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“Yeah, I’d love to come,” Angel said, enjoying the warm fluttering feeling in her stomach. She liked his friends, and it was always a good sign when a guy wanted to hang out with you right away, right?
Not that they hadn’t been getting to know each other for a couple weeks now, even if things had gotten a little backwards and sideways since they’d gotten naked together before ever going out on a date. She took it as a good sign he wanted her there.
“Good.”
When they got back to her house, Adam walked her up to the door even though she told him it wasn’t necessary. He gave her another one of those looks that made her feel all hot and bothered inside and her knees get a little wobbly and she decided not to argue with him.
“Do you want to come inside?” she asked, feeling a little nervous despite the fact he’d already been in her house earlier in the day. She wasn’t sure how he would take the invitation, all things considering.
“No, I’ve got to get home and make sure everything’s ready for tomorrow.”
“Oh, right,” she said, smiling brightly. Her emotions felt a little jumbled, the weirdest mix of relief and disappointment flickering through her.
Before she could put her key in the lock, he put his hand over hers, stopping her. His other hand slid along her neck and cradled the back of her head, his skin a little cold but quickly heating as his fingers buried in her hair.
“Because I have a feeling your housemates are going to be right inside...”
Then his lips covered hers, and the faint sounds of a congregation of video-game-playing-males melted away. By God the man could kiss. He held her head, gently but firmly, as his tongue probed her mouth, gently but insistently. It was an extremely thorough kiss which made her feel like she was boiling from the inside out, barely aware of the freezing air around her.
When he finally pulled away, her back was now pressed up against the door and she was practically panting.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, looking extremely satisfied as she stared up at him. Another light pass of his lips over hers and then he was heading back to his car.
“Um... yes... see you tomorrow...” she called after him, awkwardly fumbling for words. “Thank you for dinner!”
He gave her a grin and a little wave as he got in his car. Although he started it up right away, she saw he was still looking at her, patiently waiting for her to go inside before he left. Now as a self-defense teacher, that was a sweet gesture she could approve of for more than one reason. She wished it didn’t mean he got to watch her drop her keys as she fumbled to get them in the doorknob.
Twice.
19
Angel
“Crap… crap… crap… why is everything I have to wear crap?” Angel half-wailed, yanking off yet another shirt that had looked perfectly fine on the hanger and yet wasn’t at all what she wanted once she put it on. The V-neck of her purple sweater seemed too low, the black jeans were too tight with her pink shirt, the blue cardigan made her look like she had ten extra pounds on her stomach, and it was too damn cold out to wear a skirt or dress. Which would probably be too fancy anyway.
When the phone rang it was a welcome relief, even though it was playing Wyclef Jean’s Take Me As I Am which meant Leigh was finally calling her. Angel might not be super thrilled about Leigh and Michael getting back together, even if she’d expected it, but even listening to Leigh gush happily (like she always did when she and Michael worked something out) was preferable to trying on yet another fail outfit.
“Hey baby.”
“Hey baby!” The happy, lilting note in Leigh’s voice was always good to hear, even though Angel no longer trusted in Michael’s ability to make it last. “How are you?”
“I’m good, although I think the more pertinent question is, how are you?”
“Good. Wonderful. Michael and I had a long talk and I think it helped. He’s worried about being able to provide for me and provide for a family and I think he now realizes that a lot of his anxieties are in his head.”
“Does this mean you’re engaged?”
Leigh laughed. “No. Not yet. But we talked about it and he says when he proposes he wants it to be absolutely perfect.”
The warm wistful tone made Angel want to smack Leigh on the back of the head. She knew very well that all Leigh wanted was to be engaged and married, she wouldn’t care if Michael did some broad, sweeping gesture when he proposed. Which meant, once again, Leigh was setting aside what she wanted in favor of letting Michael put off proposing for even longer.
“So, what’s your idea of a perfect proposal?”
“Oh, something small and sweet...” The wistfulness was back in full force. “I’d love it if he did it this spring during the cherry blossom festival. He knows how much I love cherry blossoms. Or, maybe at the restaurant when he first told me he loved me.”
Yeah, Michael knew how much Leigh loved cherry blossoms, but it was Angel who went with her to see them every year. For Leigh, a perfect proposal would include Michael going to the festival at all. He’d been once, the entire time they were together, back when he and Leigh were in college.
Maybe he would prove her wrong and Leigh’s optimism would be proven right. Either way, Angel had learned from experience that being negative would only make Leigh defensive.
