Chapter 20
Liam leaned against his apartment door, waiting for the sound of footsteps out in the hallway. He wanted to make it look like a surprise run-in with Jeff—an off-the-cuff meeting.
He’d met his other neighbors while trying to pull this off, and they were nice enough, but frankly, Liam was getting a little irritated. Where the hell was Jeff?
And if he were to be honest with himself, which he hated to do, the more time he spent with her, the more Adela was getting under his skin. At lunch he’d been a breath away from telling her about Annie. One breath. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t spill his guilt, and he couldn’t allow her into the carefully crafted façade he’d erected after Annie’s death.
When he looked at Adela, his feelings were similar to those he had of Annie. No, they weren’t as deep or profound, but he recognized them.
His chest clenched when he looked at Adela, and he couldn’t help but smile when she talked, even when she threatened to stab him.
Looking at her bedroom door, he wondered what the hell she was doing in there. He wanted to get away from her, and he wanted to be with her. He longed to tell her about Annie, but if he did, he would be letting her in, and that was something he promised himself would never happen.
Adela had come home with a bag of something and said she was going to her room. That was three hours ago, and she’d only come out once to get a glass of water. Frankly, she had looked a little shell-shocked. When he asked what was wrong, she simply looked him up and down and shook her head, saying she didn’t feel well. After downing the water in one long swallow, she returned to her room without another word.
Liam felt the need to escape for a while, to get away from this need to talk about his past to Adela, to avoid the connection with her that he so wanted. He thought maybe he could drag Jeff along with him. Sinking to the floor, he kept his ear to the door, as he was tired of looking through the peephole.
“C’mon, Jeff,” Liam muttered. “Where are you?”
Adela was changing, that he could plainly see. Removing her from the Angel of Death role and putting her in new situations where she was unsure of herself brought out a softer side. He couldn’t fathom how shocking it must all be for her. He imagined it was like watching a movie for a very long time and then suddenly being a part of it. You had an idea of what was going on, but to actually be in it would be jarring as all hell.
It was a little unsettling to him, and he’d only been dead five years. After three hundred years? Yeah, let the mind-fuck begin.
And he couldn’t say that he minded that softer side of her. Her hesitancy gave her an almost childlike quality, and gone was the tough-as-nails badass Angel of Death.
He had always thought she was pretty, and he enjoyed getting under her skin. But now he also liked the fact that they were working closely together for a common cause. He just hoped she wasn’t getting sick. She’d never hid in her room for this long.
And he hated the fact that he was thinking about her so much. He needed to escape for a while and get his mind off her.
A soft whistle accompanied footsteps up the stairs. Liam scrambled to his feet and opened the door, almost running directly into Missy.
“Oh, hey, Missy!” he exclaimed, hoping not to sound too disappointed that she wasn’t Jeff.
“Hey, Liam. How’s it going?”
“Couldn’t be better. How about you?”
“Good. Tired. My boss was awful this week. I’m glad it’s Friday.”
Liam nodded, He doubted there were very few working people who were disappointed when Friday finally rolled around. He tried to look as though he were interested in what she had to say.
“Listen, I was looking for Jeff. I was thinking maybe we could have a boys’ night out. Have you seen him?”
Missy shook her head. “No, he works weekends, Liam. I think he’ll be home late tonight.”
Liam nodded. He was irritated and claustrophobic in the apartment. When he was alive, his motto had been, “keep moving.” As an angel, none of it really mattered, as he was so damn busy all the time. He didn’t do well with time on his hands as he had now. He needed to flee the feelings building within him.
“Thanks, Missy,” he said, and shut the door.
Adela entered the kitchen, and Liam noticed that her cheeks were flushed. She gave him a small smile that was like a lightning bolt directly to his heart and cock all at once. He was fine with the hit to the cock, but not the heart. He needed to get out of here.
“I think I’m going to take off for a while, Adela.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Do you want to go with me? I was thinking of heading into downtown Phoenix.” He willed her to say no. Please say no. Please. He was only trying to be polite.
“No, thank you. I’m fine here.”
Liam nodded. “I’m just going to change.”
He went into his room and pulled on some clean jeans, a white T-shirt, and some boots. He grabbed a leather jacket, ran his fingers through his hair, and headed back to the living room. Adela must be back in her room. He turned and went down the hallway and knocked on her door. “Adela?”
“Yes? What?” she called, sounding a little shaken. He heard a thud and some scurrying around. “Everything okay in there?”
“Fine.”
What the hell was she doing?
The door opened. She nervously smiled, pushed her hair back behind her ear, and smoothed the front of her shirt.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, Liam.”
Liam nodded, noting the flush again on her cheek and her large brown eyes that seemed to bore into his soul. It was the same look that Annie used to give him. When Annie gazed at him, his heart turned gooey. When Adela did, he felt very uncomfortable and the definite need to run.
“Make sure you lock the door behind me.”
“Yes, I will.”
Liam walked to the bus stop and waited, wishing the powers-that-be in Heaven who had set this whole thing up had provided them with a car. He hated public transportation.
The bus rolled up and Liam got on, paid, and sat down. As the world slowly went by, his thoughts returned to Adela.
What was it about Adela that affected him so much? Was it because she was innocent to this world and he felt protective of her? Or was it truly a serious attraction? He had never let go of his feelings for Annie, and he didn’t understand why Adela was always on his brain now.
A half hour later, he sighed as the bus pulled up to the depot downtown. Liam got off and decided he would explore downtown Phoenix, see what the clubs and bars had to offer, and hopefully take his thoughts off Annie, Adela, and his need to run away from his memories and his overwhelming reality.