It took all his willpower to not lean over and kiss her, but the last thing he wanted was for anything to happen tonight that she could dismiss tomorrow and blame on the wine.
He turned to see Eric adjusting Romero in the front seat. Romero was totally out. Angel motioned toward him. “By the way, meet my friend Romero.”
Sarah laughed. “Is that really his name?”
“Well, his last name. His first name is Ramon, but he doesn’t like it.”
Eric walked over and leaned on the car next to Angel and Sarah. He looked exhausted. Sarah rested her head on Angel’s shoulder.
“Oh, hey,” Angel said looking at Eric. “This is Sarah. Sarah, this is my friend, Eric.”
Sarah held her head up just long enough to say hello. Angel knew Eric assumed she was just another girl he’d picked up. Sarah moved off of Angel and leaned against the car now, but he still held her hand. “Where could she be?” Sarah grimaced.
They all stood there watching the driveway of the house where the party had been. There were people still walking out, and standing around the front of the house. A car pulled up and let someone out of the back seat. It was Jesse Strickland. The car that had dropped him off drove right past them and up the street.
Sarah didn’t see him at first but when she did, she straightened out. Angel noticed and his muscles tensed. “Something wrong?”
“Can we leave?” Her eyes were still on Jesse.
Jesse walked in a hurry to the back yard. Eric and Angel exchanged glances.
“What about Valerie?” Angel asked.
“We’ll come back for her,” she said, “I just don’t wanna be here right this minute.”
Angel stared at her for a second. “Sure.”
He let go of her hand to gather up the ice chests. Sarah tried Valerie again on her phone. For whatever reason, Jesse made Sarah nervous and Angel didn’t like it. He grabbed the ice chests and threw them in the trunk, then walked Sarah around and into the car. He sat down next to her and reached for her hand immediately. Eric eyed him through the rearview mirror.
“Let’s drop off this guy first,” Eric said motioning toward Romero. “Then if you want, you can drop me off and take my car. I’ll pick it up in the morning.”
Angel smiled. Suddenly he was relieved he’d only had two beers. He wasn’t ready to say goodnight to Sarah yet. He could always count on Eric to understand.
***************
Minutes passed, while she sat in the passenger seat, heart pounding, waiting for Valerie to answer her phone.
“Hello?”
“Valerie?”
“Sarah, I’ve been so worried. Where are you?”
“I’m with Angel. We’re dropping off his friend. Are you on your way home?”
“Home? It’s still early, there’s another party we’re going to. Do you need me to come get you?” Valerie asked.
“No, I think I’m good for now.”
“Oh, my God, are you and Angel gonna hang out?” Valerie gushed.
The thought of what Valerie meant by hang out, made Sarah’s heart beat even harder. She bit her lip.
“I’m not sure,” Sarah said. “I’ll call you and let you know where to meet me.”
“Is he right there next to you?” Valerie whispered, as if he might hear her.
Sarah giggled. “No, he’s outside with his friend. I’m in the car.”
“You have to make out with him Sarah, so, you can tell me all about it.”
Sarah laughed nervously, her face suddenly warm. “Valerie!” she gasped, “I hardly know him.”
“He’s totally hot. What more do you need to know?”
Sarah's body heat went up. Valerie wasn’t helping her already strained nerves. “I gotta go. He’s on his way back,” she lied.
“Okay, okay, bye.”
Her cousin was so different than Sarah when it came to guys. Valerie was commitment-phobic. She’d had one serious relationship, and she said it nearly suffocated her. She could easily just make out with someone without giving it a second thought.
Sarah didn’t think any less of Valerie for enjoying her freedom. She just couldn’t understand how Valerie could turn off the emotions just like that. To Sarah, even holding hands inevitably meant feelings were involved. It wasn’t something she could do and not feel anything, just the thought that Angel might kiss her tonight had her in knots.
She studied the guys standing outside, face to face. Eric stood a few inches shorter than Angel. His hair was a lot lighter and curlier too. He didn’t have Angel’s pretty boy good looks, but still his rugged good looks of his own, and he was so nice it made him attractive.
She'd watched them as they carefully helped Romero from the car, genuinely concerned that he got home safe. Albeit they did it with a lot of laughing and repartee, it was obvious they were very good friends.
Angel walked back toward the car. That smile. It was unreal. She shifted in her seat, trying not to look like a goofball but her own smile was so big and hard to hold back. She’d been talking to him most of the night and been doing pretty well. Except for spitting up her wine and her miserable attempt to be deep about loving the beach, she’d managed to keep the blundering to a minimum. Why was she having such a hard time breathing now?
