Angels in Seashore Cove (Love and Laugh in Seashore Cove Book 2)

by Maggie Van Well

  After his third attempt to suck the gas through the hose, Jack threw it down in frustration. “There’s got to be an easier way.”

  “Perhaps I can be of some assistance?”

  They both jumped at the unexpected voice, Jack pushing her behind him as the intruder encroached on them. His shoulders relaxed when the tall male stepped under the lamplight. His gleaming armor easily giving away his identity.

  “Jude! Where did you come from?” Angie asked.

  He arched a brow. “Heaven, of course.”

  “Can you help me out here?” Jack picked up the hose and held it out to the Archangel. “I’m not having much luck.”

  Jude stared at Jack’s offering, his stern features hardening. “That depends. Surely you are not stealing gasoline?”

  Jack and Angie exchanged looks. “Technically, no,” Jack answered.

  “Then what are you doing—technically.”

  “Technically, we’re emptying the tank.”

  “I see.” His penetrating blue eyes shifted from one to the other. “And this is directly related to your charges?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Without another word, he stepped forward and nodded his head at the hose.

  “Oh.” Jack jumped into action, sliding it into the gas tank.

  Without ever touching it, Jude placed his finger alongside the tube and traced its length. Gas followed his finger’s path and emptied into the bucket sitting on the ground beside the car.

  Angie shrieked with glee. “Just like in The Bishops Wife, when the angel filled that fella’s glass with wine.”

  Jude nodded. “I have seen this movie. It is very accurate.”

  “Amazing how the writer was so spot on.”

  “Not really. Who do you think helped him write it?”

  “I’m going to guess it wasn’t an archangel.” Jack smirked.

  Jude looked up from his task and glared at him. “Indeed not. That is the guardian’s job.”

  Angie was thoughtful for a moment, remembering another old movie she’d loved as a child. “Jude, the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” isn’t as accurate, is it?”

  “No. True angels were never human nor do we have to earn our wings. However, the character of Clarence was based on an assignment angel like the two of you.”

  Assignment angel? Is that what they were? She’d hoped for a more substantial name than that.

  The idea that one silly angel could change a man’s life had always inspired her to believe that one person could make a difference. “I find it hard to accept there are angels that incompetent.”

  Jude tilted his head, his features masked in disbelief. “Really?”

  Her cheeks flamed. Jude really needed to learn subtlety. Okay, so she and Jack hadn’t been the most organized. They did make Dianna believe her house was haunted, and maybe Sean was freaking out because of them. And they couldn’t quite siphon gas without help, but…

  That didn’t mean they were doing a bad job.

  “The task is done.” Jude stepped away from the car and motioned for Jack to gather the bucket and hose. “For future reference, you can do this with any gas.”

  A frown of confusion formed on Jack’s face. “You mean like, if someone eats too many beans—”

  Jude closed his eyes, shaking his head. “No. Gasses with which you breathe for instance, or fill a tire.”

  “That knowledge would’ve helped me a few weeks ago, when Angie had a flat.”

  “You should have read the manual.” Then in a burst of light, Jude was gone. His departure was much less grandiose than Adriel’s, but just as startling.

  Jack turned to Angie. “He’s intense, isn’t he?”

  “Definitely not as warm as Adriel.” Angie looked skyward and in the blink of an eye, a custodio appeared. Moments later she and Jack were in their small apartment.

  Angie plopped down in the ridiculously awkward wicker chair, which she was sure had been chosen for aesthetics rather than comfort. Despite the furniture, she was glad to be here. Since she and Jack returned to Earth, they’d spent very little time at the apartment, always on the lookout for Sean and Dianna.

  She marveled at how much the Internet had grown, although she wept for the loss of the need to go to a bookstore or library. It had still been in its infancy when they’d died—well, maybe more the toddler stage. Certainly nothing like Facebook or Twitter existed. She looked forward to learning the new technology when they had the time.

  The only breaks they took were when Sean and Dianna slept. That proved to be a mass of confusion the night of the storms. When she and Jack went back to turn on the electricity and found Dianna had unconsciously crept into bed with Sean…well, needless to say, they hadn’t been happy.

  Now that they knew about the custodio they could tell, without even looking, if anything was awry, just by the color of their charges’ clouds.

  “I still don’t understand what you hoped to accomplish with this.” Jack placed the bucket of gas outside the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard.

  “I told you. I want to dissuade Dianna from going home with Dean.”

  “But shouldn’t that be her choice?” Jack folded his long frame into the comfortable cushy sofa opposite Angie. “And I don’t see how draining her gas tank will help anyway.”

  “I’m hoping she’ll take it as a sign that what she’s doing isn’t in her best interests.”

  “Maybe it is.”

  “How on earth can sleeping with the wrong guy be a good thing?”

  “Perhaps, it’ll make her wiser. Many other women have done it and survived.”

  “Not this time. Not if I can help it.”

  “Why?”

