Just a Crush

by Tabatha Kiss

  He nods at her, his mouth teasing a smile. “Well, we asked him for a hypothetical list of recommendations but it only had one name on it.”

  “Who?”

  Dad and Graham stare at her and — bless her adorable heart — every other person at the table figures it out long before she does.

  When it finally hits her, she blinks twice. “I’m sorry. What?”

  I reach beneath the table for her hand and she flinches as I take it. “I think you just got a promotion, honey,” I say.

  “No,” she says, panic growing in her eyes. “No, I didn’t. Did I?”

  Dad holds in a laugh. “Oliver said there’s no one more qualified than you on his staff.”

  “That’s not…” She shakes her head. “Sir, I am far too young for this kind of responsibility.”

  “Not true,” he says. “In fact, Oliver was only about a year older than you are now when I put him in charge. I have every confidence in you, Marla. You have the experience, the education, and the temperament to see this through and do us proud.”

  “I do?” she squeaks.

  Graham nods. “It’s a no-brainer, Marla.”

  “It is?”

  “It is,” I repeat, giving her hand a squeeze.

  “Agreed,” Ira says.

  “Yeah, you’re a badass,” Hayden says with a shrug. “She’s got my vote.”

  “Mine, too,” Penelope says.

  Veronica raises her hand. “And mine.”

  “I’d vote for you twice,” Jennifer says, smiling wide.

  Mom reaches for her glass. “I saw it coming a mile away.”

  Marla’s cheeks burn red. “But…”

  She looks at me, her sentence remaining unfinished. It brings me right back to that day at the university when I snuck into her classroom and tapped her on the shoulder. I asked her to work with me that day, to be my partner and make sweet music history. She gave me these same scared eyes but even then I could see the excitement shining through. She wants this. She just needs the right push.

  I give her hand a squeeze and look at Dad. “Give her a minute,” I say, “but she’ll take it.”

  Marla holds her breath as her big eyes shine. “Yeah,” she says, addressing my father. “It’d be an honor, sir.”

  He smiles and nods. “The job will require some travel throughout the year, so keep that in mind.”

  Marla’s brow rises with interest. “It will?”

  “Quarterly management retreats and the occasional convention are required but paid in full by the company. We’ll discuss it more on Monday.”

  I see it in her eyes, the same brightness that flashes every time we make plans to go somewhere — anywhere — outside of Las Vegas. It brings a smile to my face as well. Nothing truly makes me happier than seeing my woman happy.

  My mother raises her glass, prompting everyone else to do the same. “Congratulations, Marla,” she says.

  They break into a wave of applause and praise. I pulse her hand twice to make sure she remembers to start breathing again and she looks at me, her eyes glistening over with tears and shock.

  After a few moments, she exhales hard and scoots her chair back. “Excuse me. If you don’t mind, I would like to walk this off and maybe call my mother,” she says with a laugh.

  “Go ahead, honey,” Mom says.

  “Thank you.” Marla stands up and I release her hand to let her go. “Thank you,” she repeats as she passes Dad and scampers off down the hallway.

  “Well,” Graham says, “she looked happy.”

  The others laugh and I nod. “Trust me, she is,” I say. “Thank you for thinking of her.”

  “It was hard not to,” Dad says. “She put in the work and earned it. You’ve got quite the girl there, Jonah.”

  I smile. “I think this is the first time we’ve ever agreed on something, Dad.”

  He smirks as he reaches for his drink.

  As the rest of the table resumes conversation and grills my father about his retirement plans, my mother rises and leans over to whisper in my ear.

  “You realize this means you have to marry her now, right?” she asks.

  I instantly picture those beautiful, big eyes and that bright smile.

  Why wouldn’t I want to spend the rest of my life with Marla Gorchinsky?

  “Yeah,” I say. “I’m working on that.”

  It’s your standard Friday night at the Botsford Plaza Las Vegas.