She took a long deep breath as he opened the door and climbed in the car. His eyes were immediately on her, making her insides into mush.
“Are you hungry?”
She let out her breath and nodded.
“Good, ‘cause I’m starving.” He pulled out of the drive way.
They picked up some food at a drive-thru and headed to the beach, eating along the way. After driving up a winding road to the top of a cliff, he turned into a dead end, and parked. The moon was bright, and the ocean went on as far as she could see. They were high above the ocean, and the view was breathtaking.
Sarah stared out the window in amazement. Her thoughts were muddled when her phone rang and she went still. She had a feeling who it might be, and she didn’t want to answer it. One look at the caller ID and her suspicions were confirmed, Jesse. Angel was eyeing her. “You gonna answer that?”
She shook her head.
Glancing at Angel, she noticed his eyebrows narrow, and she turned away biting her lip. Her phone rang one last time.
“Where are we?” She turned back to face him.
He still had the same expression on his face, but he didn’t say anything He opened the door. “Follow me.” He got out of the car.
Sarah got out, and he came around and held his hand out. She put her hand in his and they walked toward the dead end. There was a rock trail off to the side, behind the homes that faced the ocean.
They headed to the edge of the trail where there was a wrought iron fence. She looked down as they walked along the side of the fence, and could see the waves crashing into the rocks below. When they turned the corner, she saw the trail stretched across the cliff. There were benches and grassy sitting areas with flowering tropical plants, and an endless trail of palm trees. Sarah took it all in with awe. She turned back to him.
“I love it,” she whispered.
“This is my favorite place.”
“I can see why.” She stepped closer to the fence and gazed out into the ocean. The lights on a couple of ships and some small sail boats still out there shined brightly. Angel stood behind her, and he grasped the top of the iron rail, enclosing her body between his arms. His warm body against her back felt good, especially since it was getting cold. His face came over her shoulder next to her ear, and she felt him take a deep breath. She closed her eyes and her body tingled all over. It was still unbelievable to Sarah that she was here, doing this, with him.
“You smell good,” he murmured.
“Thank you.”
They stood there for a few minutes in silence, his breath against her temple. Finally, he spoke. “Can I ask you something?
His tone made her nervous, somehow. “Sure.”
He pulle
d away from her shoulder slightly.
“Why were you in such a hurry to leave when you saw Jesse tonight?”
Sarah went stiff. God, she’d forgotten all about that. That was the last thing she wanted to be talking about right now. Jesse could be a pain in the ass when he was sober. Valerie had told her when he was drunk, he was even worse, and she had a feeling he’d been drinking tonight. She’d been afraid of another confrontation between him and Angel. “He can be a pest sometimes... that’s all.”
Angel put his hands over hers on the fence. “The other day, you said you’d hung out with him. What did that mean?”
Sarah squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Shit. She didn’t want to tell him about that. Why hadn’t she just said yes, when he asked her if Jesse was a friend? She’d hardly expected to be talking to Angel again. And not like this.
“It was a long time ago.” She thought she felt him suck in breath, and he was quiet for a second.
“What was a long time ago?”
She braced herself not knowing how he’d feel about her after she told him. But it was in the past, so what did it matter? She turned around, but he never let go of the fence, so, she was still in his arms, so to speak. His eyes seemed darker somehow. He looked straight at her, waiting.
“Nothing really,” she said. “I met him a few summers ago, when I came out to visit my Aunt, and we hung out one night.”
“Was he your boyfriend?” Angel eyes were still fixed on hers.
She shook her head. “No.”
“You still hang out with him?”
“Nope, he’s still asking me out, but I’m not interested.”
“Good,” Angel said, “he’s an asshole.”
Sarah’s eyebrow’s shot up. “You know him?”
“Yeah.” If distaste was an expression he wore it on his lips unabashed. “We’ve gone to school together since we were kids but I’ve never liked him. He’s always been a whiny little bitch, didn’t think I could like him any less, until now.”
Valerie had always gone on about how intense the Moreno brothers were. She’d told Sarah about how protective they were with their younger sister. Sarah felt his protectiveness earlier when he refused to leave her side at the party, but this was different. She could feel something, an intensity she’d never felt before from anyone. It made her a little nervous, made her stomach tighten up, but in a weird way, she liked it.
