Angel After Dark (8 page)

Darian’s mouth fell open in astonishment. “Uh, Alex, she’s not here right now. She went to the bathroom. Okay, sure. Completely, Alex. Later.” He closed his phone without saying another word to the beautiful woman sitting in front of him.

Angel looked up and wrinkled her nose at her boss. “Chicken-shit,” she admonished with a grin.

“Angel, he, uh,” he began.

“Yeah. I know.” She shrugged slightly. “I’m sure his hard-on is all about the challenge he’s feeling right now. He wanted the last word. He’s used to getting what he wants, but now there’s something he can’t have, and he’s left holding his dick in his hand. Naturally, he’s uncomfortable.”

“There’s a better chance he’s pissed.”

“So? Maybe you should introduce the word ‘unattainable’ to your boy’s vocab, yeah?” She sat back down and adjusted the damn headphones. She still had half an hour to go. “Now, get the hell out of here! You’re bothering me.”

*****

Alex was left sitting on the edge of his bed looking at his now silent phone, stunned that she’d cut him off. He had to admit that he was more than a little aroused by her words and her sassy wit. Damn, he wanted to know what she looked like! As if on cue, his phone vibrated with a message from Darian. It was a photo message, and Alex held his breath as he opened it, somehow sure he was about to get knocked on his reluctant ass.

His thumb ran over the screen as the photo loaded, and his breath caught in his throat. It was a picture of a woman with long dark hair, flowing in thick waves nearly to her waist. She was wearing ratty jeans, the kind that cost hundreds of dollars because the holes were in all the right places, and
 
a small white T-shirt that clung enticingly to her body. She was stretching, her arms extended over her head, and her hands laced together. He couldn’t see her features, only the side curve of her face and chin. She was angled away from Darian’s camera, but the photo was sufficient to give Alex a glimpse of the line of her body, the soft curve of her hip, the narrowness of her waist, laid bare as her shirt lifted with her movement, and the full side curve of one breast. “Shit, what about her face?”

He wanted to plunge his fingers into the holes in those jeans, to feel the warmth of her skin that was teasing him under that shirt, and to kiss that smartass mouth. Alex’s mouth went dry as blood engorged his body to the point of pain, and he licked his lips. He wanted her, and he made up his mind that he would have her.

Alex’s breathing quickened as he contemplated this mysterious woman with her biting intellect that was in such contrast to her soft appearance. He dialed Darian’s number impatiently. “Uh, yeah?” his friend answered.

“Put that sexy little shit on the phone, Darian.”

“No.”

“No one cuts me off, D. Put her on the damn phone! I want to speak to her. Either that or give me her number. I’ll call her myself.”

“No! Uh, Alex, she’s not here right now. She went to the bathroom.”

“Stop fucking around, D! I know she’s right there.” Alex waited, but Darian didn’t respond. “Call me when you leave.”

“Okay, sure.”

“And Darian, from what I see, I concede, she’s gorgeous,” he said softly as he ran his hand through his mop of hair. “Fucking beautiful.”

“Completely, Alex.”

“Look, I know you can’t talk, but this is not over.”

“Later.”

Alex flopped down on the bed and let his arms fall to the side as he waited for Darian to call him back.
Angeline Hemming, you certainly are intriguing.

A few minutes passed before his phone rang, and he answered it quickly, not moving from his position on the bed.

“What’d I tell you? She’s amazing, right?” Darian said smugly.

“What was your goal here, Darian? You’re obviously a walking boner for this woman yourself, but now… Well, let’s just say, I’m not sure you’re a good enough friend for me to back down.”

“Yes, I do think she’s hotter than hell, but unfortunately, I can’t date her. It blows, but I can’t, at least for now,” Darian groaned.

“I’m not sure what you were toying with, but I’m worked up now, and want to know more. I want to see her face. I want… hell, I just
want
. I’ve never been so aroused by a conversation in my entire life. Thanks for that.”

“Hey, I didn’t make you pick up that goddamned phone. That was all you, so don’t blame me, brother! Mark my words, Alex. You’re in for a big surprise when it comes to Angel. She won’t be like the women you’re used to. She’s beautiful, smart, and tough as nails.”

“What’s her number, Darian?”

“Sorry, man. No can do. She’d cut my balls off.”

“Stop being such a pussy. You’re her boss, for Christ’s sake!”

