Page 85 of An Overdue Match
“I am so in love with you, Angel. Even your favorite romance authors wouldn’t be able to put what I feel for you into adequate words.” He stares at me with fire in his eyes.
“Well.” Missy fans her face with her fingers. “That was...” She trails off, not finding a satisfactory adjective.
Tai winks at me across the table.
“So, Evangeline, where are you from originally?” Missy tries to bring the conversation back to polite get-to-know-you grounds.
“I grew up in Chattanooga.”
“Such a nice city. Are your parents still there?”
I take a bite of baked beans and chew, giving myself a moment to think. I’ve already made the conversation awkward once. No need to do it again by mentioning my parents’ accident. I swallow and take a sip of water. “My grandparents are. They’re about to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary.”
“How lovely.” Missy pauses. “There’s something I’ve wanted to say ever since I saw you step out of the car, but I didn’t want to be gauche.”
My muscles tense as I prepare for whatever she plans to say next. But then I surprise myself as I hear my voice saying, “It’s about this, I suppose?” I wave in the direction of my bald head. “Did Tai not tell you beforehand?” I’d been wondering. Assumed he must have since the topic hadn’t come up yet.
Missy narrows her eyes at her son. “Like I said, Tai told us nothing.” She looks back at me, her expression softening. “I just wanted to say how striking you are, dear. Seeing you immediately put me in mind of Nefertiti. Both of you with your long, elegant necks and regal beauty. Simply striking.”
My spine hits the back of my chair as shock puts me in a temporary paralysis.
“That reminds me of that tattoo you did a bit ago, Tai,” Missy continues, as if she hasn’t left me utterly speechless. “The one on that woman’s head.”
“You looked through my online portfolio?” Tai asks her incredulously.
“Of course I keep up with your art.” Missy sounds affronted. “Just because I don’t want you to jab me with needles doesn’t mean I’m not proud of you.”
“Wow. Thanks, Mom.”
“Actually.” I finally get my vocal cords working again. “I was just looking at those photos earlier today myself.” I take a deep breath, then put to words a desire that has taken root and bloomed inside me. “I want to be your next canvas, Tai.”
37
My phone vibrates in my palm. I look down and click on the text that just came in.
“What are you grinning about?” Tai asks as he flicks his gaze toward me before promptly returning his attention to the road, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel.
I look up at him, the joy inside pulling my lips in a wide arc, my eyes crinkling with my happiness. “Oh, you know. Just the fact that your mom loves me.” I dance the phone in the air between us. “I have proof.”
“Do I even want to ask?”
I pull the phone back toward me. “This is the fourth article she’s sent me on cortisol levels and their correlation to hair loss. Hayley told me your mom’s love language is an abundance of unsolicited medical advice, so the evidence suggests your mom is head over heels for me.”
Tai takes one hand off the steering wheel to squeeze my knee. “Is this where I tell you I knew my parents would love you?”
“No one likes a know-it-all.”
He laughs and returns his grip to the steering wheel, changing lanes. “What about me? Do I need to be worried aboutyour grandparents’ first impression of me? Will they jump to any conclusions because of my tattoos?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
Tai blanches, and it’s hard to swallow the giggle bubbling up in my throat. I school my features, going for a deadpan look. “Especially since you’ve so obviously led me down the path of iniquity with you.”
Tai glances at me again, and this time he must see something on my face that gives me away because he visibly starts to relax, the color returning to his cheeks. “Make fun all you want. I don’t usually care if people judge me rashly because of what I do or my own body art, but your grandparents are different.”
I pat his leg. “What was it you told me? They’ll love you because I love you.”
He lets one of his hands fall and squeezes my fingers that cover his thigh. We drive like that in silence for a few minutes before he speaks again. “What do you think they’ll say about your tattoo?”
