All the Waters of the Earth

Chapter 16: You Are an Artist

Jake and I watched Carlos saunter down the hallway. Jake looked pissed. "Carlos knows about us. I was trying to avoid that exact thing. Fuck."

I shook my head. "You know what? I'm glad." He looked at me, surprised. "I don't like to hide things. With me, what you see is what you get. I am who I am and I'm proud of it. And I'm proud of being with you. So screw him."

Jake smiled, a wan, but gentle half-smile. "I suppose it's too late now, anyway." He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. "I guess I'll go back to the office."

I shook my head and grabbed his hand, pulling him to me. "Oh no you don't."

"What?"

I stepped way into his space, putting my finger on his chest. "This is the day you get a quickie before you go back. And you're going to show me your house because I've never seen it."

His eyes flashed. He nodded, not saying anything, which was unusual; he was normally pretty chatty. I guess I had stunned him into silence. I went to go and leave, but before I could turn to go down the halls to find our cars, he grabbed me, hard, slamming me into him. Hand on my ass, hand on my shoulder, he kissed me like it was his life's work. Like he was creating a moment with me.

And for the second time in that courthouse hallway, on the terracotta tile, in the historic building, I lost myself with him. People walked up and down the hallway, clattering their rollaway briefcases and their shoes. These sounds barely registered in my consciousness. No other sensations registered, really, except for the taste of his tongue, his seductive smell, and the feeling of his hard, athletic body.

He might be mine now.

Suddenly propelled to get a fucking move on, we split apart, kissed again really quickly, and then, with a hand squeeze to say goodbye, breathlessly headed to our cars.

We drove in separate cars to the same place. Once I parked in front of the duplex, no private investigator in sight, I got out of my car, feeling electrified and turned on. As in, really fucking heated. Wet. Wanting to be naked with him.

But I had to be a mom first.

Awkward. Yet parental responsibilities came first.

Jake pulled up right after me and I went over to him. "Let me check in on Roberto and I'll be over." He nodded.

He looked like he was feeling about the same way I was, like he was going to explode if he wasn't touching me. But he didn't touch me anywhere except my hand, holding it. He walked with me over to the duplex and then dropped my hand, looking at me.

"I'll be just a minute," I said.

"Be fast," he muttered, and then he went and unlocked his home.

I walked to my house, opened my front door, and called in to Sara, who had been watching Rob during the hearing. I was grateful for her help. She was the only one available at the last minute for that emergency hearing. I had lucked out that she was going to work late tonight at Macy's, so she could help me. Thank heavens for holiday hours.

When I walked into the living room, Rob was sitting on the couch reading a book and Sara was reading something on her tablet.

"Hey guys."

"Hi mom."

I looked over at him. "You good, mijo?"

"Yep. Tia and I went to the park and came back and now we're reading."

"Sounds good," I responded, grateful for the awesome free babysitting.

"How did it go?" Sara asked in a low voice, getting up. She walked with me into the kitchen before I started talking.