My Demons (The Angel Trilogy #2) (6 page)

I hear voices in another room. I think I could probably be a little more pronouncing, but I’m nervous. I tip toe through the foyer and Evan darts out from the large opening to my right.

“What are you doing?” He grabs my arm.

My mouth opens, but nothings coming out. From behind him emerges a woman. Not just any woman though, no she’s freaking stunning and perfect.

“I’m so sorry.” I turn and run toward the front door of the apartment. I make it to the elevator doors when Evan runs after me. “Abby?” He tries shaking the words from my mouth. “Why are you here?” he yells at me and I want to cry, but I don’t.

I’m pissed mostly because I don’t have a right to be.
Do I want the right?
That’s the question of the hour. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you had company. I… the door was open.” I tilt my head looking at the freaking exotic beauty behind him and I want to cry I’m so angry with myself. “I’ve got to go,” I growl and force myself from out of his hold when the door slides open.

“Wait!” He jumps into the elevator with me grabbing my arm. I’m frozen to the spot because I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.
Does he want me to stand here and meet his new girlfriend?
“Evan I apologize for interrupting. But let go of my arm before I scream,” I demand quiet enough hoping that she doesn’t hear me.

He lets go of my arm and drops his shoulders, I think I see regret darken his eyes for a brief moment. I almost change my mind.
Almost.

“You weren’t interrupting.” The woman jumps in at the last second.

“Please let me leave with my dignity,” I beg, restraining myself from letting out a sob.

“This isn’t what you think, Abby?”

“Get off of the fucking elevator, Evan.” I stomp.

He raises his hands in the air letting go of my arm and moves backward from the elevator and away from me.

I watch as the doors close and then begin what I can only imagine will be the longest cry of my life. Just when I was about to let go of my fears I walk in on a woman in his apartment.

I press the code I’d seen the concierge press hoping it’s the same to go down as it was to come up. When the elevator begins its decent, I hold my back in the corner wrapping my arms around myself.

When the doors open I practically run out of my own shoes trying to escape my embarrassment. The man at the door says something, but I don’t stay around long enough to hear.

The night has come and I realize I have no way home. I live in the hills, and it isn’t close. I begin walking. I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m going to do when I get there, but it has to be better than the place my mind is in right now.

The air is chilly and I probably didn’t choose the best attire for the long journey I have ahead of me. “What do I do now?” I say aloud as I wipe the rebellious tear that’s escaped away. I feel my phone vibrate in my bag, ignoring it I keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I can’t talk to anyone right now, this is too embarrassing. I’ll bet that Amy won’t be team Evan after hearing about this? I won’t tell her though because she’d probably hold a knife to his throat, knowing her as well as I do.

I consider calling for a ride home when I remember Amy had told me I lived near this area. I reach into my bag for my wallet and find my license. “Yes!” I see my address and type it into my phone’s GPS and note that it’s only a few blocks away.

I smile and begin the journey that I need to take.

Chapter Six

Abby

The keys I have in my bag open the door to my apartment.

“I have good taste.” I laugh, walking past the tasteful furnishings. Honestly though, I feel like I’m in someone else’s apartment. I walk through thinking that at any minute someone’s going to jump out from behind something screaming for me to get out.

I investigate all of the pieces of art and décor that I have placed everywhere. “I like it.” I smile.

I find myself in the hallway and turn on the light switch to the bathroom, not seeing anything of significance I turn and follow the hallway to another door.

The bedroom is perfect. Mostly white, with beautiful pops of color. Exactly my taste. I run my hand along the dresser seeing Addie’s picture. “Not going there.” I place it back in its spot.

The closet is small and I laugh again remembering Amy complaining about it while I was in the hospital. “Drama queen.”

The closet’s filled with my clothes, and then I wonder where the clothes came from in the closet at my parents’ house.

I sigh knowing my mom had to have bought everything new and placed them there. I search the inside of the dresser finding a long sleeve Henley. “It smells just like him.” I take a deep breath.

My phone hasn’t stopped vibrating in my bag since I left Evan’s apartment and I think about throwing it out the window.

I find the edge of the bed that takes up a good portion of the small room and close my eyes enjoying the space that I’ve found myself in. I jump, when I hear pounding on the door. “What the hell?” I run to the door standing on my tip toes to view through the peephole.

Evan.

“Abby, open the door.”

I jump back looking around. I don’t know what to do.

“I know you’re in there. I need you to hear me out.”

I bite my nails. “Shit,” I hiss under my breath finding my seat on the couch.

“Seriously? Angel open the door, please. That wasn’t what you thought. I shouldn’t have let you go. Please,” he yells while still pounding loudly on the door.

I jump from my place on the couch and stand on the carpet. I tip-toe toward the door not knowing if I actually plan to open it. I instead look out of the peephole again. Evan’s leaning on the door with one hand while covering his face with the other.

“Please,” he says, but in a lower voice this time.

I step back and turn the lock and before I can even reach for the door knob he’s in the apartment. He rushes through grabbing me in his arms, my legs instantly wrapping around his waist.

“I fucking love you.” Our faces are eye to eye. I don’t say a word. I don’t know what to say. “You’re my world. End of. That was Natalia. Not anything more than a friend and has been for years.”

“Evan, you don’t have to explain anything to me. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Fuck that. I owe you everything.” He takes a deep breath. “You’re my world, Abby, don’t you see that?”

I still, only feeling my heartbeat that’s now pounding in my ears. Knowing that any moment I’m going to give him everything. His dimples make their presence known and I fall apart in his arms.

