All the Waters of the Earth (Giving You ... #3) by Leslie McAdam Read Free Book Online Page A

said, intently. “I knew it was you, Lucy, my beautiful neighbor, the whole time.”  My margarita glass got really interesting to me all of a sudden and my cheeks grew hot. Yeah.  We liked each other.  But could anything happen?
    I had to ask.  “So with all this work, do you actually have time to see anyone?”
    He barked out another mirthless laugh and shook his head. “No.”  Great.  Stomach in my shoes.  Not the right answer.  But he continued, “That’s not the thing to tell you on a date, but it’s the truth.”  He took my hand across the table.  God, I loved his hands.  Artist hands.  Strong and warm and intelligent hands.  “Listen.  I’m always at the office. I know it’s unhealthy. But I want to see you. I want to get to know you. Will you give me a chance?”
    Was there any question?  Of course.
    I nodded. Yes, I could give him a chance. He was trying. He was so sweet and I just felt compelled to be with him. When I wasn’t around him, I was wondering what he was doing. I don’t know if that was healthy or unhealthy, but it was how I felt.
    I also knew that I wanted to be in bed with him by the end of the night.
    And I knew that it would be the first time I’d been with a man since Carlos.
    This romance writer had a way more active imagination than active sex life.  For a really, really, really long time.  Yes, I’d been on dates.  Yes, I’d messed around.  Yes, I’d done things.  But I hadn’t been all the way with a guy since Carlos.  
    Pathetic. 
    It just hadn’t worked out.  Either the guy was wrong or I was wrong and I wanted Mr. Right.
    Explanation?  Romance writer.
    I didn’t know if Jake was Mr. Right.  He seemed kind of not .  But there was something about him, something complicated to him, that made me trust him.
    He’d opened up to me.  Given his fancy import car, I couldn’t believe he’d ever been poor.  But we all have pasts and we all have things we aren’t proud of.
    I did pay attention to how he treated me, however.  While he was clearly a workaholic, he was clearly into me and I felt a connection with him that I’d never felt with another person.  Everything felt right when he was around.
    The way he talked, I think it was the same way for him.  Otherwise, why would he even bother stopping by my house when he got home from work so late?  Even though his body wanted to do nothing more than crash, he still made sure to stop by and check in on me.  I loved that.
    As we drank our drinks, we watched the sun go down into the horizon over the ocean.  The sunset turned the sky a brilliant shade of pink, fading to purple, fading to gray, the water gray-blue and dark. When we finished, we went to a heated outdoor patio and had dinner at their Italian restaurant.
    “So I have to ask this,” he said.
    “Anything.”
    “Were you ever married?”
    “No.  My ex-boyfriend Carlos dumped me after he got me pregnant.  Actually before we found out.”
    Jake looked pissed.  “Fucker.  That’s no way to treat you.”
    I shook my head.  “You?  Have you ever been married?”
    He looked amused.  “No.  Again, not a good first date topic, but I’ve never dated anyone long enough for that.”
    “Big guy like you probably has no problems getting a date.”
    He looked sheepish.  “The problem has been me, not them.  My work life is untenable.  It runs over my whole life.”  He sighed.  “Always so much to do in the office.”
    “So tell me what you like to paint.”
    Raising an eyebrow, he said, “You, for starters.”
    “Aww, that’s sweet,” I said, touched.  “What else?”
    “Anything, really.  There’s no shortage of inspiration if you really pay attention.  I like photography, too.  There’s an amazing exhibit right now at the Getty, I saw it online.  I’d love to go . . .”
    As I listened to him talk, I realized how much I loved hearing his ideas.  What a loss it would be if this creative man couldn’t draw, and I