Page 34 of Angel

“How so?” Cassie challenged.

Bree took a deep breath, not sure she was going to explain this right. “Look, Nathan Moore was not my father. He was a sick and twisted man with a proclivity that made him aroused by my helplessness and my pain. His need to have me call him…that word…was his darkness, not mine.”

“You sound like Dr. Skurja,” who was Cassie’s psychologist.

“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one in therapy,” Bree acknowledged. “My point is that Cage is not like Nathan Moore or Crisco. He is selfless and sweet and he would never hurt me. I want a family, Cass. I want to have what I should have had for the past fifteen years. I have a right to have a family as much as any other kid.”

“But why Cage?”

Bree smiled. “That’s simple. He makes Angel happy.”

Cassie shook her head. “Not from what I’ve seen.”

“I don’t even think she sees it, but it’s true. She’s relaxed around him, like she subconsciously knows that he’ll share the burden with her.”

“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to take away from your dreams or Angel’s happiness. I just don’t think you should be setting your hopes up so high.”

Bree shook her head. “I’ve hit rock bottom, Cass. I know what’s down there. Setting my hopes high is the only way to keep me from ending up there again.”

“What the ever-loving fuck, Cage?” Angel was so angry, she wouldn’t be surprised if steam was coming out of her ears.

Cage dismounted off the back of his hog. He put his hands on his hips and smiled in the direction of the fancy restaurant with some French name that Angel had no hope of pronouncing. She didn’t even know Cottonville had fancy restaurants.

He took a deep breath in and let it out. “Ah, brings back memories of my childhood. Ma grand-mère made the best boeuf bourguignon.” He made a chef-kiss gesture with his right hand. “Délicieuse!”

Angel stared at him and his stupid smile for a solid minute. “I have no clue what the fuck you just said.” She pointed to the restaurant. “This is where you thought I’d want to have our first date? Really?” She indicated to all of the shiny vehicles that were parked by a valet service. Only a small portion of the parking lot was designated for self-parking. Angel indicated down towards her outfit that Bree had picked out for her. It was nice, but it was not fancy. “I am not dressed appropriately for this place.”

Cage nodded like he was mulling over her concerns. His eyes roamed up and down her body, but she saw the glint in his eyes that told her he was mentally undressing her. Then he started laughing.

Angel scowled. She did not find this the least bit funny. “Cage, stop it. If you knew me at all, you’d know that this isn’t my type of establishment.” She couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. Had he taken other women here? Was that why he felt so confident coming here with her? She was not fancy. The tunic she was wearing was about as dressed up as she got—with the exception of her friends’ recent weddings. “I knew this date was a mistake.”

That seemed to sober him up immediately. Cage stopped laughing and scowled at her. “You think I don’t know that this isn’t your type of establishment, sweetness? You think I haven’t been planning this date for months to know exactly how to make it perfect for you?”

She glared at him and indicated to the restaurant with her left hand.

Cage glared right back at her and indicated to something with his left hand.

Angel turned on his hog to look over her right shoulder…and felt her blaze with heat as her eyes landed on Monte’s Guns, Ammo, and Targets across the street from the fancy French restaurant. That fucking bastard.

Cage started laughing again as soon as he knew she’d picked up on his joke. Angel spun back around but Cage leapt out of her reach before she could slap his arm. He headed towards the gun range across the street.

“Loser pays for dinner,” he called over his shoulder.

Angel hurried to throw the kickstand and chase after him. She punched him in the arm. Hard. “That was mean.”

Still laughing, Cage looped his arm around her shoulders. “You should have seen your face.”

“You do realize I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” He held the door open to the gun range for her. “Wait, you do mean actually kicking my ass, right? Because I can definitely see sparring leading to some fantastic sexy times.”

“No, dumbass, I meant here.” Angel walked up to the counter where she assumed they had to register.

“I think I have a fighting chance.”

After they paid and collected their weapons, ammo, and noise-cancelling headphones, Cage led Angel into the back where the shooting range was. She chose two booths next to each other and put her gear down. Now this was her type of date.

“Loser pays for dinner?” she clarified with the excitement of anticipation.

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