13. Wait It Out
13
WAIT IT OUT
“ Y ou’re snapping your gum,” Angel said the next day after everyone had left.
“What?” he asked.
“You just snapped your gum. See, you did it and not me.”
She might have wanted to do it but had caught herself knowing that he was paying attention. If only he could pay attention to everything else I’m doing around him.
Angel didn’t think Coy was this damn clueless, and short of coming out and admitting that she was in love with him and had been since she was a teen, she didn’t know what else to do other than wait it out.
It’s not as if she had any other guy knocking at her door.
Though she knew Coy had women knocking at his. Even some of his employees.
At least he wasn’t interested in Abby.
But that did bring up another issue. That he was cautious about being the boss and here she was his employee too.
She might have misjudged this all when she was trying to plan it out for years.
He balled up a piece of paper and chucked it at her. Before she realized what he was doing, it hit her in the nose.
“Sorry,” he said, cringing. “I didn’t think it’d do that. Or that you’d at least block it.”
She might have if her mind wasn’t wandering.
“I didn’t think you’d throw it at me,” she said, picking it up from where it bounced on the floor. She pretended as if she was going to toss it in the trash and instead threw it at him.
Too bad she sucked at things like this and it missed him completely.
Which of course caused him to roar with laughter.
“You tried,” he said.
“Poorly,” she said.
“How much more do you have left to do?”
“I was finishing my last patient note before someone started to snap their gum,” she said. “But you can leave if you want. I’ll lock up.”
“I’ll wait for you,” he said. “Finish and I’ll go make sure the place is locked up.”
She went back to her notes and by the time he returned, she was closing her laptop down.
Angel was thrilled with all that she was doing. She still wasn’t filled up completely in terms of appointments, but she was able to check in and meet patients quicker and easier than Coy.
Plus when people needed to return now, most times they didn’t want to wait for Coy and were scheduling with her.
Lots of people were being called to see if they wanted to come in earlier with her. Most said yes, others were waiting for Coy, and she wasn’t going to be offended by that either.
“All set,” she said.
“What are you doing this weekend?” he asked.
“About the same as I do every weekend,” she said.
“Oh, so you’re coming back for a movie again tonight?” he asked.
There was a charming grin on his face. She didn’t know why he was asking other than he did say they should do it again.
She hadn’t expected it’d be this soon, but she wasn’t going to turn this down either.
Maybe he wasn’t as clueless as she thought he was and was feeling things out.
That was promising.
“I could,” she said. “If you let me pick up dinner this time.”
“Sure,” he said.
“How about Chinese food? I saw a place on the way to work the other day. I hadn’t noticed it before, but I turned down another street because of an accident.”
“That sounds good,” he said.
“What do you like?”
“I’ll eat just about anything,” he said.
“If I tell them anything I’m not sure what we’ll get,” she said, laughing.
“Good point. I like anything with chicken or beef, rice or noodles. Nothing super spicy. Don’t need to be burping up acid.”
She laughed. “Not good for the enamel on your teeth.”
“No,” he said, nodding with that adorable grin on his face that she fell in love with the first time she met him. “It’s not.”
“I’ll order the minute I get in the door and then get it on the way to your house.”
“See you soon,” he said, the two of them walking out of the office and pulling away.
She got to her place, looked up the menu, placed the order for three different things, then got two egg rolls.
When she got out of the shower, she saw she had five minutes left before the food was ready.
She decided to see if she could figure out a movie that might be interesting for them to watch while she waited, then left to get dinner.
Before she got to Coy’s he texted her to say the door was unlocked and to just come in.
She did as she was instructed fifteen minutes later, but Coy was nowhere to be found.
It felt odd to her and she called out his name a few times.
She grabbed some plates and set them on the island with the open containers of food and then Coy walked in with his hair wet and his feet bare.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was in the shower. When I got home I brought some wood down to the beach and set it up so we just have to light it when it’s time. Thought I’d get that ready first.”
“Oh,” she said, trying to keep her tongue from coming out of her mouth.
Good lord.
He was dressed in jeans and a long sleeved cotton shirt. Nothing that she hadn’t really seen on him before.
The fact that there was evidence of him having been naked not that long ago lit the fire in her enough that she was close to telling him they could pass on the beach fire.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Nope,” she said, shifting her eyes away. “Now I know why you told me to just come in. The food is ready. I got sesame chicken, lo mien and sweet and sour chicken, plus two egg rolls.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said. “Mix and match.”
“That was my thought,” she said.
He spooned some rice onto his plate and then added some food from each container with it. She did the same.
“I got thinking if you don’t want to watch a movie, we could play some pool or throw darts.”
“We can,” she said. “I did look up movies while I was waiting for the food and nothing caught my eye. Not that I wouldn’t be game for anything.”
“I thought a few games would be less time than a movie and then we could go on the beach. Or go down now and just relax.”
“I like the idea of a game of pool. I’m not very good, but one of the guys I dated in college taught me.”
“Let’s see if he taught you well or not,” he said.
“Not,” she said. “I suck. But it’s fun. I’m a little better at darts. Or I think I am. Doesn’t mean I’m good, just better than sucking.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to practice. Between us,” he said, “I’ve spent more time than I should have alone doing those things at home. My brothers never wanted to let me hang out with them and I figured if I could beat them at things they liked they’d let me tag along.”
