"Please stay right here," I yelled from over my shoulder. "I'll be back in just a second." I ran straight to the dressing room. A few dancers were in there, but there was plenty of room for me to go unnoticed. There was a staff restroom on the far side, and I went straight into it without acknowledging any of the girls. I figured if anyone saw me, they'd just think I was sick or something. I really didn’t care.
What just happened? First there was the hammerhead, then a grab around the thigh, and who was that guy Diego. Shit. Angel is here. He's right out there. He's standing there holding my box. I locked the restroom door and went straight to the sink, leaning on it, and staring at myself in the mirror. I felt like splashing water on my face, but that wasn't really an option since I only had about three seconds to get myself together. I let a few relieved tears flow from my eyes and quickly grabbed a handful of toilet paper to catch them as they fell onto my cheeks.
"He's here, he's here, he's here…" I whispered, as if I was trying to make myself believe it. I was so overwhelmed that I wasn't even mad at myself for running off. There was honestly no other option. I just couldn't handle the shock of seeing him. "You cannot stay in this bathroom, Charlotte Jane," I said to myself in the mirror as I wiped my eyes. "Get yourself together so you can go out there."
I was so overjoyed that I had to stand there and shed a few more tears before I could compose myself enough to walk onto the floor. I'd already seen what he was wearing. It was fitted khakis and a casual, white button-up shirt that looked amazing on him. I could see him as I approached. He was sitting with his cousin at the booth, and they both glanced in my direction as I walked toward them. I smiled when my eyes met Angel's. I was breathless with anticipation, and wondered if I'd even be able to speak when I got near him.
He stood up—and nope, I was pretty sure talking was out of the question. There was still about twenty feet between us, but he smiled and reached out his arms, and I walked faster than I'd ever walked in my life. Forget that—I ran. As soon as his arms went out, I ran into them. I had to maneuver around the crowd a little, but I was so relieved that he was back, and he was here, and I was in his arms, that I ran to him without caring who saw me. At that moment, I didn't even remember that I was supposed to be doing my job.
He took a step towards me and caught me up in his arms squeezing me tightly. I breathed a shaky but relieved sigh at the secure feeling I got in his arms. I had on heels, which put me high enough that my face was nestled in that wonderful spot underneath his chin.
"Did you get my letter?" I asked. It was loud, and my voice was unsteady, so I wasn't sure if he could hear me.
He pulled back to stare down at me. The hint of a smile touched his lips. "Why else would I be here?"
I looked away shyly. "Are you mad at me for telling Tom?"
He used a finger to tilt my chin up, and we made eye contact again. He was so beautiful that I almost couldn't bear to look at him. He was flawless, and I was pissed at myself for not seeing it sooner.
"Tom pulled some Jedi mind trick. He said a bunch of shit I didn't even understand to one of the most dangerous men in San Juan, and just like that, he forgave my debt and sent us on our way."
"Cabron, don't forget to tell her I'm square with Hector too," Diego said from the table.
We both looked at him, and he gave us that huge grin he flashed earlier. I smiled back at Diego before glancing back up at Angel.
"So, everything turned out okay, and it's all good that I told Tom? Because I was so scared that you'd—"
He squeezed me to get my attention, which made me cut off. "Thank you," he said. "I couldn't believe how it played out. I'll tell you about it when we have time to talk."
I looked down at my box that was sitting on the seat where Angel had been sitting. It should be on my shoulders. "I guess I need to put that thing on before I get in trouble."
"You should finish your shift, but this will be the last one for you here."
My eyes widened instinctually and he smiled.
"Did you think I'd let my girl work here?" he asked, seriously. "I'm cool with a lot of things, but this isn't one of them."
My heart started pounding. Partly because I thought it was incredibly hot that he was making me quit and partly because I was nervous about not bringing in that kind of cash.
"I'll pay for your tattoos," he said, reading my mind.
I was speechless. I didn't know what to feel.
