Chapter 15: Confession and the Room of Frozen Memories

"So we're finally alone," Jose' rubbed his hands together mischievously as he stalked toward me. I took a couple steps away from him and back into Jose's triangular glass coffee table. It seemed he had an extreme distaste for the conventional.

"Yes it seems we are." I placed my arms behind my back. There were grown up things I wanted from this man that viewed in an extremely odd manner. I knew he was attracted to me, he'd confessed to that much, but he also viewed me as a juvenile. I wanted him to see me as a woman and to treat me accordingly. I was tired of him handling me with kid gloves, but I didn't know how to make him lose control in the carnal sense anyway. I've never been with a man, however just because I was a virgin didn't mean I didn't know lust, my feeling for Jose' proved that much.

"Did you want a tour of the establishment senorita?" he offered. The way he looked at me a second ago didn't really make me want to walk around his loft, to his bedroom, not the whole loft.

"I've already looked around during the party. It's a really nice place you have here Rodriguez." I answered and he smirked at me, I was confused by his amusement I was sure there was something I was not getting. Sometimes I wondered if Jose' realized how gorgeous he was. He warm brown eyes, mixed with his caramel complexion, and his wavy shoulder length hair that he kept lazily balled in a ponytail bun sort of thing. He should really be a model instead of a photographer.

"But I haven't shown you anything. There are a lot of cool features to this space and reasons why I love it here. Come on Ally, humor me." He placed his hands on my hips and rubbed his thumbs along the bottom of my shirt playing with its fabric.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"That's what I thought baby girl!" He turned me around so I wasn't facing him anymore. "On ward march!" he yelled before he slapped me hard on my butt.

"Ow Jo, jeez!" I rubbed my sore butt cheek and he laughed. He got behind me and wrapped his arms around me and directed me into the dark room on the first floor. I had assumed it was his office or den. He pulled away from me to adjust the lighting. He of course had a dimmer in the room; I would consider the look of the room to be half lit.

"This room pays homage to some of my favorite artists and artwork. It's my favorite room in the whole house. Sometimes I sleep down here." I looked around the room. The walls were black but I had to really look to notice that feature. The pictures covered the walls from the ceiling to the floor and the only furniture in the room was an L shaped couch that sat directly in the center of the room.

"This is intense Jo," I said as I walked around and looked at the different pictures and emotions that covered the four walls.

"I know. All of these artists are really talented. Each picture means something to me and tells a story I can relate to." He stood by a picture of a mother holding a baby, there was a tear running down the mother's cheek. The look in his eyes was so serious, the peered at the picture as if he was searching for something. He looked …I had no words for how his expression made him look; to say he was sexy was an extreme understatement. I took a deep breath and Jose' glanced at me. "You're supposed to be looking at the artwork Alex, not me."

"You are a work of art Mr. Rodriguez … probably the most handsome piece in the room." He snorted and rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm serious Jo! You should let someone take your picture." He scrunched up his nose at the suggestion. I found his aversion a little comical.

"Are you telling me you like taking pictures but not taking pictures? Are you one of those guys?" I laughed and lay back on his white couch. He looked at me with hooded eyes as I lay there catching my breath from my hard laughter.

"What's wrong?" I asked after catching my breath and composing myself.

"Nothing we can discuss yet," he murmured and then turned his back on me. This was the type of behavior that made me believe that we weren't going to be able to make this work. I want him to respect me and love me, but at the same time I wanted him to objectify me a little bit. I wanted him not to just want to touch me, but to actually touch me.

I got up and went and stood behind him and rested my forehead on his back. I took a deep breath and inhaled Jo's wonder Burberry scent. I ran my fingertips along the muscles in his upper and forearms. I heard as he swallowed hard and responded to my slow exploration of his body.

"This picture makes me think of my mom. She was really young when she died. I don't have any memories of her, I was a little over one when she passed. I do have pictures though, tons of pictures of her. My dad told me that pictures were better than memories because you can touch a picture and hold it forever."

"A picture is a memory frozen in time," I amended. He grabbed one of my hands and held it at his abdomen. He squeezed my hand in his.

"I think that's why I want to take your picture so much. I feel the urge to photograph ever move you make because … because, I'm afraid that one day, one moment I'll blink and you'll disappear out of my life forever," he whispered and I gasped. My heart was in my throat and I wanted to cry. I didn't want him to feel that way. His head dropped, he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

"Jose' … I don't know what to say," I softly croaked. It was probably the most romantic, depression confession anyone has ever revealed to me.

"There's nothing to say Alexandria. I just wanted to share this room with you because it means a lot to me," he explained and then turned to me and gave me a full tight hug.

"You mean so much to me Jose' Rodriguez," I mumbled into his chest while we were still embraced.

"You say that now, but one day someone your age is going to come along and steal you away from me." He chuckled but as I looked at him I could tell there was legitimate fear in his eyes.

"Jose'…" I was going to tell him that his worries were futile. I could be just as worried that he could find someone his own age and with more experience, but right now I wanted to talk about something a little lighter, actually it would be better if weren't talking at all. "Well, if I can disappear so easily I think you should kiss me now before you blink and I vanish right before your very eyes!" I giggled and his mood seemed to lift.

"You know that's an excellent idea Fuentes, a very excellent idea!" He dipped me and planted kissed on both my cheeks before really kissing me which was all I had really wanted since we got here.

Author's Note: Knock, knock! Is anybody still there? Let me know what you are thinking about this story. Please read, review, and no flames!