Viper (Fallen Angel #2)(29)

“Delirious.”

As Halo crossed his arms, I muttered, “Smug fucker.”

“Hey, don’t even try to take this away from me. How many firsts have you given me over the past month?”

I touched the tip of my tongue to my top lip, thinking about each and every one of them. “A lot. I’ve enjoyed every damn one of them, too.”

“Mhmm. And this is me giving you a first. Your first date. Aww, welcome to being an adult, Viper. How’s it feel?”

“Right now? Pretty fucking painful.”

A booming laugh that made me want to grab him left his lips.

“Seriously.”

“Seriously,” I said, sitting forward in my chair. “It feels…right. You feel right.”

Halo’s grinning lips clamped shut, but before he could respond, Kyle showed up with a tray and the most delicious-looking tower of seafood I’d ever seen. A second waiter put our drinks down in front of us, then, without any further lingering, they disappeared back inside.

“So this is what you thought we should eat tonight, huh? What if I don’t like seafood?”

Halo arched a brow at me. “Yeah, okay. You brought me to a seafood restaurant. And even if you don’t, too bad. Live a little. You always eat off my plate anyway.”

I’d like to eat off you right this second, I thought, and as though Halo knew exactly what I was thinking, his lips kicked up at the sides.

“I also saw a dessert on the menu that I thought we could order to go. It had three sauces, ice creams, and things you dip in it before you suck it off. I’ll share that with you too. If you’re nice to me.”

I reached for some lobster and shrimp, as Halo took some sushi.

“Not sure I know how to be nice, Angel,” I said, finding that I actually meant it. What if we did this thing, dated, and I fucked it up because I was an asshole? The probability of that was pretty damn high, and—

What the hell? Since when have I been so goddamn insecure?

Halo dipped his sushi in a bit of soy sauce before eating the whole thing in one bite. Once he’d swallowed, he licked a drop of sauce off his finger and said, “Yeah, but by nice I mean bad. Come on, Viper. You said earlier that you know who I am, so how about you give me a bit of credit here, huh? I’m not exactly naive when it comes to you.”

No, I didn’t suppose he was. And yet here he was, wanting to…date me. A guy. Someone he’d never even considered until I made him. And that had me thinking.

“What was her name?”

Halo’s hand froze midway to his mouth. “Who?”

I could tell he knew what I was asking even though he hadn’t answered. But if he thought I was going to back down then he was in for a shock. The angel had said he wanted a date, and wasn’t this what people did on dates? Asked about exes?

“The girl you sang about in your audition video. The one who broke your heart. What was her name?”

Halo’s mouth fell open, and I could see the question why in his eyes. But before he could ask, I said, “She still in the picture at all?”

When he seemed to get past his shock, Halo popped the rest of the tuna sashimi into his mouth, and once he was done, he picked up his drink, took a long sip, and then wiped off his mouth.

“You jealous?” he asked.

I snorted but didn’t answer.

“Viper? Are you jealous?”

Was I? I thought back to the hundred and one times I’d watched that audition video of Halo before we agreed to permanently hire him, and remembered thinking what a dumbass someone would’ve been to let him go.

Was I jealous? Yeah, I’m fuckin’ jealous. Of some nameless girl I don’t even know.

“And if I am?”

Halo grinned as though the idea pleased him immensely, but instead of giving me shit, he put his napkin down and said, “Phoebe. Her name was Phoebe. And to save you the agony of asking a question I know you’re dying to ask but probably won’t, we dated for three years.”

“Three years?” Fuck me, that was, like…twenty-one in dog years. I couldn’t imagine waking up with the same person for—

“You freaking out over there?”

“No.”

“Liar,” Halo said, and when he smiled, I tried to imagine not waking up and seeing his face. “Anyway, she wanted different things to me. Or should I say for me. She thought I was wasting my time in the dive bars when I could’ve had a career more like my mom’s. With the symphony.”

I was listening to everything Halo was saying, but instead of having anything remotely intelligent to say, I blurted out, “She was wrong. You don’t belong in an orchestra. You belong center stage, Angel. Under a fucking spotlight.”

A pleased sigh left him. “Do you remember that night at Li’s when you said people would look at me, at us, and wonder who I was to you?”

I nodded. I’d purposely been fucking with him, and it had worked. He’d looked totally freaked out that the other customers might think we were together. But when Halo leaned over toward me tonight, there was no concern in his eyes, not even a hint.

“Tonight, I wish I could tell everyfuckingone,” he said.





Nineteen





Halo