“Ooh, salacious. Are you sure you can handle being that scandalous, Mia?” I smack my hand to my mouth. “We’ll be on the front page of the newspaper.”
“Shut up, Luke.”
“I’m just saying, if we’re going to sell this, we’re going to need more than a peck on the cheek or on the lips. We’re going to need some making out.” I pucker my lips to the phone. “No slobbering though.”
“No way.”
“I’m just saying, have you ever been around a couple that’s never made out?”
“No, but I’m also not around couples when they make out or are groping each other.”
“I’m not talking about groping you. I’m not telling you to go without a bra. I’m not telling you that my hands are going to be down your pants.” I stiffen slightly as I think about touching her in those ways. I cannot allow my mind to go into the gutter.
“Ew, Luke, really?”
“Mia, we need to discuss these things. Because if we’re doing this, then we need to figure out our boundaries and exactly how far we’re going to go.” I pause. “And how far we want people to think we’ve gone. Have we as a couple had sex?”
“Ugh, I didn’t even think about that. Okay, you can kiss me on the lips. I don’t want tongue though. Tongue is a step too far.”
“No tongue it is.”
“And your hands are to stay above the waist at all times.”
“They can stay above the waist.” I smirk.
“And not on my boobs either.”
“What? You don’t want me to have a quick grope?”
“This was such a bad idea, wasn’t it?” She giggles. “A quick grope, Luke, really?”
“Would you rather me say,Can I fondle your bosoms, Mia?”
“No. I would rather you not say that. We’re not in eighteenth-century England.”
“Would you rather me say,Can I suck on your titties?”
“Oh my heavens, Luke Haverbrook. What did you just say?” Her jaw drops in shock.
“Okay, so we’re not going R-rated. Agreed. I’m just checking what things are going to work and not work for you.”
“You don’t even speak like that anyway.” She rolls her eyes. “Just because I haven’t seen you in person in years doesn’t mean I don’t know who you are and your character. And you don’t say things likesuck on titties.”
“You got me there. But you don’t know how I am with the guys.”
“True. And you do live in New York now.” She wrinkles her nose.
“Hey, what’s so wrong with New York?”
“Nothing, I suppose. Maybe one day, I’ll visit.”
“Are you going to come and visit me in New York before I come to town?”
“I would love to come and visit you. I mean, if you ever extended me an invitation.”
I keep my mouth shut. I’m not going to tell her why I haven’t extended her an invitation.
“It’s going to look really weird that I haven’t come to visit you,” she says, “and you haven’t come to visit me.”
