Page 8 of When the Angel Falls First

She’s incredibly sexy when she’s all cute and flustered.

“Yes,” I said gently, hoping she wasn’t about to react badly.

Again.

When I’d told her the truth of what I was seven years ago, she’d pushed me away in disbelief. Refused to see me for nearly a week before she agreed to talk again. After that, I hadn’t had time to prove things, not really, before I’d been called back to the Host for correction.

A correction I’dmorethandeserved. Josie had been the perfect distraction, one that had led to too many slip-ups. A dozen couples, two dozen fates, knocked off course, all because I thought I’d found my Chosen. An angel finding his Chosen was a big deal—a once-in-eternity kind of thing—but there was one big problem. Josie was human. Despite that, I’d let myself get carried away with the belief that she could be the one, at the expense of those who relied on me for their fates.

It was egregious. Too much, and even a loving heavenly Host had to do something to right my wrongs. So they had. My wings were stripped and my other couples reassigned until I’d corrected the matches I’d messed up.

Seven long years of being earthbound, fallen from grace, and I was finally down to the last few names on my list. All I had left to do was match my last three couples, and I could get my wings back. Bewholeagain.

But what would that mean for Josie? A human Chosen… I didn’t know. It had never before in the history of angels happened—an angel having a human Chosen. I wasn’t even sure it was divinely possible tohavea human Chosen. Only that I felt that pull in my chest, always to her.

She was doing fine without me, my presence back in her life seeming to throw her off more than anything. She still didn’t believe what I was. So maybe I was wrong. A Chosen shouldneedher other half, and Josie didn’t seem to need anything from me. I’d been wrong about so many things.

I resisted the urge to shake my head to clear it. She was still staring at me like I’d grown a third eyeball. I needed to say something to set her back at ease, prove that she wasn’t losing it.

Of course, being a cupidspecificallywas a bit harder to prove than for most supernatural species. Wolves could shift, vampires had fangs and super speed, and trolls had blue skin.

But cupids?

Well, we helped true loves find each other. It was a very precise art, and it wasn’t easy to explain or show at the drop of a hat. So I couldn’t blame her for her reaction.

Granted, bringing couples together wasn’t my only divine trick, hence our current predicament. The flick of my hand that sent the angry landlord away had gotten her unstuckfrom her current predicament, but had also made her head spin.

As for the landlord, he would get back to his desk and make his very important phone call—a need I’d plucked out of the cloud of stress hanging over the man—and be distracted for a while. But eventually, he’d be back, trying to toss out her cats. He was allergic, so the instinct was understandable. But perhaps there was something I could do to fix the problem permanently?

I needed to change the topic of conversation, but it was hard to think straight. Josie was exactly as I remembered, only slightly older, slightly wiser, and even more gorgeous. She wore a simple sweater, her hair pulled halfway up, the bottom spilling over with a waterfall of soft curls. She’d also filled out a little, and the extra curves looked phenomenal on her.

A stretchy neon book cover would look phenomenal on her. It’s Josie.

“Your landlord doesn’t like the cats? They seem quite content here.” I threw out the first thing that came to mind, even though I already knew the answer. Anything had to be better than the thought of her curves and how badly I wanted to touch them.Neededto touch them.

Josie had always brought out un-angelic urges in me. She was my downfall and my addiction—one I needed to steer clear of.

She finally snapped out of it, focusing on what I’d said.

“Yes, they are quite content, given the fact that they each showed up and made themselves at home.”

“They’re strays?”

She lifted her chin in challenge. “Not anymore. They belong here. They’re part of the Bookish Cat family.”

I smiled, impressed with Josie as usual. She was never oneto back down from a challenge. “You’ve always had a big heart. It’s one of the first things I admired about you, way back when.”

She cocked her head. “Well, thank you. Do you often run away from people youadmire, without ever looking back? Or saying goodbye? Or explaining?” Her aura turned sour, almost bitter. She leveled me with an accusing glare and picked up the fluffiest of the cats.

She missed me?

She’d always held a special place in my heart, but she’d moved on. I knew because I had come back for her. It was only a few human weeks after I’d been called up to give an account to the Host, and I’d used my powers to trace her as soon as my feet were back on mortal ground.

I remembered it like it was yesterday. It was raining—like always in Seattle—and I was drenched through my soggy, squelching shoes by the time I found her at the edge of her college’s football field. She was huddled under an enormous maple tree, snuggled up to a college guy in one of those brightly-colored leather jackets. Josie never knew I was there, but I saw the whole thing—his arm around her shoulders, the two of them tucked together, studying. When he leaned in to kiss her, I walked away.

I was too late, had left too abruptly, been detained by the heavens for too long, and I had to let her go. So I did, keeping myself busy for seven long years, patching up failed matches and ignoring the constant pull in my chest toward her.

“You know, everybody told me working at a bookshop would be boring, but I have to say, you sure keep it exciting.” A woman appeared out of nowhere at my side. “Is he part of the decor now? I approve.” She ambled away again, a stack ofHighlander romance books tottering with each step, but not falling.

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