When we got backto his home after our delicious meal, my body couldn’t decide whether it was sinking or floating. I’d had too much to eat and drink, but I’d also tossed an anvil off myshoulders.
“Do all angels enjoy food as much as you do?” Jarod’s gaze lingered on his statue, on her choppedwings.
“No. We’re urged to live a life of moderation. Haven’t you noticed how thin all the othersare?”
Jarod shifted his attention from the stone to my flesh. “What exactly do you think youare?”
“Certainly not thin.” I suddenly regretted overindulging tonight—not that it had cost me any feathers. The thought that it might had crossed my mind and stuck like a fly to a cobweb. Hadn’t kept me from eating the three desserts Jarod had ordered,though.
“And thank God forthat.”
“God doesn’t exist,” Ideadpanned.
He snorted, but a smile tugged at hislips.
I sighed, touching my full belly. “Next time, don’t order the entiremenu.”
“Next time,huh?”
“Not that there needs to be a next time,” I mumbled, surely turning the color of the candied beets, which had been served atop a small mound of tangy goatcheese.
“Would you like there to beone?”
I side-eyed him, and then I side-eyed Luc, steeped in the shadows of the porch. He didn’t seem to be paying attention, but how could he not? Nothing else was happening aroundhim.
I tossed the ball back in Jarod’s court. “Wouldyoulike there to be a next time? And don’t play theI asked firstcard.”
His smirk reached all the way into his eyes that seemed as luminous as the glass chandelier Muriel had left on in the checkered marble foyer. “Surprisingly, I’d love to share another meal with you,Feather.”
“Surprisingly,” Imuttered.
“You did hear all I said after thatword?”
Considering my heart had grown wings of its own,yes, I’d heard all of the words that had followed. Would there even be a next time, though? I wished I could magick my wings into existence to test their weight, but Jarod hated them as much as he loatheddesserts.
“I did,” I said, starting up again, but Jarod barred the entrance to his house by extending hisarm.
“You have to answer my question to gain entry into my domain,” hesaid.
“I justdid.”
“I meant the question I asked before thatone.”
“Surprisingly, I’d love to share another meal with you, too.”Lunch.Whatever happened, I would still be around forlunch.
His smile didn’t grow, but it firmed up like the caramel cage around thepralinéice cream I’d devoured while he’d watched on, nursing a second brandy. “Zero points for creativity, but one forenthusiasm.”
“What?”
“You rank us; only fair I rankyou.”
I shook my head butsmiled.
“Don’t worry, your superior looks earn you lots ofpoints.”
I wasn’t sure whether to blush or balk, so I did both, which made Jarod chuckle. He retracted his arm, then held the door open forme.
It took my legs a moment to work after that offbeat compliment.Superior. Did that mean he considered me beautiful or a notch under? What was a notch under anyway? Cute? Puppies and children were cute. Was that how Jarod saw me? Like a child? More importantly, though, why did I care how he saw me? He was my sinner, not my loveinterest.
