Page 54 of Pitiful Lies

“And doesn’t that make it worse? You were gonna take on the king for your best friend. I never saw anything like it. You are so brave. And you got such a big heart, Little Doll,” he says, whispering the last bit and reaching out to touch my wrist.

Damn.

His words are like a balm to my soul and his fingers, well, they just feel so good wherever they touch me. I suck in a breath, and I just try to absorb them.

“Thank you. It’s really nice to have someone say things like that to me.”

“It’s just the truth, Sisi.”

Sharing little things about ourselves seems surreal. I mean, Angel is not the kind of man I expect to open up easily. But he does.

He tells me about his Greek grandmother who raised him. How she’s the reason he is even alive today. And I wish she were here so I could thank her to.

“Is Koukla Greek?” I ask, suddenly stringing it together.

“It is,” he tells me with a grin.

“What does it mean?” I ask, and he chuckles.

“Beautiful, Little Doll. It means you,” he murmurs and lifts my hand by my wrist to drop a soft kiss on it.

Swoon.

I swear my ovaries are erupting like the fourth of July over here.

“Are you ready for dessert?”

He is asking a question that usually follows dinner. But my body has other ideas, and my blood starts heating.

“That kind of dessert you get later, Little Doll. Right now, I was thinking mochi,” he replies with a knowing grin.

“Um, sure. I’ll have the lavender green tea mochi, please,” I tell the waitress, who unobtrusively appears at our table the second he says dessert.

She bows slightly and turns to Angel.

“I’ll have the same.”

After dinner, we drive to the Den, and I feel hyperaware of everything.

My brain keeps replaying what he said earlier, and I squeeze my thighs together.

That kind of dessert you get later.

Does he mean what I think he means? I hate to just assume he’s talking about sex. I mean I know he wants me. But he’s a virile kinda guy.

What if someone else in here catches his fancy? What then?

Shit. I am spiraling. And I refuse to do anything other than have a good time tonight.

Angel took me out for a fantastic dinner. He’s giving me a place to stay. Protecting me against unseen enemies.

And I’m about to hang out with my girlfriends, which is something I haven’t done in months.

I decide to shelf the innuendo he let slip earlier. I am an adult. If I want to have sex with a man, I can.

I just have to hang on to my heart.

Easy peasy, right?

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