Is there anything else you want to look at?” I ask.
“Just a few more things.”
I follow Angel down the baby-clothes aisle. She picks up a few blankets, sleepers, a couple of bottles, a bag of diapers, and some baby socks and puts them in her cart. I pick up a sleeper with a sailboat on it and a pair of baby socks and put them in my cart. Angel smiles when I look up.
“Here, let me have them; this cart belongs to us.”
I hand her the sleeper and booties and ask, “All of that is ours?” I look into her cart, which is filled with the baby car seat and diapers.
“Yes, I want Junior to stay the night sometime.”
We both laugh at her calling the baby Junior. “I wouldn’t call him that in front of Brea, if I were you.”
“I know — she was a little short tempered when you called her son Junior.”
We pay for our purchase, load up the truck, and head home.
Once everything is unloaded in the house, Angel does a load of laundry. She washes all of the new baby items and begins to open the box with the car seat in it.
“Beauty, wait for me and I’ll do that. I just need a quick shower.”
“Ok,” she says, not looking at me and still trying to open the large box.
I shake my head and smile as I walk over to her. Angel is fighting with the box to pull the car seat out of it. I laugh and she looks up at me; her hair is loose from her ponytail, and her hair is falling around her face.
“I thought you were going to shower?”
“I was, but it looks like I need to rescue you from this.”
“How do they get all this in here?” she asks as she tries to pull the large car seat from the box.
“Here, Beauty. Let me help you before you hurt yourself.”
The next day, I get a text from Vincent saying Brea is feeling better and will be going to work. Angel has a meeting with one of her clients. She is scared, although she has nothing to be afraid of. I called yesterday to have a bouquet of daisies delivered to her. After work tonight, she wants to go over to Brea and Vincent’s new home and set up the nursery. Vincent said he would have all the baby furniture in the room when we get there.
The week goes by with painting Vincent and Brea’s nursery on Wednesday, and hanging curtains and moving everything into the nursery on Thursday. Brea went to the doctor and has already started to dilate. Vincent has hired a moving company to move their things into the new house next weekend. He said he is excited to get moved before the baby arrives. Brea’s Mom is flying in the week after. Angel has been over to her new client’s house trying to figure out the best décor for the lanai. She has been doing some online shopping for specialty pieces for her client and helping out at the insurance company when she can. Angel and I have an appointment on Monday with Cakes and Cups to decide on our wedding cake. Madison said she has a buyer for the condo and the price is being negotiated. She adds that I know her. I almost choke when she tells me the buyer is Julia. I don’t care who buys it as long as it sells. I do wonder why she would be interested in the penthouse.
I sit outside on the lanai drinking a Scotch waiting on Angel. I’m taking her to dinner tonight. We have a wonderful relationship, and I can’t wait to marry her. I’m wearing a midnight black suit with a white shirt and a gray tie. I know she likes that Grey guy in the books, so I thought I would humor her. I stand when I hear Angel.
She is standing at the doorway holding a glass of white wine. I look her up and down like it’s the first time I saw her. Her hair is down and straight, and she has full red lips. She is wearing gold hoop earrings, a red form-fitting dress that shows off her cleavage, and black heels with a red bow on each back. My eyes slowly travel up her gorgeous body. I smile when our eyes finally meet.
She smiles and says, “See something you like, Handsome?” Angel turns around slowly so I can see her front and back. She stands tall and with confidence.
“Nice shoes,” I say, as I walk over to her grinning. “You look absolutely stunning.” I bend down slightly to kiss her. When she wears five- or six-inch heels, she is almost as tall as I am. I haven’t seen this outfit on her in a very long time.
“Thank you. You remember this dress?”
“I will never forget that dress. You wore it the first night you spilled your drink all over me at the club.”
“Um, you mean the night you spilled your own drink on you.” She laughs.
“I remember it differently, but it’s the same night.”
She wraps her arms around me. I inhale her scent. Peaches and cinnamon. My favorite scent.
“Umm, did you just sniff my hair?” She laughs.
“No,” I lie. “That would be a little creepy,” I say, backing away from her so I don’t sniff her again.
Angel laughs because she already knows the truth. I love the way she smells and I love inhaling her scent. It’s better than any drug out there and it calms me instantly.
“You look very handsome tonight, and a little Fifty Shades of Grey, I might add.”
I smile, adjust my tie, and straighten my cuffs on my shirt. “I do? I didn’t realize.”
“You didn’t realize that gray tie, or any gray tie for that matter, doesn’t remind me or any other women out there, of Christian Grey?”
I straighten my tie again and give her my all dimpled smile, “How am I supposed to know gray ties remind women of that Grey guy?” I lie again. I took her Fifty Shades of Grey book to the office with me a few weeks ago. I read it during my lunch breaks because I wanted to see what the hype is. Any man, if he is smart, should read that book. When they say a man could learn a thing or two from that book, they aren’t kidding. Angel and I still haven’t made love, and if she turns out to be a freak, I wanna be ready.
“What are you smiling about?” Angel laughs.
She brings me from my thoughts. I’m not about to tell her what I was thinking. “Come on, Beauty. We have reservations we need to keep.”
