Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 52277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Rick crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at Damian. Then he transferred his gaze to Angie, and with a very paternal expression on his face, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said with a small smile. "This is Damian," she said to Rick, trying again to get him to shake Damian's hand, "he's Justine's oldest son."
"I figured as much," Rick said as he finally shook Damian's hand, but with little warmth. "You go off a bit half-cocked with no real justification, don't you?" Rick challenged as Justine Rule slid up next to him.
She'd been standing close to the library door taking everything in, but now she stood next to Rick and studied her son as if he'd grown an extra head. She looked between Damian and Angie, back and forth and then again as if truly stumped. "I'm trying to figure this out."
When Damian shrugged his shoulders in silence, his mother turned to Rick and changed the direction of the conversation, if only for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me your son is gay? Don't you think it might have saved him an uncomfortable experience? I didn't have to try to match him up with every single woman here tonight." Without waiting for an answer, she turned to Caiden, "I'm sorry, darling."
"It's no problem. I understand. And as Angie has known me for a while," he shot a dark look at Damian, "it's not that big of a deal."
Being reminded of Angie made Damian's mother turn in their direction again with a quizzical frown. "Angie darling, have you been lying to me by omission?"
Angie took a deep breath and confessed, "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry."
"Well, you're forgiven of course, but why would you do that?" Before Angie could form an answer, Mrs. Rule glanced at Damian. "Never mind, darling. I know why you did it." The older woman looked a little hurt, and Damian had the good grace to flush.
"Mother," Damian began, and then cleared his throat.
"Yes?" his mother asked, as if her feelings weren't hurt at all.
Damian glanced at the other two men in the room, and Angie knew that neither one of them was ready to take pity on him and leave--not after the way he'd acted. Looking back to his mother, he said, "I'm sorry that I misled you."
"Misled, darling?" she prompted in the most genteel voice that Angie had ever heard.
"I'm sorry I lied to you," Damian qualified.
Mrs. Rule inclined her head graciously and Damian continued, "I'd like to introduce you once again, to Angie Ross, my . . . my--"
Mrs. Rule schooled her features into a perfectly neutral expression and Angie cracked up on the inside as she and the older woman shared a quick peek at each other before his mother asked, "Your what, Damian?"
Damian knew he'd been made, that much was evident by the look on his face. "My woman. My girlfriend. My better half." He stopped speaking and pulled Angie all the way back into his arms again before continuing, "The woman who drives me crazy. The woman who makes me want to kill innocent men." Angie was experiencing a hot rush of butterflies in her stomach while Damian threw a look at Caiden. "Sorry about that." Caiden shrugged and Damian looked back to his mother. "How much more do you want me to say? She's the reason I'm not interested in any of the women you throw in my direction, she's the reason I cut my trip short by three days." He took a deep breath. "Is that enough or do you want me to go on? She's the one who calms me down, makes me happy, sleeps in my--"
Justine Rule held up her hand. "That's enough, darling. Your mother gets the picture," she said humorously. With that, she went to Damian and Angie stepped aside as Mrs. Rule hugged her son and then hugged Angie in turn. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked them both.
Angie responded with a smile and shook her head, but Damian only grimaced.
Justine turned to the group as a whole. "We've gotten a lot cleared up tonight. I won't be trying to fix Caiden up anymore. Well, at least not with any women," she said with a smile in his direction, "and I'll try not to mess up in the future with any of my other children as I did with Damian. It's best that I just stay out of their personal lives, I think. I was going to try to get Courtney and Nick together, but I've learned from my mistakes. Instead, I'll leave my son alone and find some other nice young men for her to choose from."
"Mother--" Damian began to interject.
"What, darling?"
"Never mind. I'm sure you know what's best."
"I'm sure I do."
Chapter Ten
After the party, as they both had their vehicles, Damian followed Angie to her apartment. He thought about the scene in the library during the entire drive. For what it was worth, he supposed his mother had been right. It hadn't been that bad.