  A crowd gathers outside the bar. The restaurant is packed and lively. People spill out of the elevators dressed to the nines for a night out on the Strip.

  Red lips and red dresses.

  But I don’t care about any of that.

  I’ve got all I want right here in my arms.

  “Just think…” I say so only she can hear as we slowly walk toward the golden elevators, “one day soon, all of this will be yours.”

  Marla chuckles. “Nothing’s in stone yet, Botsford.”

  “Might as well be.”

  “Kingston did say he had every confidence in me.”

  “And he never says that.”

  “Not about you anyway.”

  I feign a shot to the heart. “Deep wounds, baby.”

  She rubs my chest. “You’ll live.”

  I grab her hand and bring it to my lips to kiss her knuckles. “Feeling better already.”

  We pause outside the elevator and I lavish her with a few more public displays of affection before the car arrives. Unfortunately, a few others step on with us or else I would have given her a few private displays as well.

  But it can wait.

  She’s worth it.

  Halfway up the top, I begin to feel the first tickles of nerves sparking my spine, not unlike the moments before playing a concert in a sold-out venue. It doesn’t matter how many times you practice. Anything could still go wrong. Muscle memory might not be as reliable as it once was. There could be a city-wide blackout. She might say no.

  But I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

  For now, I’ll enjoy this.

  We step off onto the 25th floor and take a left toward our room. Marla rests her head on my shoulder, looking worn out from a long night of excitement. I feel a little bad that I’m not going to let her rest just yet but I’m sure she’ll forgive me.

  I swipe my card and step inside first to hold the door for her. As she crosses, I quickly check the bed across the room. In the dark, I can see the blurry outline of a heart made out of a pillow chocolates on the white bedspread and my pulse skips twice. No turning back now.

  Not that I ever would.

  Marla flicks on the lights and kicks off her shoes. She shucks her jacket off and lets out a sigh, happy to be safe and sound and alone at last. I watch her every move, waiting for the moment…

  When she reaches the bed, she pauses and scoffs loudly. “Man, those housekeeping girls are resilient—”

  She halts in place and goes quiet as she reaches for the velvet box sitting in the center of the heart.

  That’s my cue.

  I silently lower to one knee behind her before she has a chance to turn around. As she does, her mouth sags and she gasps when she sees me on the floor.

  “Jonah, what—”

  “For the record…” I say, “I had this whole thing planned out before my dad offered you your dream job, so… give me a little credit there.”

  “You had what planned?” she asks.

  I look at the box in her hand. “Open it.”

  She shifts on her toes, briefly glancing back at heart of chocolates before focusing on the box. I fold my hands on my knee and wait, letting her take her time and enjoying the stages of shock as they cross her face.

  Marla pops the box open and fills the silence with a new gasp. “Jonah,” she whispers. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “I thought we weren’t going to think about this for a while.”

  “I know, but…” I smile, “the more I tried not to think about it,
the more I thought about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I wanted to let you know that I’ve thought about it and… I want it.”

  “Sounding a bit tongue-tied there, Botsford,” she says.

  “What can I say? You make me nervous.”

  She chuckles and pinches the ring, gently pulling it free from the box. “You’ve been thinking about it?” she asks.

  I nod. “About the future, mostly. With you out of school now and Criminal Records being pretty much what it’s always been, I started thinking about what’s next for us. The whole time, I could only see one outcome and it’s this right here.” I look at the ring in her hand. “I’m in awe of you more and more every day, Marla. You push me to be a better artist, a better man. I want you to be my wife.”

  She blinks at the word wife, the same way she shook when I asked her to be my songwriting partner two years ago; a role so precious and wild that it’s practically unattainable in her eyes but, to me, it’s her most natural place.

  “You really want this,” she says.

  “I asked, didn’t I?”

  She smirks. “Not really.”

  I take the ring from her hand and straighten her fingers to rest the band on her left ring finger. “Marla Gorchinsky,” I say, “will you marry me?”

