Chapter 5

Daylight shined into my room and caused me to stir from my sleep. It took me only a moment to realize I wasn't where I was supposed to be. It probably was the traces of rose fragrance all over the sheets that I was now under. When I had I joined her in bed? I couldn't remember and why wasn't she here? Where had she gone? I quickly hopped out of bed and crept to the neighboring room. I looked in the mirror and the thoughts that I was having last night resurfaced.

"I'm in trouble … big trouble." I took my cell phone out of my pocket and looked at Alex's pictures. I shuffled through my luggage and found my laptop. I quickly uploaded the photos and called my assistant, Gloria.

"Hey Glo, I'm going to send you some pictures and I want you to print them and put them on my desk and them save the copy I'm sending to you info both of our work folder okay?"

"Okay, so you already went site seeing?" She asked making small talk. Gloria was five years older than me, but I wasn't stupid she wanted me. She kept asked me to go out and grab a drink with her and I was getting less creative in coming up things I had to do. I wasn't that she wasn't beautiful, she has short jet black hair, light blue eyes, and a slender frame. I just don't like to date people I work with. It makes things weird. Together we had made each other very wealthy and she had been there almost from the beginning.

"No not yet Glo, I just saw something that caught my eye and decided to get it on camera. How's our baby doing?" She chuckled and sighed.

"The gallery is still here buzzing the way you left it. I'll send you some pictures of the new art studio tomorrow when I go check on the renovations."

"Okay," I had sent the pictures and was now looking up ways to know if you're a pedophile on Google.

"Whoa Jose', you said that you'd found something attractive not someone. Who is this?" Gloria tone was shock and slight perturbed.

"That's Alex," I murmured, not really wanted to engage in the conversation any further. "Around what time were you planning to send the pictures tomorrow?" I asked trying to change the topic of the conversation.

"Oh the kid staying with your dad," she breathed relieved for some reason.

"She's not a kid and she's not staying with my dad. I told you before I left that she was probably going to end up at the loft with me. My dad lives further away from the accredited high schools and colleges in the Seattle area. I want the best available to her after all she's been through." There was a silence between us after that.

"You're the one who called her a kid before you left … she's a very beautiful young girl Jose'. She's not a woman." She warned me. The one thing about Gloria was at times she knew as well as I knew myself. "Even if she looks like one she's not."

"Stop talking Glo!" I was about to hang up on her.

"I will after I say this. You are one of the few artists in the world that has gotten it together and is now a millionaire before death. I love you dedication to your creative Jose', I don't want to see you piss it all away because you have an itch to get in some teens panties! She is jail bait you understand!" I grumbled and the hung up the phone. I knew what she was she was a friend. That's all. I never said I wanted any of those things from her. I decided to grab a shower and cool off before joining any of the others downstairs.

I cut on the water so that it would be blazing hot. It would take my mind off the stupidity that Gloria had now placed in it. I stripped down to nothing. I'd have to thank Christian for telling me about Claude, I was never scrawny, but thanks to this dude I had the washboard abs. Plus, the extra definition in my upper arms made my crucifix tattoo look one hundred times better. I hopped in the water and it stung before it began to relax my muscles. I let out a deep breath and my thoughts started to wander somewhere they shouldn't. I quickly diverted my attention with work. I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go first to capture new landscape portraits for the art studio opening. The studio was going to also be a place where I could both work and teach students photography. There would be a gallery in the front of the building displaying all of our work. I already had over a dozen students chomping at the bit for the opportunity. I wanted all new work for this place. I wanted pictures of her, in that place.

A big question then flashed in my head. How was she going to be able to live with me if I felt this way? How was I going to let go of this fascination? I would ask my dad later today if it is okay for her to live with him. I know I was excited about the opportunities her being in my district would open, but I wasn't sure I trust myself to live with her alone. Then again, I could be grasping at straws. There's no guarantee that she really wants me. She might have just been vulnerable last night, or I could've have been misreading her gorgeous eyes. I shut the water off the shower was relaxing but didn't work as far as taking my mind off her.

I made my way downstairs expecting the majority of the people to be gathered in the living room. The only people there were Ana and Christian. Something tells me they thought they had the house to themselves. They didn't seem pleased by my presence.

"Where's everybody?" I asked ignoring their intimate positioning. Ana was straddling across Christian's lap, she quickly adjusting to a more appropriate positioning.

"Out," Christian said bluntly, "why aren't you?" I rolled my eyes.

"I had a rough night," I comment as I went into the kitchen for orange juice.

"I bet … Mrs. Taylor said that she didn't need to fix your bed this morning," Ana smirked as if she knew some secret.

"I slept in the room with Alex. She was uncomfortable staying in her room alone." I took a sip of my drink and then asked the obvious question that burning in my mind. "Where is she anyway?"

"Mia captured her earlier this morning. They did yoga together and then went shopping," Ana answered. "I'm glad you brought her Jose'. You gave Mia a new toy to play with." Ana laughed and snuggled closer to Christian.

"She didn't seem to mind. She's first person I've met that seemed to have as much energy and my little sister." Christian said as he tucked Ana's hair behind her ear. I had to get away from all of the PDA it was too sickening sweet for me to stand.