“I’m assuming then, since you’re here with me, you don’t have a boyfriend?”
Her heart at her throat, she shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t.”
She was dreaming? She had to be. Did he really just ask her if she had a boyfriend? Did Angel honestly care?
He dropped his hands from the fence, and placed them around her waist. With her heart pounding against her chest now, she gulped, wondering if he could hear it.
“Can I kiss you?” He whispered.
She nodded, unable to speak. Then his lips were on hers. They were soft and warm. He explored her mouth slowly, softly. He tightened his hug around her waist with one arm, and brought the other one up to her face. With a silky-smooth caress to her face, his hand started around and down her neck, pulling her closer to him.
His body was big and strong against hers His tongue moved faster and he pressed against her, suckling her lips and tongue. She’d been kissed before, but never like this, never with so much passion.
It was too much. His hardness pressed against her thigh, and she panicked. She pulled away and heard him groan, burying his face in her hair.
Caressing his back one last time, she could still feel his heavy breathing as she pulled away gently. She looked up just as he was opening his eyes.
“Can we go sit? My feet are hurting.”
He took a couple of deep breathes before answering. “Sure,” he glanced down at her shoes, “I forgot…. they’re nice. I like ‘em.”
They walked over to a stone bench that was part of a huge rock planter with a palm tree in the middle. She sat down and he motioned for her to move further back. She did, and he sat next to her and turned her around so she was facing him.
“Lean back.” He picked up her legs and pulled them on his lap, inches away from the tent in his pants. Wide eyed, she stared for a second, and wondered what he had planned. She watched him pull off her shoes and was about to protest, when his strong fingers began massaging her aching feet.
“Mmm, that feels so good,” She let her head fall back. She wondered if he did this with all the other girls he went out with, and if they’d all been treated to such a heart stopping kiss. She lifted her head back up and saw his eyes swallow her up.
“Your feet are so small.”
She looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes. Then she glanced down at his. They were huge. She started to giggle. “Well, compared to yours, they are.”
His expression hadn’t changed. “I love your smile.”
Her smile disappeared in reaction to his compliment. “Thanks, I like yours. As a matter of fact, that was one of the first things I noticed about you.”
His eyebrows shot up curiously. “Really? Tonight?”
“Oh, no,” she said. “Two summers ago, the first time I saw you.”
Now he looked really interested. “You saw me two summers ago?”
“Yup, same summer I hung out with Jesse.” Damn why did she bring that up again?
He stared at her, half frowning. “You went out with him and not me?” He teased.
“He asked; you didn’t.”
A look of disappointment flashed across his face. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember seeing you.”
Sarah smiled. “Don’t worry, I can be pretty invisible.”
Angel seemed almost annoyed. “You’re anything but invisible.” He paused for a moment, and then as if he just remembered something, “So, you said you’re from Arizona, when’d you move out here?”
Sarah straightened up a little, suddenly feeling uneasy. She hadn’t prepared herself to talk about her circumstances. Since she didn’t plan on making any friends, she didn’t think she’d be put in a position to explain something so personal to anyone, especially not Angel Moreno. “I haven’t exactly moved here. It’s just temporary.”
“Really? ‘til when?”
“I’m only here for the semester, then I’ll go back to finish up my senior year at my school in Flagstaff.” She glanced at him and then away, hoping they could get on another subject. But he kept on.
“So, why are you here for this semester?”
She was never good at lying, so making something elaborate up was out of the question. If he ever asked her about it again, she’d probably forget, and mix everything all up. Even a very short version of the truth was uncomfortable. She looked out into the ocean, not wanting to see his expression when she told him. “Well, it’s kind of a long story… ”
“We’ve got time.” he said.
Sarah was silent for a second, “My mom has some problems she needs to iron out, and I have to stay with my aunt now. My best friend’s family offered to let me stay with them so I could finish out my senior year at my own school, but my mom refused, so, I’m here now. But once I turn eighteen this winter, she can’t stop me from going back.”
He looked at her, eyes full of questions, and she prayed none of them were about her mom. She really didn’t feel like discussing that part of her life with him, with anyone.
“Does your aunt know you plan on leaving?”
“No, I haven’t told her. I know she won’t want me to, but Sydney and Sydney’s parents are the closest thing I’ve ever had to family, besides my mom. I have to go back, Sydney’s waiting.” She held her chin a bit higher.
Sarah noticed how intently Angel watched her when she spoke, as if he didn’t want to miss a word.
Forever Mine Page 4