  Marla stares downward, her glistening eyes wandering from me to the ring and back again. She’s silent and unmoving as if the slightest jolt will break her in two.

  After a few moments, she slowly drops to her knees in front of me. At eye level, she smiles and leans forward to kiss me. I accept it with closed eyes, feeling her answer on her lips before she says it out loud.

  “Yes,” she says. “Yes, Jonah, I will.”

  I wrap my arm around her and kiss her again, marking this moment forever. I forget everything else, placing all of my focus here. The floral scent of her skin. The sweetness on her lips and the warm lightning of her touch on my face. The softness of the carpet cradling my knees. The way my heart pounds against my ribs, making it difficult to even breathe. I commit it all to memory.

  The moment my muse said yes.

  I slide the ring onto her finger and she looks at it, her pink cheeks dimpling as she grins.

  “Good god, that’s pretty,” she says.

  “I looked at rings for weeks until I found the right one,” I admit. “Saw that one and I knew it was yours.”

  “Well done.” She laughs and sniffs once. “It’s perfect.”

  “It had to be to match you.”

  Her eyes roll at that one. “Easy line.”

  I cup her cheeks, holding her eyes so she knows I’m not lying. “I mean it,” I whisper, barely touching our lips. “I love you so much, Marla. There’s nothing I won’t do to prove it to you.”

  Her lips curl in a sly smile. “Will you sing it to me?” she asks.

  I sigh. “Marla…”

  “What?”

  “You and I have written, what, a dozen songs together?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “Fourteen songs,” I repeat. “Eight in the Top 10, four in the Top 5, two number one hits… and you still want me to sing that one?”

  “It’s my favorite.” She bats her eyes and I melt from the inside out.

  “Fine,” I say.

  I quickly stand up, taking her by surprise as I easily yank her up with me. With my arms around her waist, I guide her to the bed and we fall down onto it as soon as it’s in range. Marla laughs as she slides back to the pillows and rests her legs on my hips as I settle between them.

  I feel up her thighs, targeting the button on her jeans. I hum softly, just barely above a whisper, and her smile deepens as the notes get louder and louder.

  “Down down baby,” I sing as I pluck the button open and pinch the zipper, “all the way.”

  She chuckles and raises her hips off the bed.

  “Down down baby, whadya say?”

  I hook her jeans, making sure to catch the panties as well, and pull them down. Marla raises her legs and straightens her knees, letting me pull them down to her ankles. Before she can lower them again, I grab her ankles and lay little kisses along her calves. She makes a pleasing sound and bites her lip as she enjoys the view.

  “The lights are low and the time is right,” I push her legs apart again and she shudders as I lower all the way down to kiss her inner thighs. “Down down baby,” I sing, whispering closer to those sweet lips, “we’ll go all night.”

  She releases a moan the second my tongue taps her clit. Her sweet taste caresses my taste buds and I clamp my mouth around her to consume as much of her as I can. Her hand finds my head and I feel her nails digging in to beg me for more.

  I lie flat on the bed, lapping and sucking as I slowly grind against the mattress. My erection throbs for release but it’s not time for my pleasure just yet. I shift my hips, teasing myself as I moan into her and she moans right back. We move without thinking after two years of learning how to please each other and I honestly can’t imagine taking any other woman to bed at this point. All I want is her; her laugh, her moans, her body and soul.

  I reach up to feel her. She’s already pulled her shirt off and tossed it away, leaving nothing but her bra in place to shield her breasts. I’ll get to that later. For now, I tease her and touch her, worshiping her soft skin and thick curves, showing her how much I fucking love her body the way it is.

  Her thighs tremble with delight and I smile, sensing how close she is to coming for me. I grind harder against the bed, furthering my own desire as we both moan for each other.

  Marla jolts suddenly, putting enough pressure on my forehead with her hand to push me away. “Jo, Jonah—” she says, out of breath.

  I pause, licking my lips. “What is it?”

