Kiss an Angel(119)

“Try this.” He lifted a bite of lasagna from his own plate and held it to her lips. When she opened her mouth to refuse, he shoved it inside, forcing her to chew.

“I told you I didn’t want to eat.”

“Just a sample. Good, isn’t it?”

To her surprise, once the initial shock had passed, the lasagna did taste good, although she wasn’t going to tell him that. She took a sip of water. “I really don’t want anything else.”

“I’m not surprised.” He pointed toward her chicken. “That looks dry.”

“It’s covered in sauce. It doesn’t look dry at all.”

“Trust me, Daisy. That chicken is dry as shoe leather.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Give me a taste.”

She jabbed her fork into the chicken, and as she cut a piece, the juices spurted out “Look at this.” She poked her fork it him.

He obediently pulled the chicken off with his teeth, chewed, and grimaced. “Dry.”

She snatched up her knife, cut a piece for herself, and ate it. As she had predicted, it was just as delicious as it looked. She ate another. “There is nothing wrong with this chicken.”

“I guess the lasagna affected my taste buds. Let me try some of your pasta.”

Irritated, she watched him twirl his fork in her pasta and slip it into his mouth. A moment later, he delivered his verdict. “Too spicy for you.”

“I happen to like spicy food.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She jabbed at the pasta and dribbled some sauce on the tablecloth as she carried it to her mouth. The sauce was mild and flavorful. “It’s not spicy at all.”

She began to reach for another forkful only to check the motion in midair. Her eyes flew to his as she realized she’d let him trick her, and she set down her fork. “Another power play.”

His long, lean fingers curled around her wrist, and he looked at her with a concern she didn’t believe for a moment. “Please, Daisy. You’re so thin you’re scaring me. You have to eat for the baby.”

“You have no right!” Pain rushed through her. She choked back the rest of what she had been about to say and retreated behind the icy barrier that kept her safe. Emotion was her enemy. She would think only about what was best for her child.

Without a word, she returned to her meal, eating until she couldn’t eat any more. She ignored his attempts at conversation and took no interest in the fact that he ate hardly anything himself. In her mind, she escaped to a beautiful meadow where she and her baby could roam free, both of them guarded by a powerful tiger named Sinjun who loved them and no longer needed a cage.

“You’re exhausted,” he said when she finally set down her fork. “Both of us need sleep. Let’s make an early night of it.”

She rose from the table, gathered her things, and went into the bathroom, where she treated herself to a long shower. When she finally came out, the suite was dark, lit only by a faint light seeping through a crack in the draperies. Alex lay on his back on the far side of the king size bed.

She was so tired she could barely stand, but the sight of his bare chest kept her from moving closer.

“It’s all right,” he whispered through the darkness. “I won’t touch you, sweetheart.”

She stayed where she was until she realized that it made no difference whether he touched her or not. No matter what he did, she would feel nothing.



Alex shoved his hands into the pocket of his windbreaker and leaned against the hurricane fence that marked the far edge of the lot where they’d be spending the next two days. They were in Monroe County, Georgia, and the October air of midmorning carried the crisp hint of autumn.

Brady approached him. “You look like hell.”

“Yeah, well you don’t look so good yourself.”

“Women,” he snorted. “Can’t live with them. Can’t murder ’em in their sleep.”

Alex couldn’t even summon a smile. Brady might be having trouble with Sheba, but at least his relationship with Heather was going well. The two of them spent a lot of time together, and Brady was a more patient trainer than he’d been in the past. It was paying off, too, because Heather’s performances were improving.

He and Daisy had been back for ten days, and the entire circus knew that something was drastically wrong with her. She didn’t laugh anymore or flounce around the lot with her ponytail bouncing. She was polite to everyone—she was even helping Heather with her schoolwork—but all the special qualities that had made her who she was seemed to have been extinguished. And everybody expected him to fix her.

Brady pulled a toothpick from his shirt pocket and slipped it into his mouth. “Daisy’s been a lot different since she got back.”

“She’s adjusting to being pregnant, that’s all.”

Brady wasn’t fooled. “I miss the way she used to be. She was always nibbing in my business—I guess I don’t miss that—but I sure miss the way she cared about everybody. Now it doesn’t seem like she cares about anything other than Sinjun and the elephants.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They watched in silence as a truck dumped a load of hay. Alex saw Daisy pick up one of the long-handled brushes and begin scrubbing Puddin’. He’d told her he didn’t want her working, but she said she’d gotten used to work. Then he’d tried to order her to stay away from all of the elephants except Tater, fearing that one of them would swat her. She’d looked right through him and done exactly what she wanted.