by Cindy Kirk
He returned her smile, then opened his leather iPad case and brought up the form on his tablet. “We might as well get started.”
Angel dropped down beside him on the sofa and leaned close. “Let me see.”
Her movement brought his face so near she could feel his breath on her cheek. If the room smelled like a forest, he smelled like spearmint gum and shampoo. All she needed to do was to turn her head to the side…
He must have read her mind. He stiffened and shifted, effectively moving his lips beyond her reach. “It’d be best if you sat over there.”
Angel plopped back and crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced at the wooden chair with the rock-hard seat and partially broken arm. “I don’t like that one.”
“Angel.” He glanced pointedly at the chair.
“Okay, be that way.” Angel flounced from the couch and into the chair. It groaned in protest. “See, what’d I tell ya? It hates me as much as I hate it.”
He smiled and made a few notes.
She leaned forward and tried to see what he’d keyed in.
He snapped the folder shut.
“What’d you write?” she asked. “Did you say I looked pretty in my new red dress?”
He looked at the clingy crimson fabric then immediately his gaze shifted to Elvis. He cleared his throat.
“It’s new,” she said, piqued. Had she lost her touch?
“I believe you’ve already said that.”
“I just wanted to make sure you knew.” She gazed up at him and fluttered her eyelashes, feeling awkward and just a little bit stupid.
He studied her for a moment. “Do you have something in your eye?”
“No, I do not have som—” She noticed the smile tugging at his lips and shut her mouth.
The bare bulb overhead reflected the emerald of his eyes, and a shiver of excitement coursed through her body.
“Tonight is a special occasion,” she said. “A very special one.”
“Really?” Jake glanced at the screen.
Angel smiled, and her heart hammered foolishly in her chest. Flirting was even more fun than she’d remembered. She lowered her voice to a husky whisper. “It’s special because you’re here. I wore the dress for you.”
Startled, his eyes widened for just an instant. “It’s very nice.”
Satisfied, Angel’s smile widened and she snapped her gum. “Thanks.”
“O-kay.” Jake expelled a pent-up breath. “Let’s get going here.”
Angel kept her gaze focused on his face and listened to him stumble his way through an overview of Woodland Hills High School’s at-risk program. She refrained from making any suggestions, even though there were a dozen ways the program could be improved at very little additional cost.
“You don’t have any questions?”
Her head jerked up, and she realized he’d quit speaking. A smile hovered on the edge of his lips as if he knew her mind had wandered.
She thought quickly and latched onto one of the last things he’d mentioned. “About this mentor thing—”
“It means—”
“I know what it means.” Impatiently she waved him silent. “What I want to know is—who do I get stuck with?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Actually, that hasn’t been determined.”
With an irritation that wasn’t all forced, Angel crossed her legs, exposing a long stretch of skin. “Don’t tell me nobody wants me.”
His look answered her question.
In spite of herself, in spite of knowing this was all pretend, her heart twisted. An unexplained wave of sadness washed over her. It must have shown on her face, because Jake leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs, compassion lighting his eyes. “Angel, you’ve got a lot of potential. We’ll find someone.”
“Yeah, right.”
“We will,” he said firmly.
She gazed into his handsome caring face, and the stirrings of a brilliant idea blossomed. “Why don’t you do it?”
It was the perfect solution. If he was her mentor, she could stay close to him without arousing suspicion.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
Angel paused and raised a brow. “Why not?”
“I just don’t think it would.”
“Because you like me too much?”
“I like all my students,” he said slowly and deliberately. “I just think you might do better with a woman.”
“I’ve always gotten along better with men than women.”
“Angel.” She had to hide a smile at the almost parental admonishment.
“Jaaake,” Angel mimicked, and smiled when his lips finally curved with amusement.
“You’re not making this easy.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t have time. The baseball team keeps me busy.”
Angel’s ears perked up. Crow had gotten a tip that some of the students dealing drugs were part of the team. Although these kids would be small fish, they might point her to the leader.
This was all too perfect. Her heart skipped a beat.
“I’d love to help out.” Angel tossed her head and shot him an impish smile. “All the hot guys play baseball.”
“I thought you already had a boyfriend,” Jake said.
Angel stared blankly.
“Crow?” he prompted.
“Oh, him.” Angel waved a hand. “He’s my main man, but there’s nothing to say a girl can’t look.”
“It might be best if you had a boyfriend your own age,” Jake said in an offhand manner that she guessed was anything but offhand.
“I like my men more mature,” she said coyly.
He winced. “Angel, listen to me—”
She could smell a lecture coming a mile away. “I’m bored.” She stood and the chair creaked. “Let’s grab a burger. We’ll talk later. I’m starving.” As if on cue, her stomach growled.
Jake shifted. He glanced down at the screen. “We barely got started.”
“Bring it along.” She hopped up and reached for his hand. “Big Al’s Burger Palace is close. We can talk while we walk.”
He remained seated. “It’s not a good idea for us to be seen out together on a Saturday night. People might get the wrong idea.”
Angel stared at him thoughtfully. He seemed like such a good guy. She sighed heavily. “All right. PB&J it is. You can have one, too.”