  She sits up with a seductive smile and silently beckons me closer. I obey, rising upward to hover over her as she draws my mouth to hers.

  “I don’t want to come yet,” she says between deep kisses. She tugs on my zipper between us, promptly reaching into my pants to stroke my cock. I kiss her harder, giving everything over to her pleasing touch. “I want to come on this.”

  “Yes.” I chuckle. “Tell me how you want it. It’s all yours.”

  “Lie down,” she says, her hand falling away.

  I roll onto my back and she straddles me. She playfully slides herself back and forth, making me groan with pleasure from her careful grinds.

  “Take your shirt off,” she tells me.

  I grab my shirt quickly by the collar and yank it over my head. Marla laughs as I throw it away and puts pressure on my chest to hold me down. My cock instantly twitches in my jeans. It took a little while for her to show confidence like this in bed. But after a few months of me telling her how much she turned me on, the walls started to crumble and even more of my little sex monster began to creep out. Suddenly she was horny all the time. She picked up some dirty talk somewhere as well and I’ll never forget the first time she made me come just from whispering all the things she wanted me to do to her.

  But this has become my favorite view of her; balanced on top with red hair tumbling over her shoulders. I could lie for hours just feeling her over me, constantly teasing me with those full pussy lips of hers.

  She pulls at my pants and I lift an inch off the bed to help them down. My cock stands on end with beads of pre-cum dripping from the slit. She licks her lips and I know exactly what she’s craving as she slips down my body.

  I twitch beneath her soft kisses, feeling every warm peck as she travels down my abs. Then, her tongue. That soft, warm tongue as she tastes me, painting a wet line through my happy trail all the way to the base of my cock. I shudder in anticipation of her mouth and reach down to run my fingers through her hair. She looks up at me, purposefully making eye contact as she kisses my shaft.

  Marla takes her time, teasing until I almost beg her to suck me off. Just when I’m about to do just that, she opens her mouth and takes my tip inside. I flex
hard in surprise and laugh uncontrollably as pleasure fires throughout my body.

  “Fuck me,” I groan, a happy man.

  She gives me one more hard suck before sliding me out and moves up to straddle me again. I sit up, unable to resist kissing her for another second. Her lips blend with mine, full of heat and longing, as we position my cock to rest between her folds. She gently shifts forward and back, rubbing me from base-to-tip, and I smother my face in her warm cleavage. I nuzzle and leave tiny bites, each one bringing a moan to her throat as she kisses my forehead.

  My phone vibrates in the pocket of my jeans still wrapped loosely around my ankles. It’s quick and gone in a second, meaning it’s just a text message. Easy to ignore, especially with my dick an inch away from paradise.

  It vibrates again. Still not enough to—

  And again.

  Again.

  Again?

  Marla pauses and looks back. “Who the hell is blowing up your phone at this hour?” she asks.

  I deflate. “I don’t know but they better be dead.”

  She laughs and reaches around to fish my phone from the pockets behind her. I keep my hands on her, honestly still more than a little preoccupied to give a shit.

  Marla swipes the screen and reads. “It’s a group text with the band…” She hums, amused. “Did she say yes? Did she? Did she? We gots to know.” Her brow rises. “You told the band?”

  I take the phone from her to see for myself. “Yeah, well…” I hesitate, not sure if I’m in trouble or not. “Marriage is a big change, one that could impact the band. I wanted to make sure they were cool with it, you know?”

  “And were they cool with it?”

  “God, no.” I smile. “They hate you.”

  She laughs, in on the joke. “I was actually gonna ask whether you brought it up with them yet.”

  “I did and they were ecstatic.”

  There’s that half-smile I love so much. “They were?” she asks.

  “Of course.” I abandon the phone somewhere on the bed and cradle my arms around her. “You’re our lucky charm,” I say, kissing her cheek. “It’s been nothing but gold since you came around, baby.”

  She kisses me back, then snorts. “One criminal down,” she says pensively. “I wonder which one of them is next to get married.”