Arms Length

Chapter 39: Body on body Contact

**Jade**

I shut the door behind Billie and take a deep breath as my heart pounds in my ears; red and green flags are going up all over my head "Don't you dare". I run my hands through my hair and silently curse myself for not being able to keep my composure around her. "God dammit"

"So, you were really an intern for Billie Eilish?" Hannah asks barging into my office and plopping lazily into the chair.

"I was." I say trying to hide the evident blush across my cheeks as I shuffle a stack of miscellaneous paper from one side of my desk to another.

"What was that like?"

We had a lot of sex in hotels, hotel pools, and in her greenrooms. "I mostly just helped with the sound stuff and stage set-up. We didn't really like 'hang-out'."

"You spent most of your summer with Billie Eilish and didn't hang out with her?!"

"Not most of my summer, not even half my summer." I say matter-of-factly, hoping Hannah will just drop the subject.

"What happened?"

"My sister and her husband died in a car accident and I became instant mom to my nephew." I can literally feel the lump in the throat turn into a tight feeling in my chest.

"Oh... I didn't know... I'm sorry." She says, sitting back in the chair like someone just deflated her favorite balloon from her 7th birthday party.

"Thanks." I sigh, "Uh Nick wanted us to talk about the 'Brian situation'." I say making air quotes. "Apparently, he'd been drinking all day?"

"According to some of the other interns, he was one of the ones to show up late and was already kind of inebriated." Hannah sighs.

"Great." I can feel the migraine starting to build in my temples and back of my neck. "If he shows up tomorrow, we'll send him home for the duration of the festival. I don't want to condone or reward bad behavior. He can continue his internship but, he's on thin ice."

"Okay." Hannah nods, scribbling notes on a legal pad then standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"See you in the morning." I sigh leaning back in my chair, suddenly I want to back out of my dinner plans with Billie.

"Hi honey." Aunt Sherri says as I walk upstairs and into the kitchen.

"Hey..." I say setting my keys and backpack on a barstool, "Uh Billie is coming over for dinner."

"Oh, good. I'm glad you two talked."

"She showed up at my work today...." I say picking Chase up and kissing his cheeks as he rests his head on my shoulder while the plush shark hangs from his other hand. "I had no choice but to talk to her." I sigh rubbing Chase's back.

"What time will she be here?"

"I told her to come over at 7:30." I say looking at my watch.

"You've got some time, sweetie. What did you want to fix for dinner?"

"I told her we'd have burritos."

"Glad to see her tastes have changed." Aunt Sherri chuckles.

"What's wrong baby shark?"

"He's been clingy today. I think he's cutting another tooth."

"Yeah... he was fussy last night." I say kissing the side of his head, while rubbing his back. "I feel like a bad mom."

"Why do you feel like a bad mom?"

"Because I've had to leave him with you while I figure out this whole working thing and I know they'll allow me to work from home once ACL is over with."

"Honey you have taken to being his 'mom' for all intense and purposes like a duck to water, you're not a bad mom for going back to work."

I kiss Chase's temple again, "Thanks."

"When did you move?" Billie asks following me back downstairs after giving her a tour of the townhouse post dinner.

"Like end of September, I think? I still have a couple things to get." I say leading her into the kitchen where Aunt Sherri is cutting up a pineapple for Billie.

"I thought you had to stay in Corpus Christi until the adoption went throu- wait... when did the adoption go through?" She's almost beaming,

"Uh shortly after my court appearance in August, I spoke to Lydia and Judge Harrison. Lydia already told him she thought I'd was doing wonderfully and had her blessing so to speak so Judge Harrison signed off on the adoption paperwork." I say looking over at Chase who is squishing beans between his fingers.

"So, he's yours... like officially?"

"He is." I can't help but smile.

"And she's doing a wonderful job." Aunt Sherri chimes in.

"Thank you."

"I knew she would." Billie says smirking as she sits up on a barstool as Aunt Sherri hands her the bowl of pineapple. I've been trying not to look her up and down all night, but I know she's caught me at least once by the smirk she shot me. Her electric green roots are freshly done and she's clad in a white Soto Gang t-shirt and matching joggers, that in typical Billie fashion is 4 sizes too big for her small frame.

"You two talk and I'll get Chase down." Aunt Sherri says patting my back as she winks. Yeah, I didn't invite Billie over so we could talk and.

**Billie**

I pop another piece of pineapple into my mouth as I watch Jade clean up the small mess in the kitchen. "What made you want to move?"

"Too many bad memories in Corpus, and I found out about the job opportunity here..." Jade says turning to face me as she leans back against the counter and takes a sip of her wine. She looks like a hot mom, as she wipes her damp hand on her jeans, she's wearing a simple black V-neck t shirt that's been slipping off her tan shoulders all night. All I want to do take her back up to her room and find out if the rest of her body as tan as her shoulders and feel the warmth that radiates off her.

"That make sense." I say walking to the sink and setting the bowl down.

"I mean I kept the house, for family or if I ever want to go to the beach and don't want to get a hotel." She says rinsing my bowl and then putting it in the dishwasher while I sneak a sip of the wine she's been drinking. "Uh ma'am, that's illegal."

"So?"

"So, if you come back to your hotel drunk, your management team will never forgive me."

"Who says I'm going back to my hotel?" I say trapping her between my arms and the counter.

"Billie..."

"Hmm?" I can't help but look from her lips to her eyes, her eyes to the barely exposed bit of her cleavage to her eyes again.

"I didn't invite you to stay the night." She says leaning over my arm to grab her wine.

"We don't need all night."

"Huh." She hums as she brings the glass to her mouth and raises her eyebrow to take a sip. "I recall it always took 2 hours minimum."

"Then give me 2 hours."

"I don't-" I cut her off by kissing her on the mouth, the taste of the wine she's been sipping on paired with the way she tastes is enough to make me feel like I'm drunk. I close the space between our bodies and feel her free hand grip the sleeve of my shirt as slide my hands from her hips to her ass pushing her body closer to mine. I just hope she wants this as much as I do.