Page 69 of The Holy Grail
“Jesus Christ, that’s loud,” Jules complained, only able to cover one ear because the other one was busy between her legs.
“It’s supposed to be loud, so everyone in the house can hear it,” Malcom said, raising his voice to be heard.
“Do you think your neighbors can hear it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would they be the type to come over and check on you … or call the fire department?”
“I doubt it. I’ve never even met any of them.”
“How long will it keep doing that?”
“I don’t know. It’s never gone off before. Shit, maybe I should try and turn it off.”
Since the alarm was in the ceiling just above the island, Jules knew Malcom would have to get up onto the counter to do that, which meant he would have to pull out of her, and what they were currently doing would stop, and she didn’t want that. “No. Do you know how close I am to coming?”
“How close?”
“Close.”
They began moving again, and her claim proved to be true, as she came soon after, with him right behind. Spent, he blanketed her body with his, and kissed her as she turned her head. The fire alarm was still going off, but it had slowed down and wasn’t as loud as before. When it tapered off and stopped, the sudden quiet was deafening.
They chuckled softly, only to have it interrupted a few seconds later by loud, insistent knocking at the front door.
“Shit,” they said at the same time, and froze, as they looked at one another with flustered panic.
There was more knocking, this time louder. “Is everything all right in there?” a man yelled through the door.
Relieved it obviously wasn’t the fire department, they nonetheless began scrambling, with Jules pushing against Malcom, who quickly pulled out of her, bringing a rush of fluid with him. He then yanked up his briefs and sweatpants, not bothering to clean himself off.
Another round of knocking at the door had Jules grabbing a nearby kitchen towel with one hand to wipe down her thighs, while impatiently waving in the direction of the front door with the other. “Go.”
He hesitated. “Does it look like I was just having sex?”
It was clearly something he was worried about, but there wasn’t time for that. “No, you don’t,” she told him, hating to lie, even though it was necessary to get him moving. “Now, go meet one of your neighbors.”
Chapter 21
Dinner with the Lowes
As Jules parked behind the Lowe photography studio, Malcom looked at her in confusion.
“Paige and David live upstairs in the loft,” she explained, pointing to the second floor, with light shining from all the windows. “They’re going to start looking for a house to buy before the baby is born, but for now, this is their home.”
After they climbed the stairs and came to a halt in front of the door, Jules looked at Malcom and said, “You look nervous.”
“I am nervous. Plus, it feels weird to be doing this on Paige’s birthday.”
“She insisted, so it’s not weird. And you shouldn’t be nervous because Paige already likes you, and David usually likes whoever she does, so you should be fine.”
“I can’t help it. I’m not very good with kids.”
“Neither am I, really, but Jacob’s not that scary and he goes to bed pretty early.”
“What if he talks to me?”
“Then you talk back to him. How hard can it be? You remember what it was like to be a little boy, don’t you?”