"Stop thinking so much," he said, smiling. "I read the letter. I know you're mine."
The slow soul song played in the background, and I wanted to jump into his arms. We stared at each other and in that moment we connected. Both of us knew it was a done deal.
"Diego and I will wait here," he said, picking up my box and extending it to me. He smiled and lifted his chin at me. "Just finish your shift and hand in your little outfit. They'll understand. Mike loves me."
Chapter 19
Angel and Diego waited until I got off an hour later. I decided not to say anything about quitting. It'd be easier to talk to Mike when it wasn't one o'clock in the morning, and I hated to spoil the evening.
We went to Tom's. Diego was staying in a separate, spare bedroom, and he headed for it as soon as we got there. Angel and I went to his bedroom. We held each other for dear life, and kissed until our lips were sore, but we didn't have sex. We had a conversation about my inexperience, and even though we both wanted to have sex, we made a conscious decision to wait… for the moment, at least.
We were both tired, but stayed up for a while, holding each other, talking and kissing. I felt like I knew the meaning of true joy. My body was alive with it. And what's better is that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he felt it too.
I was his main girl—his number one.
I woke up in his arms. He'd fallen asleep with a T-shirt on, and I woke up with my head on his chest as if it was my pillow. He squeezed me as soon as I moved.
"What time is it?" I asked sleepily, without looking at him.
"Nine." His deep voice rumbled in his chest when he spoke, and I smiled at the sound of it.
"It's dark in here."
"I know. Those shades block everything."
"I like it," I said, yawning.
He squeezed me to him again. "Everybody's down there," he said. "Tom's already text me twice asking if I had you up here. That tells me Diego's not up yet."
"What do you mean by everybody?"
"Drake's still in Paris, but he said Rory, Megan and Blake were all down there for breakfast. They're just nosy and want to see if you're up here with me."
I lifted my head to peek at him for the first time. I'd forgotten now beautiful he was, and I looked down smiling, which made him squeeze me again. I shifted my gaze to him, and my smile brightened when my eyes met his. "What's happening right now is an ideal scenario for me, just so you know." I wiggled around a little bit, indicating our current, entangled position. "I love waking up next to you like this."
"I love it too," he said.
We stayed there and talked for ten minutes before deciding to get up and get dressed.
"Should I be embarrassed to go in there?" I asked, when we were on our way downstairs to meet the others.
"Why?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Isn't it sort of awkward for us to walk in there? Won't they assume we…"
I trailed off and he stopped walking to talk to me. He looked at me as if he wasn't quite sure whether or not I was serious. "Let them assume it then," he said, shrugging. "It doesn't make a difference. They're all in love with each other same as you and me. They will not think anything of this." For some reason, his statement, delivered in that Spanish accent was totally believable. I was relatively sure it hadn't even really addressed my worry, but I still bought into it a hundred percent.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room. Tom and Blake were standing in the kitchen. Rory and Megan were curled up on one end of the sectional sofa while Diego was sitt
ing on the other. Everyone, and I mean everyone, looked at us when we came through the doorway.
We stopped in our tracks, accessing the situation. Angel put an arm around my shoulder and looked down at me. I turned to face him and he put a kiss directly on my mouth. Blake and Megan let out simultaneous sounds of approval, and there was a whistle that sounded like it came from the kitchen where Tom was standing.
"Does the happy couple want breakfast?" Tom asked.
Angel and I both nodded and Tom set to work looking in the fridge. He pulled me into the living room, but we broke contact as soon as we realized we wanted to go opposite directions. He sat next to his cousin on the couch and I told him I'd be back after I said good morning to Blake and Tom in the kitchen.
Blake was smiling broadly at me from across the room as I approached. "It was so hard not texting you yesterday, but Angel wanted it to be a surprise," she said. "He made me promise." She grinned and raised her eyebrows. "Was it a surprise?"
"I was so shocked, I ran straight to the bathroom when I saw him."
