Page 27 of Desiring an Angel

“She’s everything I’ve dreamed of, exactly what we both need,” he started, his voice winding up as though ready to sing her praises.

I bit my tongue to keep from reminding him that while I enjoyed the hell out of pussy, I didn’t need anyone but him.

A farm girl, just like her profile brief bio had stated, he went on to tell me. Well-versed in caring for a household and all sorts of animals—which I considered children to be: instinctual wildness that would give me a headache at the first cry.

“She graduated from high school but has ADHD and knew she wouldn’t be able to handle college.”

“What aspirations does she have?” I asked, hoping the woman had some sort of plans outside wanting to birth and raise children.

She had none.

But, oh, her giggle was infectious…her candid, uninhibited spirit had struck Ash silly. I could imagine the hearts in his eyes already. He laughed like I hadn’t heard him do in years, and a groan rose up my throat as he assured me she was the exact woman he’d been hoping for.

I rubbed my hands over my face as heaviness settled deep into my bones.

“She sounds amazing,” I muttered, holding back on the for you I would have preferred tacking on, “but we have to be careful moving forward.”

“She invited me for dinner tomorrow night,” Ash blurted, ignoring my concern. “Her sister’s house is a couple hours north—I figured I could just get a hotel room and stay there rather than driving home afterward if it gets too late.”

My mind blanked for a few seconds as I pulled into the parking garage. Ash had made plans without checking in with me…not that he needed my permission, but the fact he’d taken that risky of a step without consulting me doubled the acid burning my stomach.

With it being the anniversary of Archer’s death, I kept my true thoughts stifled.

Car in park and engine off, I sat staring at my cell in its holder, watching the seconds tick by in silence. I wasn’t sure what to say—

“Rhett? Are you still there?”

“Yeah,” I choked out and cleared my throat. “I’m here.”

And I always will be for you…

“So what do you think?”

Fuck, he had to ask that question.

Filtering through the words in my head, I attempted to choose them with care. “Getting to know her a bit better is the smart thing to do. Right now, you’re riding a high of finding a match that seems perfect, and if you rush a face-to-face meeting, your desires might blind you to any red flags we need to be aware of. Maybe talk a bit more over the phone or FaceTime with her like we usually do with potential matches. We need to make sure she isn’t some immature girl hoping to find a couple of sugar daddies.”

It wouldn’t have been the first time we’d brought a woman home only to have dollar signs light up in her eyes upon seeing the neighborhood where we lived and how our backyard overlooked the Pacific.

“This is fate, Rhett,” Ash pushed, using the same word he swore led the two of us together. “I’m sure of it, and I’m not getting any younger.”

I exhaled slowly, closed my eyes, and gave my face that palm-scrub I’d been wanting to do since reading his text. I could tell him to wait until I got home to meet with her—and he would listen to me since he said I always knew best.

But what if he didn’t?

I’d never attempted to control Ash per se…would he do his own thing?

The thought of him acting without thinking shit through sent a shudder ratcheting down my spine. The man was too beautiful, too sweet and kind for any woman to not desire him.

And if he did go to meet her without me, would she end up being that puzzle piece to his life he felt he’d been missing, the one part of him I couldn’t fulfill?

Regardless of whatever action he took and how it would stir my insides, how the fuck could I deny him what he wanted most?

“Just be careful,” I managed to speak the words past the thickness in my throat.

“I will. I promise.”

I swallowed hard before voicing my one request. “If she’s everything you’ve been dreaming of, could you at least wait for me to get home before fucking her?”

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