Read Online When Angels Cry by Maria Rachel Hooley - Free Book Online Page B

your white ass was still in bed.  Besides, you look like you need rest, and you can’t get that with me around.”  She pointed to the truck.  “Maybe you’d better tell your girlfriend you need a nap.”
    “I’ll do that.”  Kaylee brushed her hands up and down her arms and watched the snow silently wafting from the slate sky.  It would be good to be in bed right now, she thought.
    “ This weather ain’t fit for man n or beast.  Get some rest, g irl,” Rosie said, shuffling down the drive to her Jeep.  One foot slid from beneath her, but she caught the side of Bastian’s truck and regained her balance.
    Stopping, she turned to Kaylee.  “You find an art teacher yet?”
    “I’m working on it.  I have a list of candidates.”
    “Time’s getting short.” 
    “Yeah, I know.”  Her voice trembled and she wished she could stop thinking about the future.   Rosie shuffled the rest of the way to her Jeep.  She’d left the engine running , and a moment later, the headlights flickered to life .  Rosie waved and backed down the drive toward the street.  A moment after, her tail lights were lost amid a flurry of snow.
    Kaylee stepped back into the foyer and closed the door.  As she turned, she bumped into Bastian .  T he unexpected collision knocked her off balance , and Bastian grabbed her.
    “Care to tell me about this ‘ girlfriend ’ from Newark?”  His eyes glinted.  “What about this ‘ h ottie?'”
    Kaylee flushed and brushed past him.  “I see there’s nothing wrong with your hearing.”
    “Nope.  Now about Prince Charming … .”   Bastian followed, grinning.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”   Katie plunked onto the couch.
    Bastian sat next to her.  “You know–the one your friend thought you might be in the sack with.”  Bastian winked.  “Sounds like a lucky guy.”
    Kaylee shot him a penetrating look.  “Does he now?”  
    “I love a mystery.  Where does he live?”  Bastian leaned forward and fluffed the cushion behind his back.   He laced his fingers together behind his head and leaned back. 
    “I wouldn’t know.   Anyway, why are you so fascinated with my social life anyway?  If it were graphed on a cardiac monitor, it would be a flat line .”   Kaylee rested against the couch perpendicular to Bastian, crossed her legs at the ankles and rested her feet in his lap.  
    “Really?”  Bastian raised an eyebrow.  “Then what was all that about?”  He teased his forefinger along the bottom of Kaylee’s left foot, tracing the arch.
    Kaylee squirmed.   “Stop that.”
    “I’ll stop if you tell me about Prince Charming.”   Bastian grabbed her ankle and grinned.
    “There’s nothing to tell , ” Kaylee shrieked.  She tried to pry Bastian’s fingers loose, but they held fast. 
    “Have it your way,” he said.  This time he lightly stroked with two fingers.
    “Nononono . ” Kaylee squealed, arching her back and kicking.  She tried to push his hand away with her other foot, but she couldn’t break his grip.
    “Anyone ever tell you you’re ticklish? Now about this prince…. ”  Bastian watched her writhe and giggle.  As he stared at her face, at the first smile th e he’d ever really seen, he realized how beautiful she was. 
    “Okay, okay...I’ll talk.   He’s just a guy that Rosie and I saw at St. Andrews.  I thought he was cute, and Rosie razzes me about it,” Kaylee gasped, relieved by the momentary reprieve.  She grabbed her shirt hem, suddenly aware that it had worked its way up her abdomen, and tugged it sharply downward, hiding her navel.  Kaylee focused on her feet instead of Bastian, her cheeks warm.
    “Did you try talking to him?  I can’t imagine him turning down someone like you.”  At first , he thought she ’d turned red from the way she’d struggled as he’d tickled her, but then it dawned on him that maybe talking about this guy had embarrassed her. Bastian rested his hands on