"To throw up?" she said wide-eyed.
I laughed. "No, although that felt like a possibility. I was just overwhelmed, and it was the first thing I thought to do."
"What'd Angel think about you working there?"
"He made me quit."
Tom laughed. "That's my boy," he said.
Blake smiled and rolled her eyes at Tom. She held her coffee mug to her mouth and took a sip. "I'm glad you guys came down. I was just about to go open up the store." I looked at the clock on the microwave. It read 9:28, and I knew the store opened at 10 on Saturdays. "I'm glad I got to see you, though sweetheart," she said. But I could tell what she really meant was, "I'm glad to see you with Angel." She reached out and gave me a hug and I returned it.
"Pop one of those things into the coffee machine," Tom said. His offer made me take the opportunity to thank him.
"Angel told me what you did for him," I said.
Tom looked at me like he was surprised I'd say that. "Thank you for telling me he was in trouble."
"He said you handled those guys like they were chumps."
Tom let out a laugh. "They were chumps."
"I can tell he's really happy, so thank you."
"It's me ye should be thanking," Rory said, walking up from behind me. "What are we thanking me for?"
"For taking care of Hector," Tom said. Rory got a glass from the cabinet and poured some juice. Tom looked at me. "Actually, Rory does deserve some thanks on this one too. If for nothing else, because he kept his mouth shut and let me do the talking."
"The only reason I kept my mouth shut is because I didn't want to quit playing poker." He downed the juice before pouring another half glass. "He never lets me play. I could have won the whole sixty thousand if he would have been patient."
"Why, when I got the same results?"
"Angel told me about that," I said. "He said it was like you hypnotized him or something."
Rory and Tom both laughed. "No, the old man just told Hector a few things he thought God himself didn't know."
"You can't call me old man in front of Blake when she's just about to marry me," Tom said. He grabbed a nearby dishtowel, swung it a few times in a circle and let it extend in the direction of Rory's leg.
There was a loud cracking noise and Rory let out a yell. "Shite, Dad! Take it easy. The lady knows yer old." Tom did it again. "Christ!" Rory yelled, jumping back from the end of the towel. We laughed as Rory held his hands up in surrender. "Aye! I'm sorry!"
We continued to laugh, and the sound must have made Angel curious because he got up and started walking toward the kitchen. It was my plan all along. I was acting like I was having fun in there without him, but truth was, I wanted him right next to me. He granted my wish without even knowing it. He came into the kitchen, stood beside me, and then pulled me close, positioning me in front of him so he could wrap his arms around me.
I imagined this was what life would be like if we all lived in this house. It was something Angel mentioned last night. The house was gigantic, and he said Tom would love nothing more than for us all to occupy it. I looked at Blake, then across the room at my cousin Megan. I thought about Addie and Drake and how cool it would be to have our own little compound.
"I have to go," Blake said, drawing me from my fantasy. She leaned in to give me a fake kiss on the cheek and I squeezed her forearms.
"Thanks for not telling her," Angel said.
"It was hard," she said, smiling at me. "She asked me if I heard anything about you, and I straight up ignored her."
"You did good," Angel said.
***
Three months later, Blake said that exact same phrase to me as she stared into the mirror at her own reflection.
"You did good," she said. "Amazing, actually."
Megan and I were standing behind her as she studied herself. Blake let me do the honors of making her wedding dress. I only agreed because she assured me it was a simple design and I couldn’t mess it up. I worked on it for the past three weeks, and it was beautiful if I did say so myself. It was more a compliment to her really, since she taught me everything I know.
"You look gorgeous," Megan said.
Blake smiled at both of us through the reflection. She and Tom would get married that evening, and that was literally all we knew. Tom told us pack for a three-day trip and to be dressed for a wedding when we met him at the dock, but we had no idea what to expect otherwise. Drake, who wouldn't get on a boat to save his life, along with Addie, went ahead of us to the secret destination.
