Chapter 7 #2
I walk over to the drawer next to the sink and open it.
Inside are at least twenty pens, several pairs of scissors, a small screwdriver set, and the much-loved laser pointer.
Taking the latter out, I show it to Haley.
“Murphy loves playing with the laser pointer in the snow. We call it the magic red dot.”
“Ooh!” Haley bounces on her feet. “Mom. That would be so much fun. Can I play with Murphy outside? Please?”
Angel gives me a questioning glance. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I’m sure,” I reply. “But if you’d prefer, I can go out there, too. Or we all can.”
“Mom,” Haley drags out the word. “I’m nine. Almost ten. I can go in the backyard by myself. Especially when there’s a fence and security, like Ronan says.”
Angel hesitates for a second. Then she laughs. “Okay. Okay. You can go outside. But—” Her voice dips on the last word. “You do not go outside the fence. And you need to wear your hat and mittens. And zip up your coat. Got it?”
Haley nods quickly. “Got it. I promise.” She darts forward to give Angel a hug.
Then she turns and hugs me lightning-fast before dashing back into the living room.
As she jogs away, she calls over her shoulder, “Thank you! Come on, Murphy, I just have to put on my coat and we can go play with the magic red dot.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeat once Haley’s outside with Murphy. “I didn’t think.”
Angel glances up from my phone, which is lying face up on the counter as it streams the camera feed from the backyard. On the screen, Haley is laughing like crazy while she sends Murph racing in circles. “Sorry for what?” Angel asks.
“It wasn’t my place to tell Haley that it was okay to go out back,” I explain. “If you didn’t want her going out there, by me saying it was alright, it put you in an awkward situation.”
“A little,” she concedes. “I’m not used to anyone else being a part of my decisions. Not when it comes to Haley. At least, not since my mom passed.”
Shit.
“I’m really sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.” Angel grabs the block of parmesan sitting on the island and looks at me in question. “Do you have a cheese grater? I should have asked while we were at the store.”
“I think so.” I rummage through a few cabinets before coming up triumphant. “Not sure why I have it. But here it is.”
As Angel takes the grater from me, she says, “I’m not upset about it, Ronan.
I think…” Her forehead creases. “I tend to be a bit overprotective with Haley. When I first had her, I was so worried about messing things up. People assumed I would, you know. Because I was so young, I couldn’t possibly be a good mom. I wanted to prove them wrong.”
“Your age has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of bad parents who are ten, twenty years older than you. Older than that.”
Angel smiles. “I know that. Now. But back then, I wasn’t as confident in my abilities to raise a child on my own.
” She stops to grate the cheese for a few seconds.
“I think it’s easier to be overprotective when it’s just me.
When my mom was around, she’d tell me if she thought I was going overboard. ”
I move beside Angel and hold out my hand for the grater. “Let me do some of it. This is something I’m pretty sure I can do without messing it up.”
Angel looks at me with laughter in her eyes. “Are you that bad of a cook?”
“I’m not terrible. But I’m not great, either. I’d say I’m a solid C student.”
“Okay.” She hands me the grater. “You do the cheese. I’ll start chopping the garlic.
” As she picks up one of the cloves of garlic, she adds, “Anyway. I’m not upset that you said something about the backyard.
If you hadn’t spoken up, I would probably have told her no.
And she wouldn’t be having a great time out there right now. ”
“Still—”
Angel gives me a warm smile. “It’s fine, Ronan. Really. Don’t worry about it.” She leans against me and repositions my hand to change the angle of the cheese. “So. I saw a diploma from the University of Maine in the living room. Were you in ROTC? Or did you join the Army afterwards?”
I look at her in surprise. “You know about ROTC?”
Angel flushes. “I looked it up. Joining the Army, I mean. Not for myself. But when Hazel told me about you guys, I was curious.”
“I don’t mind,” I tell her. “It’s nice that you were interested.
But to answer your question, I joined after graduation.
When I started college, I thought I wanted to be a doctor.
But by my senior year, I knew I wanted something different.
The recruiter I talked to suggested training to be a medic.
And if I wanted to try for Special Forces, which I did, I could be the medic for my team. ”
The admiration in Angel’s eyes makes me feel warm all over.
“That’s incredible,” she says. “I can’t even imagine doing what you did. I mean, not that I know what you did. I know that stuff is confidential. But I’ve done some reading, so I think I get the basic idea of it.”
“Incredible might be an exaggeration. But I enjoyed it.” With a sudden flash of alarm, I realize the line of conversation is leading straight to the question of why I left the Army.
And as comfortable as I am talking about all the other stuff with Angel, I definitely don’t want to go there.
That’s why I quickly flip the conversation around.
“Hazel mentioned something about you being an artist,” I say. “Was that something you took classes for? What kind of art do you do?”
“Oh.” Angel shakes her head, smiling. “Hazel. She likes to exaggerate. I’m not an artist. It’s more a hobby that I rarely have time to do.”
“I see.”
“I went to college for art,” she explains. “But then I had Haley. So that put an end to my aspirations. Not that I’m upset about it. Haley is far more important than being an illustrator.”
“An illustrator?”
“Yeah.” A faraway look comes to her eyes. “That’s what I wanted to do.”
I set the cheese grater down. “What would you illustrate?”
“In a dream world? Children’s books.” Angel smiles. “Maybe one day. Once Haley’s grown. Then I could go back to school, maybe try my hand at illustrating a book. But for now, I’m fine with waiting tables at Blissful Brews.”
