Heavenly Angel Read Online Free PDF Page B

carefully neutral. “Hello, Clarissa. How are you?”
    “Fine, busy with work. I heard about Patricia. Have you talked to her?” she asked, showing either her utter ignorance or stupidity, or both.
    “No, Clarissa, not since she shot me,” he replied flatly, arching an eyebrow.
    “Oh, well, no. I guess you wouldn’t have, would you?” She rolled her eyes before looking him up and down like a juicy steak she wanted to sink her teeth into. “So, I see you’re all better.”
    “Yes, I’ve made a full recovery, thank you.”
    “I was wondering if you were dating anyone. Maybe you’d like to go out. I always had a thing for you.”
    Just what I always wanted. To go out with my psycho ex-girlfriend’s ultrapromiscuous best friend. “As a matter of fact, I am dating someone.”
    Her smile widened, and the look in her eyes was calculating. Her tongue flicked out and licked her lip. “Oh? Well maybe we could get together sometime, you know? Have a good time?” The seductive way she said it made his gut clench. He frowned darkly at what this young woman suggested and how Teresa would react to the idea. He suppressed a growl as he looked up and saw Teresa approaching. She was close enough by now that if she was listening, she would be able to hear what Clarissa was proposing. The look in Teresa’s sweet eyes indicated she heard but didn’t understand. Her delicate eyebrows were knit together in dismay as she slid her little hand into his.
    “No, Clarissa. What you and Patricia called fun was not something I ever participated in with her or condoned. You have the wrong idea if you think that’s something I would want to be involved in. Take care.” He led Teresa from the young woman, who blushed angrily as Teresa looked her in the eye. Angel wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they walked out into the humid August sunshine.
    “That was interesting,” Teresa ventured carefully.
    “That’s an understatement. That was a friend of Patricia’s. They used to run around together, before…you know.” He decided to say as little as possible about Clarissa. If Teresa didn’t understand the gist of what Clarissa was offering, he wanted to keep it that way.
    Patricia had made many assumptions based on what she knew of his upbringing and had pestered him endlessly about a threesome with Ethan. Her fixation with the notion had taken an obsessive turn when Grace had come into Ethan’s life. She completely rejected the idea that there was an intrinsic difference between what Ethan had with Grace, Jack, and Adam and what she wanted from Angel and Ethan. In her mind there was no difference, and he could never persuade her otherwise. Her quest had not ended successfully.
    “Yeah.” She smiled up at him and patted his hand on her upper arm, and, bless her heart, she changed the subject. “So, what did you bring me?”
    “It’s a surprise. You’ll see it in a minute.” He helped her into the truck before he climbed in. “I’m taking you for a nice lunch at O’Reilley’s. Is that all right?”
    “That sounds wonderful.”
    He drove them over to the restaurant and parked in the shade of an oak tree. He reached in the glove box and pulled out a square box. Smiling at the surprise in her eyes, he handed the box to her.
    “Open it. Tell me what you think.” The suspense was killing him. She opened the hinged box and gasped in surprise. He smiled with pleasure.
    She removed the large locket from its box. It was sterling silver on a pretty silver chain. The front of the locket was an intricate scrollwork design, and embedded in the center was a vibrant, oval-cut peridot, her birthstone.
    “Peridot? How did you find this?”
    “I didn’t. Clay made it for you.”
    “Mr. Cook made this for me?”
    “Yes, I had him make it for you, beautiful. Happy birthday.”
    “Thank you, Angel. It’s lovely.” She handed it to him, and he unclasped the chain and put it around her neck. She lifted it and looked at it. He