Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Libby always found someone to flirt with and often ended the cruise with some post-Baller fireworks. However, she’d never been on board with someone who lit up her senses like Micah.
Every time his hand touched her skin, her body sparked.
Her mouth watered when she remembered his plush lips on hers.
When she’d stroked him through his pants, and he’d thrust his leg between her thighs, she’d nearly gone up in flames.
She knew exactly how good he felt inside her, holding her hands while he licked into her.
How incredible it felt to have him curved around her body, abandoned to sleep, a possessive arm wrapped around her waist.
Her lips curved into a goofy grin. She felt drunk—on him.
Absolutely, ridiculously pleased at the turn her night had taken.
Happy Hanukkah to me. Maybe she could have kept her cool if they’d kept their hands off each other, but what fun was that?
They touched constantly, their fingers glancing, arms brushing.
When he stood behind her, it took all her self-control not to lean back.
She was afraid that if she did, it would be all over.
She’d raise her arms around his neck, grind her ass back into him, invite his hands to roam her body, his lips to nibble her shoulder…
It would be their Palm Beach shower all over again—except fully clothed, in public, and probably caught on video, which was why she held herself firmly upright.
When she’d set them on this course, a quick food tour before she lost her chance for another year had seemed like a great way to kill time.
Now she wished she’d dragged him back to the captain’s office for a quickie to take the edge off.
She was hyper-aware of him as they slurped soup shots, sipped cocktails, and shared bites of their Jewish favorites.
She couldn’t stop staring at his mouth when he chewed, his throat when he swallowed, his ass when he walked to the next food station. Every bite, every step, every word felt like the best kind of foreplay.
Finally, the boat docked.
Her friends gave her knowing, indulgent smiles as they said goodbye, like they always did when she was with a new guy. What was different was the way they looked at Micah. Admiring. Respectful. A little awed. If they knew he could paint, they’d really be impressed.
Only Jonah was nowhere in sight, but she had no doubt he’d have a half-dozen rabbi jokes for her at Leah and Avi’s housewarming party tomorrow night. Maybe she should ask Micah to come with her to keep her Jonah’s rarely-appropriate sense of humor in check.
She sucked in a sharp breath at the thought. Whoa, girl. That sounds like a date.
Jay and Rebecca trailed them to the gangplank. “I’m definitely giving you and Beth Hatikvah a Matzo Baller MVP shoutout as soon as I wake up tomorrow,” Jay said.
“Really, no need. I was happy to help.” Micah returned his casual bro hug.
Rebecca held out a square of paper. “Keep Brightworks in mind if you—I mean your temple—is ever interested in a collaboration.” Libby had no doubt Rebecca wanted to be first in line to show his work if he ever brought his secret to light.
Micah’s eyes widened. “Will do,” he said smoothly.
“Let’s make a break for it.” She tugged him away from her friends and down the gangplank.
“I already called for a car,” he said.
“Excellent.” There were usually plenty of taxis waiting, but not having to fight the crowd was a treat. Plus, she hadn’t wanted to check a coat, and the shawl she’d hidden under the table with her cookie supplies was much more decorative than warm.
He led her to a blue Ford SUV idling at the curb and waited for the driver to roll down the window. “Okay if we change our destination to Hell’s Kitchen?” he asked.
“No problem,” the driver said. “Hop in.”
Micah opened the back door for her. “Your chariot, my lady.”
He helped her into the vehicle, shut the door, and walked behind the car to join her in the backseat.
When his door slammed, cocooning them in silence, she realized just how loud it had been on the boat.
She gave her address to their driver and then collapsed next to him with a groan. “Finally.”
He took her hand, braiding their fingers together. “That was a lot.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Best party of the year.” A giant yawn caught her by surprise. And then another. “Sorry—I’ve been up every night this week sketching cake designs.” She gave him a playful side eye. “And thinking of you. It wears a girl out.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You haven’t been more than one thought away since I left Palm Beach. Every night I lit the Hanukkah candles this week, I heard your voice. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you I’m Jewish. It wasn’t fair of me to want to share that experience with you without being honest.”