"Have they been gone long?" I asked looking towards the door. "Never mind I'll just call her." As soon as I went to call her the front door opened and Mia saying something to Ally in French I think.

"If you have to go to the bathroom, then go." Ally giggled.

"You're almost fluent! That's amazing!" Mia clapped and Ally shook her head. Both Mia and Ally came in wearing new practically matching outfits. I noticed that all of Ally's beautiful curls had been straightened and her hair was put up in a high ponytail. They both work skin tight black denim with pink shirts only differing in color. The both looked good, but I preferred the Ally I saw yesterday to this one.

"I understand more than I can say. I already have an accent so some of the words refuse to come out right." Ally put the bags down and they made a thud sound. Mia must have gone crazy with her credit card.

"What made you decide to take French?" Mia asked. Ally looked at me and smiled.

"Hey Josie? Thanks again for last night. You snore by the way." She came over to me and hugged me briefly. I placed my hand on her back. She smelled of roses beautiful roses. The shirt was so soft. She was so soft.

"I don't snore. You must've dreamt that little detail up!" She giggled and gave me a yeah right look. Mia was studying us so I took a couple steps back and grabbed a couple of Ally's shopping bags. "I'll take these to your room Miss." I chuckled.

"Why thank you good man!" She tried to say with a French accent.

"She I have a horrible accent." She turned to Mia.

"So why'd you take French?" I heard Mia ask as I made my way to the stairs.

"I already know speak Spanish, I had to take a foreign language so it was either French or German. I have no desire to go to Germany." I chuckled at her response I went upstairs. I took French too for a couple of years but I couldn't remember any of it. I took it for the same exact reason.

I made my way back to her room and looked at some of the clothing that she had bought. I think she had the most outrageous transformation on. Everything else seemed to be denim, sweater, and boots. She had bought so tee shirts and a couple of very thick journals. In another red bag I found … underwear, not just underwear but lace all sorts of lace, thongs no less. I quickly threw that bag to the center of her bed. I tried my hardest not to envision her in them. I would have to ask that Mia never take Alex shopping again. I was angry about her hair. What the hell had she done to all of my beautiful curls?

"Hey," I jumped at Alex's appearance in the room.

"Hey yourself," I commented I felt I'd been caught with my hand in the cookie drawer.

"You didn't say how you like my outfit?" She said as she spent around.

"It's nice."

"You don't look like you think it's nice?" She pouted a little, "What don't you like?" I took the opportunity to examine her body. That was most definitely not a seventeen year old body. I groaned inwardly and she stood staring at me waiting for an answer.

"It looks kind of stuffy and … I like your hair curly." I was honest.

"Hey, at least I got her to get jeans. She wanted me to wear a skirt. I don't do skirts by the way. I'm not that girlie. I actually like the hair." She said pulling it down. It now had layers and now hangs just above the small of her back. "Curls aren't the easiest things to manage. It will only be able to stay like this for a week and then the precious curls will return Josie." She chuckled and then her face became nervous about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I was confused by her quick change in temperament.

"You were looking through my things," she said as she picked up the red bag that I'd thrown on the bed. She looked in the bag and not at me. "You don't like them?" She picked at me with inquisitive eyes.

"What?" My voice was low. She put the bag back down and stood right in front of me. My body became anxious. Dread and desire caused my heart to pound above what was allowable for this situation.

"Jose', last night you held me in your arms with your head nuzzled right here." She pointed to her neck. "I've never felt so…,"

"Alexandria, stop!" I went to leave the room.

"No you stop!" I froze in my tracks and looked at her. She approached me once more and grabbed both of my hands. She took a deep breath. "There's something about you, that makes me feel … different. Grown." She took my arms and placed them around her.

"Alex," I whined. I couldn't believe she was doing this. I couldn't believe that she was this forward. Her hands traveled the lengths of my arms and found their way into my hair. Her touch was extraordinary it was so soft and light but caused a stir within me that made me want to devour her. "Please, don't."

"Don't what?" She rose to her tip toes and rubbed her nose against mine, her body flushed against me. She was toying with me. Both of our breathing was staggered. Gloria's words of jail bait rang through my head; jail may be worth a kiss from this angel's lips. I leaned in and the door opened.

"Mr. Rodriguez, Miss Fuentes lunch is just about ready. She stared at us alarmed by what she almost saw.

"Okay, thanks Gail," I said and gave her a small smile and she left us. I loved Gail she reminded me of my mother. What I could remember of her anyway. I didn't how she was going to feel about me seeing this. I slowly took my arms from around Alex and immediately a feeling of emptiness washed over me. I'd never felt that with any other woman. Even though Gloria said Alex wasn't a woman, that's surely how she felt.

"Alexandria, you can't do what you were trying to do. I am your friend and that's all, understand?" I tried to sound though and authoritative, I'm not normally that type of person. I needed to be clear because I knew I didn't have enough strength to resist her.

"I just thought," her eyes became tearful, "you know what never mind." She stormed out of the room and away from me. Maybe she was going to have to have to hate. I sat down on the bed and tried to compose myself before going downstairs. Why couldn't the girl have been eighteen?

"If she was eighteen there would've been no reason for her to come here." I murmured and then covered my face. I couldn't see any way around this. I had to stay away.