Page 44 of Forever Mine

“Did you eat this before?” Angel held a half-eaten festival in mid-air.

“Yes, there are places in Miami where you can get this stuff.”

“I bet it's not good like this.”

Scott laughed. “You're right. This has a certain, uh, niceness to it.”

Lowering her hand, Angel looked at him suspiciously. “Is that a word?”

Scott exchanged a glance with me and I waited to hear what he'd say.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Who said so?” she asked, frowning.

“The dictionary.”

“Which one?”

I was about to stop her from arguing when Scott gave a slight shake of the head.

“Any of the major ones,” he said, “Some words sound like slang—you know like stuff you say to your friends—but over time, they're included.”

“Oh.” She bit the festival and kept her eyes on him.

“And by the way,” he added, “I may have used it incorrectly. Thank you for calling me on it.”

She cocked her head. “For real?”

“Yeah, it's more descriptive of someone’s personality than food.”

While they bantered, I got up to bring more orange juice to the table.

Angel and Scott were engaged in another argument when I came back. Listening to them, I realized that Angel had few, if any, men in her life. It didn't surprise me how well she got along with Scott. Angel was simply being herself.

Scott talked to her as if she wasn't a child, but it shouldn't have surprised me because he'd told me about his niece.

After dinner, Scott announced he was leaving.

“You have to go already?” Angel asked, after helping me clear the table.

“Yeah, I gotta go. I’m sure you and Mommy need time to do girl stuff.”

She let out a peal of laughter, then continued chatting with him.

While I watched them from the kitchen, I rang for a taxi.

“The car will be here in five minutes,” I told him when I ended the call.

He got to his feet and tapped Angel’s nose. “We'll catch up later.”

Angel bobbed her head and waved at Scott. “Okay, bye.”

“Thanks for sharing your mommy with me.”

“That's okay,” Angel said before turning her attention to the television.

We stepped onto the porch and Scott slid his arm around my shoulder. “Thanks for a great day. I enjoyed it.”

“Me too.” I looked up at him, dragging my gaze from his lips. “Call me when you get to your place.”

“I will,” he said, hugging me closer. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something else. He changed his mind, but his gaze never left my lips. Scott was having the same struggle I was going through.

I tipped my mouth up to his. “Kiss me,” I whispered.

“Happy to oblige,” he said, before settling his mouth over mine.

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