Angel Falls (Angel Falls Series, #1) by Babette Jongh (an ebook reader TXT) 📕

smiled back, delighted over the sheer pleasure of looking at him. “I’m not going to have sex with you again. Not until you’ve decided you can commit to something permanent.” Big words I’d just said. I hoped I could stick to them.

“Fair enough.”

Then I realized, I hadn’t said what I really meant. I wanted more than a permanent living arrangement. I wanted happily-ever-after, and I’d better not be scared to say it. He’d been honest with me, and I had to have the courage to do the same, not matter what it cost. “I want marriage, and until you can commit to that, you’ll be keeping your hands to yourself.”

This time he did smile, a full-out grin that melted my heart and my resolve all in one go. “I’ll keep my hands to myself, if I can remember to. That’s about all I can promise.”

“Then I’ll just have to remember for both of us.” I hoped to hell I could.

“I’m still kidnapping you for the night.”

“I’ll still make you keep your hands to yourself.”

Ian pulled into the parking lot of The Plantation. “I’m bringing you here for lunch, by way of apology for the night I broke our date.”

“Apology accepted, but you’re still not off the hook for the other thing.” We both knew the ‘other thing’ was that woman standing in his kitchen long after midnight.

“We’ll talk about that in a minute.” Ian helped me out of the car, took my hand, and led me into the restaurant. The hostess looked up. Ian smiled his melt-your-heart smile. “We have a reservation.”

The poor woman smiled back, her expression dazed as if she’d been blinded by a flash of light. I thought I might have to pinch her, but she snapped out of it. “Oh, yes. Mr. Buchanan. Your table is this way.”

The hostess led us to the table and a waitress passed by to offer complimentary Mimosas before I’d even put my napkin in my lap. The Plantation’s Sunday Brunch was legendary, but even that didn’t explain the over-the-top attentiveness. Excellent restaurant service must be one of the perks of going out with a devastatingly attractive man. I didn’t mind having people flutter around us in an effort to provide good service. But if anything ever came of this thing between us, I’d have to get used to being with a man other women wanted a piece of.

Ian leaned back in his chair. “Do you remember the weather that night I broke our date?”

Odd conversation opener, but I took a sip of my mimosa and followed it. “Yes. It was raining.”

“You remember it flooded pretty badly in places?”

“Yes.” When I’d driven out to Ian’s house, I’d had to detour around flooded areas, and the roadsides had looked more like lakes than land.

“You remember that the motel, the only one in town, flooded as well?” He lifted his glass to his lips and watched me over the rim, waiting for the information to sink in.

Understanding dawned. “So, she was staying at the motel, but then her room flooded...”

“No, she had already checked out of the hotel downtown, and I was about to take her to the airport when she got the text that her flight was cancelled because of the weather. I tried to find her a place to stay for the night, but the motel was flooded, so the hotel was full. Even that scary B&B behind the Baptist church was full. I didn’t think I had any choice but to invite her to stay in the guestroom at my house. I called you as soon as I knew.”

I shot him a slightly-accusing glare. “And you didn’t have any food in the refrigerator, but you did have a reservation, so you took her to dinner instead of me.”

“If you had answered the phone, I could have explained everything, but you didn’t. And I didn’t feel I could leave her alone at my house, so I couldn’t very well drive into town and force you to talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, Ian.” I fiddled with my butter knife and unburdened my soul. “I was an idiot. My only excuse is that my feelings were hurt. I thought you’d tossed me over for somebody else. Since that’s happened to me before, I guess I’m a little sensitive about it. Maybe I overreacted.”

“Apology accepted.” Ian reached across the table and covered my hand with his. “I was wrong not to tell you from the beginning that I didn’t plan to stay in Angel Falls. At first, I didn’t think we knew each other well enough for my long-term plans to matter. After that, I was afraid you’d tell me to piss off if you knew I wasn’t going to stay.”

I turned my palm up under his. “Apology accepted.”

We sat in silence for a moment, and the waitress arrived with our food.

“So now that we’ve forgiven each other,” I ventured, “where do we go from here?” My heart wanted him to say that he’d stay in Angel Falls and we’d live happily ever after. My mind knew it wasn’t that simple.

“I don’t know.” He cut a small piece of steak and speared it with his fork, then held it out to me. “Try this. It’s very good.”

I took the food into my mouth and chewed, but it tasted like mush because I felt like I was waiting to hear back from a dance audition. Would he choose me, and Angel Falls? Or would this long-distance relationship gamble leave us both empty-handed?

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Ian raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to speak, wondering, no doubt, whether I planned to act like a grown-up, or whether I planned to throw a childish tantrum and insist on getting my way.

I swallowed. The meat went down, along with my unrealistic expectations. “It is. Very good. Thank you.”

Ian sat back, frustration clear in the way his eyebrows drew together and his lips tightened. “Are we ever going to get past this... this... whatever it is, and just enjoy