Page 31 of Angel
Angel flinched, because she couldn’t say the same. “I’ve seen you with other women.”
“I’ve kissed, yes, I’ve flirted. I’m not going to deny that I’ve been tempted.” A small blush crossed his cheeks as he admitted, “But none of them felt right. None of them were you.”
Angel had to look away or risk tearing up. “I guess our timing wasn’t right a year ago.”
Cage waited a beat before asking, “Have you considered that you pushed me away on purpose?”
She looked back at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sweet Angel,” he put his hands on her shoulders, “you are the strongest woman I know. You have conquered armies and mountains and, hell, even became one of the top tattoo artists on the east coast.” He squeezed her shoulders. “Have you considered that you pushed me away because you wanted to prove you could conquer motherhood too? And, in order for you to consider yourself successful, you had to do it alone?”
Angel opened her mouth to argue, to claim that that was an unfair assessment—but ended up closing her mouth again without having said a word. Despite being a twin, Angel had been alone most of her life. Her older sister had to prove she was just as driven and important as their politician father. She hadn’t been close to Amber either. They weren’t identical twins and had complete opposite personalities. Angel had always been more of tomboy whereas Amber had been a preppy cheerleader. Her family home had staff that raised her sisters and her. When her dad wasn’t running for office, he was in the office.
She’d always been alone. She hadn’t had anyone to lean on. Everything she had, everything she needed, she’d had to fight for. That hadn’t changed when she’d joined the Army.
Looking to the left towards the direction of her house and Bree, Angel had to wonder: had she pushed Cage away in order to prove herself once again?
Angel had just gone through two traumatic experiences. In the timing of a week, she’d had a miscarriage from a chemical pregnancy and she’d been assaulted and nearly raped in front of her daughter. She’d gone through the first alone. Hell, she’d even kicked Cage out of her bed when he’d brought her soup thinking she’d had the flu.
When Angel had been tied to that wall, fighting against those brutes from taking off her pants, she’d feared the inevitable failure. Because it wouldn’t have been just her failure. It wouldn’t have just been her their violation would have hurt. Bree had been at the forefront of her mind, of course. Her daughter had suffered more in her short lifetime than most adults did combined.
Cage had been right behind Bree. Angel had been denying her feelings for Cage probably since the day she’d met him. She wouldn’t be ‘one of the guys’ if she was sleeping with a fellow brother or a patched brother while she was a prospect. She’d had to make her own stamp, her own mark in the VDMC. But she couldn’t deny she had feelings for Cage. Seeing him with all of those women over the years and never once look at her? That day in the hospital bathroom, she’d felt seen by him. She’d felt that way again when he’d called her on her bullshit when Tessa had driven her home from the hospital following her miscarriage.
As she’d been fighting against the Python thugs, Angel had realized just how much she regretted how she’d treated him. She’d wished in that moment, for the first time in her life, that she wasn’t fighting alone.
Was it possible she’d subconsciously pushed him away to vindicate her need to succeed on her own?
Looking at him now, patiently waiting for her to get her thoughts in order, Angel had to admit that it was very possible. “I’ll talk with Juliana when I take Bree to her appointment. Maybe… Maybe I have some things I need to talk about too.”
Cage moved his hands from her shoulders to cupping her around her ears. “Like I said, the strongest woman I know. Not many would be so easy to claim their faults.”
Angel’s eyes narrowed on him. “I’m not the only one with faults, buddy.” She pointed an accusing finger at him.
“It’s unfortunate that you know them too.” He made a self-deprecating shrug. “As odd as it may seem, there’s a part of me that I wish you didn’t know me. I wish that this was our first meeting and you didn’t know all my dirty secrets. I wish we could start over and learn everything about each other for the first time.”
Angel watched him closely for several seconds. “I think you’re missing a very important fact, Cage: I know your dirty secrets,” she stepped closer, putting her hand flat on his chest, “and I’m still here.” Feeling her cheeks heat, Angel cleared her throat. The man was far too enticing for his own good. She could get lost staring into his eyes. “When do you have to get to work? Do you want to have breakfast with Bree and me?”
Cage grinned widely. “I’d love to have breakfast with my girls.” He leaned down and took her lips again. “I already called my foreman and told him I wasn’t going to be in for the foreseeable future. Until the Python situation is handled, I’m not leaving your side.”
“Not happening, Cage!”
Upon hearing the raised voices coming from the front of the house, Bree headed down the hallway to the living room. Cage and Angel were squared off against each other. Angel had her arms crossed over her chest while Cage stood with his hands on his hips.
Bree did not like that they were arguing already and hadn’t gone on their first date yet. She wanted the two of them to get their shit together so the three of them could become a real family. One like she’d always dreamed of having. “What’s going on?”
Angel turned and waved off Bree’s concern. “It’s nothing, baby. Cage is just being a moron.”
Cage snorted. “I asked you out on a date. Why is it moronic of me to choose the location of said-date and be the one to drive you there?”
“Because I’m not riding bitch on your hog!” Angel threw back at him.
Cage rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but if I ride bitch then my shirt doesn’t make much sense.” He took his cut off and turned around. His black t-shirt, which was plain in the front, showed bright green lettering on the back: If you can read this, she fell off!
Bree burst out laughing. She had no idea why Cage enjoyed riling Angel up as much as he did, but she was grateful this argument was just one of those times.
Cage winked at Bree.
Angel read the back of his shirt and snorted. “You’re a fucking asshole.”