“Not really. She’s doing this for her own reasons. She could walk tomorrow and not blink twice but I need her for the ratings. She’s only doing this for the public service announcements she’s weaseled out of me.”

“If you won’t tell me, fine. It isn’t like I don’t have the resources to find out anything I want to know, which will be much more than her phone number.”

“Dude, don’t get your hopes up. She’s untouchable, even for the great Alex Avery. I have faith that she’ll kick your ass from one end of Chicago to the other, which is why I’ve baited you this way. I’d love to see you work for it, just once.”

Alex snorted as his mouth lifted in a smirk. As if that was possible. He was more than ready to take on the challenge that Angel Hemming presented. He was more excited by the prospect, and by this woman, than he’d been since he couldn’t remember when. Maybe even, ever. “Well, you started this shit. If you want her, you’ll have to beat me to it, and I won’t play fair. I don’t give a shit if you are my best friend.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, Alex. You wouldn’t be you if you did, but like I said, Angel is untouchable. She’s different than most women.”

Alex laughed, not doubting his ability to win her over and get his way. “Mark my words, D.” He was up to any challenge, especially one with rewards as delectable as this. “I’m telling you now that I
will
touch her. In all sorts of places. And if anyone is gonna be in control of her orgasms, it will be me.
Me
.”

3

Enigma x2

Angel rolled over at the sound of Christina Aguilera’s song,
Dirty,
coming from her phone on the nightstand for the third time. Her best friend, Becca James, was no doubt calling to remind her of their gym appointment. It was a standing thing every Saturday, but ever since Angel began at KKIS, it was harder and harder for her to drag herself out of bed.

“For God’s sake!” she mumbled as she finally peeled away the pillow she was holding over her eyes, flung it brutally toward the foot of the bed, and glanced at the clock.

Reluctantly, she leaned over and grabbed the phone just as the ringing stopped. “Oops. Too bad, Becs.”

Angel flopped back onto her plush pillows and dropped the phone on the bed, closing her eyes in hope of a couple more hours of sleep. Her hope was short-lived when the phone immediately started playing the song again. Angel picked it up and answered with unveiled irritation. “What!”

“Are you still in bed? You have twenty minutes to get to the gym or your ass is mine,” Becca answered shortly.

Angel and Becca both had studied social science and liberal arts at Northwestern, which quickly led to becoming fast friends. A study in contrasts; they complimented each other well. Angel was subdued and focused, while Becca was outgoing, wild, and easily distracted. They balanced each other over the years; each adopting some of the other’s traits.

Angel continued for two more degrees while Becca had taken her physical education and nutritional science bachelor’s and became a personal trainer. And boy did she train! There were times Angel wished Becca had done anything else, but that. She was merciless in the gym and literally worked Angel’s ass off. She rolled over and scratched her flat stomach beneath the lime green cotton of her pajama top.

“Becca, I’m so tired. How about we just meet for brunch?” Angel sat up and ran a hand through her hair, squinting in protest at the bright sunlight streaming in around her tightly drawn blinds.

“Uh…
no
! Get. Your. Ass. Here. Now!” Becca punctuated her words with a giggle. “Angel, you owe that tight little bod to me, so suck it up. Don’t punish me because you’ve suddenly taken to giving advice to the lovelorn until all hours of the night.”

“It’s not just the lovelorn, you Nazi trainer bitch!” Angel groaned. “It’s also the codependent, dysfunctional, and mentally unbalanced. Why can’t I just run five miles on the treadmill here?”

The apartment that she lived in was first-class with a well equipped-gym where residents had twenty-four hour access; so, it was more for friendship than for necessity that made Angel trek to the Bally where Becca worked. Angel overpaid her outrageously for their sessions since it was the only way that Becca’s pride would allow Angel to help her financially.

“Because, I said so. Get moving.”

“You have no idea how long these nights are,” Angel lamented while she hugged one of the huge white pillows to her, wishing again that she could just sleep. “I hate you.”

“I know you love me,” Becca teased. “You can whine to me at the gym. I need to hear all about that guy you talked to last night. Holy hell, that was hot.”

“Seriously? You heard the same thing that I did, so what else can I tell you? He’s an arrogant prick who thinks he can get his dick wet whenever and with whomever he wants. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him on the spot. He was so friggin’ infuriating.”

