Page 123 of Kiss an Angel

The next thing he knew, he was grabbing her, and she was grabbing him, and all the bozos coming down the jetway trying to get past them were jabbing them with bags and briefcases, but he didn’t care. He was holding tight to this daughter he loved so desperately, and he wasn’t ever going to let her go.

It was Monday night, the show had a rare evening off, and Alex had asked Daisy out for a date. Soft music filtered through the dimly lit dining room of the expensive downtown Indianapolis restaurant, where they were tucked away in a corner banquette.

Now that she was no longer worried about Glenna, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Adding to her well-being was the fact that Brady had returned from the airport today with Heather. He’d been prickly as a porcupine when Daisy had asked him what had happened, but she noticed that he’d kept Heather at his side for most of the day. And Heather hadn’t looked so happy all summer.

In some ways Daisy thought these past two weeks had been the best in her life. Alex had been so tender and affectionate that he hardly seemed like the same man. She’d made up her mind to tell him about the baby tonight, although she was still working out exactly what she would say.

He smiled at her, and he looked so handsome her heart did a crazy little flip-flop. Most rugged men didn’t wear suits well, but he was a definite exception.

“You look beautiful tonight.”

“I was afraid I’d forgotten how to dress up.” For once she didn’t feel compelled to tell him how much better her mother would have looked, maybe because her appearance was no longer as important to her as it once had been. She’d spent so many days in jeans and a ponytail without a stitch of make-up on her face that tonight she felt quite glamorous.

“I give you my personal guarantee that you haven’t forgotten a thing.”

She smiled. For their dinner out, she was wearing the only nice outfit she had, a bone silk charmeuse tank with a short, bias cut skirt in the same fabric. She’d made a belt from a long, antique gold scarf, looping it twice around her waist and letting the fringed ends dangle. Her jewelry consisted of her wedding band and a pair of chunky matte-gold earrings. Because she hadn’t wanted to waste money on haircuts, her hair was longer than she’d worn it in years, and after so many weeks of keeping it up in a ponytail, it felt incredibly sexy brushing her neck and floating above her shoulders.

Their waiter appeared and set two salads before them, each one a combination of artichoke hearts, pea pods, and cucumber dressed with raspberry vinaigrette and a crumble of feta cheese.

As the waiter disappeared, Daisy whispered, “Maybe we should have ordered the house salad. This is awfully expensive.”

Alex seemed amused by her concern. “Even poor folks have to celebrate once in a while.”

“I know, but—”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’ll fit it into the budget.”

She secretly resolved to plan inexpensive meals for the next few weeks to make up for it. Although Alex didn’t talk much about money, she couldn’t believe a professor at a small college earned very much.

“Are you sure you don’t want any wine?”

“No, this is fine.” As she took a sip from her tumbler of club soda, she forced her eyes away from the wine that glistened in his glass. He’d ordered one of the most expensive bottles on the menu and she would have loved a sip, but she wasn’t taking any chances with this baby.

They really shouldn’t be wasting money like this with the baby coming. As soon as they finished their tour, she’d get a job and work right up until it was time for her to deliver so she could help pay all the additional expenses. Four months ago she would never have been able to imagine such a thing, but now the idea of hard work didn’t bother her. She realized she liked the person she had become.

“Eat. I love watching you slip that fork into your mouth.” His voice deepened until it grew blatantly seductive. “It reminds me of all those other things you do with your mouth.”

Color flooded her cheeks. She turned her attention to the salad and with every bite she took, felt his eyes on her. Erotic images began flashing through her head.

“Will you stop it!” She plunked down her fork in exasperation.

He caressed the stem of his wineglass with his strong, tapered fingers, then ran his thumb over the rim. “Stop what?”

“Seducing me!”

“I thought you liked being seduced.”

“Not when I’m fully dressed sitting in the middle of a restaurant.”

“I see your point. I can tell you’re wearing a bra under that top. Do you have panties on?”

“Of course I do.”

“Anything else?”

“No. I’m wearing sandals, so I didn’t put pantyhose on.”

“Good. Now here’s what I want you to do. Get up and go into the rest room. Slip off every stitch of your underwear and put it in your purse. Then come back to me.”

---