“Thanks, but I already ate.”
He followed her into the kitchen, and she grabbed bread and peanut butter from the cupboard, dumping them onto the counter with a clatter. Without thinking, she swung open the refrigerator door in search of the jelly.
Jake’s gaze narrowed at the sight of the empty shelves, and Angel bit her lip. Why hadn’t she thought to fill it? The last thing she needed was for him to make a referral to Social Services.
“Grocery day is tomorrow,” she said, abruptly closing the door.
Jake looked skeptical, but what else could she say? She only prayed she’d convinced him.
Angel quickly threw together a sandwich and grabbed a couple of warm cans of soda from the open carton on top of the counter. She tossed one across the table with an underhand lob. Jake caught it easily. She gave him a quick thumbs-up and took the chair across the table.
While she ate, they talked. Surprisingly, the conversation flowed easily, and Angel discovered that Jake had a sense of humor in sync with her own.
Only when she deliberately inserted a joke about getting high did she strike out. His smile faded and his gaze turned sharp and assessing.
“Drugs are a dead end,” he said flatly.
His expression gave nothing away, and once again she wished she could read his mind. Did he spout the platitude because it was expected or did he mean it?
“Ya think?”
His gaze swept her face. “What do you think, Angel?”
“Me?” She forced a laugh. “Haven’t you heard? I’m high on life.”
He stared thoughtfully and opened his
mouth before closing it. A chill ran down her spine. Had he been about to lecture her? Or could it be that Crow was right?
Was Jake Weston their man?
If he was, what was she going to do about it?
The clock struck ten as Angel called Crow..
“It’s me. He just left.”
“Stayed long enough.” Crow spoke gruffly, bringing a smile to her lips. Her partner had taken an instant dislike to Jake. “Find out anything?”
She hesitated.
“Don’t jerk me around, Angel,” he said in that rough guttural voice she’d come to know so well. “Give it to me straight.”
“I brought up getting high.” She twisted the bed sheet between her fingers. It had been a calculated maneuver, not an off-the-wall comment. But she wasn’t sure Crow would see it that way.
“You what?”
She held her phone away from her ear for a second before pressing it back into place. “I was subtle.”
“I bet.” His disbelieving laugh scraped against her last nerve. “So what do you think?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, trying to be completely honest. “I couldn’t get a good feel. My gut says no.”
“Your gut has been wrong before,” he said, his tone uncharacteristically gentle.
Even so, his words stung.
“I found out he’s a Christian.” When she’d mentioned her friend Emily attended Woodland Hills Community Church, she’d been surprised to learn Jake was also a member.
“I don’t care if he’s God Almighty.” Crow snorted. “You need to quit talkin’ religion and find out who can get you the meth. Cozy up to him. Whatever it takes. We’re running out of time.”
Angel hung up the phone and leaned her head against the worn velvet of the couch. Getting close to Jake would be easy. There was a bond, an inexplicable attraction between them that she’d never expected.
No, getting close would be the least of her current problems. And more than likely, just the beginning of a whole set of new ones.
Chapter Four
Angel’s glance slid from the blue solution to the clock on the wall. Science had never been one of her strengths.
“You’re new here, huh?”
Her attention jerked to Emily Weyer, her lab partner, taking in the girl’s tentative smile and anxious expression. Up to now they’d worked alone on the experiments, but today Mr. Monk—whom everyone not-so-affectionately called Mr. Monkey—had made them pair off. By default, she and this girl had ended up together.
“Yeah, how ’bout you?” Angel cast a wary eye at the beaker. She’d never realized until last week how fast a fire could start. Perhaps that’s why Mr. Monkey had insisted they take partners.
The girl nodded, and Angel quickly assessed her. Brown shoulder-length hair, blue eyes and regular features; she would blend into any crowd without a problem.
It was an advantage Angel wished she could claim. Unfortunately her own hair was too dark, her eyes too large and her mouth too full to go unnoticed. She grimaced.
Emily quickly took a step back. “I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk.”
If the girl didn’t look so intimidated, Angel would have had to laugh. Instead she smiled. “Of course we do. We’re women, aren’t we? Besides, it gets boring just watching this stuff.”
Angel gestured expansively to the Bunsen burner, her sleeve coming precariously close to the blue flame. She jerked her arm back just in time.
“Changing schools your senior year is kind of hard.” Emily glanced around the room. “Most kids already have their friends. They don’t seem interested in making any new ones.”
“Bummer.” Angel had the same experience. It had made her job doubly hard. She glanced at the beaker and wondered if Emily knew what they were supposed to do next.
“It doesn’t bother you.” Amazement and something akin to admiration rang in the girl’s hushed whisper. “Not at all.”
Angel hesitated. It hadn’t been that long ago that being on the outside had mattered a lot. And not only had she felt all alone at school, but she’d felt that way at home, too. Her aunt and uncle hadn’t wanted her. The foster parents hadn’t wanted her. She shoved the painful memories aside and reminded herself that that time in her life hadn’t been all bad.
“Not at all,” Angel echoed, and turned her gaze from the now-boiling liquid for a fraction of a second.
