Chapter 21: Confession is Good for the Soul

"These are some of my very special projects. Portraits by paying customers that came out so well that I made room for them. They're showcases." I looked around and I saw pictures of Ana, Kate, and Mia. There were some really beautiful shots of little Teddy. I walked through the area and noticed the pictures of me. The one by me looking through the blinds, I'd never seen a picture like this of me.

"Whoa," I whispered. "You're such a great artist Josie." He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my shoulder.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me you saying that." I turned in his arms and looked up into his eyes.

"There are a lot of pictures of Ana here," I inquired and he arched his eyebrow.

"Yeah, back in the day I used to have a crush on her. I would have plenty more pictures of you if you would let me take pictures of you. You see how beautiful you are Alex. I've never seen a woman as beautiful you. You are a work of are Alex … I could stare at you all day."

"Don't that's a little creepy," I giggled and then quickly sobered. "So, I was talking to Glo, she said that you told her that we were just friends … that you see me like a sister?" Jose' took my hand and led me down to the other areas. It had a lot of pictures of married couples and babies. All of them had a very artsy vibe and I bet that that people paid thousands for these pictures.

"I told her as far as she was concerned that you and I were just friends. I didn't say anything about seeing you as my sister, she probably just said that to get under your skin. It apparently worked." I smirked a little and then huffed. "Hey, I'm sorry that she got you flustered but Alex, I've never felt … I don't want to overwhelm you." He tucked one of my curls behind my ear. "Just know I most definitely don't see you like I would see a sister. I'm planning to head to the new location in about twenty minutes. Well actually I wanted to have lunch then head over there. What are you in the mood for?" He led me to his office and started packing up his things. He looked up at me and gave me that look. I felt my face heat and he smirked at me. "Did you make up your mind Ally?" Uh, yeah I knew what I was starting to want.

"I don't know a burger or something is fine." I shrugged. I never wondered what sex was like so much. Jose' looked amazing in his suit, but today all I kept envisioning was him undoing his black tie and unbuttoning his shirt slowly taunting me with his sexiness. I imagined him taking me here in his office.

"A burger? That's not very … I want to take you some place special. I know a place do you like Italian?" I nodded and he smiled. He picked up his phone and started talking to someone. He reached for my hand and led me to the car.

It took us about twenty five minutes to head to this little sweet looking restaurant. When we walked in it was drenched in reds and burgundy. The small intimate room was dimly lit for the lunch hour. I looked around the room and noticed we were the only ones in the restaurant. "Did you arrange this?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to do something special. I don't want you to ever forget Al, what you mean to me." We had a seat at the table with the two white candles lit and the waiter quickly came out and placed two salads in front of us. He handed us menus and quickly let us to our own devices.

"I provided the owner of this restaurant some of the imagery for a couple of his other restaurants. Out of all of his places this is my favorite. It's more low key and the cook is better in my personal opinion." I smirked at Josie he seemed so excited about all of this.

"So what do you suggest Mr. Rodriguez?" I said playfully.

"I keep it simple with baked spaghetti, plus I love cheese!" I chuckled.

"Yeah, that's something I've learned about you. It seems like every pizza you order has extra cheese and you mac and cheese is like a sea of cheese."

"Love my queso," He mumbled as he looked over the menu and smirked. "But today I'm going to try something new. He has this dish with chicken and zucchini people are crazy about. Ethan actually told me about it." I nodded.

"Well, I'll get the spaghetti so if you don't like what you're getting you can share some of mine!" He smiled and grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"You look amazing by candle like Alexandria. The way your beautiful hazel eyes dance … I can see the flame in them … so tantalizing. I'd love to capture it." I took a deep breath sometimes Jose' said things that some directly to a part of myself that I was aching to get more familiar with. I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the desire he'd created within me.

"Where's that waiter?" I looked away from him and he eyes back in his chair and looked toward the kitchen.

"I don't know, he'll be back soon. Until he comes back," he offered me his hand and I took it. "I want to wrap you up in my arms and rock you." He rocked me to the soft piano playing in the background and hummed to the melody. I'd never felt so beautiful and special. I was his and I want to show him in every way. I just wanted to show him how much.

"I love you Josie," I murmured I couldn't believe it slipped out. I felt his arms become tense around me. He pulled away from and looked at me with wonder in his eyes.

"What … what did you just say."

"I, I said," I stammered over myself. It was way too soon for me to be declaring my love. I'm sure that I'd freaked him out.

"I know what you said and baby, I feel that way too." He kissed me and boy did he kiss me. It gave all of his passion which was something he very rarely did. When we parted he cradled my head in his hands. "Thank you Alex, thank you for loving me."

Author's Note: Hey everyone! My goal today was to write 1000 words on some of my stories today. I hadn't worked on this story for so long. I'm not sure if anybody's still reading if you are please review and no flames!