We all speculated it would be on a beautiful island somewhere, but Tom was very tightlipped about it. He scheduled the wedding directly on the heels of a trip with his boys to the keys. It was a trip strategically planned for the five days prior to the wedding in an effort to starve himself of Blake.
It was all very dramatic and pirate like, and the anticipation of what was to come had the three of us smiling and feeling giddy. I hadn't seen Angel in five days, and the starvation trick that was meant for Tom and Blake was most certainly working on me. We got to the specified dock and walked nervously toward the pier number that was given to us in the instructions we received earlier.
It was mid-morning, but the whole place was completely deserted. There were several large yachts and a few beautiful wooden ships, but no sign of life. "It doesn't seem like we're at the right place," Blake said. I glanced back at her and could see she was worried. Just then, I saw a man approaching from out of nowhere, and before I knew what was happening, something went over my head and I felt somebody grab me from behind. I squirmed a little, but his grip tightened and he held me close to him.
"Drop yer bags," I heard someone say.
My adrenaline was pumping so hard that it took a second to register that it was Rory's Irish accent.
"I'll send Mack up for their things," another voice said.
I dropped my bag as soon as my head was covered, so I just leaned against my captor. It was very disorienting being blindfolded, but I assumed it was Angel who was holding me because I had an innate since of comfort. He held my arms securely in place as he carried me so I couldn’t take the cover from my face. We walked for a while before he set me down. I supposed we'd gotten onto one of the ships, and smiled as I tried to imagine which one. He set me down on what felt like the ground and whispered for me to count to ten before I took off the covering.
I did as he said, and when I took the fabric sack off my head, I was surprised to find that I was in a very small compartment and was completely alone. I looked straight ahead at a door. There was a note pinned to it that said:
"Hello beautiful. Don't even try to follow me. It's useless. This door is locked. You can use the one behind you to find your friends."
I immediately shook the handle on the one he said was locked, and it most assuredly was. I gave it a few hard shakes since I was convinced that was the most intriguing exit, but I couldn't get it to budge. We we
re in one of the wooden ships, I could tell by the way it was constructed. It felt a bit like I'd gone back in time, and was on some strange adventure—almost like I was in a dream.
I shook the handle of the door behind me, and it opened easily. I peered in to what looked like a small, dark room.
"Hello?" I heard. It was Blake's voice.
"Hello!" Megan answered.
"I'm here too, I said.
The dim light from all of our rooms spilled into that communal holding room, and as our eyes adjusted, we could easily see each other.
"I've got my phone," Blake said. She dug in the pocket I'd sewn into her dress. "I knew this would come in handy." She used her phone as a flashlight until we found a string that turned on a light in the center of the room.
We stared at each other in wonder.
"We're obviously being kidnapped by a bunch of damn pirates," Blake said.
"Mine smelled really good," I said, making them both laugh.
"Watch, I'm gonna mess with Tom," Blake said. She typed out a text, and sent it to him.
Within a minute, a very perturbed Mack came busting through one of the doors. He stared at Blake with an inpatient glare. "The captain said for me to take your phone Ms. Blake, and that the next time you try to get cute, he's gonna take it out on your ass."
Blake handed her phone to Mack with no argument. We were in that small room for what must have been two or three hours as the ship moved. We tried to break out of there at first, but then we just sat in the middle of the room and told stories. There was really nothing else we could do. It wasn't the most lavish means of transportation, but it was an experience I'd never forget, and there's something to be said for that.
"Rory told me we were doing this," Megan said, after we'd been in there a while. "He assumed I wouldn't be okay with the whole thing, you know, because of what happened to me," she said, smiling shyly. "He thought we would meet you guys at the wedding with Drake and Addie, but I told him I wanted to go along for the ride." She shrugged. "It's probably weird, but I thought it might be therapeutic for me to make some good kidnapping memories… you know, try to erase or at least blur the other ones."
Tattoos and Angels Page 14