Page 4 of Angel

“Not necessary. I’m fine here.”

“Angel, I?—”

“Cage, just stop.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying for nonchalance. “We fucked. It happened. I’m not a flowers-and-chocolates kind of girl. I don’t need to be coddled and I don’t need to be romanced. You clearly are not a one-woman kind of guy. That’s fine with me. We scratched an itch. That was all.”

Angel forced herself to stop talking, hoping her words didn’t come across as babbling.

Cage stared down at her.

Starting to feel uncomfortable with his staring, Angel gestured to the door behind her. “I appreciate you stopping by.”

He continued to stare. “Do you actually mean all of that or are you just saying it because it’s what you think I want to hear?”

Angel’s lips twitched into what could only be described as a smirk. “Are you saying that you aren’t trying to make some excuse so this doesn’t turn awkward or I don’t cry and fawn over you fucking and leaving me?”

His stare was so intense. It was unnerving. “I am trying to ask you out on a date, but you keep making assumptions about what I want and what I’m about to say.”

Angel blinked. A date? Had Cage, probably the most womanizing man she knew, just said that he wanted to take her out on a date?

“Cat got your tongue, sweetness?” He was still shirtless and crossed his arms over his bare, muscular chest. “Why is it so hard to believe that I want to date you?”

“Because…you’re you.” The cockiness drained from his face at her blunt reply. “Look, Cage, I have a lot going on in my life right now. I really do appreciate the quick fuck. It got me out of my head for a bit, which I needed. But I can’t date you. You’re… Well, you’re a great guy. You really are. But you’re not a relationship type of guy.” Needing space, Angel took a step back towards the closed door behind her. “I’ll never be okay with an open relationship or a partner who can’t be faithful. And, let’s face it, you’ll never be a one-woman kind of man.”

Angel opened the bathroom door and made to step out. She paused, feeling bad for her honesty, but not really knowing what to say. “Thanks again…for the coffee.”

Bree’s doctors came in shortly after Cage’s quick and silent departure. Angel took vigorous notes, making sure to ask questions. The doctors were still stressing caution. Finding a non-familial living donor was rare. Finding one that was eligible and willing to donate was even rarer.

Bree, though, did not have time to be added to a waiting list. She needed a miracle—and she needed it now.

After the doctors left, Angel sent a text message to Bear and his girlfriend Tessa, who was also a doctor at this hospital and pregnant with Bear’s “cub”, giving the details of the meeting she’d just had with Bree’s doctors. Some of the more advanced medical jargon needed to be explained to Angel and she didn’t want to seem incompetent to Bree’s doctors, who already thought Angel was nuts and was giving Bree false hope.

Then, miracles of miracles, had happened. A donor had been found. Angel thought her heart would burst from excitement—and then stop all together when she learned who the donor was.

CHAPTER 1

Angel curled further into the fetal position in her bed with a groan. She’d been too nauseous to eat a large dinner and had only snacked on saltines. Now her stomach was cramping—except this cramping was growing more and more painful. The longer she stayed awake, the more she sensed that something wasn’t right.

The image of that damn pregnancy test floated around her head like a sadistic cartoon halo. She did not blame her baby—how could she, when he or she was completely innocent?—but she wasn’t sure how she felt about being pregnant. Pregnancies in her family were a bit of a sore subject growing up. Her twin, Amber, had gotten pregnant when she was sixteen and their parents had not handled the news well.

Angel winced at the memories. Not well at all.

Another cramp seized her center and Angel had to muffle her low moan with her pillow. No, something was not right at all.

As Angel reached for her phone, hating to call Tessa in the middle of the night but needing medical help, she felt a wetness between her legs that she hadn’t noticed before in her attempt to remain immobile in the fetal position. Angel threw off her covers and let out a shocked gasp.

She was covered in blood. So much so, she had no idea how she hadn’t noticed it until then. Her pajama bottoms, sheets, and mattress were soaked.

Angel reached for her phone, in even more of a hurry.

Tessa picked up on the first ring, thank God. “Angel, what?—”

“Come now,” Angel rushed out. “I’m bleeding.”

Tessa, being the trained emergency room doctor that she was, did not hesitate. “On my way.” She hung up.

Angel was tempted to call nine-one-one too. Her only hesitation was that the others would then know something was wrong and come running. The ol’ ladies knew about her pregnancy. She’d told them the day before at their ol’ ladies’ night, but Angel’s club brothers didn’t know.

Her daughter, Bree, didn’t know.

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