  Angie looked away, wishing that this type of memory had fallen through the holes in her mind. “The first man I slept with was exactly like Dean. Handsome, suave, selfish. I knew what he was like, but I was so smitten with him, I went through with it anyway.” Angie stared out at the small herb garden just outside the glass doors, remembering like it was only yesterday. “I’ll never forget the days that followed, waiting for his call that never came. I felt so cheap and used…”

  “I know.”

  Jack’s statement pulled her back into the present. “How?”

  “Because I’m the one who held you when you realized he was never going to call you again. You cried on my shoulder for hours.” He grinned. “It was the first time you and I ever spent the night together. We fell asleep on my couch. I still remember the neck ache I got from that.”

  She stared at him, forcing herself to ask the obvious question. “So there were other nights we spent together?”

  “No, Angie, we never had sex.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Oh, I’d never forget something like that.” He winked.

  She couldn’t help but giggle. It amazed her how he knew exactly what she was thinking, even when vague.

  Rising from the medieval torture device, she walked over to Jack and sat in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You were always there for me, weren’t you?”

  He tweaked her nose. “And apparently I always will be.”

  She tried to smile, but she was too enchanted by his amazing eyes. They captivated her, made her heart race. And just for moment, when his gaze dipped to her lips and he tightened his grip around her waist, she thought he was going to kiss her.

  And she wanted him to. So very much.

  Had she ever felt this way before? Was there ever a time in her life when she wanted Jack as more than a friend?

  “Angie?”

  “Yes,” was her breathless reply.

  “Let’s do it.” He traced his fingertips along her cheekbone. “Let’s make sure Dianna doesn’t sleep with Dean.”

  Angie felt deflated as he gently placed her on the sofa beside him. He jumped to his feet, calling a custodio.

  She hoped she’d never wanted to be more than friends with him. Because the disappointment she felt when h
e didn’t kiss her just now, but pushed her aside, wasn’t something she’d want to spend her life feeling.

  ***

  The counter at the Pub gleamed under the overhead lights. Sean lost track of how long he’d been wiping the same spot, not that it mattered. The place was empty, his last customer having left about ten minutes ago.

  After he and Trudy left the restaurant earlier, she suggested they reschedule their date to a time when he wasn’t so preoccupied. There had been a tinge of regret and maybe even annoyance in her idea, but he agreed anyway.

  He’d hoped coming into work and letting the staff leave early would help him clear his mind over Dianna, but from the moment Valarie shrieked with glee at him telling her she could go home early, that’s all he’d thought about.

  For three whole fucking hours.

  Dean Vaughn. God! Of all the men she could have chosen, why him? Ever since Dean’s high school sweetheart, Natasha, dumped him a few years ago for another guy, he’d gone through women like a pub goes through Bud Lite. Some villagers reasoned he was making up for lost time, others thought he might be desperate to find the woman who could fill the void Natasha had left.

  Sean wasn’t willing to risk Dianna’s virtue by finding out which one she’d be.

  Just as he moved down the bar to attack another spot on his counter, the door burst open and Dianna stormed in.

  Shit! The last thing he wanted was a blow by blow of her getting laid.

  “Hey, Princess, I’m just about to close—”

  “You’re damn right you’re closed!” She spun around and twisted the deadbolt into place, then stomped over to the bar. “How dare you!”

  “Something wrong?”

  Slamming her purse onto the counter, she fisted her hands at her hips. “You followed me on my date.”

  He let out a small laugh. “That—that is not true.” He continued to scrub the spotless counter, avoiding her glare. “We just happened to be at the same restaurant.”

  She slapped her hand down on his. “Bullshit. You and Trudy were ordering take-out when I left.”

  “We changed our minds.”

  Dianna reached across the bar and grabbed his ear.

  “Ow!” He dropped the rag and swatted at her hand, desperate to detach her hold. “Okay, okay, I followed you, but you were about to do something really stupid and I freaked out.”

  “Stupid? I can’t believe you just said that.” She released him and slumped into the barstool. “What I do with my life is none of your business.”

  “So I’m supposed to just let you screw up?”

  “Who the hell are you to judge me?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You sleep with whomever you want, and I never say a damn thing.”

  Sean recoiled as if she’d slapped him. Okay, that was harsh. “And that’s how you want to be? Like me?”

  “No.” Dianna looked away, her voice holding a touch of regret. “You don’t understand.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “You can’t guess what it’s like to still be a virgin—”

  He grabbed her wrist, hoping he heard her right. “Still?”

  “I didn’t sleep with Dean.” She jerked her hand away. “Thanks to you.”

  Sean braced his hands on the bar and lowered his head as relief washed through him. “Oh, thank God.”

  “Don’t pat yourself on the back yet, you just prolonged the inevitable.”

  Damn it! “I assumed you’d come to your senses.”

  “We didn’t sleep together because you emptied my gas tank.”

  His jaw dropped. What the fuck was she talking about? “I did not! I was nowhere near your car.”

  “Well, I can’t think of any other reason a completely full tank of gas would suddenly be empty.”

  Sean rubbed at his temples. He was going to have a headache by the time this night was over, he was sure of it. “Okay, even if I did empty the tank, which I didn’t, why would that stop you?”

