Paul
I can’t get her out of my head.
The kiss…
That kiss. I felt her. More of her. I felt when she gave herself to me.
Body, heart, mind, and soul. She gave them all to me, and I experienced that feeling of accomplishment for all of five minutes before the past snuck up on me.
I want her, and I want more than what we have.
The first step to getting that is right in front of me.
Ethan.
I’m in his office, and we’re talking about the newest contract I signed today.
He’s been all business with me, and I know, although he suspects enough about me and Jia, he’s not going to say anything.
I’ve gotten to the point now where I know he absolutely knows. There was the day he was at my house when he saw her purse, and then there’s all the times we’ve been absent together. It’s all so obvious that we’re together, and we haven’t exactly tried to not look so damn obvious. We kiss all the time wherever we are, not caring who sees, and I find myself touching her however I want to as well.
Last night was intense, and I know I want to change things up if I get the chance. I feel bad about the secret, though, when it comes to Ethan because Jia is his daughter, and at one point in my life, I was his stepson.
I’m not sure if he’s waiting for me to tell him, or if he doesn’t want to talk about it. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, then maybe he’s secretly mad as fuck at me. I don’t want that, but at the same time I won’t let it put me off.
I feel that to show my seriousness about my relationship with Jia, I should say something. I just don’t know how.
“How long do you think we’ll take to complete this project? I’d love for us to see if we can fit in the smaller projects around this one,” Ethan says, looking through the documents before him. It’s the planning permission I got for the old convent. It’s been run down for years, and the church that owns it wants us to renovate it.
“It’s going to take a while. There’s some parts of the building that need complete restoration. It’s old and the some of the features are preserved.”
His shoulders slump. He wasn’t in favor of this project, but it’s ones like these that bring in a continuous flow of money for months. I’ll have to go to the site and help guide the workers and make sure everything is being done as it should.
“Give me an estimate of time,” Ethan says.
“A little over a year, if I’m honest. There’s a graveyard too, and the earth is severely corroded. I’m told you can even see remnants of coffins.”
“Shit. Okay, here’s what we do. I want the smaller projects out of the way first. Then we can get everyone onboard for this one. Tell them we can start work in a month’s time, but it’ll be going over the plans and architecture designs they want. Official work can’t start until maybe four to five months. After that, we can start putting teams together who can stay on the project for a year.”
I nod, agreeing. “Okay, I’ll do that. Anything else?”
“Nah, this project has been enough of a headache for me.” He chuckles, and a spark comes into his eyes that makes me think he can’t be mad at me. I think I know enough about his mannerisms to guess when he’s angry. He isn’t.
“It’s a real headache when you have to deal with older buildings. We’ll do it though. I’ll make sure we do a great job.”
“Son, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll do anything other.” He smiles, and that puts me at ease.
I return the smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I hold his gaze at the praise, and his eyes squint slightly. “Was there anything else?”
He must mean the project, but I have so much to talk about.
“No, not with the project. That’s all.”
“Good… you look like you have something else on your mind.”
I think he’s throwing me a rope, and I should do the sensible thing and catch it. How do I begin to tell him I’ve been seeing his daughter and it didn’t just start now? I snuck around like the devil in his house and stole her innocence.