My back’s resting against the wall across from the front door. His body’s pushed hard against mine and I recognize the feeling that’s running through my body as want. I also recognize this as being very similar to the dreams I continue to have every night. “Have you always called me, angel?” I cock my head to the side as I wait for his answer. “Yes.”

“Why?” I bite my bottom lip.

“You’re the only person that’s ever brought light into my darkness. You and you alone.” He sweeps his tongue across his full lips. My eyes hold there watching at the perfect way he controls it.

“Oh,” I fall short of words.

“Have I met your friend before?” I need to know because I can’t compete with her, she’s so beautiful.

“Abby, that’s not what I want to talk about right now.” His mouth meets mine without me having a clue it’s about to happen.

The butterflies are back, and I melt into his arms relaxing so much so that I feel his grip tighten, holding me in place. He takes my mouth like he knows every inch of it.

My tongue finds his in a heated fury. “No one loves me like you do,” he announces not breaking the contact with my mouth. My heart takes a leap. “I’ll let you set the pace, Abby.” His mouth has broken free and falls to my neck. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on.

What am I really holding on to?
My head’s spinning, I’m so confused. I don’t even know why I went to his apartment in the first place.
What did I go there expecting?

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long, touch your skin, and feel you in my arms,” he says raising his head.

My heart flutters in rhythm to the movement of his lips. I don’t know how to respond, so I stay silent.

“Evan,” I take a deep breath. I need some space. I don’t want space, but I think I need it because I’m about to give in to everything and more. “Can you please set me down?”

He hesitates but complies and places me on the floor. “I’m sorry.” He steps back and this gives me the perfect opportunity to look at him, and God when I do, I nearly collapse. He is so beautiful.

Dark hair, a suit holds him in place perfectly, but I can tell it’s having some trouble keeping him locked away as it stretches taut over his large chest and arms.

“Umm, I’m not sure what I have to drink, but would you like something?” I say walking backward, running into a small table. “Oh.” I jump trying to catch my balance as something falls.

I lean over to pick it up and see that it’s a picture frame. When I turn it over, I notice that it’s a photograph of Evan and me sitting at a fountain. I hold it in front of me and he reaches for it touching my hand as he does.

“I remember this.” He smiles. “We’d been running on the track at Vernon Park.”

“Oh?” I ask turning to enter the kitchen. I reach in the fridge hoping there’s water or some wine maybe.

“Let me take you to dinner?” He places the picture back in its spot.

I grab two bottles of water and sit at the kitchen bar.

“I need to tell you something.” I look down as he finds a seat next to me. “I feel things for you, Evan. I’m not going to tell you that I don’t. I look at you and I feel all warm and fuzzy, but I don’t know you. As crazy as that sounds to you it makes perfect sense to me. That being said, I need you to slow down. No more amazing kisses or grabbing me in your arms, for now at least.” I take a large drink of the cool liquid. “I can’t think when you’re so close and I need to be able to think.”
Oh God, I’m so stupid.

He nods his head. “Ok.” His hand reaches for my knee retracting it right away. “I’ll do my best.” He half smiles.

“I’m not saying I won’t get there, but for now I’m just not there yet.” I close my eyes wishing that I
was
there.

“Why did you come to my apartment today?” He rests his face in his large hands. I find myself staring.

I shake my head back to reality knowing I don’t have the answer. “I don’t know what I expected, or what I thought I was doing.” I smile remembering the dream that I had and wishing that it was reality. “I had a dream and the man called me, angel,” I finally announce.

The smile that crosses his lips is amazing. A perfect smile. “Really?”

“I know it’s ridiculous.” I fidget with my braid.

“Hey.” His hand finds my hand quickly releasing it. “It’s not, maybe it was more like a memory.”

I hadn’t considered that. But if it was a memory, why were there two men in this one? I don’t think I’ll be mentioning that little detail.

“Are you staying here?” He looks around.

“I don’t know, my mom would die, so no, I’ll go home.”

“Let me take you and on the way I’ll feed you.” He lays on puppy dog eyes and damn those dimples. “You have to eat right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I smile. A meal wouldn’t hurt anything. And I consider that if we’re in the public I’ll have more self-control.

“Ok then, great.” He smiles standing to his feet.

The restaurant’s beautiful. I feel like I’ve been here before but can’t really place anything else. “This is nice,” I say as we’re seated.

“We had our first, well our first
‘real’
dance here.”

“Oh? Where was our first
‘not real’
dance?” I laugh.

“Club En Fuego. That was more of our first
‘sexy as hell can’t take our hands off of each other’
dance.” He picks up the menu. “Would you like wine?” He lays the menu down.

“Yeah, that would be great.”

The food is amazing, my pasta is so rich and creamy and I devour every bite. “Sorry,” I say looking up to see that Evan has barely touched his food and mine’s nearly finished.

“Don’t be, I know that hospital food sucked.” He laughs.

“Understatement really.” I take a deep breath reaching for my wine.

“I really want you to feel comfortable with me, Abby. I have an idea.”

“Oh?” I’m intrigued.

“Date me? Get to know me again.” He folds his hands on the table. “Give me a chance?”

I really want to give him a chance. I want to give him lots of things. “Ok.”

“Really?” He leans forward.

“Mhmmm, it’s not that I don’t want to know you, I just don’t want to go on the way you remember because I
don’t
remember, Evan.” I gulp down the rest of my wine. “I know that you don’t get that. No one does, or maybe they do I don’t know. I just don’t want everyone to expect something from me that I can’t give them right now.

The rest of the conversation is light and easy. The pressure was taken off by a simple casual conversation for which I was so thankful.

I have to admit he’s very funny and smart, definitely someone I would choose to date.