Page 62 of Kiss an Angel

“Are you trying to tell me you want to do it again?”

“Yes, please.”

He smiled down at her, but at the same time, he seemed troubled. “All right, sweetheart, I guess anybody who’s waited this long deserves to make up for lost time.”

She parted her lips, eager for his kiss, only to have him pull back the sheet and embarrass her by telling her he wouldn’t go any further until he’d made sure she was all right. Ignoring her protests, he stripped off what remained of her tights and did just that. When he was finally satisfied that he hadn’t harmed her, he began to love her all over again. The rain tap-tap-tapped on the windows, and when they were done, she fell into the first restful sleep she’d known in months.

They had barely gotten under way the next morning before he began to cut her into slivers verbally. And all because she’d let him distract her before she’d had time to explain one small detail.

“I assumed. Assumed! God, what an ass I am. I deserve to be married to you. Why should I have assumed you’d get this right when you haven’t gotten anything else right?”

After the tender magic of last night, his attack was doubly hurtful. When they’d first met, his anger had been cold and quiet, but now a pressure valve seemed to have exploded.

“Couldn’t you have finished explaining?” he raved. “No, of course not. That would have been too logical.”

She blinked her eyes hard and hated herself with all her might for not being the kind of person who could scream right back at him.

“When you said you were taking birth control pills, you needed to finish the story, Daisy. You needed to tell me you’d just started to take them, that you hadn’t been on them for a full month yet, that there’s still a chance I could get you goddamn pregnant! Couldn’t you have finished the story, Daisy?”

She dug her fingernails into her palms to keep from crying. At the same time she cursed herself for letting him get to her like this.

“Answer me right now!”

The lump in her throat had grown so large she had to choke the words out “I—I was o-overcome by p-passion.”

Some of the tension seemed to leave his body. He eased up on the accelerator, looked over at her, and scowled. “Are you crying?”

She lifted her chin and shook her head, even as a tear skidded down her cheek. She’d couldn’t stand the idea of crying in front of him again. She’d always hated her easy tears.

He slowed and his voice gentled. “Daisy, I’m sorry.” He glanced into his side mirror and began to pull off the road.

“Don’t you dare stop this truck!” she said fiercely.

The tires kicked up gravel as he brought the rig to a stop, ignoring her wishes as usual. He reached out for her, but she drew away.

“I’m not a wimp!” She lashed out at him and angrily dashed away her tears with her fingers.

“I didn’t say you were.”

“You’re thinking it! I just cry easily. But it doesn’t mean anything, and I’m not trying to manipulate you with tears. I want you to apologize because you’re acting like a jerk, not because I’m crying and it’s made you feel guilty.”

“I’m definitely acting like a jerk.”

“Because I can’t help crying. I’ve always been emotional. Newborn babies, long-distance telephone commercials, a good country-western song. I see something or hear something and the next thing I know—”

“Daisy, I’m trying to apologize. You can go ahead and cry if you want, but just don’t talk, okay?”

She sniffed and reached into her purse for a tissue. “Okay.”

“I had no right to yell at you like that. I was mad at myself, and I took it out on you. I was the one who cut you off last night before you’d had time to explain. It’s my fault. I’ve never been this irresponsible before, and I can’t explain it

. I guess I just . . .” He hesitated.

She wiped her nose. “Got swept away by passion?”

He smiled. “I suppose that’s as good a reason as any. But, Daisy, if you’re pregnant because of my stupidity . . .”

The dread she heard in his voice made her want to start crying all over again. Instead, she gave her nose a businesslike blow. “I’m sure I won’t be. It’s not the right time. My period is supposed to start in a couple of days.”

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