Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) (19 page)

“I’d make it for you right now if you wanted me too. Or first thing in the morning and bring it to you while you were still wrapped in my blankets in my bed.”

When Angel bit her bottom lip and looked at him with heat in her eyes he let out a low sound of pleasure and kissed the side of her neck. His voice was low and deep when he spoke in her ear. “Do you like the thought of being served breakfast after waking up in my bed, love?”

She cleared her throat and rubbed her cheek against his. “Maybe. A little. Yes. Um, no.”

Her sweet admission then retraction and the sultry warmth in her voice was all it took for him to put a lip-lock on her that could’ve set a forest on fire. It was intended to make he
r ache and soften against him; to change her ‘no’ back to a definite ‘yes’. It ended up making him weak kneed and thankful he was sitting down because the woman could quite literally bring him to his knees. She tasted like strawberries and smelled like that heady blend of berries, oranges, vanilla and something floral. What was it she called her perfume? Oh…
Pink. Victoria Secret
. Next stop—lingerie. Fuck. The way his mind strung thoughts together around her was flat out dangerous. Desire rushed through his system like lava flowing from a volcano.
Slow your role, bruh
, he thought.

He was v
erbally kicking himself for letting the smell of her cause his brain to stop functioning on anything other than a sensual level.

He could really use another cold shower.
Like right
now
. Especially since she was taking a bite of her bagel and licking the sweet cream cheese off her finger like the kiss didn’t affect her. Her cheeks weren’t flushed. She was cool as a cucumber. An ice queen that had effectively shut him down and pushed him back.

Polishing off his bagel in three bites and taking a deep drink of his cappuccino, Dakota stood up and pushed his chair back. He needed to get to work before he lost his damn mind.

“I’m gonna get started. Soon as I’m done we’ll head to my GiGi’s house and pick up some produce for lunch, then stop by my parents for some farm fresh chicken. Think about packing an overnight bag. Spend some time with me. Not sex. We don’t need to go there until you make up your mind about you and me. I want time, just time. You and me.”

He left the room before she had a chance to answer. Figuring maybe it would be best to let her stew on it for a little while
, and let him calm down. One hot kiss from her had him frustrated. It wouldn’t be so frustrating if she looked as if it affected her. But no, she went on eating her bagel and drinking her cappuccino like nothing happened. It was beginning to make him wonder if the attraction was one-sided. In his heart he knew she felt something, but this cat and mouse game of hers was driving him up the freaking wall. Time to paint. Work up a sweat maybe. He could really use a ball-busting workout that would leave him weak as a newborn kitten. Anything to make the ache in his heart go away.

She needed to keep busy. Occupy her mind so her heart wouldn’t take over and have her throwing herself at Dakota like so
me needy girl.  She was tough. She didn’t need anyone, let alone a man that wanted to take care of her. She hated feeling this way. Like her every breath depended on him. No, she wasn’t that kind of girl. Not little,
Miss Independent Angel Vega,
who could hang with the guys and bust balls on the race track like nobody’s business. Fuck being needy.

It hurt her heart to see disappointment in his eyes. He wanted her to be some lovey dovey girly girl that couldn’t live without a man.
She turned to look down the hall to her bedroom where he was finishing painting for her. He was shaking the hell out of the paint can. She could hear it sloshing and imagined his big, strong hands wrapped around it and figured he was probably envisioning it being her neck he was throttling for being such a…
dammit, she was being a bitch
. On purpose. But why? Why did she keep trying to push him away?

Because she w
as a chicken shit, that’s why. Angel was afraid of getting too close, of actually depending on another person to remain in her life through thick and thin. There had never been a man in her life that stuck around other than her father and brother. So she was punishing Dakota for the sins of other men instead of taking his word for his worth and returning the love. Fear could really mess with your mind. Doubt crept in and could keep you from really living your life. If she laid out the facts and was honest with herself she would know that Dakota wasn’t the kind of man that lied or cheated. His word meant something. His love meant something. He wasn’t the bar-hopping one night stand kind of guy. He was the kind of guy that was into commitments and happily-ever-after’s like his parents had.

For crying out loud he had tried to be there for her every step of the way and she continued to push him away time and time again. Yet here he was, ever faithful, painting her room just to make her happy. Making sure she had a comfortable place that she could have some of her mobility back. He even took away her worries over medical bills and secretly paid them for her too
, even though he wouldn’t admit to it. He didn’t do it to show off or flaunt his wealth. It was because he cared and was trying to make her life easier. He was even going to coordinate with her doctor to do her physical therapy and offered her a place of her own to stay while she worked her way through it because he knew the more independence she had, the more she would believe in herself and stop doubting that she could live a full life even if she never fully recovered.
Who does that?
Who else would give so selflessly and not ask for anything in return?

Angel rested her forehead on the cool wood tabletop. It was hard realizing what a shit she had been to him for months now. It made her feel lower than low. Giving him mixed signals of hot and cold wasn’t fair to him or to
her. She was shortchanging them both. And at the moment, she felt incredibly stupid for it. She had some making up to do. She had even more work to do, within herself and with her relationship with Dakota. First of all, an apology was in order.

When she quietly eased her way down the hall she stopped before she got to the doorway. A deep breath to calm her nerves actually did nothing of the sort. She was antsy and nervous. This would be a big step. Not an easy one either.

“Dakota, can I talk to you for a minute?” The pitch of her voice was low, and even to her, sounded unsure.

“Yeah, what’s on
your mind?” He kept painting, his back to her, edging the brush around the frame of the window.

