Goodness.
I’d never had a man look at me or my lips like that.Is that why my knees were about to give out?
Finally, just when I was about to melt completely, he pulled away and looked at the front door. “Why do you want me to stay?”
My eyes refused to leave him, imprinting this new view of his profile to memory. “I have things I want to say to you.”
“So say them,” he offered, still not looking at me.
My hands clasped together, the all too familiar prickling sensation making itself known on the back of my neck. “Well—the thing is—I can’t—” I swallowed the rest of my words, unsure whether I should even bother with saying them.
Big conversations were never meant to be had while standing.
The words of my mother sang out in the back of my head like a broken record. When I was around the age of ten, my parents came to me with some devastating news about my grandfather, and that’s when my mother uttered those words. Even though I was an adult now and I hadn’t spoken to my parents in nearly seven years, that one rule had stuck with me, unbreakable. Etched in stone.
“Angel?”
I blinked, finding Mr. Doss’ wall of a chest right in front of me. “Oh, I apologize,” I rushed out, stepping back and clearing my throat. “I got lost in thought.”
His hand found the bridge of his nose, and I watched in fascination as he pinched, closed his eyes, and tipped his head back to my small chandelier. He muttered something to himself, the sound like distant thunder. I waited, picking at the hangnail on my left thumb, and started counting to twenty in my head.
When I got to eleven, his eyes found mine again. “Would you like me to put my shoes on the porch?”
“Yes, please.”
He nodded and turned to the door. His large hand covered the antique knob as he looked over his shoulder. “Do you want the rest of the party crew to come in or do you want me to boot them?”
“Party crew?”
“Margo and the other three eavesdroppers,” he deadpanned.
“Oh, well, I need to say good night to them,” I said, moving to him. He pulled open the door to reveal Carrie and Margo practically plastered to the screen. They jumped back, yelping.Their high-pitched squeals echoed into the night and I nearly winced, hoping my crabby neighbor wouldn’t hear.
Shit.
“H-hey,” Margo said, dragging out they. “We were just…uh—”
“Eavesdropping,” Heath—Hayes said. My eyes drifted over to him against my better judgment. He gave me a closed-mouth smile, kind but to the point. He was leaning against my porch column. Grayson was propped up against the other with his arms folded over his chest. His eyes left me, flicking to Ash, and I noted how they went cold, even the smallest of his facial features hardening.
What was that about?
“We were not!” Carrie’s voice captured my attention, but Margo stole it by coming up to me and grabbing my hands.
“You okay?” Her brows were creased together, the corners of her mouth tipped down. Worry painted her striking features, and I didn’t like it. There was no reason for Margo—or anyone in this group—to be worried about me.
“Yes,” I answered, tilting my head to the side. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
The right corner of her mouth flipped up, and she looked like the Margo I knew once more. “Just making sure.” Her green eyes lifted to Ash, and unlike her partner, guilt softened her features, regret glimmering in them.
“I was just coming out here to say good night to everyone,” I announced. “Thank you for helping me.”
Grayson smiled. “It’s not a problem, Angel.”
I returned the gesture and looked up at Ash, pointing to the small plastic mat where my rain boots sat just outside the door. “You can put your shoes there.”
“He can what?” Carrie asked, jaw slack.
Confusion hit me then, my temple throbbing. I refused to press my fingers against it. Not in front of Margo. If I did,she’d become a makeshift home nurse again. When she arrived, an oversized first aid kit in hand, I’d never seen her looking so frazzled. She fussed over me for nearly fifteen minutes before Carrie arrived. Very quickly after that, I was overstimulated and no longer cared about having been in a car crash. I just wanted everyone out of my house. Then Margo told me Ash was still on the porch.