“Could I see some of your artwork sometime?” I ask.
Angel hesitates. “You don’t have to. I didn’t tell you because I wanted—”
I catch her hand. “I know.” Stealing a quick glance at the phone, I verify that Haley’s still out in the backyard, safe and sound, playing with Murphy. “I want to see your artwork, if you’re willing to share it with me.”
She stares at me for a long moment. Then a slow smile appears. “Okay. Maybe next week? If you have time, you could stop by for a few minutes? Unless you’re going to be too busy with work…”
But a few minutes isn’t enough. I want more time with her.
The cautious part of me raises a hand in warning, but I ignore it.
“I’m heading to Maine on Tuesday,” I say, “and I’ll be back on Thursday. Then I have a morning shift at Stowe on Friday.”
Her smile droops. “Oh. Okay. I understand.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” I glance at the phone again. Haley’s tearing across the snow with Murph hot on her heels. Tugging Angel closer to me, I continue, “I meant, I have Friday night free. Thursday, too, but I have to get to bed early that night.”
“Okay?”
“So I was thinking, would you like to go out on Friday night? Or we could stay in if you’d prefer. Order some food and watch a movie. Whatever would work best for you.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “You mean a date?”
A rare spurt of nerves hits me. It’s ironic because I never used to get nervous about asking a woman out.
In my younger days, I loved the thrill of it—spotting a woman at a bar and exchanging glances from afar, the flirting, the kiss at the end of the night that would oftentimes lead to more, and texting or calling the next day with full confidence that she’d want to see me again.
But this time, like everything else with Angel, it’s different.
My pulse jumps as I reply, “Yes. A date. I don’t know if you have a babysitter, or if you’d rather have Haley come along. That would be okay, too. I just—” I release a quick breath. “I’d like to spend some more time with you. That’s all.”
“A date.” Angel looks at me, then the phone, then our joined hands, and finally back at me again. “And you wouldn’t care if Haley came?”
“I wouldn’t.” It’s the truth. Of course, I’d like time alone with Angel. But if she’d feel more comfortable with Haley being there, I’m okay with that, too.
Angel moves closer, so she has to tilt her head back to look at me. She’s close enough for me to see the spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks and the flecks of silver and green in her eyes. “I haven’t been on a date in a really long time,” she says. “Not in years.”
I close the last of the distance between us. “I haven’t either.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I think…” She pauses. “My neighbor babysits when I have to work a dinner shift. I’m not sure if she’s free on Friday night, but I could ask. Or Hazel—I bet she would take Haley for the evening. Especially if she knows…”
“That it’s a date? That she’s been trying to set us up on for ages?”
Angel laughs. “Yes.”
“So it’s a date, then?”
Say yes.
“Yes.” She smiles; her whole face lighting up with it. “It’s a date.”
What happened to not getting more involved? the cautious part of me asks. This seems like pretty much the exact opposite of it.
Too late, I tell it.
But to Angel, I say, “Great. You just let me know what time works for—”
She silences me with a kiss.
It’s quick. Tentative. Sweet.
But oh so tempting.
One hand comes to my shoulder for balance as she goes up on her toes.
She leans in, the softness of her curves fitting perfectly against me.
That delicious cupcake scent is everywhere.
As we kiss, her lips part slightly, allowing me in.
She tastes like honey and mint. And I think I could kiss her forever.
When a small, sultry moan works its way up her throat, my body reacts instinctively. My dick jerks. Swells. Aches.
My hand splays across her lower back, nearly spanning it. I pull her flush against me, so she can feel my arousal. Not because I think anything is going to come of it. But I want her to know what she does to me.
Angel gasps. Then she kisses me harder. Her tongue tangles with mine. Her hand moves from my shoulder to the back of my head, and her fingers tangle in my hair.
Fuck.
She feels incredible.
This is incredible.
Then the back door slams, and the patter of feet follows.
Angel practically leaps away from me. Her cheeks are bright red. Her lips are damp and kiss-swollen, begging to be kissed again.
“Oh.” She waves her hand in front of her face to cool it. “You don’t think she’ll notice…”
I turn away to adjust myself, then face her again. “No. I don’t think so. Just—” I hurry over to the oven and flick it on. “It’s the heat. From cooking. That’s all.”
“I think Murphy is ready for a nap,” Haley calls from the mudroom. “I think I tired him out.”
Angel waves at her face again. She’s still pink-cheeked, but honestly, I don’t think Haley will even notice. “I’m not surprised, Hale. I saw you running him all over the backyard.”
“It’s his dinner time, anyway,” I add. “Once you get out of your coat and boots, you can come help me feed him.”
“I can?” Haley’s voice pitches up an octave. “Awesome! I help Rory and Gage feed their dogs when we volunteer at the shelter. I’m good at it. They both said so.”
“Just make sure you don’t leave everything strewn across the floor,” Angel says. “Make sure you put things away neatly before you come charging in here.”
There’s a long pause before a heavy sigh. Then an overly patient, “Yes, Mom.”
Angel laughs before she says in a quieter tone meant for only me to hear, “I know. Moms are so annoying.”
“You’re not annoying,” I reply quickly. “At all.”
She stares at me for a second before biting her lower lip. In a low tone, she asks, “Was that okay? That I…”
“Kissed me? It was more than okay. It was amazing.”
Angel gives me a shy smile. “Maybe we could try it again on our date?”
I smile back at her. “I think we definitely should.”