I swore I heard a slight edge in his tone, but I brushed it off. “Yes, I’m on a date with someone.”
He remained silent for a moment, peering down at me from his five-foot-nine height. His confusion gave way to understanding and then his eyebrows pinched in what seemed to be anger.
“I thought you had to work tonight. When I asked you out yesterday—”
“I never said I had to work, just that I wouldn’t be available tonight.” I lifted my chin to meet his gaze. I didn’t lie to Marshall, and we never discussed exclusivity. I didn’t want to hurt him, but we were still in the “getting to know one another” phase, and well, I was having doubts as to whether or not I wanted to take it any further with him.
“Well, where’s your date now? Doesn’t seem like he’s much company at the moment,” he countered, a little snark in his tone.
“I’m right here,” a deep voice responded just behind Marshall.
My stomach lurched at the sound of his voice. There was something underlying in his tone. Something that didn’t bode too well for Marshall.
“Something I can help you with?” Eric positioned his body between Marshall and I.
I attempted to take a step back to give him more room, when I felt a long arm around my waist, holding me in place.
Marshall’s eyes traveled up the full length of Eric’s body, and he unwittingly took a step back of his own.
“I was just talking to my, uh, friend.”
Eric gave a tight smile. “I see. Thanks for keeping her company while I was away.”
Marshall was being dismissed.
“Yeah, okay.” He paused, then turned his eyes to me. “Angela, I’ll give you a call sometime this week,” he said before tucking his tail and walking away.
I peered up at Eric to see his jaw tightly clenched as he watched Marshall’s back. I swallowed, hating the awkwardness of the moment.
“You should tell him not to bother calling you,” Eric said.
“Huh?”
He didn’t respond to my inquiry.
“We’re getting close.” He nodded toward the front of the line, jaw still rigid. I turned, and sure enough, it was almost our time to be seated onto the Ferris wheel.
Minutes later we were on the Ferris wheel being secured in. As soon as we were seated and buckled in, Eric asked me about something and I went on to answer, giving him another long, drawn out spiel about some aspect of my life. When he put his arm around my shoulders as we reached the very top of the Ferris wheel, I leaned my head against his shoulder. The awkwardness of Marshall’s appearance evaporated. We fell into a comfortable silence, looking over the river running along the east side of Williamsport. I couldn’t think of a time when I felt this safe and comfortable with someone I barely knew.
****
Eric
“Thank you for taking me out. I had a wonderful time.”
To my surprise, Angela smacked her free hand across her forehead, eyes squeezed shut, mouth twisted up. “That sounded so lame and cliché.”
My hands twitched and I couldn’t stop them from reaching up and cupping her face. “Sounds like the truth to me.” I brushed my lips against hers.
We were standing on the porch of Angela’s two-story home. I insisted on driving her home instead of dropping her off at the bar where I picked her up. It was well after ten o’clock at night, and there was no way in hell I was about to let her find her way home on her own.
Her arms came up, gripping my wrists. “It was the truth. I mean itisthe truth,” she giggled, and that funny thing in my chest happened again.
“Good. As long as you had a good time.”
“I did. I hope you did, too. I know I ramble a lot, so I apologize if I talked too much.”
I frowned, giving her an incredulous look. “Talked too much?”
