“Why do you think so?” Jae looks at me, excitement sparkling in his eyes, but I’m still not putting two and two together until he hands me a stack of paint brushes that seemingly came out of nowhere.
“You want me to paint in here?”
“It’s a studio. For you.” He shifts to stand behind me, hugging me from the back. “So you don’t have to paint in your living room anymore. We’ll move your easels and canvases. And you can host your lessons here.” I had quite the growing clientele list.
I look around the small room. It’s painted a bright shade of light blue with exposed brick on one wall, and has massive, north-facing industrial style windows with what would be tons of natural daylight.
“Why did you do this? What about your den?” I crane my neck to look at him.
“I don’t need a den. I already have the main living room.”
Jae fishes in his gym short pockets for something, and then he hands me a set of keys.
“These are also for you.”
I already have keys to his apartment.
“What are these?” The keys to his heart?
“The keys to a storage unit.”
“A storage unit. A storage unit for what?”
“The unit the cabinets Grant designed are in. And the brass sconces. I saved them, too. They’re yours to do with what you want.”
“Why would you do this?” I ask, taking the keys from his hands, unsure of what to make of the situation.
“I know how much they meant to you. I’ll install them here, or in your apartment, if you want.” Jae keeps his eyes trained on me, his face beaming. “But I have something else, too.”
“Thank you. I’ll think about it. I’ll definitely use the studio when I am here.” I begin to thank him profusely before Jae cuts me off, taking both my hands in his, his excitement over his next announcement almost too much for his face to bear.
“Riley—” He pushes a kiss to my cheek. “Please move in with me and use the studio all of the time.”
I knew this was coming. I knew it as soon as he showed me the studio. A man doesn’t do all of this and not ask you to move in after.When I don’t answer in a heartbeat, he interjects, “You don’t have to say yes. Just think about it, please?”
“You don’t think it is too soon?” I cock my head, my hair falling to one shoulder.
“I know when it’s the right decision.”
“What about your ma?” Moving in with Jae and his mother would certainly prove to be a unique situation.
“She’ll be here for a while, of course. She likes you, you know,” Jae answers, squeezing my hands. His ma had a caretaker from mid-morning to mid-evening, who sometimes joined us for painting. “But if I’m being honest, I think we may have to move her to a round-the-clock monitored facility by the end of the year.” Jae’s face is grim. “I can’t take care of her the way she needs, with the restaurant. I hope she doesn’t deter your decision.”
“She doesn’t, Jae.” I smile at him. “I didn’t even have to think about it. Of course I’ll move in with you.”
He pulls me into a sweet, mild kiss that quickly turns provocative with the dip and twist of his tongue as he catches his teeth on my bottom lip.
“I can’t wait to call this our apartment,” he growls into my mouth, his voice low.
Just the thought of him kissing me goodnight makes me tingle. Jae kisses my cheeks and neck like he’s doing it for the first time. “I can’t wait to see you in our bedroom,” I laugh in response to his sudden lack of inhibitions, as his hands make their way to feel up my sides and back. “Whose mattress are we keeping?”
“Yours. I always sleep better on yours.” He grumbles into my neck, his hands cupping me, apparently itching to pick me up.
“As long as we can use your sheets and comforter. I can’t get enough of how you smell.” I inhale a massive breath from his collar bone. “Even when you’re disgusting and sweaty.”
Jae’s response is to finally pick me up and carry me through the hallway and into his bedroom, soon to be our bedroom, and toss me onto his unmade bed. I laugh maniacally the whole way.
Before I can scold him for tossing me like a magazine, he’s on top of me, and kissing me so dearly. He kisses like honey dripping from a spoon, agonizingly tender and slow. I lavish each press of his soft lips with my tongue and my scold is long forgotten.
