by Liana Brooks
Dr. Smith rubbed his head as he stepped back into Angela’s room and flicked on the lights. “Hello, sweetheart.”
“Daddy, what do you think you are doing?” Angela sat up in the bed and crossed her arms in a pose that reminded him of Aaron throwing a tantrum.
“I thought this is what you wanted!” the doctor protested.
“I changed my mind.”
The doctor made a show of sighing. “Is this what you really want?” he asked Tyler. “For the next eighty years? She’s never going to grow out of it, trust me on that.”
Angela watched him with wide eyes.
Tyler turned back to the doctor. Now that he knew what he was looking for, it was obvious. Father and daughter shared a nose. “Is Zephyr Girl out in the hall?”
The doctor’s dark eyes narrowed. “Zephyr Girl? Why would you ask about her?”
“You are Doctor Charm, aren’t you?” Ty circled around the doctor so he could be near AJ. “Angela said her father was a villain.”
“And from that you leapt to the conclusion her mother was Zephyr Girl?” The doctor sounded incredulous.
“I concluded that after seeing her once. Pictures of Zephyr Girl are not hard to come by. And it makes sense. You both disappeared at the same time.”
“I’m certain Zephyr Girl was reported as dead.”
Tyler shrugged. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? Two people from opposite sides meet, they fall in love, fake their own deaths, and run off together. It’s like Romeo and Juliet with better communication.”
Dr. Smith steepled his fingers. “That’s an interesting theory. Why don’t I buy you a cup of coffee? We can talk about your conspiracy theories and your long day and by tomorrow this whole tragic tale will be no more than a bad dream.”
“Daddy!” Angela scowled. “I have another shoe.”
The doctor rolled his eyes. “He’s really too smart for his own good, darling. It will be much easier for all of us if he just...forgot.”
Angela huffed. “You aren’t allowed to play mind games with my boyfriend!”
“Boyfriend?” Tyler blinked.
“Or whatever.”
“Fiancé?” he suggested.
“How long have you known him?” Doctor Charm demanded at the same time Angela gasped. “Tyler Running Fox!”
“It doesn’t hurt to ask!”
Angela slapped his arm.
“I lied. It hurts to ask.” He caught her hand and kissed it. Her fingers entwined with his.
Doctor Charm cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt this charming scene, but if you’re awake, my dear, we should get going. Bribes and persuasion can only hold off the curious onlookers for so long, and neither of you are low profile individuals.”
Angela winced. “Sorry. I just wanted to talk some sense into Jacob.”
“Um...” Tyler squeezed her hand, not sure where to start.
“I know he’s dead. One of the nurses here must have some latent talents because I can practically read her thoughts.” Her face grew pale. “She was a big fan of Fractured.” A tear slipped out of her eye. “Daddy, what are we going to do?”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
The blonde woman who walked into the room and shut the door couldn’t be anyone other than Zephyr Girl. Her face was Angela’s softened by age and graced with fine lines around the mouth and eyes. A few wisps of white streaked her already pale hair. “Dearest, there’s a woman named Luiz on the phone demanding to talk to Angela.”
“She’s my neighbor,” Angela said. “I was supposed to be babysitting her daughter tonight.”
Tyler held out his hand for the phone. Zephyr Girl handed it over and he put it to his ear. “Luiz?”
“Running Fox? Tyler Running Fox.” There was a beep. “I swear I called AJ.”
“Yeah, um, she’s in the hospital right now.”
“WHAT?” The scream hurt his ear.
“Minor accident. No big deal. She’s checking out soon.”
“Why are you with her?” Luiz demanded.
He turned to Angela for support. “Because? Why not?”
Luiz muttered something in Spanish then sighed. “Mickey woke up, wanted to talk to the police. He said Glee jumped him with a baseball bat. He thought someone was with her but he wasn’t sure who.”
“What did the police say?” Tyler asked.
“They already had Glee in custody. The officer said something about a DUI. I’m not sure. Is AJ really okay?”
“Yeah!” He held the phone out to Angela. “Tell her you’re okay.”
Angela tucked her hair behind her ear. “Hey, Luiz. I’m good.” There was a brief pause. “Oh, no, just a really bad migraine. I felt like I was going to black out so Ty took me to the ER. No big.” Another pause. “My bike broke, he drove me home. It’s nothing. Uh-huh. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Nothing?” Tyler asked.
Doctor Charm started whistling. “This is going to be fun,” he said to the beautiful woman snuggling with him in the doorway. “Do you remember our first fight?”
“Mmmhmm, I broke your arm.”
“And then I bought you a necklace.”
“You bought a computer chip being smuggled in a necklace, took the data, and left me with the hot gems.”
“That’s what I said.”
Zephyr Girl patted him on the arm. “You’re adorable.”