She flushed at the memory, the heat infusing beneath her pale skin in a hot rush. In truth, his confident arrogance turned her on in a big way, and she bristled at the thought of his sultry voice and the way he’d made her feel. He pushed every one of her invisible buttons. She’d actually been aroused.

“Whatever. Just get here. Jillian wants to see you, and I have to pick her up by ten-thirty.”

Angel smiled as she thought of the beautiful little girl with golden blonde curls and sparkling blue eyes, whose chubby little cheeks got even chubbier when she giggled. Her heart swelled with love. Becca had the misfortune of getting pregnant, and her loser boyfriend left her to deal with the hardships of single parenthood. Now, Jillian’s father saw her only on rare occasions. It was harder on the poor thing than it was worth, and the little girl suffered terribly from separation anxiety from her mother. Angel had stuck by Becca’s side, been her birth coach, and was now Jillian’s godmother. The two shared a very special bond and simply adored each other.

Angel got up out of the bed and went to her dresser to select her clothes. She pulled her gym bag down from her closet shelf and packed the street clothes she would need after her workout.

“Okay. I won’t shower since you’re gonna make me sweat my butt off anyway. See you in twenty.”

“Angel… 20 extra squats for every single minute you’re late.”

“You whore,” Angel said, but she was laughing out loud as she padded back into the bedroom. Becca joined in, her high-pitched laughter tinkling over the phone. “I have to go now or my slave driver best friend will kill me.”

“The clock starts now.”

“Guh!” Angel giggled and shut the phone off, carelessly tossing it on the bed. She hurriedly dressed in black yoga pants and a lavender top, grabbed some socks and her New Balance trainers. She rushed to pull her long, thick hair up into a messy knot on the top her head before grabbing the bag and darting down to the parking garage in the basement of her building.

She glanced at her watch and tossed her gym bag in the passenger seat of her Lexus HS hybrid before sliding in behind the wheel. The car was luxurious without going overboard. Angel’s conscience wouldn’t allow her to spend unnecessary money when she didn’t have to. She’d rather send it to her dad or give it to one of her causes than waste it on things she didn’t need to be happy. Her three bedroom apartment was her one splurge. It was more than she needed, but it had extra room for Becca and Jill in case they needed to stay with her, and it offered convenient access to her office and the courthouse. In Angel’s hectic world, time was much more valuable than money.

She still had 14 minutes to reach her destination; as she merged onto the 290, her phone rang in her purse. The ringtone this time was her father’s and she happily picked it up.

“Hey, Daddy!”

“How’s my baby?” His deep voice was gruff and scratchy from years of smoking. Each time Angel thought of it, her heart fell a little. He hadn’t had an easy life, but he somehow managed to be so happy all the time. She often wondered how he did it after her mother split. Angel had tried numerous times to get him to pack up and move to Chicago to be closer to her, but he liked his friends and his life in Joplin. The lack of bustle was what Joe enjoyed, but Angel had felt claustrophobic in the little town, and she was never really accepted at high school. Kids were mean due to her position as ‘the janitor’s daughter’. “I’m good. Becca has me on the way to work out. What are you up to?”

“I’m headed to pick up William and Benjamin. We’re going to the Ozarks for the weekend. The weather’s nice and the fish should be biting.”

Inwardly, Angel groaned at the memory of how lame she’d found those trips. Joe dragged her along more times than she could count, and sitting in a boat, waiting for the fish to bite, was boring as hell. William’s son, Ben, was the only real friend she had in high school, but even he went over to the dark side when it came to fishing.

“Dad! Do something
fun
! Go to Branson, at least! See some shows.” Branson was a bustling tourist trap with lots of musical shows, amusement parks, restaurants and golf courses. She’d abhorred the golfing, but the rest was something Angel had enjoyed the two times they went there together.

“Fishing is fun! Besides, Will’s been a little under the weather, and this is what he wants to do.”

“Oh? Is he okay?” Angel was concerned. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before?”

“Sure, Angel. He’s not one to talk about his troubles. He had some stomach problems, that’s all.”

“Okay. I hate to run, Dad, but I’m at the gym, and Becca threatened me with extra squats if I’m late. Tell the guys hello for me.”

“Love you, hon. It wouldn’t kill you to come see your poor old dad sometime, ya know?”

“Yes, I know. I will soon. Love you, too. Bye.”

