skepticism, then turned an inquiring look on Dixon.
“To be clear,” the older man said, “we are in no way asking or obligating you to display physical intimacy. We'd never want to make you uncomfortable.”
“What about physical intimacy that doesn’t make me uncomfortable?” Gemma asked. “Cedric has seen that I'm physically affectionate with my past boyfriends. If Jude and I stand around stiffly without touching, Cedric will know something's wrong.”
The agents didn't look convinced.
She was outnumbered here. The outsider. The youngest. Some might feel cowed by their superior experience and sheer . . .FBI-ness.But there was something in Gemma that had always risen up stubbornly when in the position of underdog. “I think Jude and I need to agree on what type of physical affection we're both okay with.”
“What are you suggesting?” Jude asked tightly and she could read exactly what he was thinking.Really? You're asking this now, in front of them?
“I’m suggesting handholding for sure. And it would be good to have prior permission to touch your fingers, forearms, shoulders, and chest when the spirit moves.”
Jude bristled. “No to the chest. Handholding is okay and it's fine for you to touch anywhere on my arms.”
“Can I touch your face?”
“Cheeks only.”
“Waist?”
“No.”
He looked so adorably uncomfortable that she had to tamp down a burst of inappropriate giggles. “If we’re sitting next to each other, can I sidle up to you?”
A gap of quiet, while he thought it over. “So long as you remain sitting beside me on your own seat, then yes.”
“How about a friendly peck on the lips?”
“No,” Shannon and Dixon said in unison.
“Hugging?” she asked.
“That’s all right with me,” Jude said, “so long as it’s brief.”
“How many seconds can the hug last?” she asked with a straight face.
“No more than three,” he shot back, equally deadpan.
“Can I touch your hair?”
“Same rule applies. For three seconds or less.”
“Can I adjust your clothing?”
This seemed to stump him. “In what way?”
“Like . . . to loosen your tie or help you remove your jacket or push up your sleeve.”
