Judah stood up and dusted himself off, then held out his hands for Arielle, who reluctantly took them to pull herself to her feet. They reentered the house wordlessly, and Ari made her way to the living room, to the front of the crowd, where Liana was standing with Gideon at her side, her eyes so full of love that it made Ari’s heart ache. When she caught sight of Ari, a flash of relief flitted across Liana’s expression, and she nudged Gideon to begin.
They’d waited for her. The thought warmed Ari, the idea that even with Liana getting married, the two of them were still a team. But as Gideon and Liana thanked everyone for coming, sharing the adorable story of how they met and got together over Chanukah with the help of Liana’s friends and tenacity, the tenderness slowly melted, leaving her feeling empty. Lonely.
She’d gone so long without wanting this that she had no idea how to fight for it.
She shouldn’t have walked ahead of him into the house. She should’ve taken his hand and pulled him to the front of the crowd with her. For all she knew, he’d slipped back out that same door and disappeared—
A warmth at her back, radiating from a familiar, solid chest, silenced her brain. “Hey,” a familiar, solid voice whispered in her ear.
She didn’t reply, not wanting to talk during Liana’s speech, but she did twine her fingers with his and squeeze.
Judah squeezed back, and maybe it was the warm strength of his hands or his woodsy scent or just the romantic atmosphere in the air, but when he leaned forward again to say huskily, “Go out with me” in her ear, she whispered, “Okay.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Sothisis why you never date,” Liana said with wide eyes as she watched Arielle wrinkle her nose and cast off what must have been her eighth dress of the evening. “It turns you into a human disaster.”
“Youare the one who invited Judah to your engagement party,” Ari reminded her as she considered a wrap dress that she knew made her boobs look obscene and disregarded it. As much as she’d love to make Judah’s eyes bug out of his head over dinner, that was decidedly not the point of this date. Attracting him was not the issue.
Figuring out exactly how deep this attraction went was another story.
“Yeah, and obviously it was the right move, but this is fascinating to me. You are sosmitten. I’ve always wondered what it would look like on you, and whether I’d ever even get to see it, and it’s, like… five million times better than I thought it would be. I kinda wanna FaceTime Bella to get her in on the action.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Never,” Liana said with a grin. “I’m texting with her right now, and she wants to know what’s wrong with the bright blue one that makes your eyes look amazing.”
“It’s at the dry cleaners,” Ari grumbled, because that’d been her first choice too.
“The green velvety one?”
“Too itchy. I already feel itchy just going on this date. I can’t add external factors.”
“And the pink one was—what was it again? Ah, yes, ‘too pink,’ right?”
Ari stopped riffling through her closet long enough to shoot Liana a look. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. It’s insulting to us both.”
Liana tipped her head in concession. “Okay, how about the sheer black shirt thing with the black leather skirt?”
“Too slutty.”
“What the hell does ‘too slutty’ mean? You’ve worn that many times to very proper occasions.”
“Yeah, but we’re not operating on Arielle Becker levels of propriety right now. We’re operating on Judah Klein levels—Judah Kleinin publiclevels. I can’t be embarrassing.”
“Ari.” Liana put down the phone and took Ari’s hands. “I’ve seen the way Judah looks at you. If he didn’t believe in God, he could probably be convinced you created the heavens and the earth. Give him a little credit. He’s going to think you’re beautiful no matter what you wear.”
“Ugh, stop being all Wise Engaged Woman. It’s unsettling.”
Liana waggled her eyebrows. “Fine, then I’ll point this out instead: He’s already seen you naked. You could wear a garbage bag, and it wouldn’t stop him from thinking about what’s underneath.”
“Okay, nowthere, you may have a point.” She checked the time on her phone and swore under her breath. “Crap, I am so late. Quick, just pick one for me right now.”
“Wrap dress!” Liana declared. “Easy choice.”
Ari went with it, though she put on her most comfortable, least cute cotton underwear in the hopes it’d serve as a deterrent if they were getting overly distracted. She considered dark lipstick as an added barrier but decided kissing was on the Approved list for tonight, if for no other reason than that she couldn’t stand knowing she wasn’t the last person whose lips Judah’s had touched.
She was just finishing up her mascara when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” Liana called out.