“Did it work?” she asked.
“Nope. When I started to beat them at pool and darts they got annoyed.”
“That’s sad,” she said.
“I think it’s normal at that age. Now, we are close, but we had years where they tortured me.”
She laughed at his mock horror. “I’m not sure I believe your parents would allow you to be tortured.”
He finished chewing. “My brothers convinced me to put a dress on when I was around four or five. I’m not sure I remember the age and it doesn’t matter. They never let me live it down.”
She started to cough on her food. “What?”
“See,” he said, pointing at her. “I managed to surprise you.”
“You did. I want to hear this story.”
“I’d rather not say it.”
“You started it,” she said, shoving his arm with her hand. “You have to tell me more.”
“Fine,” he said, giving an exaggerated sigh. “We were at some party and everyone was swimming. One of our cousins had the sundress on over her bathing suit and took it off. Bode made a bet that I was smaller than the girls.”
“And you wanted to argue that wasn’t the case?” she asked.
“Yep. They were always picking on me for being younger and smaller. I wanted to go out and stand next to them and prove that wasn’t the case. Instead, Drew said if I couldn’t get the dress on, then I’d be bigger.”
“That’s a horrible way to get a dress on a boy.”
“I got it on,” he said, “barely. But I couldn’t get it off. Bode and Drew were laughing and I had to get my mother to help me.”
She started to wipe her eyes. “Then everyone saw you had the dress on?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Drew at least felt bad enough that he wanted to get my mother to help without anyone else knowing. I don’t think I’d ever live that down. Bode got grounded for two weeks for that stunt. Drew only got a week because he felt bad.”
“And you’re traumatized for life over it?” she asked. She was still laughing. “Was the dress pink? I bet pink would look so good on you.”
“Cut it out,” he said, smiling. “Before I throw food at you next.”
“Fine,” she said. “You’ve got me beat on older brothers. Spencer would never do something like that to embarrass me.”
“No,” he said. “He just watches out for you. But I think that is why I could sympathize when I first met you. I was the baby of the family too. It does suck.”
“But you didn’t have other issues like me,” she said. “You know how I got my name, right?”
“Not really,” he said. “I just assumed it had to do with you surviving when you were barely two pounds when you were born.”
“Pretty much,” she said. “My parents were going to name me Olivia. But when I was born premature, they didn’t know if I’d live. The first twenty-four hours were touch and go and my mother insisted an angel was looking out for me. So they named me Angel Olivia.”
“That’s sweet,” he said. “I’m not sure I could see you as anything other than Angel.”
“Because that is all you’ve known me as,” she said.
“I’ve never thought of it that way,” he said.
They finished their dinner while they talked, then cleaned up together. He grabbed a bottle of wine and poured her a glass and they went downstairs to play pool.
Just as she suspected, she sucked.
She knew Coy went light on her too.
“No more,” she said. “I can’t embarrass myself like that again. How about darts?”
“We can do that,” he said. “Do you want another glass of wine?”
She looked at her glass and still had about a quarter of it left.
“Maybe I’ll get some more when we go on the beach. I’m good for now.”
She put her glass down after taking a small sip and then reached for the darts that Coy handed her. “Take a few practice throws.”
At least she hit the board with them.
But at the end of the game, she got her butt kicked there too.
“How often do you come down here and do this alone?” she asked.
“Now you’re making me sound like a loser,” he said.
“No, we know I’m the loser.”
“I don’t come down much anymore. Spencer and I play a lot when he’s here.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’m just taking the place of my brother.”
Talk about a bummer and shot to her flirting ways.
She really did suck at this too.
She wasn’t sure what more she could do at this point.
“Nah,” he said. “You’re a lot better looking than your brother. You’ve got more hair on your head but less on your body.”
She just stared at him and then burst out laughing. “Thank God for that.”
“That came out completely wrong.”
His face was bright red and she laughed even harder.
“I know what you were trying to say,” she said. “It’s fine. Why don’t you go light the fire and I’ll get more wine and my jacket?”
She was going to need it at this point.
As much fun as she was having spending time with Coy, it was killing her to know he was only looking at her as a friend.
“Can you grab my jacket and another beer for me too?”
“Sure,” she said and went upstairs to get everything, then out the deck doors and to the beach.
It was crazy how comfortable Angel felt in Coy’s home already. She had to tell herself that she couldn’t let it grow anymore.
But two hours later when her wine was gone and she knew it was time to go home, she stood up and her sneaker caught on the chair and came off.
She stumbled to try to fix it and not tip the chair over and Coy reached out to steady her.
He was bent down close to her face, staring into her eyes.
Something in her just clicked and she moved forward and put her mouth on his.
He didn’t push back. He even deepened the kiss.
But when her mouth opened and she slid her tongue between his lips, he jumped back.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean that.”
She wanted to growl and shout she did .
But there was part of her that didn’t want to feel any more hurt or embarrassed than she was.
“No,” she said. “I’m sorry. Guess it was the wine.”
“Are you okay to drive home?” he asked, frowning at her.
“Yes,” she said. “I am.”
She had to get the hell out of there before bursting into tears.