It was my first day at work. I was trying to clear my mind of every single thought and just focus on my work, but it was really hard to think of anything but that night for the past two days. I was trying to convince myself that I don't have any feelings toward Jake, but every time I tried to tell myself that it wasn't true and the whole thing was just an act, I felt as if I was trying to con myself. I was torn between two different sides of my own self. I kept remembering the soft touch of his lips on mine, that kiss made me feel a lot of things; it made me feel complete.

We haven't talked that much in the past two days because I was trying to avoid him as much as I could. But, when he knew about my new job at the museum, he insisted that we have to go out for dinner today together after work to celebrate and to talk. I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about and I really wanted to do the same, but I was extremely worried. What if talking to him proved everything I was worried about. Proved that I was really falling for him.

"Is that a French artwork?" someone asked in a French accent and cut me from my thoughts. There stood a couple holding hands and looking at The Lovers painting.

It was one of my favorite artworks, it was a painting of two lovers trying to kiss each other, but there was a barrier of fabric that prevented the intimate embrace between them.

"It was painted in Paris in 1928. But in fact, it was painted by the Belgian artist René Magritte," I answered with a smile.

"It's very beautiful," the girl said to her boyfriend and he nodded with a smile, then she turned to me again. "What's the meaning behind it?"

"Well, frustrated desires are a common theme in René Magritte's work," I started to say, looking at the incredible artwork in front of me. "But, this one is transforming an act of passion into one of isolation and frustration."

The couple nodded and looked at the painting in awe for the last time before they moved on to a Picasso painting. I sighed and looked at the painting again. The fabric barrier reminded me of what Jake and I were going through. There was a huge barrier between us; a barrier of secrets, lies, and delusions. We were simply from two different worlds that were never meant to collide.

"Such an amazing and meaningful painting." I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned to face the source of the voice and was welcomed by my very annoying brother looking at the painting with factitious interest, and Alice muffling a laugh.

I was shocked at their presence and it took me a second before I crossed my arms, and frowned at the both of them. "What the hell are you both doing here?"

"We are admiring the paintings and it's your job to answer our questions. So, how much is that painting worth?" Eric asked, pointing at a Degas painting.

I shot him a glare. "Don't even think about it."

He smirked, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's the force of habit, Sis."

"Can you please stop acting like babies?" Alice said in annoyance, stepping between us. She looked at me with a smile. "We came to see how your first day at work was going."

I was so happy for Alice and Eric. They became very close and a thing was starting to develop between them.

"It's going well," I said then I let out a sigh before I continued. "But, this is not the right time. Jake will be here any minute from now."

Eric's expressions tensed at the mention of Jake's name. "Why the hell is he coming?"

"Well, he invited me to dinner today and I agreed." I sighed, shrugging a little.

"Emma, when are you going to cut the crap with this whole thing?" Eric asked, frowning his eyes at me.

"He's still working on the case so I can't just walk away now," I lied. Jake told me that he left the case for now until new evidence was found. I don't know why I just lied but I couldn't walk away from him now. No, I thought it was more like, I didn't want to leave him now, or ever for that matter. I also didn't tell any of them about what happened between us.

Eric was about to say something but a certain person came into view.

"Hey, Emma." Jake smiled at me.

Damn it!

"H—Hi, Jake," I greeted him awkwardly as I looked at Eric and Alice for rescue. Alice was quite pale, and Eric was having a look on his face that meant he was planning for something and I didn't like it.

"Oh hey, we met before," Jake said, smiling at Alice then he stretched out his hand for her to shake.

She shook his hands with a nervous smile. "Y—Yeah, I'm Emma's best friend."

Jake gave her a warm smile before his gaze turned to be on Eric who was having a smirk on his face.

"Hi?" Jake said to Eric.

Oh god, this wasn't going to be good.

"Hi, I'm Eric," Eric started to say and my heartbeats almost reached the speed of light. Eric smirked before he continued. "Emma's brother."

Wait... what the hell just happened?

Alice and I shared a confused look because neither of us understood what was going on in Eric's mind at the moment. I mean, Jake almost arrested him and now he was revealing his true identity to him.

"Oh, it's really nice to finally meet you." Jake smiled and held out his hands to Eric.

"Likewise. Emma speaks highly of you." Eric smiled mischievously as he shook hands with Jake.

My mouth was agape and I was still quite shocked. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I cleared my throat. "So um... this's my annoying brother who I told you about," I said uneasily, looking at Eric who couldn't keep the smirk off his face, then I turned to Jake. "Um... I think we should get going or we're going to be late."

"Okay," Jake replied with a smile before he looked at Eric and Alice. "It was so nice to meet you, guys."

They smiled at him. Then, we said goodbye to each other before we headed in different directions.

><><><><><

We were at the same restaurant we usually went to, but I couldn't concentrate because of what happened and the atmosphere between us was tense. So we decided to have dinner quickly and then go to any open area to have some fresh air.

We decided to have a walk on the Bow Bridge as it kind of became our favorite spot. We walked silently next to each other, then we stopped to inhale some fresh air and to admire the view.

"Emma, we didn't really talk about that night," Jake said, cutting the pregnant silence.

I was caught off guard and I looked at him uneasily. "Well, it was..." I tried to say but hesitated because I had no clue what was the right thing to say.

"It was wonderful and spectacular," Jake said looking at me in the eye. "Tell me if you felt the same spark as I did when we kissed. Emma. For the first time in my life, I can't find the right words to describe what I'm really feeling, but I really like you and I think I have fallen so hard for you. So, please tell me if you have any pent-up emotions as I do."

I was startled, I looked at him with slightly wide eyes, there was a fight going inside of me, a part of me was telling me to give in to my heart, and admit that I have a lot of feelings toward him, and the other part kept reminding me of who I am and who he was. Words like criminal and federal agent were floating through my mind.

"Emma, I like what I'm feeling toward you, and I want to put a name to it." His eyes looked into mine so deeply, "So, will you be my girlfriend?"

I was astonished and my eyes widened, and I realized that we reached a level in which backing off would now cause permanent damage to both our hearts.

"Yes," I found myself automatically saying without giving the matter another single thought. "I felt more than that spark when we kissed, and I couldn't stop thinking about you. I also think that I had fallen hard for you, Jake. So yes, I would love to be your girlfriend."

Jake's smile stretched from ear to ear and then he pulled me close and his lips crashed on mine. All the feelings of doubt and fear from admitting my feelings to him were gone and were replaced with feelings of affection and passion.

I didn't know if I just made the right choice or not; I just knew that I was happy that I made it. I was happy to be with him, and I didn't want to ever leave him. But I also knew that I had fallen for the one person who was supposed to arrest me, and that definitely was going to be the end of me.