Jake choked lightly on his pizza at her words. He looked back at her and saw she wasn't joking. He smiled at the thought of not being alone in his feelings. That she felt something made his heart jump.
"I ... ummm," he stammered, trying to find the words to tell her how he felt.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It's too early in our relationship to be feeling that way," Erikah said with a bit of sadness in her voice.
"No, don't be sorry. I feel it too Erikah. I feel something for you too. And I know I'm falling for you," Jake said as he reached for her hand.
"You make me feel things I've never felt before. Never dreamed were possible to feel," he continued as his fingers slowly caressed her hand.
"I know what you mean Jake. I've been thinking that since the Hamptons. I know that was only a few days ago, but you can't help what you feel," Erikah said softly as she squeezed his hand.
They both looked down at the pan and the wine bottle, then back at each other. "Let's get out of here," Jake said with a smile and waved for their check.
****
Erikah decided to put her thought into motion. "So Jake, you haven't said what you thought of the pictures. The ones I gave you to look at last night," she said a little shyly as they walked hand in hand.
"Honestly?" Jake asked playfully as he looked into Erikah's eyes, drawing a nod and a smile from her. "I thought they were amazing. And I'm not just saying that because of the model either. I thought that before I realized it was you in the pictures," he said with a wink.
"You know what. I just remembered I have to make a phone call hun. How about you go to your apartment and grab my portfolio then meet me at my studio. Then we can decide if we want to do anything with the rest of our afternoon. Unless you have work that you need to do?" Erikah said as she stopped and turned to face him, resting her hands on his chest.
"No, I don't have anything that I have to do this afternoon," Jake said with a smile as his hands slipped around her waist. He had thoughts of how he would like to spend the afternoon, but now was not the time to bring it up. With the way their luck was going, it wouldn't work out anyway.
"Great, give me about 45 minutes," she replied, pulling his lips to hers for a quick kiss. She slowly drew her hand across his cheek before she winked and turned to walk away.
Jake stood for a moment just watching her as she walked. He couldn't help but stare at the way her body moved. He let out a sigh and was about to head for his place when Erikah looked over her shoulder at him with a big smile on her face. "I knew you were watching me," she called out to him with a laugh in her voice.
"How could I not?" Jake replied, and then started in the other direction toward his apartment.
****
Erikah turned again after a few steps and saw Jake had started towards his place. She quickened her pace knowing it would take most of the 45 minutes to get to her studio and get things in place for her little plan.
She quickly opened the door but left the front lights off so she wouldn't get interrupted by any walk-ins. She set her phone to go directly to voice mail then continued to the back room.
She set up the equipment she needed, set the lights just right and turned on some music before she headed off to the dressing room. She found the perfect outfit for what she had in mind, a black silk bra, matching French cut panty and garter set, a pair of matching silk thigh highs and matching stilettos. She wrapped herself in a long pink satin robe. She looked in the mirror and smiled. She loved the way the color of her skin showed through the lace on the edges.
****
Jake quickly walked to his apartment. He saw the message light flashing on his answering machine but decided to ignore it, not wanting to take the time. The thought of spending another day with Erikah was all that was on his mind.
He grabbed the portfolio from the table ad couldn't help himself, flipping through it quickly as he walked toward the door. He stopped walking when he got to the picture of her in the little red lingerie set. He couldn't help but trace his fingers lightly over the photo. He sighed lightly as his mind went back to their shower from earlier in the day and glanced at the smoke alarm in disgust at what might have been.
Jake locked his door and started down the hall where he met the nosiest tenant of the building "Aren't you supposed to be at work Jake," she asked.
Jake glanced at her "Nope, I quit my job," he said as he kept walking. Nancy was a nice enough person and pretty good looking, but she just couldn't seem to mind her own business. Jake knew the whole building would soon know about his job situation. Telling Nancy anything was like putting up a marquee display.
Nancy must have decided to spread the word as soon as possible because she didn't follow him down the hall like she usually did. She seemed to be after Jake, but the gossip in her turned him off.
He hurried out the front of the building and was quickly walking down the street, not wanting to lose any more time with Erikah than was necessary, when he got a text message.
****
A smile crossed Erikahs lips as another thought crossed her mind. She quickly went to her purse and grabbed her phone *Jake, I'm going to be in the back of the studio so when you get here just come on in* she texted him.
*Oh and Jake, lock the door when you get here, we'll go out the back* she said in a second text as she approached the front door and unlocked it.
She was walking to the back again, gently swaying to the sound of the music when she got Jake's reply *on my way ... be there in a few minutes ... xoxoxo*. The xo's made her smile.
She switched her i-Tunes to a sultry jazz sound and lit some candles to help give the lighting effect she wanted. She felt her tummy tighten a little when the bell on the front door rang. She knew it was Jake. She had rehearsed a dozen different ways to tell him what she had in mind, but all of them vanished in an instant.
Nobody had ever helped her with her erotic photography in the past, let alone a man and she wasn't exactly sure if she could turn her camera over to someone to take pictures of her, but something felt right about letting Jake.
She turned to face the door just before he walked in ......
****
The second text made Jake wonder a little, but he decided she must have an idea of how she wanted to spend the rest of the day.
He quickened his pace a little, wanting, no, needing to be by her side. He swore he could almost feel a heat coming from the portfolio in his hand. He soon realized it was simply him missing her already.
Jake got to her studio and followed her directions. He walked right in, closed the door and as he locked it he noticed the music and the lighting, or better yet, the lack of. He headed towards what appeared to be the only room with any sort of light in it, and it was flickering.