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I’ve never walked them with Chase, though. And there’s something so peaceful being here on his arm. He’s steady and strong. Walks with confidence and holds his head high. We are opposite in so many ways. Our only common ground is our history. And that we need each other.
“We should talk about what kind of art you’re going to make for the walls,” Chase says.
I laugh. “Right, I guess I have to make that happen, don’t I?”
“Yes, since the story you weaved was so intricate…”
I flush. “Look, I was under the gun.”
“I know, I’m just giving you a hard time.” Chase pats my hand on his arm.
He can’t keep doing that. It’s just going to keep confusing my body more and more to the point I won’t be able to separate what’s real and what’s make-believe.
“I’m ashamed to admit I don’t think I’ve ever seen your work, Jude.”
I shrug my shoulders. “That’s alright.”
“I’ll have to see it to get an idea of what I’ll be commissioning you for,” he goes on in a slightly low voice. Just for me.
“I’ll already have access to your bank account, so no commission is necessary.”
Chase is quiet for a moment as we walk further away from the house, down the sprawling lane leading off the property. “I’d like to see your work, Jude.”
I laugh. “Sure.”
“Like right now.”
I stop in my tracks and pull back from him. “We can’t just leave our own engagement party.”
Chase slides his hands into his pockets and gives me a lopsided smile. “Why not? It’s more for our families than anything.”
“They’ll notice we’re gone.”
“And then they’ll be able to make up all sorts of stories about where we snuck off to and what kind of fun we were having together.”
I don’t even want to begin to dream up the kind of “fun” Chase might be referring to. Before I can respond, Chase slips his hand around the back of my head and pulls me toward him, kissing me.
Kissing me on his own accord. Kissing me without any eyes on us. Kissing me because he wants to.
Chase's teeth ensnare my lower lip gingerly, pulling at it before releasing the kiss. I start to go in for another one, but he takes me by the chin, keeping me at bay. In the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard, he murmurs, “Give me a chance to do that somewhere more private, Jude.”
I’d be a fool to say no to that.
Chase drives us back to my tiny house with the extra bedroom I’ve turned into an art studio. On my teacher’s salary, it’s been a stretch to afford. On no salary at all, well, I might as well have kissed it goodbye completely.
It occurs to me as we pull into the driveway that I won’t have a need for it once Chase and I are married. We’ll have to keep up appearances by living together, won’t we?
After putting the car in park, Chase pulls me into another kiss. Our tongues dual for dominance and our hands grip one another as best they can given the distance between our seats.
Chase breaks away, breath heaving. “Sorry, I couldn’t wait.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I reply and kiss him softly once more. A tender short kiss. “Can I show you my studio?”
I lead him inside by the hand, glad that it’s dark enough that he can’t see the squalor I live in, at least compared to the Gladstones. I reach through the studio doorway and flick on the light. “Here it is.”
I let Chase enter before me. “Jeez, Jude. You weren’t kidding.”
The tiny room is a mess of paints and brushes. In one corner sits an easel with my latest work on it. Behind it on the wall are my reference images.
