What always amused Angel most about her parents was that they didn't really act the way a lot of people assumed they would based on stereotypes. Both of them looked more Asian than white, neither of them were particularly interested in math or science (although her mother had played the violin when she was younger). They were both dedicated to the dance studio and they had an accountant to take care of the financial matters. Well, her Mom was dedicated to the dance studio and her dad was dedicated to her mom, although he was just as likely to be gone on the weekend on some kind of nature retreat. He was still trying to convince her Mom that they should retire out west on a Native American reservation as teachers.
Considering that her dad was a tent and limited rations kind of guy for a "relaxing" vacation while her mom preferred a weekend at the beach, Angel wasn't always sure how their marriage managed to work but it did. They were devoted to each other.
"So, how are things with you?" Angel's mom asked Leigh, taking the potatoes and ushering her into the other room. She couldn't hear Leigh's answer but she knew that her friend would be saying something innocuous, despite the fact that all the parents knew there was something bad going down with her and Michael. Otherwise he would be here too.
"Hey Dad, good to see you," Angel said, dropping a kiss on his cheek.
"You too, Angel-Face," he said cheerfully, following the gaggle of women. "Have you heard from Captain lately? He's got his own ship now."
Angel groaned. "Oh my god... he's actually Captain Captain now?"
She hadn't heard from either of her big brothers lately. They tended to gather for the big holidays and otherwise there was an occasional e-mail back and forth but not much more contact than that. Percy (short for Percival) was out in Arizona and Captain was working on a private cruise line that one of his college friends had started. Neither of her brothers were particularly good at keeping in touch over long distances, although they were incredibly affectionate and boisterous in person.
Poor Captain, the oldest of the three siblings, had definitely gotten the short-end of the stick when it came to names. His full name was actually Captain Glascock Jones; both Captain and Glascock were family names that were about to die out so her parents had somehow decided that it would be a good idea to give him both. The poor guy couldn't even go by his middle name - although she knew that he'd had a damned good time in school being addressed as "Captain" by his teachers. He'd definitely grown into it and by the time he'd become Captain of the Varsity football team in high school no one was making fun of him anymore.
However, Captain Captain of an actual ship was a completely different story. She might have to e-mail him tonight. The last time they'd talked it had actually been in person during Thanksgiving, unfortunately he hadn't been able to join them for Christmas because he'd been working.
"Captain Captain of the Wandering Wreck," said her Dad with a grin. "It's a pirate themed cruise ship."
She couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. "So he's a real swashbuckler now!"
It fit... it so fit. In fact she was sure that Captain had convinced his friend to let him try doing it. He'd always wanted to be a pirate. When they'd been kids, he'd been the Pirate King, Percy had been the Admiral trying to hunt him down, and Angel had often been cast as the damsel in distress. Unfortunately for her brothers she had a distressing ability to get herself out of the predicaments they put her into once she got old enough to stop wanting to please them and start wanting to be more involved.
"He wants us to come out this summer and see his ship," said her dad proudly.
That was one thing she definitely had to hand her parents, it didn't matter what their kids did, as long as they did it with enthusiasm then her parents were proud and happy. They absolutely supported Angel's endeavors with teaching self-defense and her Etsy store, as well as her enjoyment of community theater; they'd supported Captain when he dropped out of college and joined his friend Garrett in starting up the cruise ship line; and they'd supported Percy when he'd finished college and gone on to be the only Jones child to get a normal nine to five job.
Poor Percy. She was pretty sure that he really didn't know what to do with his family a lot of the time. Maybe it was middle-child syndrome, but he'd always been one to quietly go his own way, and he was the only one who'd really wanted a "normal" career.
"Sounds like fun, I may join you. Maybe we can even get Percy along and make it a family vacation."
They hadn't had one of those in years.
"That'd be wonderful," her Dad said, his face brightening. "Honey, did you hear what Angel said? We're going to make the cruise on the Wandering Wreck a family vacation!"
With a small sigh, realizing that she shouldn't have spoken up unless she was sure that's what she wanted to do since she should have known how her Dad would take the thought, Angel followed him into the kitchen where her mom and Leigh were. Then again, her Dad knew exactly how to twist all of his children into line when he wanted to and she knew she wouldn't be able to say no to him. Looked like they were going on a family vacation that summer.
Her phone buzzed on her hip again, reminding her of the text message that she'd received when she was getting out of the car.
Turning on the screen, she saw that she had two texts from Lexie.
Hey Angel! I was hoping that maybe you'd have some free time tomorrow night...
If you do and you'd be up for helping me decorate Stronghold for the party this weekend, let me know!
Grinning, Angel texted Lexie back.
Sounds like fun! I'll be there.
******
"How's the job hunt going?" her Mom asked Mike. He'd only shown up about fifteen minutes late and now he was getting grilled. Which was good because it took attention off of Leigh, which she probably needed after the interrogation she'd gone through upon arrival. "Angel said you're going to stay in the area for a while?"
"That's the plan," Mike replied, giving her mother his most charming smile. "I had an interview today and got in touch with one of my old directors. I might have a small gig lined up, doing some prop-making for her for her upcoming show. I just have to meet the prop-designer."