Angel took her bag and rushed through the doors of the club, stopping briefly to swipe her membership card at the desk before rushing to the locker room to stash her things. Becca was waiting for her on the bench in front of their lockers and glanced in exaggeration at her watch. Angel pursed her lips and rolled her eyes in response. Becca was pretty, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a very muscular build, a pert nose and bright green eyes. Physically, she was sturdier than Angel’s waif-like frame, but emotionally, much weaker.

“Stop with the watch watching. I’m here, aren’t I?” Angel scoffed, closing the locker and quickly pushing the padlock in place. “Lead on.”

“Barely.” It didn’t take Becca long to begin drilling Angel about her late night caller once she had her on the elliptical to warm up. “Angel, ten minutes at 3.5.” She leaned on the frame of the machine as she looked expectantly into Angel’s face, who tried not to make eye contact but bit her lip to keep her smile at bay as she started the machine.

As she worked out, Angel kept her mouth shut and waited for Becca to crack, wondering just how long it would be until she couldn’t stand it anymore. It didn’t take long.

“Well?” Becca said with her hands outstretched in front of her, palms up, and Angel burst out laughing.
So predictable.

“Well, what?” Angel teased.

“Stop fucking around and spill!”

“Bec, you heard it! What are you expecting me to say?”

Becca was exasperated. “Shit, Angel. Am I the only one with a vagina? I almost came at the sound of his voice. Alex, right?” She raised her eyebrows suggestively as she repeated his name, and Angel smiled despite her attempts to keep a straight face. Becca had a wonderful sense of humor and wicked wit that often left her laughing so hard she cried. Angel wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t want to admit that she was definitely aware of her vagina last night, simply from speaking with the faceless caller. She felt ridiculously out of control, and it was disconcerting, to say the least.

Her warm up completed, Angel reached out and pointed at the timer on the machine. Becca nodded and increased the speed and the resistance. Angel ignored her but her mind raced, wondering if his face and body matched that silken voice.

Fuck, yes, Alex!
She felt a flush spread beneath the skin of her neck and face, thankful for the workout so Becca wouldn’t notice how this guy affected her. “Was that his name?”

“Angel,” Becca admonished. “If you don’t think he was hot, I might as well call the morgue to come and collect your corpse.”

“Stop being so over-dramatic.” Angel wrinkled her nose at her friend. “
Yes
, he sounded hot, but he could be a slug, for all I know. It’s like that joke Kyle used to make about those phone sex girls on the late night commercials. Remember?”

Kyle was Angel’s boyfriend while they were attending Northwestern; a music major and a bad boy, complete with tattoos, a rock band, and a vintage Les Paul electric guitar that was his pride and joy. He was smoking hot, but even he hadn’t shaken her like this.

“Sorry, no.”

“He used to say that they were probably overweight trolls in hot pink, velour track suits, shoving bonbons into their mouths and reading Tolstoy while they pseudo-moaned with over-exaggerated pants into the phone.”

They both chuckled. “Angel, if you’re trying to convince me that this Alex is anything but breathtaking, I won’t believe you.”

“You always were the more delusional of the two of us. I keep my head on straight; less disappointment that way.”

“Please don’t confuse delusion with optimism! What’s his story?”

Angel could see that Becca’s curiosity would not be denied, and she sighed in defeat as she climbed off of the elliptical and used the towel hanging around her neck to wipe the perspiration off her brow.

Out of habit, they walked into the room that housed the free weights next; usually they were the only women in there and surrounded by several men pumping iron. Angel found it funny how the men always stared at themselves in the mirror while they worked out. She didn’t particularly like all of the ogling they did either, but Becca insisted that if you got the form right, free weights worked the muscles harder in a shorter amount of reps. Angel was all for expediting.

Becca nudged her shoulder when Angel didn’t answer right away. “Hello?”

Angel shrugged. “I don’t know that much. His girlfriend called in complaining that he was gone all the time and she wanted more. I told her to toughen up and get it or get out. He called in a week later to tell me his side of the story.” Angel shrugged as she picked up a seven pound dumbbell in each hand.

“Okay, 3 sets of 20 reps each arm, rest fifteen seconds in between.”

“Jesus, Becca. I got it. I know the drill. You only need to be here to irritate me, not tell me the basics, all right?” Angel tried to transition the conversation away from Alex.
Alex, whatever-his-name is
, she mused.