The silence that had fallen upon them had been comfortable at first, but eventually it grew heavy and Jane could feel herself becoming antsy.
“Have you ever asked anyone else to do this for you? Model for your paintings?” she asked suddenly.
“No,” Thomas replied simply.
The curt way he responded made her feel otherwise was the case.
“Is that so? Not even your late wife?”
Thomas’s face hardened and his hand stopped moving for a bit.
“Especially not her,” he said as he continued to paint.
His reaction made her even more curious. Clearing her throat, she said.
“Did you two not get along?”
“We did not.”
“Why?” she queried, tilting her head slightly.
He shrugged. “We simply did not.”
“You had a child together and you were married for three years. Surely you both had some sort of connection.” She pushed further.
Thomas’s gaze snapped to her face sharply and he exhaled, long and deep.
“There was no sort of connection between us. Certainly nothing like what you imagine. We never had any sort of romantic entanglement. We were a bad match from the start and she abhorred my looks and quiet nature. And I only discovered how she really felt about me when it was too late to annul the marriage. So… no. Truthfully, I had no interest in paining her as well. She never modeled for me. She never made any sort of effort to know me or care about my interests. So, I doubt she would have entertained my request, even if I had been brazen enough to ask.” He said briskly.
Then he stared at her for a moment and sighed again.
“You moved.” He told her pointedly.
Jane looked down at her form and shook her head.
“I did not.”
He shook his head slightly as he rose to his feet, walking to where she was seated. He leaned down to adjust her hands back to their previous positions and she couldn’t help but notice how close he was.
The little distance between them made it impossible for her not to realize that Reuben had had his father’s dark brown hair that reminded her of chestnuts. She felt a strange sense of relief flood her veins over the fact that Reuben might look more like his father than his mother.
Especially because it was clear Reuben was a charming looking boy because his father was quite attractive as well. Jane had always been too nervous to stare directly at his face but at this distance, she couldn’t look elsewhere.
She did not want to.
Thomas leaned closer and brought his hands up to her face and her lips parted,
“I do not understand what she was thinking. I find you quite handsome.”
Thomas stared down at her in surprise and it dawned on her that she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
“W-Wait, I didn’t —” she tried to explain but was cut off by the press of his lips on hers.
Almost immediately, she went limp in his grasp, whining as his mouth moved against hers insistently and molten heat leaked down her chest.
She inhaled deeply through her nose as she kissed him back as hard as she could, already dizzy from the warmth of his hands on her face and his scent. She wanted more, needed more. But as she raised her hand to grip his shirt and pull him closer, he leaned back, breaking the kiss.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean — you look quite lovely, when you blush. I only wished to bring it back after it had faded.” He mumbled.