She shook her head, burrowing into his side. “That was a dirty trick, Rabbi, but I forgive you. You more than made up for your deception tonight.”
“You sure about that? I’ve been making plans about how I could earn your forgiveness. You might want to see what I have in mind before you relent.”
She lifted her head and turned toward him, pretending to think. “Are your plans going to change if I forgive you now? Because I’ve seen what you can do with a blank canvas, and I think you’d also work wonders with a clean slate.”
He smiled, his straight, white teeth digging into his full lower lip and his gaze gleaming with mischief. “I can definitely work with a clean slate.”
He searched his jacket pocket for a moment before dangling two pastry bags full of cookie frosting in front of her, one midnight blue and one golden. “I even have a plan.”
A shocked laugh bubbled out of her throat. “What on earth do you want to do with those? I have a pretty good guess, but I want to hear it from you.”
He put his mouth near her ear and whispered, “Can I draw flowers on your breasts? Ever since Palm Beach, I’ve been a little obsessed with the idea of body painting.
” His hand cupped her shoulder, traveled lower to caress the fullness of her breast, his thumb glancing her already-peaked nipple.
“Nothing elaborate. A couple of irises, maybe. Easily drawn, easily erased. I know you said I was dessert tonight, but I believe in ladies first. I want to use you as my canvas, and then lick off every single sticky bit of frosting.”
She thought about what that might look like—and feel like. His hot gaze on her breasts. The tip of the pastry bag tickling her skin. The wet drag of frosting on her flesh, and the anticipation of his lips and tongue following the same path, sucking sugar from her skin.
Her breasts swelled, and her nipples tingled, begging for attention.
If she said yes, she would literally become his work of art.
He kissed her neck and then licked a delicate path across her collarbone to her shoulder. His breath blew a cool streak on her skin, making her shiver. He tucked her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. “If I miss a spot of frosting, I assume you have a shower?”
That sealed the deal. Micah in the shower, even her cramped shower, was impossible to turn down. “You’re on, Rabbi. ”
From the second he walked into her apartment, he knew he was in a creative space.
The couch was piled with colorful pillows.
One entire wall was covered with flower-themed art prints and photographs of her friends and family.
The images were mounted on canvas, and the effect was stunning.
The opposite wall was completely bare, painted a deep, soothing gray, and boasted a desk and a large sketch pad.
Not for the first time tonight, he imagined sketching her again.
On the boat, he’d pictured her with a cocktail in hand, looking at him over her mouthwatering, bare shoulder. Now he imagined her sprawled on the couch, sketch pad on her lap, with cakes of all shapes and sizes floating around her, a whimsical manifestation of her thoughts.
“I love your place,” he said, turning to find her looking at him with a distracted expression.
“Thank you. I don’t spend much time here. Mostly I’m at work or traveling.” She gestured in the direction of the tiny kitchen area. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Maybe later.” He caught her hand and pulled her close.
“Is this okay? I have literally just wanted to get you in my arms and keep you here all night.” Except for when he’d cornered her in the alcove, they’d been in full view of the crowd, and it would have been odd for him to lift her off her feet and bury his face in her neck.
It would have been even stranger for him to walk her backward until her back hit a bare wall, like the gray one currently behind her, and lift her up higher, until she wrapped her legs around his waist, gripped his shoulders in her fists, and made the little growl he’d dreamed about all week.
“I missed you,” he murmured.
“Same.” She squeezed his shoulders hard. “You should have texted me.”
“Yes.” He nodded against her breasts. “But if I opened that door, then everything I held back would come pouring through.” Like a flood, destroying his personal and professional life.
It was impossible not to draw parallels to Genesis, and Noah’s ark, and a world justifiably laid waste.
Was that what his divided life was now? A world that needed destroying?
“Would that have been so bad?” She cradled his head.
“I thought so.” He lifted his head and smiled ruefully, settling her weight lower on his body, until her soft center embraced his hard cock. “I thought it was enough to share my art with you for a few days, but I was wrong. Now I want to share everything.” He pressed forward. “Starting now.”