Page 36 of Angel

“The baby’s sixteen now,” Cage pointed out to her. “I might seek him out after he turns eighteen. By then, it’ll be his choice if he wants me in his life and not his mom’s.”

Angel dropped her fry and didn’t move to pick it back up. “You said that, before Bree, you hadn’t wanted to be a father. What did you mean?”

Cage made sure he had her full attention before he said, “Exactly what that sounds like. I want to be Bree’s father, Angel. I want us to be a family. I have for the past year.”

Angel tapped her finger on the wooden picnic table. “And if you decide that you no longer want to be her father?”

Cage flinched. “That’s not going to happen, Angel. I didn’t tell you about my past so you could hold it over me. They are two very different situations. I had very little choice when I was a teenager. I’m no longer young or stupid and I know what I want and feel. And that’s you and Bree, sweetness, and any other kids we might have. It has been for a long time.”

After a long, tense moment, Angel finally nodded. “I believe you. Just…please, Cage. Don’t make me regret this. You’ll break her heart if you leave.”

Cage had a feeling Bree’s heart wasn’t the only one Angel was warning him was on the line. He reached across the picnic table and took her hands in his. “Not going to happen, sweetness. I have just as much to gain and lose as you do. But I want this. I want the three of us to be a family.”

Angel nodded slowly at first and then with more confidence. She turned her hands over to link with his. “Might need to improve your aim, though. Otherwise, you’re going to be paying for a lot of dates in the future.”

Cage smiled widely. “I’m okay with that.”

Following their date, Cage and Angel made out on her front stoop like teenagers until Bree came rolling up on them from Bulldog’s house. “Get a room, you two!”

Angel, who was sitting up on the railing with Cage standing between her legs, smiled down at her daughter. “Did you have a good time with Cassie?”

Bree nodded. “Aunt Abby is trying to learn how to bake. It didn’t go very well and the fire department was almost called.”

Angel’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“Kidding!” Bree laughed. “She overcooked the cookies but there was no smoke. Uncle Bulldog tried to assure her they tasted good and practically ate them all to prove it, but I don’t think anyone believed him.”

Neither Angel nor Cage was surprised by that statement. Bulldog would never do anything to upset Abby. It was like it was against his DNA.

Bree looked between Cage and Angel. “I take it the date went well?”

Cage’s smile was the very definition of cocky. “Hell yeah, it did.”

“Did she fall for the fancy restaurant gag?”

Angel gasped at her daughter. “You knew?”

Bree snorted. “Of course, I knew. You think I was going to let him take you out and not know where you were going or when you were going to be coming back?”

Angel’s eyes narrowed. “Which one of us is the adult in this relationship?” She pointed her finger between Bree and herself.

Bree just grinned at her. Then she turned to Cage. “Are you spending the night?”

“No! Nope! We are not having this conversation with you!” Angel pushed Cage back so she could hop down from the railing. “Get inside, missy.”

Cage stepped aside so Bree could push her chair through the front door. Angel did not miss the fact that Cage and Bree fist-bumped as she passed.

Once the door was closed, Cage turned back to her. “Now, where were we?”

Angel put her hand out to stop him. Regardless of how this date went, she was not ready to sleep with him again. “I am not having sex with you tonight.”

Cage crossed his tattooed arms over his broad chest. “Maybe I don’t want to have sex with you tonight either. Ever think of that?”

Angel just glared at him.

“Fine! I want to bend you over the couch and fuck you, but,” he added hastily, “I know you’re not ready for that. If watching Bulldog and Abby has taught me anything, it’s that there’s more to intimacy than sex.”

Angel could appreciate his understanding. While her situation had nothing to do with what had almost happened to her and everything to do with her miscarriage, she liked that Cage wasn’t pushing her for sex. Her heavier bleeding from earlier in the week had slowed to spotting over a day ago and that would hopefully end in the next day or so. Her cramps were also improving.

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