“I’d like a baking lesson please.” He looks at me skeptically. “Something simple. Maybe a batch of chocolate fudge brownies?”
Her father chuckles. “What did you do?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” I don’t want to go into the specifics with him. “But I figure it’s worth putting something in the bank.”
“Good thinking.” He gestures for me to follow into the back. “It’s not the easiest recipe but we can make it together.”
For the next hour we’re mixing and measuring. Getting my hands dirty is oddly satisfying. I put the brownie mixture in the oven and turn to Mr. York. “Now what?”
“I’ll have it ready and packed up in a fancy basket for you in about two hours.” He nods. “If you’re looking for more apology props, may I suggest flowers and jewelry.”
“Thanks, sir. I’ll see you in a little bit.” I do need more props. But flowers and jewelry won’t cut it. Angela doesn’t want those things. She wants more of me. In the abstract sense of course, because she has my heart and mind. And she definitely has my body.
My next stop is to one of those big box toy stores. I haven’t been in one of those since my parents were alive. I head straight to the Lego section. I used to love playing with these. I pick up a pink princess castle and some more pink and purple blocks. While I’m there I also get the Millennium Falcon set. The more time I spend thinking about what to do, the clearer my plan becomes.
I call a friend to secure a cabin outside the city for the night and head out there to set things up. I also call Wyatt to ask if Angela can have the day off tomorrow.
On my way to the cabin, I stop off at a department store. After that little excursion, I can definitely say that buying women's clothing is not among my favorite things to do. How the fuck do they decide between all those colors? I had to phone Andi to get Angela’s clothing sizes, including her bra size. And I was looking for workout clothes, not anything fancy. It didn’t stop me from picking up some lingerie while I was there, though. Hey, I’m a guy. I might still be a little angry, but that doesn’t mean I can’t live in hope.
It’s late afternoon when I head back into the city. I call Andi to pack a bag for Angela. She decides to go shopping using the Amex card I gave her for emergencies instead. I pick up the brownies from Mr. York. “Good luck,” he says as I leave.
I place the brownies in the trunk, which is thankfully clean. I don’t want Angela to get a whiff of them before I’m ready. After I make a turn at my apartment to pack some clothes, I head to Andi’s to pick up her purchases. She’s packed it into a backpack like I asked.
“Tell her some of those things need to be unpacked immediately” She hands the bag to me. “She’ll want to keep it wrinkle free.”
I kiss her on the cheek. “Thanks, cuz.”
It’s just before five when I pull up outside Wyatt’s house. I text Angela to let her know that I’m waiting. I’m not sure if she’ll even get in the car. I look at the store bag filled with workout clothes on the back seat and decide she’ll need to change before we get to where we’re going. I grab the bag and head inside.
Lia lets me in, and I jog up the stairs to where Angela shares an office with Wyatt.
“Justin.” She sounds a little breathless. “I was just on my way down.”
I hand her the bag with the bike shorts and tank top. I also got her a sports bra, which I had to guess since it didn’t have conventional sizing. “You’re going to need to change before we leave.”
“What, why?”
“You wanted to know more about what I like. It’s hard when I haven’t thought about it in years. But I have some ideas.”
She peeks inside the bag and raises a brow at me. “And one of things you enjoy is bike riding?”
“Mountain biking, actually.” I shoo her towards the bathroom. “Don’t worry we won’t be on any mountains, it’s just a little gravel path to our end destination.”
She heads into the bathroom and when she emerges, she looks magnificent. The shorts and top hug her curves in all the right places.
“Happy?” She does a twirl for me to see the entire outfit. Her ass looks fantastic.
I swallow. “More than you’ll know. Come, let’s get out of here before I get other ideas.”
“Justin, we need to talk.”
“I know.” I take her hand in mine. “We can talk on the way. I want to get going before it gets dark.”
With that, we leave the Crawford’s and head for the most epic weekend ever.
Chapter 15
Angela
We drive in silence for a while. Once Justin is on the highway, he spares a quick glance at me.
“Look, I’m sorry I bailed on you yesterday.” He squeezes my hand then puts it back on the steering wheel. “I have issues, but none of it is an excuse for leaving you like that.”
“Justin, that’s—”
He holds a hand up and looks at me. “Let me finish.” I nod and he continues. “I was so consumed by you leaving me out, it never occurred to me that I never really let you in. The truth is, Angel, I have no idea what I like.”
That doesn’t seem right. “What do you mean?”
“I spent a lot of time making sure my family was well taken care of financially.” He rubs his stubbled jaw. “Everything I’ve done for the last decade has been about earning money. I’ve always known it wouldn’t be permanent. But here I am, a grown man who has no idea what to do for fun.”
I look at him and raise a brow. “And you decided to start with bike riding?”
“I enjoyed it when
