Page 139 of The Holy Grail
Evan opened his mouth, obviously intending to capitalize on the moment, but Malcom shook his head. “Not one word.”
“Not even one?”
“No. You’re not allowed to say a single word about ‘rubbing’ or ‘meat’ or ‘rubbing meat’, or anything like that.”
“But what if I want to know all about your rubbing technique?” Evan protested.
Malcom pursed his lips, but was obviously trying to keep from laughing. “No.” Turning to Jules, he asked, “What did you call him today?”
“A thirteen-year-old boy, trapped in the body of a thirty-five-year-old man,” she answered helpfully, only to correct herself. “Sorry, a thirty-six-year old man.”
Malcom pointed to Evan. “That’s definitely you.”
Instead of being even remotely offended, Evan shrugged good-naturedly as he stood and took his plate to the sink. “I am who I am.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.”
Evan wrapped his arms around Malcom and gave him an affectionate smirk before dropping a fairly robust kiss on his lips. “Too late to back out now,” Evan murmured, before pulling away.
“I know,” Malcom muttered in response, as if he’d just realized he was stuck in a timeshare contract he would never be able to get out of.
With a smile, Jules got to her feet and began helping Evan gather plates and silverware, then took it all to the sink, where Malcom rinsed everything and loaded it into the dishwasher. Once the table was cleared, Evan went to Jules and whispered something in her ear, to which she whispered something back. Then, after a quick kiss, Evan left the kitchen.
Malcom, in the process of washing a pan in the sink, said, “So, I guess whispering is okay when you do it?”
She patted his cheek. “That’s right.”
He continued to scrub the pan, as if it needed to be extra clean, before finally asking, “So, what’s the big secret?”
“You’ll see.”
Finally done with the pan, he ran it under hot water. “Well, it can’t be about a red flag, because I don’t have any.”
Jules smiled at the bold claim as she took the pan from him and began drying it with a towel. “I can’t tell you. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
“A surprise you and Evan cooked up together?”
“Yes.”
He considered that in silence for a moment. “What if I don’t like it? Because as a rule, I’m not a huge fan of surprises because you never know what it’s going to be.”
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure you’re going to like this one.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then you don’t.” She tugged on his shirt and brought him in for a kiss. “But you will.”
As Jules brought Malcom upstairs to his master bath, the sound of running water immediately gave away the ‘surprise’.
“A bath,” he said.
“Yes.”
Inside the bathroom, there was a healthy amount of bubbles already forming in the tub, as well as abundant steam, making the air a little dense. There were also several candles scattered around the room—a few on the vanity counter, and a few on the tub surround—giving off a romantic glow and the subtle scent of sandalwood.
It felt like being in a cocoon.
Seeing the effort Evan had put into this, Malcom could appreciate the gesture and was touched by it, especially knowing the bubble bath and the candles had to have been brought in just for this occasion.