He wasn’t going to make this easy on her. But in truth, it was only fair. She certainly hadn’t made things easy on him the last few months.

“I…uh, I wanted to say I’m sorry for being so…wishy washy and everything.” She was wringing her hands, her eyes particularly interested in the flexing muscles of his calves. She distinctly remembered how they felt when their legs had been intertwined, cuddling in bed after making love. It seemed like forever ago. But she would never forget how he felt against her. How he smelled of sandalwood, leather and the unique spice that was him.

She expected him to stop working at least for a moment and turn to her and tell her it was okay. Instead, he crouched down and continued painting around the trim at the bottom of the window without missing a stroke. The soft peachy color on the walls matched the throw pillows on her bed, contrasting against the pale mint green and white striped comforter. It gave the room a summery feel that brought the outdoors to the inside. At least that was what Nahni told her when she showed her the color. Angel never had been much for decorating. She liked the color black. Or the absence of color as her sister-in-law would point out when she tried to purchase anything to decorate her old apartment with. She could remember word for word the speech Nahni would give her time and time again.

“Angel, you are not a gothic chic. And just because you ride motorcycles for a living and hang around guys all the time doesn’t mean you can’t add a little color to your life. There is more in this world than leather and crotch rockets.”

Nahni loved to tease her about her choice of transportation. It annoyed her as much as it did her brother to hear people call motorcycles a crotch rocket.

While she was on the thought of craziness…Dakota stood up, continuing to trim the edges without responding and it was driving her up the freaking wall. He sat the smaller brush aside and picked up the roller, dipping it in the deep part of the paint tray and rolling it until it was covered. Back to painting, he offered one line of advice.

“I want you to remember something, Angel. No matter how hard you push, I’m not going anywhere. I’m as stubborn as you are and I don’t give up on people I care about so you might as well get used to me being around.”

It was probably a good thing that he kept his back to her or he would see the relief and huge grin on her face and see how happy that made her. It wouldn’t be good to give him a reason to be even cockier than he already was.

“Okay
I’m going to get back to work then. I have some phone calls to make.” She stopped at the doorway and asked, “I have a friend I would like to go see in the next few days if I can. I missed her birthday and I’d like to get her a gift and take it to her. Would you like to go with me and meet her? She’s a very special little girl.”

This time he stopped what he was doing and turned toward her
looking shocked, but pleased.

“I would love to meet your friend. I get off work at six every day this week. Let me know when you want to go shopping and I’ll take you to do that
, and maybe we can have dinner afterwards.”

“I’ll call and find out when we can stop by and I’ll let you know.” She left the room smiling, her heart feeling lighter and a warmth in her heart like she’d never felt before.

After a short phone call with Bo she set up a surprise belated birthday dinner date with Kylie. Bo was going to freeze the apple juice for Kylie’s favorite slushy drink and Angel would be ordering pepperoni pizza to be delivered and bringing cupcakes for dessert. It had taken about two months, but Angel was finally realizing that being in a wheelchair didn’t mean her life was over so it was time to start
living
again. She had an amazing family, a wonderful man in her life, friends that loved her and a new prospective job with Lilah giving back to the community she grew up in. She had much to be thankful for. Feeling lighter and more at home in her own skin again Angel delved back into the totes of mail, determined to make a dent in it while Dakota was finishing painting.

***

A knock at her bedroom door woke Lilah up out of a deep sleep. Groggily, she called out some incoherent words that signaled she was on the throes between sleep and wakefulness.

“Lilah, it’s time to get up and ready to go. We are supposed to be at
Kringle Farms
at nine and you’ve been hitting your snooze button for over a half hour.” Her mom opened her curtains letting the sunshine in to reflect off Lilah’s orange walls like a beacon of light hitting her in the face.

“Mom, can you not open the curtains? I’m so not ready to get up yet.” She grumbled, covering her head with her pillow.

“Too bad, grumpy. We have work to do. I have blueberry muffins on the counter and a fresh pot of coffee with your name on it.” She sat on the edge of Lilah’s bed and rubbed her back.

Lilah peeked out from under her pillow with an interested look on her face. “Are they still warm, Momma?”

“They won’t be if you don’t get your butt outta bed!” She laughed and stood up, heading for the door. “Get dressed and make sure you wear sneakers or boots since we’ll be touring the farm. I don’t think you want to be wearing sandals and stepping around horse poop.”

“Ew
w, Mom! It’s too early to be so freaking chipper and talking about poop.” She crawled out from under her covers and padded towards her mom, giving her a hug.

Her mom ruffled her hair and kissed her cheek. “You might want to wear something cute though. I’ve seen Jake before and he is a handsome cowboy.”

“Ugh, go away, Mom. And you aren’t going to try to fix me up either, so you can stop your train of thought right there.” Lilah rolled her eyes and went into her bathroom.

“I didn’t say I was going to fix you up. I was merely pointing out that he’s a good looking cowboy and from what I hear from Ms. Lola, he’s a really sweet man. He has a three year old little girl and her name is
Roxy.”

“Did you find out his birthday and blood type too, Mom?”

“No, but she said he’s twenty-four and she did tell me what happened with Roxy’s mother…”

Lilah smeared mint toothpaste on her toothbrush and waited for her mom to offer up the information but was greeted with silence. Curiosity got the best of her and she walked back in her room while brushing her teeth. Her mom was leaning against the door frame with a knowing smile on her face. Lilah waved her hand at her signaling her to go on, mumbling around her toothbrush.

“Don’t stop now, spill the rest of the beans.”

“I thought you weren’t interested in hearing about him?”

“Ugh, stop baiting me with teasers and give me the goods!”