Once we arrive at the restaurant, we are led to a small intimate table for two. I had some daisies and baby’s-breath delivered — they are in a bud vase decorating the center of the table. The server sees us and walks over to help Angel with her chair. I give him a dirty look and he backs away. She’s mine, Dickhead, I think to myself. Angel looks over her shoulder at me and smiles. She knows the jealous beast inside me wants to come out. I push her chair in slightly before taking the seat across from her.
“The flowers are beautiful,” she says, picking them up to smell them. “Odd that our table is the only table with daisies.”
I look around the room at the other tables. “Yes, it is.”
“Mason, I know you ordered these specifically for me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I want something on our table as unique as the woman I am with.”
“Did I tell you I love you today?”
“You did, but you can tell me again.”
“I love you, Handsome.”
“I’ll always love you more, Beauty.”
I smile at her and look around the room. Julia walks into the restaurant with someone, a girl. I look away and square my shoulders before looking back to Angel.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I lie.
The waiter returns with our menus and tells us the specials. Angel orders a glass of white wine and I order myself a Scotch. Julia unfortunately is seated not far from us.
The waiter leaves and I reach over and take Angel’s hand in mine. I square my shoulders and roll my neck side to side.
“What’s wrong?”
I smile at her. “Nothing.”
Angel doesn’t pick up her menu but turns around in her chair and looks around the room. My strong girl knows I am on edge and wants to protect me. I squeeze her hand and she turns back around.
“This restaurant will let just about anyone in here.” Angel says, smiling and squeezing my hand back.
The waiter comes over with our drinks.
She smiles, and raises her glass to mine. “To new beginnings?”
“To new beginnings,” I repeat, and clink my glass to hers.
She lays her menu over to the edge of the table without even looking at it. I look over the entrees and decide quickly. I always order for her and I always order two of the same meal. I figure if we eat the same thing at home, we might as well eat the same thing while we are out together. Fortunately, we have the same taste in food.
The waiter comes over and smiles at Angel and asks, “Have you decided?”
I clear my throat, so he knows to look at me, not her. “We’ll both start off with the Tenderloin Carpaccio, New Zealand petite lamb chops, red-skinned potatoes, and spinach salads. That’ll be all,” I say, dismissing him. Angel look at me and smiles.
He nods and turns to walk away without looking over at Angel.
“Mason?”
“Angel?” I say, looking into her big brown eyes. “I don’t like the way these dickheads look at you.” I already know what she is going to say.
“Would you rather they come to the table and ignore me, treating me as if I don’t exist?” she says, with a raised brow.
“No, of course not. I would rather have a waitress. They don’t look at you like they want to have you for dinner.” I lean forward in my chair.
“No, you’re right, they don’t, because they are too busy looking at you like they are going to eat you for dessert.”
“Well, lucky for you, I don’t like dessert.”
We both laugh when we realize how silly we sound.
The waiter returns with our appetizers. Angel places her white linen napkin on her lap. I watch from the corner of my eye as Julia stands and stumbles in our direction. I know we aren’t near the restrooms, because I always request a table as far away from them as I can get. When she gets closer to our table, I stand, buttoning up my jacket.
“Julia,” I say, taking a step to be closer to Angel. I place my hand on the back of her chair to keep some distance between them.
“Well, if it isn’t the happily engaged couple,” Julia slurs.
I feel Angel’s chair slide back slightly as she stands up. “Julia.” Angel smiles.
I reach over and take Angel’s hand in mine. “I take it you saw the announcement in the Sunday paper.”
“Who didn’t? Your engagement picture and announcement took up the entire page.”
Angel smiles at me and loops her arm around mine. “Thank you. Yes, my future mother-in-law is pretty excited about the upcoming wedding. We wanted something small to announce our engagement.” Angel stands a little taller and winks at me. Oh, my girl wants to play. I can do that.
“Yes, Mom did get a bit carried away with the announcement.” I smile.
“Angel, you know, I have no idea what Jim ever saw in you.” Julia slurs her words and stumbles. “Angel, how does it feel to know you are responsible for a man’s death?” I can feel Angel tense up and shiver. I caress her arm with my hand and stand in front of her.
I step closer and whisper to Julia, “Get the fuck out.”
I think, Sometimes — but rarely — the f-word is the absolute best word to use.
“What, Mason, the truth hurts?” Julia stumbles again.
At that time her friend walks over to us. “Jules, let’s go,” she says, taking Julia by the arm.
“Julia, I swear, if you don’t leave now, I will get you disbarred. I will show evidence that you are stalking and harassing Angel. You leave now and don’t you ever speak to Angel again.”
“You can’t do that. That would be a lie.”
“Are you so certain? Do you want to try me? It seems to me like you are stalking and harassing her,” I say, taking another step closer to her. “I swear, I won’t stop until you lose everything.”
“Is everything all right?”
I look up — the manager of the restaurant is standing nearby.
“Everything’s fine. These lovely ladies are just leaving and please see that I get their check.” I smile. “They may also need a ride home, if you can arrange that for them as well?”
