She rubbed her palms against his chest. “Ren, if I told you…”
He placed his hands over hers, stilling the innocent movement. “Not if, but when you tell me, I promise not to kill him, but I can’t swear I won’t make him wish he was dead.”
She slapped his shoulder. “See, that’s exactly why I’m not going to tell you…you don’t need to know.”
“Angel, I told you last night was your first.” The pride he felt might be a little hypocritical, but knowing he was her first gave him an inner high.
“How do you know?” Her face turned a shade of red.
Good God, she was cute when she got angry, he thought. How to explain?
“Last night after we made love, I held you for the longest time before I cleaned us both up with a cloth.” He stopped and kissed her as she ducked her head in clear embarrassment, before continuing. “You were so tight, but that could have been because it’d been so long for you, is what I thought, for only a minute. It wasn’t until I got up, thinking to make you more comfortable, that I saw the proof. Baby, what I’m trying to say is…” he stopped and took a breath. “There is no way you had sex before last night.”
“But, Derek and I…I mean…I thought. This is so fucking hard with you standing so close. Can I get down?”
“I think not. How about if you start from the part, where you were with Derek.” He sneered the other man’s name.
He didn’t want to play the waiting game and see who spoke first. The picture in his head, of his best friend taking advantage of Angel, came to an abrupt halt at her words.
Lorenzo listened to her explanation, seeing red at what she said happened in the car. From the sounds of it, she was the aggressor, and poor Derek was just this side of drunk. The fucker was lucky Lorenzo didn’t know he’d driven while intoxicated, let alone with Angel in the car that night. Luckily the stretch of beach was within a couple miles of the country club, and more than likely Derek hadn’t been too drunk since Angel had obviously drank most of the flask. Otherwise, he’d be a dead man, even five years later.
“Do you hate me now?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Realizing he hadn’t said a word, Lorenzo looked up, and the tears shimmering in her eyes nearly brought him to his knees. With a not-too-steady hand, he wiped them away before they could fall. “I could never hate you.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and initiated a spine-tingling kiss, one he’d quickly become accustomed to with her. Forgetting about Derek, and about killing the other man, for now at least, he cradled her head in his palm and kissed her back. She was the first to pull away, nibbling on his lower lip and sucking it into her mouth.
“I’ve got to get home,” she said.
“Will you come to the club and then back here with me tonight?”
“There’s nothing I’d like better than that, but can I call you after I take care of something?” She appeared nervous.
“Can I help you?” He eased back and helped her down.
Shaking her head, she answered, “Not with this, you can’t. But I appreciate the offer, I really do.”
Being a smart man, he let the subject drop. After Angel left, he thought of calling Derek but decided to wait. They were meeting at their new club in just over two hours, so he devised a plan. There were only two outcomes for his best friend—they could have a drink and a laugh, or Derek would end up shark bait. Derek’s fate fell solely on his answers. Lorenzo didn’t have a preference, even if his imagination ran wild with images of Jaws while the theme music blared behind his ears. Nope, no preference at all.
Chapter Six
The ride back to her parents’ home was made in a frenzy of phone calls, and begging her father to let her take the company jet to LA. She had to promise to come home for good, an easy thing to do since she didn’t want to be anywhere else. Waking up with Lorenzo, had been better than any dream Angelina had ever had. The revelation that she hadn’t had sex with Derek that night so many years ago, made her giddy. Now all she had to do was return a ring and tell another man she couldn’t marry him. Andrew would be fine once he realized she was doing them both a favor.
It really hadn’t been fair of her, and she realized that now. Marrying someone you weren’t in love with was bad enough, but to marry someone when you were in love with someone else, that was beyond wrong. Thank the Lord she woke up before it was too late.