  “Because we left his car at the restaurant and were halfway to my place when I ran out of gas.”

  “Wait, why didn’t he drive?”

  Dianna shifted in her seat, fiddling with the small pile of drink napkins beside the soda dispenser. “Dean said I wouldn’t want my neighbors to see a strange car outside my house all night.”

  “And you believed that?”

  “At the time it made perfect sense. Now I’m wondering if he was just being lazy.”

  “Now that makes sense.”

  She shrugged, but he felt this wasn’t the time to gloat. “Okay, fine, so you had to wait for roadside assistance?”

  “Right, because, for some odd reason, everyone’s cell went straight to voicemail. After about an hour, we were finally on the road again. When we turned onto my block, lo and behold, the Wheelers are setting off fireworks. I swear everyone within a four block radius was standing in front of my house.”

  “Why did they choose tonight for that?”

  “When I asked Angie, she just smiled, shrugged and said ‘why not?’”

  Oh, how he could kiss them both right now. “I still don’t see why you ended the evening.”

  “Because by the time the fireworks were done, Dean was receiving a slew of emails from work, and he seemed to lose interest. Unless Kate walked by. Apparently her ass was more entertaining than me.”

  “What does that tell you?” He threw his hands in the air, pacing behind the bar. “This isn’t the type of guy you can have a serious relationship with.”

  “I figured that out for myself, thank you. But I don’t care about that anymore. I’m happy with just a few nights with him.”

  She didn’t care? My God, what had she suffered through all these years that she felt she needed to settle for someone like Dean? “Dianna, why are you really doing this?”

  “Because I’m tired of feeling like the side-show at a carnival.” She hopped down from the stool, running her hands over her face. “I wish you would just drop it. I’m past the point of thinking sex is a big deal. Maybe I’ll discover I’m wrong, maybe not, but it’s long overdue for me to find out.”

  “But, why him of all people?”

  “What difference does it make? So what if he never calls me again. I just want a good, patient lover who will teach me.” She walked over to where she tossed her purse and grabbed it. “I need to go. I want to call Dean before he goes to sleep.”

  “Princess, I’m begging you, don’t do this.” He couldn’t let this happen. He’d always protected her, always kept her safe. There had to be some way to stop her.

  God, what do I do?

  “Sean, enough!” She headed for the door. “My mind is made up. I’m tired of waiting. I want to know what all the mystery is all about.”

  In one swift move, he hopped over the bar and grabbed her arm.

  “Then let me be the one to show you.”

  Chapter Twelve

  TRYING TO PULL her wrist free from Sean, Dianna froze and just gaped at him. Her heart pounding hard against her ribs. Did he just say—no, she couldn’t have heard him right. “I’m sorry, but did you just offer to have sex with me?”

  Sean swallowed hard and why was he suddenly so pale?

  “If you’re so determined to do this,” he paused and swallowed again, “then let me be the one to teach you.”

  God, he was unreal sometimes. “Do you really think I’m in the mood for your teasing right now?” She waited for that telling grin he could never hide for long when he was messing with her.

  But his face remained stoic…and he gulped again.

  She yanked her arm once, hard and he immediately released it. She took a step back. “You are kidding, right?”

  “I’ve never been more serious.” He closed the distance between them, which she countered by stepping further back. He pushed a hand through his hair. “Your first time should be with someone who cares deeply for you, like I do.”

  “We can’t have sex. It
would be too weird.”

  “Any more weird than you having sex with Dean?”

  “Really, Sean? You’re seriously comparing me having sex with Dean, a man I’ve dated in the past, with having sex with you, a man I played hide-n-seek with? Are you really that stupid?”

  “Okay, fine. It would be. But I was your first friend, first confidant. We did the first day of school together, went on our first date—”

  “With other people.”

  “True, but we still insisted on going together. So this will just be another first for us.”

  As insane as his idea was, there was a tiny part of her that actually considered it. The part that she’d long ago buried and sealed from any emotion that emerged as more than friendship toward this man. Only now it coupled with a strong sense of affection for him. The feelings confused her, tormented her and coalesced as a stirring at the heart of her.

  Okay, she had to admit, the idea was hot. Sean was hot. She had no doubt that every inch of her would burst into flames at his slightest caress. But what would that do to them?

  “What about…after?” She held her breath, hoping he had the answer.

  He shook his head, his eyes reflecting the uncertainty she felt. “I honestly don’t know. The only thing I can say is we cross that bridge when we come to it. And I am willing to cross that bridge with you.”

  “No matter how awkward?”

  He stepped closer again, his spicy cologne working with him to get her to change her mind. “Don’t you know by now I’d do anything for you?”

  Her breath caught. The look in his eyes was not that of a friend offering a favor. It was serious. Dead serious. Plus, there was something else she couldn’t quite identify. “That is the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” She snaked her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

  Sean placed his hands at her waist and pulled her closer. “Is that a yes?”

  Dianna grinned at the husky sound of his voice. If it were any other guy, she’d swear he actually wanted to do this, even looked forward to it. “No.” She shoved out of his embrace with a playful swat to his arm. “Thank you, but oh so very much, no.”