The beaker shattered and hot liquid flooded the counter. Emily screamed. Angel jumped back as shards of glass flew through the air. Mr. Monkey roared. Chaos erupted.
Fifteen minutes later they finally finished the cleanup. After a stern lecture from Mr. Monkey, who resembled an angry gorilla when he screamed something about the importance of listening to instructions, the two girls were finally released to the now-empty hall.
“He was really mad,” Emily said.
Angel shrugged. “I could have sworn he said it was supposed to boil.”
“Do you think he’ll have it out for us now?”
“Who knows?” Angel tossed her backpack strap over one shoulder. “Do monkeys hold grudges?”
Her words brought a smile to the girl’s face.
“You wouldn’t want to—” Emily swallowed hard “—have lunch with me? We could eat in the commons?”
Woodland Hills High School had been built in a square with an open inner courtyard. Although Angel hadn’t spent much time sitting under the big leafy trees, she knew it was considered the place to gather for students and staff.
Angel glanced at her watch. She’d hoped to make a few quick calls before her next class. “I don’t…”
The girl’s expression fell and the hope in her eyes died a quick death.
“On second thought, why not?”
They walked companionably down the quiet halls and out into the bright sunshine. A shaded area under a huge sycamore beckoned, and Angel claimed the spot against the tree. Emily sat across from her and pulled a brown sack from her backpack, splitting half of its contents with Angel.
The peanut butter sandwich was dry, the apple soft, and the brownie clung to Angel’s fingers like glue. Still, it was food—and she hadn’t eaten since the previous night.
“You’re a senior, right?” Angel licked her fingers and rested her back against the rough bark. She cast the girl an interested look, and that’s all it took.
Once Emily started talking, it was like the flood-waters had been released. She wouldn’t shut up. In a matter of minutes Angel discovered that for being new and living on the fringes, Emily had already gathered a wealth of information about her fellow classmates. Information Angel found extremely interesting.
“Hey, Em.” A tall slender boy with short brown hair tipped with gold slowed, then continued walking when he caught sight of Angel. Angel got the distinct feeling he would have stopped if Emily had been alone.
“Mike.” Emily smiled and dipped her head as if to hide the blush stealing its way up her cheeks.
“Who’s that?” Angel asked, the boy’s face naggingly familiar. “He’s way cute.”
“You don’t know Mike Blaine?” Shock blanketed the girl’s face. “Everybody knows Mike.”
“I don’t.” Angel licked the rest of the brownie’s caramel topping off her fingers, pleased she could sound so calm.
The instant Emily said his name, it came rushing back. Mike Blaine had been named by informants as a dealer.
“He’s the shortstop on the baseball team,” Emily said proudly.
Angel forced a smile, wondering if she should give more credence to the rumors about a connection between the baseball team and the drug ring. “Isn’t Jake Weston the coach?”
Emily shrugged. “I guess.”
Obviously the teacher hadn’t made quite the impression the hunky shortstop had. “Mike’s hot.”
“Yeah.” Emily smiled. “He’s pretty nice, too.”
“Do you guys have something going?”
A look Angel couldn’t quite identify crossed Emily’s face. �
��I think he’d like to, but—”
A burst of laughter carried across the grassy expanse, and Emily and Angel turned in unison. Mike stood in front of the school doors surrounded by five or six friends. Angel mentally catalogued the companions before turning her attention back to Emily.
“You were saying?”
Emily’s blush deepened. “It’s sort of personal.”
Angel raised a brow.
“He and I don’t agree on…well, on a lot of things.”
“Let me guess.” Angel placed a finger to her lips and pretended to think, even though she had no doubt her first instinct would nail it. “Mike wants sex and you don’t.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
Angel lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug.
“You probably think I’m being stupid.” Emily stared down at her pastel-pink-tipped nails. “Truth is, I don’t plan to do that with anyone until I’m married.”
“Really?” Angel tilted her head and gazed speculatively at Emily.
“You agree with him.” Disappointed resignation rang in Emily’s voice.
“Actually—” Angel shot an apple core in a high arch right into a nearby trash can “—I agree with you.”
“You do?”
“Yep.” Angel nodded. “Matter of fact, I’m doing the same thing.”
“Uh-huh.” Emily started to laugh, but stopped when Angel didn’t smile. “You’re serious?”
“Sure I am.” Angel stared intently at Emily and wished she could share more with the girl—but she couldn’t risk blowing her cover.
Emily shook her head. “I never would have guessed.”
Angel gave a careless wave. “So, is that all? The guy wants sex and you don’t?”
Emily shifted uncomfortably and refused to meet Angel’s questioning gaze. “Pretty much.”
“No, it’s not. I can tell,” Angel said, her interest piqued. “We’re friends. You can tell me.”
“He’d be mad if he knew I said anything.”
Angel leaned forward and made a show of zipping her lips. “You can trust me.”
Emily glanced around as if to make sure no one could overhear. Apparently reassured, she lowered her voice almost to a whisper. “Mike and I went out a couple of times. He wanted more from me, but he took me saying no, okay. I mean he was disappointed but…”