"That's wonderful," her mom gushed. She gave Angel a sly look. "And you're staying at our Angel's?"
"That's just a temporary situation, Mom," she hastily inserted as her father scowled suspiciously at Michael. Dad wasn't exactly super talkative when in large groups, he preferred to listen, but she could tell that he didn't entirely like what he was hearing. While her Mom had always loved Mike and wanted something more between him and Angel, even after he'd gone out with and broken up with Monica, her Dad was conservative enough not to want a man living in Angel's house without some kind of commitment prior to the living. Preferably commitment involving a ring, but not necessarily. Housemates excepted, of course, although he hadn’t been thrilled about that either. "He's got his own place to move into next week."
"And after that, hopefully I'll have a temporary job for the day time so that I don't end up back on her couch," Mike said. He had the same easy-going grin on his face that he always did when he was enjoying himself, but Angel knew that he'd deliberately stated that he was sleeping on the couch to both reassure her father and give a hint to her mom. Bless him. "I think the interview went really well today. I actually have Angel to thank, she introduced me to the owner of the temp company."
I did?
"She's so helpful and thoughtful like that, isn't she?" Angel's mom beamed at her.
"Mmm hmm, Adam's a great guy and really on top of it with finding a good long-term temp job for me."
Angel choked on her green beans. "Adam?"
Beside her, Leigh giggled and Angel kicked her in the ankle.
"Yes," Mike said, his tone of voice completely bland and so innocent that he might as well have screamed that he was in a trouble-making mood. "He seems awfully invested in making sure that I don't find myself back on your couch once I'm off of it."
Both of Angel's p
arents blinked and then their heads swung around to look at her.
Oh. Oh he was so dead.
******
Knock knock knock.
"Come on, Angel, I said I was sorry! Let me in, it's cold out here!"
"You should have thought of that before you threw me to the wolves!" She glared at Leigh, who was sprawled out on the couch in the main room, rolling with laughter. Mark, Sam and Q weren't much better - in fact, she'd already had to stop Sam from attempting to let Mike in the front door. They were all taking far too much amusement in her pain.
"I didn't realize that they'd take it that way! I tried to stop them!"
"Ignorance is no excuse!"
Mike's one little comment, which he had made just to tease her, had sparked a half hour long intensive interrogation of all three of them, but mostly Angel, as her parents' hopes sprang up wildly. Since Angel hadn't brought a guy home, or even mentioned any of her dates to them, in over a year, she couldn't entirely blame them for their excitement, but there was nothing to tell. Which is why she hadn't mentioned any of her dates to them before, because they didn't go past the first few and she wasn't going to mention every single guy that crossed her path to her parents.
"Angel, seriously, I'm cold! I'm going to break down the door in a minute if you don't let me in."
"Let him in, he's big enough to do it," said Sam. "And it is really cold out there."
Grumbling, Angel yanked open the door and stared at Mike with all the aggravation she could summon. It was a little bit hard when he really did look a bit blue around the edges and he was holding himself and jumping up and down a bit to try and keep himself warm.
"Are you going to behave from now on?"
Mike muttered something under his breath and then glared at her. "Yes."
She eyed him suspiciously, pretty sure that she'd heard something about spanking her in that muttering, but she wasn't going to ask him to clarify in front of her housemates. Knowing Mike, he actually would, loudly and proudly, and then that would just open a whole new can of worms.
Telling the guys that she was experimenting with kink just so was not in the cards. There were a lot of parts of her life that she shared with her housemates but that was not one of them.
Chapter 15
It was silly to feel relieved that Angel showed up at Stronghold without Michael, but that was exactly how Adam felt. Silly because they could really use another tall male. Lexie was being a little slave-driver about how many decorations she wanted hung from the ceiling above the bar and pretty much anywhere else that she could find to hang things. Mostly hearts. Pink and red hearts. He was pretty sure that she'd chosen the cheesy decor with no other goal in mind than antagonizing Patrick since Lexie was not a pink and red hearts kind of girl, but all of them were suffering for it.
Surprisingly Patrick seemed to be taking the decor in stride, something which seemed to be riling Lexie up. He was the only one not grumbling under his breath, which had Lexie muttering and shooting him suspicious glances. Adam wondered if Patrick was just relieved that Lexie had only brought cheesy decorations and not her cheesy boyfriend.
"Angel! Oh good, you're here, did you bring the fabric?" Lexie sped over to give the other woman a hug, not even letting her strip off her coat. Angel hugged her back, her eyes flitting around the room, but even though he was only standing about five feet away she didn't look him in the eye. It wasn't exactly dismissive, it was more like being ignored. Either way he didn't particularly like it.
"Yeah, but I need help bringing it in. There's a lot of it."
Fabric? Dear god, what had they gotten themselves into now?
"I'll help," he heard himself saying, and had the satisfaction of seeing Angel look up at him with a startled and wary expression on her face.
"Oh good, thank you Adam!" Lexie beamed at him before her eyes focused over his shoulder. "Andrew, no! The strings are supposed to be long!"
