Page 55 of Entering Stronghold

Adam looked up from the papers spread out on his desk and tried to quell the immediate surge of bundled negative emotions clenching his gut. The man in the doorway hadn’t done anything to deserve his animosity. Not really. It seemed to be an automatic reaction ever since he’d met him.

“Hey, how was the interview?” Adam asked, forcing his voice to remain casual.

Finding out Michael wanted to sign up for a temp agency while he waited for the usual D.C. cattle call of auditions had prompted Adam to offer some help. A way to prove to himself it didn’t bother him how close this man was to Angel, that Adam didn’t see him as a threat.

With an easy grin, Michael leaned on the door frame, hands in his pockets. He had the kind of confident nonchalance Adam had always envied. Michael looked like a man who could relax easily, even though he wasn’t as playful as Chris. Maybe it was the way his hair fell in his eyes. Adam had a feeling that was the kind of thing a lot of women found attractive, and it had probably helped the man a lot in his career, but he knew such a look would never work for him.

“It went fine, I think they’ll probably call you about taking me on. I wanted to stop by and say hi and thank you.”

Adam waved his hand in acknowledgment. “No problem. It benefits my company to have plenty of people to place in jobs.”

“And makes sure I won’t end up back on Angel’s couch in a month or two if I can’t pay my rent, right?”

He felt his face freeze, an immediate reaction to covering up his emotions. “Sorry?”

Michael laughed and Adam had to squash another surge of emotion, mostly anger.

“You should call her. She’s been pacing around the house and making her housemates nervous because she keeps muttering under her breath and they have no idea why.”

“I didn’t get her number.” It wasn’t a real excuse. He hadn’t asked for it because he knew he could get it from Patrick any time he wanted. Of course, the day after scening with her it had occurred to him that calling her without having asked for her number made him kind of look like a creeper. “And I figured she’d be at Stronghold this weekend.”

For a moment Michael looked at him with something akin to pity. “You know, most women don’t like to be taken for granted.”

“I’m not... I don’t want to rush her.” He didn’t know why he was talking to this man. He barely knew him. Hell, he hadn’t even told any of his friends this, and Justin had been in his office at lunch asking about Angel. “She’s new to all of this,” he muttered.

Looking amused, Michael shook his head and stood up straight. “Don’t take too long. Angel’s not the most patient person in the world, not once she knows what she wants.” He chuckled, gave the door frame one last rap with his knuckles, and left.

Great. Now even people Adam wasn’t friends with were butting in.

Angel

Leigh grabbed the dish of scalloped potatoes from the backseat while Angel was picking up the blueberry pie when her phone buzzed with a text message.

“Argh.”

Juggling the still-warm dish with one hand while trying to dig her phone out of her purse with the other, slightly hampered by her bulky winter jacket, Angel gave it up for a lost cause. She’d check it inside. Leigh looked at her with amusement.

“Come on, let’s go,” Angel jerked her head at her parents’ front door.

“Doesn’t look like Mike’s here yet.”

“No, he said he might be late. He had a late coffee date with one of his former directors, trying to find out if there are any backstage jobs going on during the next couple of months.”

“Do you ever regret not doing the theater thing?” Leigh asked as they headed up the walkway.

“No. It’s a great hobby, but a shit job.”

Trying to make a living at it would ruin the enjoyment of theater for her. Mike seemed to thrive on it. Then again, he was a sadist, so maybe he channeled the stress into beating some willing sub’s ass.

Now that she’d spent a little time at Stronghold, Angel could believe it. Scenes could be great stress relief as long as you didn’t get too emotionally involved.

Not that she was. She wouldn’t let herself be until she knew what the heck was going on with a certain someone else’s emotions. What game was he playing anyway?

“Are you going to keep standing there or are we going in?”

Oops. They’d not only reached the door, Angel had been standing in front of the side with the doorknob, staring off into space without paying any attention to her surroundings. Muttering a few choice words under her breath, she tested the door and was relieved to find it unlocked so she didn’t have to go digging through her purse for her keys.

“Hello?”

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