Page 37 of Love or Tequila in Unexpected Places

He cradled the photo like it was a delicate piece of glass, convinced that if he blinked too hard, it might shatter. In that instant, he felt like the luckiest man in the world, even if he did have to remind himself not to shout “Mine!” like a child at a birthday party.

“Angelo?” The sweet woman in front of him broke him out of his reverie. “Is everything okay?”

He slowly lifted his gaze from the picture, his heart racing as he beheld the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Allison’s worry etched deep lines across her heart-shaped face, drawing attention to her striking green eyes, which shimmered with a mix of concern and hope. Her soft, sandy hair framed herface delicately, and for a moment, everything else faded as he became entranced by her presence.

“Yes. Everything is perfect.”

A radiant smile spread across her face, and Angelo couldn’t help but notice how it complemented her delicate features. The warmth of her joy transformed her expression, illuminating her eyes and giving her an almost ethereal glow. It was as if a weight had been lifted, revealing the vibrant woman he knew was beneath the surface.

“We’re having a baby,” Angelo whispered, his gaze flicking between her sparkling jade eyes, drinking in every detail.

“Yes, we are,” Allison replied after a few moments of joyful silence. Her smile widened even more, her pearly whites flashing as laughter bubbled up within her. “We’re having a freaking baby!”

Overcome with excitement, Angelo wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her as if his very life depended on it. A boisterous laugh escaped him, echoing the joy that surged through him—he felt like the happiest man on Earth, and in this moment, he truly was.

To his delightful surprise, Allison wrapped her arms around his neck and leapt into him, her legs encircling his waist as she returned the embrace with all her strength.

“We’re having a baby!” He twirled around, cradling her tightly against him. “Our baby, Pinkie!”

As their laughter gradually faded, Angelo slowed down, still holding her close, his heart racing wildly in his chest. He looked up at Allison, captivated by her radiance.

A lingering smile danced on her lips, her chest rising and falling with the remnants of their excitement, while a lovely flush colored her cheeks. But what held his gaze the longest were her eyes—those beautiful, jewel-like orbs sparkled with such intensity that they seemed almost illuminated from within.

His eyes lowered instinctively, catching the slightest movement as her tongue slipped out to moisten her lips. In that moment, an intense desire surged within him; he longed to savor the taste of her sweetness once more.

The thought terrified him.

He was accustomed to the feeling of want, to the familiar ache of longing for something just out of reach. But this was different—this was an intense, raw need that coursed through him, a hunger he had never before experienced. It was as if every fiber of his being craved her.

The mere thought of not having her ignited a fury within him, a burning desire to scorch the world around him. But then, a different notion flickered through his mind, one that made him burn for an entirely different reason.

What if she were mine?

He knew that Allison would be in his life for years to come, yet the thought of her dating other men and eventually marrying someone else stirred a deep-seated unease within him. A green monster emerged, whispering doubts into his mind.

Angelo didn’t typically get jealous; he was confident in his own qualities—both intellectual and physical. He only pursued women who recognized and appreciated what he had to offer. So, he cursed in his head at his own foolishness.

I’m jealous of men who don’t even exist.

“Yet,” the little green monster taunted, a persistent reminder that it lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce no matter how many times he tried to dismiss it.

Angelo tightened his grip on her waist, a fierce possessiveness igniting within him. The urge to imprint himself on Allison’s body surged, a primal desire to mark her as his for life. Every fiber of his being longed to claim her, to create a bond that would intertwine their lives forever, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that she belonged to him and he to her. He leaned in slowly,inch by torturous inch, aching to kiss her. The air around them crackled with anticipation as he yearned to stroke her tongue with his own, to possess her mouth as completely as she owned his thoughts. The world around them faded, leaving only the intoxicating desire that pulsed between them.

Allison took a deep breath, the movement drawing her even closer to him as she began to speak. “Angelo, I—”

But a loud horn suddenly blared, startling her into silence and extinguishing the fire that had ignited within him. Angelo cursed the driver who had chosen that exact moment to park in such an inconvenient spot, frustration flooding through him as Allison unwrapped her legs from around him.

She wasn’t looking at him as they shifted out of the way, but he could vividly picture her flushed cheeks and the way she bit her lip in a mix of embarrassment and fluster. She was mumbling something under her breath, words he couldn’t quite catch. Driven by a need to reconnect, he inched closer to her, hoping to bridge the gap that the interruption had created.

“…sorry, this was inappropriate of me. I shouldn’t have done that, and—”

“Allison,” he growled roughly, cutting her off.

He wasn’t angry; far from it. In fact, Allison’s flustered rambling was both cute and sexy, reigniting the fire within him that only intensified. Every word she stumbled over made him want to silence her with a kiss, to reclaim the moment and drown out her insecurities with the heat of his desire. He could feel the urgency building, a longing to taste her and make her forget the world around them.

Angelo reached for her, longing to pull her back into his embrace, but she swiftly moved away. She kept her gaze downward, so he knew it wasn’t intentional, but an unexpected wave of awkwardness washed over him.

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