Adam turned around to see Andrew, scissors in hand, about to cut the strings of the hearts that Lexie had given him to decorate the bar with.
"They're hitting me in the head."
"They're supposed to look like they're floating around your head, you ding dong."
"I'm not hanging them so that I get smacked in the face every time I turn around."
"Come on," Adam said, taking Angel by the elbow and turning her around. She looked cute in a squashy purple jacket, matching earmuffs over her ears and a pair of jeans that looked like they'd been broken-in to the point of comfortable perfection. It was so unlike the outfits that he'd seen her wear to the clubs, but it fit her personality in a completely different way. Soft. Warm. Touchable. "You brought fabric?"
She gave him a little smile that could best be described as nervous as they walked back out into the February chill. "Yeah, Lexie said she wanted some fabric to hang from the doors that people could walk through."
Adam sighed. "Of course she did. Where'd you get fabric from?"
"I do a lot of sewing and I have a bunch of reds and pinks that I thought might work. Since we're just hanging it from stuff I figured I can always just wash it and make it into something later."
"That's nice of you. You're making a corset for her too, right?"
"I help where I can. And I like Lexie."
"Oh wow..." Adam was struck a little speechless when Angel's trunk popped open and he got a good look at her idea of suitable fabrics for doorway hangings. He'd been expecting pretty utilitarian pinks and reds, the kind of bright colors that he associated with elementary school Valentine's Day parties and which Lexie was currently decorating the club with.
Instead the trunk was filled with swathes of deep burgundy, dusky rose, and other hues that he didn't have names for. They looked rich and inviting. In fact, they kind of reminded him of the decorations in the Arabian Fantasy private room on the second floor of Stronghold. He had a sudden vision of entertaining Angel in that room, with her in one of the many harem girl outfits that were available, and suddenly he felt all too hot inside his skin, no matter the temperature of the air around him.
"Think she'll like them?"
"I think Patrick will, which is more to the point. Where did you get all these? You can't tell me you just have all this fabric laying around the house."
"Oh, I tend to pick up fabric all the time when I see it on sale, even if I don't have something in mind for it yet. I know I’ll use it eventually. Here."
Automatically Adam held out his arms to accept the bundle of variegated reds and pinks that she thrust at him. Soft, velvety, silky... a myriad of sensations rubbed across his bare hands, which he buried in the fabric to protect them from the wind now that he wasn't using his pockets to do that.
Bossy little thing when she wasn't in a scene, he thought with some amusement. She hadn't hesitated before loading him down with fabric. Or maybe it wasn't bossiness, but just the confidence that she could give him a task and he would carry it out.
"So you didn't already have plans for tonight?" he asked as she held a much smaller bundle of fabric than his in one arm while closing her trunk. "Lexie said she asked you kind of last minute."
Angel gave him a little look, as if wondering whether or not the question was somehow loaded. It wasn't, he was just grasping at straws on how to talk with a woman that he'd already been intimate with but that he wanted to get to know on a different level. "No. Originally I was planning to just hang out and do a bit of reading, but I can do that later."
"What are you reading?"
"I'm re-reading Anne McCaffrey's Pern series."
"That's the dragon-riders one, right?"
The blink of surprise that he got in return made him grin at her.
"Yeah, have you read it?"
"I tried to a long time ago, when I was still in high school. I couldn't really get into it."
"Oh, you should try it again! It's so good, it's one of my favorites," Angel said, her entire face brightening and the small hint of wariness that she'd been lookin
g at him with lifting completely. "The newer ones, by her son, aren't as good as the originals, but I still like some of them, and hers are fantastic."
"That's kind of how I feel about the Dune series."
"I love Dune!" Now she was looking at him with something like disbelieving awe. He grinned. That was pretty much the usual reaction when someone found out his reading preferences.
"What, didn't think I'd be a sci-fi book nerd?"
"Well you have to admit, you don't really fit the image," she said teasingly. Strangely enough, he rather liked being teased by her. Although he didn't like that when they got to the door of the club that she had to open it for him rather than the other way around, but his hands were fuller than hers. "Who are your favorite authors?"
The conversation continued as Lexie assigned them the task of hanging the fabric on the doorways, which Adam was happy to accept. For one it got him out of climbing up and down the ladders to hang stuff on the ceiling of the main floor, and for two it meant more time alone with Angel without him having to arrange it. He manfully ignored the little wink that Andrew gave him as they headed upstairs.
Angel read more of the newer sci-fi / fantasy series while he had mostly read the older classics, although there was a fair amount of crossover between them. She'd never read any of his favorite newer authors, Robin Hobb, and he hadn't read a lot of what she'd read, mostly because she'd read a great deal more than he had, period.
"I read kinda fast. Although not as fast as Leigh. She’s a speed-reader like you wouldn’t believe."
"I read kinda slow and I don't have a lot of time for it."
"That's too bad," she said sympathetically, holding up a swatch of glimmering dusky pink fabric for him to nail into place. They were putting two pieces of fabric on either side of the doorways, so that people could part them to walk through. "I read as much as possible. My parents didn't really encourage television when we were younger and they refused to buy us video game consoles, so it was either play with my brothers or read."
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