Page 68 of Challenged By You
It doesn’t escape my notice that in the few short weeks I’ve known Jonas, my perception of New York has changed as well. Maybe I didn’t appreciate the heart and soul the city was waiting to give to me because I had to earn it first. But with every new experience we have together, I’m falling.
And not just for the man who’s made it his mission to drive me insane with desire. Elle has made it her mission to ensure Jonas and I get some alone time, even if it’s not an all-night event. Almost as if he can read my thoughts, he rubs a hand over my hip where I banged it on the gear shift after we drove out of the city into Tarrytown and found a secluded park just to be for a few hours the night before last. After ravenously taking me, Jonas rasped against my ear, “God, I haven’t burned that hot for someone since I was a teenager. You set me on fire.”
Trailing a hand up his leg to find the bare patch of skin exposed by his open jeans, I gasped, “Same. It’s never…not ever.”
That admission got me another hard, fast ride before we headed back to the city.
Jonas Rice is a conundrum that keeps me up even when he’s not texting me late at night just to tell me he’s thinking about me. Or sending me his latest review asking me if I think his cousin is going to make a hash of it before it gets posted to theCity Lightswebsite. But even in text, the familial love he constantly expresses for Chelsea and Julian is evident. I can’t quite get a grip on his relationship with his uncle, but what do I expect for being three and a half weeks into…whatever this is?
Then I scold myself.You know what this is.Jonas is quickly becoming one of those few people I trust. I’m amused by the facade of the intense food critic who still writes blistering reviews forCity Lights. I now own new laugh lines because of his ridiculous food puns. And I may need to schedule an appointment with my doctor because my heart keeps melting when he’s with my kids.
Quite simply, we work. The question is, how do we keep on working? It’s something I mull over as we finish watching a famous TV morning show being taped. “I hesitate to admit you might have been right,” I tell him as we make our way from Rockefeller Plaza.
His reply of “You’ve read my columns; I often am” earns him a friendly punch in the arm. Hooking an arm over my shoulders, he kisses the top of my head. “About what, T?”
“I was letting what happened in my own life influence what theirs should be like.” I nod down to where the twins are babbling back and forth in their twin speak that is a mangled dialect of the English language. “It’s hard to look backward, disassociate a place with memories, and start again.”
“That says a lot more about you as a person than it does about me as your tour guide,” Jonas remarks.
I stop in the middle of the sidewalk as busy New Yorkers pass us by on either side. I don’t take offense to being bumped into or the grumbling beneath their breath. Even a few weeks ago, my world was spinning so fast I’d have done the same. “If I let you off your budget restraint, what’s one thing in New York you couldn’t resist showing us?”
Jonas is stunned. “You’re serious?”
I nod. “But Jonas, I don’t want it to be a toy that will be replaced when I hand them a spoon and a pot to bang on. I want it to be something I can remind them of.”
“Can I push my luck for two? There’s one place I’d take you and one I’d take the kids,” he hedges.
When I agree, he immediately grabs my face between his hands and kisses me with an enormous smacking sound. “Let’s do the kids one today.”
“Oh, you’ve been waiting for this moment,” I tease.
He merely grunts as he types frantically on his phone. “Excellent. We need to catch a cab.”
“Wouldn’t an Uber be easier?” I gesture to the stroller.
“No time. We have to be at the Port Authority in an hour.” Stepping to the curb, he places two fingers between his lips and lets out a piercing sound.
Chris yells, “No, Nono!” Annie agrees by slapping her hands over her ears.
Jonas turns to apologize just as a minivan taxi pulls up. He helps me get the kids settled before joking, “This isn’t the Cash Cab, is it?”
“Everyone asks,” the driver grumbles. “Where to?” Jonas rattles off an address. “Ah, the Circle Line. A beautiful day for it.”
“We’re going on the Circle Line? I’ve never done that,” I say from the seat where I have Annie and Chris clutched tightly to me.
“Trust me. After this you’ll never be able to look at New York in quite the same way,” Jonas assures me, reaching over the back of the seat to squeeze my arm.
“Your boyfriend is right. Best way to see New York,” the cabbie says.
Chills race through me both at Jonas’s touch and at the fact he didn’t correct the driver’s assumption. “Then I can’t wait,” I decree.
Moments later, through a harrowing ride down to the waterfront, we pull up at one of the terminals. “Boat!” Chris claps his hands together excitedly, whacking me in the face in his exuberance.
“Hand him over,” Jonas encourages. He’s paid the driver and is holding out his arms as if it’s as natural as breathing for him to help with my family. I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t acknowledge the sight of my towhead son snuggled up in Jonas’s strong arms doesn’t make me ache. Quickly gathering Annie and the diaper bag, we join the guys where they’re waiting.
“We don’t have much time. It’s a good thing we have reserved seats.” Jonas hurries us to the ticket counter. After making arrangements to store the stroller, we quickly pose for a photo. “Complimentary as part of the ticket price,” Jonas reassures me.
“Oh, well, thank you.” After we’re welcomed on board, we climb sets of stairs until we reach a cordoned-off area. Four cushioned seats are waiting at the bow of the mostly empty ship. Jonas hands our tickets over, and we’re granted admittance. “Well, we made it.” He grins.
