Two minutes later, I was in my truck, turning onto the highway that led to Portland, leaving Astoria and all my unsaid words with Angel behind.
Chapter Ten
Angel
Two minutes prior.
“Doss,” he answered, keeping his dark eyes on me for a moment or two longer. “What is it?”
My skin was burning from his touch, my heart pounding, drumming in my ears as logic screamed in my head. He gave me his back, and I put my hands in my hair.
Just as I was about to drop my head and convince my body to calm the hell down, he started speaking in German.
Rapidly.
I knew a bit of German. Enough to ask directions to a grocery store or train station. Maybe even carry on with small talk for a few minutes, but nothing more. I tried following him, but twenty seconds in, I gave up, tucked my hair behind my ear, and moved to the stove. Though I couldn’t understand what he was saying, his tone was evidence enough that he wasn’t going to be able to stay for dinner. I looked down at the meal I’d been rushing to prepare for him, an act of gratitude. It was small, but right now, it was the only thing I had the mental strength to muster. When things went wrong in my life, I came to the kitchen. I’d trained myself to get lost in experimental recipes, old favorite food combos, and baking sweet treats I shouldn’t be eating but did anyway because life was short.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said.
I swiped a final tear, wrapped my arms around myself, and turned to face him. “You have to go?” I guessed with a small smile as he pocketed his phone.
He didn’t return it. His eyes were intense, dark, and locked on me. His jaw was set under his beard, his chest rising and falling slowly. “Yes, Angel. I have to go,” he rumbled out. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I urged, shaking my head. “You did nothing wrong.”
The air between us was still thick, and I could barely breathe.
“Also, I’m sorry for touching you again. I didn’t mean to corner you like that. Forgive me,” he murmured.
My eyes dropped to his hands, wanting them on me again. I wanted his words soft and sweet, full of promise, close to meagain while I drowned in the dark warmth of his eyes. “You don’t have to apologize for that either, Ash. You’re the only person in the world I want to touch me.”
He dropped his head, his shoulders rising and falling. “Christ,” he hissed.
Definitely wasn’t the reaction I was hoping to get from him. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” He righted his head, shaking it. “Not at all.”
“I made you dinner,” I said. “Please take some.”
He looked pained and pulled off his cap to run his hand through his dark waves. “As much as I want to, I can’t. There’s a job waiting for me. I need to have a clear head.”
There’s a job waiting for me.
I need to have a clear head.
“And eating my food wouldn’t give you a clear mind?” I asked without thinking.
His gaze, already dark as night, seemed to darken just a fraction more. An impossible omen I ignored in order to get the truth.
“No, it wouldn’t.”
The inside of my bottom lip was pinched between my teeth as I let his words settle. “You’re going away again, aren’t you?”
A second later, my face was in his rough hands, my head tipped back and his lips inches from mine. “Yes,” he whispered. “But I’ll be back soon.”
My heart cried out his name. “Promise?” I rasped.
Those mesmerizing eyes of his scanned my face as if he was trying to commit it to memory. “I promise, Angel.” Foolishly, I wanted him to call me anything other than my name.Baby. Starlight. Gorgeous.The words were trapped in my throat and the clock was ticking.