Tyler pointed a finger at Angela. “That’s where you get it!”
“Get what?” She looked taken aback.
“You told me I was adorable on our first date.”
She rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t a date.”
“We went out in public and did things together.”
“We stopped a heist together! That’s not the same thing as having dinner together.” She laughed and shook her head. “It wasn’t a date.”
He frowned. “I’ll cook you dinner. Or breakfast, since the sun is going to be up in an hour.”
“Today?”
He smiled at her parents. “I’ll cook for all of us.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Dear Mom,
Next time I tell you I’m fine I’d prefer if you just called instead of unleashing Daddy on Los Angeles. I think that might have been an overreaction. Don’t you think?
I mean, yes, convincing the entire city that the whole setup was a stunt for Fractured and that nothing was really real was great. But I’m not sure letting Daddy use his giant Agree-With-Me-Ray on a city is wise. I think it’s going to cause trouble in the future.
Ty says, “Thank you!” for taking Aaron this week. With school starting on Monday and filming for the movie starting Thursday I didn’t think we were going to find time for a honeymoon.
Love and kisses,
Angela
The house still smelled new. Even after moving Aaron’s things into his new room and finding he’d packed his gym clothes without washing them first, the house smelled like fresh paint. Ty lit a candle and looked around.
Home.
He’d never really had one growing up. There had been a string of his mom’s boyfriends’ houses, and then his grandmother’s double-wide trailer, but there was never something he wanted to go back to. And now he had a home, and a wife, and in-laws...who were a little bit more daunting than he’d anticipated. Still...
Out by the pool he saw movement. Light from the full moon glinted off Angela’s diamond ring as she walked past the pool. He licked his lips, tried to remember how to breathe.
How was it possible for a woman to grow more beautiful every day? The first time he’d woken up beside her with sunlight streaming in so she glowed like the princess from a fairytale he thought he was still dreaming.
***
“Hey.” Ty kissed her cheek as he walked past to dive into the pool. He surfaced on the far side, treading water and smiling his panty-dropping smile. “Are you going to come swimming?”
Angela dipped a toe in the water to make sure he hadn’t chilled it to a
n unagreeable temperature.
“It’s safe,” he promised.
“With you in it? I don’t think so.”
He swam toward her. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I might lose my bikini again,” she said as she sat on the edge of the pool, letting her legs dangle in the warm water to tempt him.
“Mmmm, I don’t see that as a problem.” He started massaging her calves. “I don’t think you mind either.” He moved up her legs and then lifted her into the water.
She wrapped her legs around him, bare legs rubbing against bare skin. “What happened to your No Skinny Dipping rule for the pool?”
“We’re alone.” He kissed her, tongue teasing her lips apart as his fingers nimbly untied her bikini bottom.
She kissed his neck, working her way up to the sensitive spot that made him shiver. “Dost thou love me?”
“Troth, no, no more than reason.”
Angela pushed away, gliding through the warm water. “Why then, the world is deceived, for they have said you are much in love with me.”
“Peace, I will stop your mouth.” He caught her on the far side of the pool where they could see over the hill to the beaches below. Her top sank to the bottom of the pool. They swam in the darkness, exploring each other until the moon was high in the sky.
Eventually they moved from the water to the wide chaise longue on the lanai. Ty pulled a large towel over them, taking the opportunity to kiss her once more. “I love you.”
“I love you.” She curled up beside him, laying her head on his shoulder. “I have ever since the night in the alley.”
“When you rescued me?”
Angela shook her head. “No, before that. When I was riding the motorcycle with you, and then you came walking through the fog to quote Shakespeare for me. When you walked away and I still was waiting for a kiss I realized how fast I’d fallen.”
“That was a mistake,” he said, pulling her closer.
“Me falling for you?”
“No, that was genius. You should do it every day. Not kissing you was a mistake. To be fair though, I didn’t realize what I was missing. Now I know better, and not a day is going to go by that I won’t kiss you and tell you how much I love you.”
Actor Tyler Running Fox is off the market! Running Fox wed AJ David during an intimate ceremony at her family’s estate in Texas. The two have been cast opposite each other in the upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing produced by Twelfth Night Films and directed by Susanna Hall.
Biography
Liana Brooks would like to SCUBA dive Europa (that moon around Jupiter), but with the NASA shuttle program shut down she’s resorted to writing science fiction instead. She likes southern beaches, warm weather, sharks, and striped socks. Her superhero romance series started with Even Villains Fall in Love and continues with Even Villains Go to the Movies. For those who prefer their romance without a side order of spandex she’s written Prime Sensations (part of the Tales From the SFR Brigades anthology) and Fey Lights.
You can find Liana on the web at www.lianabrooks.com, on Twitter as @LianaBrooks, or on Facebook under the same name.