“Certainly sir, it’s my pleasure. Ladies, this way,” he says, holding his hand out towards the front of the restaurant. I reach behind me and Angel takes my hand. They begin to walk away and I say, “Julia, should I assume our business here is finished?”
Julia turns around and looks at me with glassy eyes, “Yes, Mason.”
“Very good. Ladies, you both have a lovely evening.”
Angel
Mason turns around and hugs me. I wrap my arms around him and cuddle into him. I inhale his spice and sandalwood scent. He always smells so good. I hear someone walk up to us and Mason shakes his head.
“Please box this up for us; we’ll take it to go.”
I pull away from Mason’s embrace and look towards the waiter. “No, that’s all right; we’ll be staying.”
“Angel?”
I look up at Mason and smile. “I’m fine, I need to use the powder room first. I’ll be right back.”
Mason nods to the waiter and walks me to the powder room.
“Let me guess, you’ll be right here waiting on me?” I smile.
“You may want to hurry unless you like cold lamb chops.” He also smiles.
I walk into the empty powder room and look at my reflection in the mirror. Surprisingly, I have held it together. No crying, no red eyes. I wash my hands, straighten my dress, and stand tall. I walk out of the powder room and Mason is facing me talking to the restaurant manager. I walk over to him and he never takes his eyes off me. He abruptly ends his conversation with the manager.
“Are you sure you want to stay?” he asks, his eyes searching mine for the truth.
“I am here with the most handsome man in the world and a delicious meal waiting for us. I am not about to let Julia ruin our evening,” I say, honestly.
“That’s my girl.” Mason places his hand on the small of my back and leads us to our table. As always, he holds my chair out for me and pushes it in slightly once I am seated. He sits across from me and smiles.
We both place the white linen napkin on our laps. “Most handsome man in the world, huh?” Mason, says smugly. He picks up our untouched, now cold appetizers and sets them on the edge of the table.
I look up from my food to look at him. He is watching me, smiling. Even after the scene with Julia, he still smiles. No stress lines, just a beautiful dimpled smile. I love him and can’t wait to marry him. “Yes, I would say you’re the most handsome man in the world, and I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Oh, Beauty, I plan on spending every day of my life making you happy.” He reaches over and takes my hand in his. He fingers my engagement ring and looks at me with dark eyes. “I would marry you today.”
Neither of us has touched our food. I hear footsteps behind me and Mason waves whoever it is off.
“Angel, I wanted to talk to you about something, and this seems like a good time.”
He lays his fork down and leans in a little closer to the table. He is still holding my hand with one of his. I look at him and can see the seriousness in his eyes. I lean forward so he knows that he has my undivided attention.
“I want you to hear me out, before saying anything, all right?”
“All right.”
He sits up taller in his chair and gives me a lop-sided smile. “I can’t wait to marry you and I can’t wait to have a family with you. If you would agree, I would marry you right here, right now.” He looks around the dining room and then back at me. “I didn’t know I wanted a child or a family, until it was taken from me.” He fingers my engagement ring again, and, never taking his eyes off mine, says, “I have thought long and hard about this and would like to start trying for a family with you, right away. As soon as we are married, I want to start. I know this seems fast and maybe you need time, but I want you and a houseful of little girls and boys who look just
like you. I want to be surrounded by you or a part of you every day, as soon as I can.”
My vision gets blurred from the tears and I can barely see. I stand, never letting go of his hand, and walk the short distance to Mason. He doesn’t stand and pulls me onto his lap. He wraps his arms around my waist and I wrap my arms around his neck. “Mason, I love you more than the air I breathe. I want nothing more than a bunch of little boys and girls, with dark curly hair and big dimples.” I kiss Mason with all the passion and love that I have for him.
“Is that a yes?” He smiles, pulling back to look at me.
“Yes, that is definitely a yes.”
Mason reaches up to wipe the tears from my cheek. “You know, I am the happiest man in the room right now, right?”
We both look around the room and it is empty. “Happiest man in the room, huh.” We look over at our waiter, and we both laugh. The waiter does not look happy. “Well, that was pretty easy, since the only other man in the room is pissed because we are still here.”
“We need to start eating earlier,” Mason says, waving to the waiter.
“Or leaving earlier.” We laugh.
The waiter boxes up our food and Mason pays our check along with Julia’s check. He stands tall, buttons his jacket, walks over to me, and pulls my chair from the table for me to stand. He reaches his hand out for me and I take it. I will always take his outreached hand. Mason grazes my arm with his fingers and I get goose bumps. “Cold?” he asks.
“Yes,” I lie.
Mason’s touch still gives me goose bumps, but I’m not about to share that secret with him.
Chapter Eleven: Tiny Miracles And Huge Blessings (Destined to Love)
Mason
I hold Angel’s car door open for her as the valet stands by. I know the valet usually does this, but there is something about someone helping Angel that bothers me. I want to be the one who does that for her. I want to be the one who does everything for her. I tip the valet and get into the car. Looking over at Angel, I am surprised to see her seat belt isn’t on. “Buckle up, Beauty.”
I fasten my seat belt and look over at her. “Um, Mason,” she says, holding her cell phone on her lap. My phone dings, alerting me of an incoming text. “You may want to get that.”
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