Kiss an Angel(75)

To her surprise, he frowned. “Fine. Forget I said anything.”

Thunderstruck, she realized she’d hurt his feelings. She thought he’d been teasing, but with Alex, she should have known better. Still, it surprised her that he cared about her opinion. “I was just warming up for the good stuff,” she said.

“It’s no big deal. It really doesn’t matter.”

But it did matter, and she was pleased. “Let me think.”

“Forget it.”

She squeezed his hand. “You do what you believe is right, even if other people disapprove, so I should admire your integrity. I do admire your integrity, but—” She folded her fingers around his hand. “Do you really want me to be honest?”

“I said so, didn’t I?”

She ignored the belligerent thrust of his jaw. “You have a wonderful smile.”

He looked faintly befuddled, and his hand relaxed around hers. “You like my smile?”

“I do. Very much.”

“Nobody ever said that to me before.”

“Not many people get to see it.” She hid her own smile as she watched the serious way he pondered what she’d told him. “There’s one other thing, but I don’t know how you’re going to take this.”

“Go on.”

“You have a really great body.”

“A great body? Is that it? That’s the second-best thing you can come up with about me?”

“I didn’t say it was the second-best thing. All I’m doing is telling you something good about you, and that’s something really good.”

“My body?”

“It’s terrific, Alex. It really is.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The pounding of the surf filled the brief silence that fell between them.

“You, too,” he said.

“What?”

“Your body. I like it.”

“Mine? But there’s not one great thing about it. My shoulders are too narrow for my hips, and my thighs are too fat. My stomach—”

He shook his head. “The next time I hear a woman going on about how neurotic men are, I’m going to remember this. You tell me you like my body, and what do I say? I say, thank you. Then I tell you I like yours and what do I hear? A long list of grievances.”

“It’s the burden women bear who’ve grown up playing with Barbie.” His grunt of disgust somehow pleased her. “Thank you for the compliment, but—be honest. Don’t you think my breasts are a little small?”

“This is a trick question, right?”

“Just tell me the truth.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes.”

“All right, then.” He caught her by the shoulders so that she was facing the ocean, then stepped behind her. His arms slipped around her and he cupped her breasts. Her skin prickled with need as he gently squeezed and molded the flesh. He ran his thumbs down their soft slopes and brushed them over the hardening tips.

Her breath quickened. His lips feathered her earlobe as he whispered to her, “I think they’re perfect, Daisy. Just the right size.”

She turned, and no force in the world could have kept her from kissing him. Clasping her arms around his neck, she went on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his, her lips soft and yielding. His tongue teased and hers responded. She lost all concept of time or even of separation. Her body became a part of his and his part of hers.

“Looky there, Dwayne! It’s them two from the circus.”

Daisy and Alex jumped apart like two teenagers caught necking by the cops.

The owner of the strident voice was a plump, middle-aged woman dressed in a lime green floral outfit and carrying a big black purse. Her husband’s blue net gimme cap concealed what was probably a bald head. His slacks were rolled up to his calves and his sport shirt pulled tight over his belly.

The woman beamed at them. “We saw your show. My Dwayne, he didn’t believe you two was really in love. He said it was all fake, but I told him you couldn’t fake somethin’ like ‘at.” She patted her husband’s belly. “Me and Dwayne been married thirty-two years, so we know somethin’ about true love.”

Next to her, Alex had stiffened like a poker, leaving Daisy to smile at the couple. “I’m sure you do.”

“Nothin’ like a good marriage to keep your feet on the ground.”

Alex gave the couple a curt nod and grabbed Daisy’s arm to pull her away. Daisy turned and called out to them. “I hope you have thirty-two more!”

“You, too, hon!”

She let Alex carry her along, knowing it wouldn’t do any good to protest. The subject of love made him so skittish that she felt an absurd desire to comfort him. By the time they reached the steps that led back to the boardwalk, she gave into it.

“Alex, it’s all right. I’m not going to fall in love with you.”

As she spoke the words, she felt a funny little hip-hop someplace around her heart. It scared her because she knew that falling in love with him would be a disaster. They were too different. He was tough, stern, and cynical, while she was exactly the opposite.

Then why was it, she wondered, that he stirred something so elemental within her? And why did she seem to understand him so well when he would tell her nothing about his past and nothing about his life apart from the circus? Despite that, she knew that in some way she couldn’t entirely explain, he had helped her create herself anew. Thanks to him, she had a sense of independence she’d never possessed. For the first time in her life, she actually liked herself.