Angel (2 page)

Inside, the club was warm and noisy and they
made a dash to the ladies to brush their hair, which
had been dishevelled by the strong wind blowing
off the sea, and touch up their lip gloss. Then they
headed for the bar. Suddenly, Gemma gripped
Angel's arm.

'Tony's over there!'

Angel looked at the other end of the bar, where
her brother was waiting to buy a drink.

'Oh my God. I didn't know he was going to be
here,' she exclaimed, half nervous, half excited. 'Do
you think Cal's here, too?' But her question was
immediately answered when her brother moved
aside, and there was Cal, handsome and sexy, his
dark eyes coolly surveying the scene, leaning
against the bar, casual in his low-slung Ted Baker
jeans and tight black T-shirt showing off his
gorgeous body.

Angel's heart started racing and she froze.

'Come on.' Gemma pushed her friend forward.
'I want to see your brother. And I want Cal to see
you.' She walked purposefully over to where the
lads were standing, with Angel trailing reluctantly
behind her.

'Hi, Gemma!' Tony smiled, obviously delighted
to see Gemma. 'Would you and your friend like a
drink?'

Gemma laughed and then dragged Angel in
front of her.

'It's your sister, stupid! I've given her a makeover.'

Tony stared at her. 'Bloody hell.' Just as he was
about to go on, Cal joined the group. He said 'Hi'
to Gemma, looking appraisingly at Angel as if to say
who's this?
and then did the same double-take as
every man in the room when he realised. 'Angie?
You look so different!'

Angel could feel herself blushing, wishing she
was dressed in her jeans and T-shirt even though
the look on Cal's face told her clearly that he was
glad she wasn't.

'So,' said Gemma cheekily, 'are you going to get
us that drink, then?'

'Of course,' replied Tony, totally under her spell.
'I owe Angie a birthday drink, so what do you both
want?'

'Two double Bacardi and cokes, please,' said
Gemma, winking at Angel as Tony turned towards
the bar.

As the four of them sipped their drinks it rapidly
became clear to Angel that tonight was the night
Gemma and Tony were finally going to get it
together. She knew that Gemma was frustrated
with all the flirtatious conversations that seemed to
go nowhere. Gemma wanted Tony Summer and
judging by the way he was hanging on to her every
word, gazing into her eyes, that looked like a
definite possibility. The two of them were talking
and laughing together intimately and with the
music blaring out across the club it was impossible
for Angel and Cal to join in their conversation.

'Is Mel here?' Angel asked him. His überbitch
girlfriend was a footballer's wife in the making, with
her fake tan, fake nails and designer clothes. Angel
had been convinced when they first started going
out that it wouldn't last more than a couple of
months. Cal had always been wary of intimacy and
always ended up dumping his girlfriends when
they tried to get too close to him and wanted more
commitment. Angel would never make that
mistake. But for some reason, Mel seemed to be
lasting longer than the rest, the cow.

Cal didn't catch what she said at first and had to
duck down so she could make herself heard. She
breathed in his scent and closed her eyes.

'No,' he replied, his cheek grazing hers. 'She's
got some big family meal and I didn't want to go.'

He was staring right at her, and instead of
dropping her gaze Angel shook back her long hair
and stared right back at him. Cal was easily one of
the best-looking men she had ever seen. His father
was Italian and Cal had inherited his colouring –
olive skin and jet-black hair which he always wore
short. He had an incredibly handsome face, perfect
features with beautiful brown eyes that could
appear distant at times and full of passion at others.
His was the kind of face that stopped you in your
tracks, made you want to take a second, a third look
at the dark-haired, handsome man, and by then
you were probably lost. Angel was most definitely
lost. The small scar just below his right eyebrow, a
souvenir from a collision on the football pitch, only
made him sexier, more desirable. She took a sip of
her drink and looked around the club, feeling
slightly bolder. Next to her she felt Cal move and
they both watched Gemma and Tony walk over to
one of the sofas, clearly wanting to be on their own.

'I'm really hoping Tony will finally ask Gemma
out,' Cal shouted over the music. 'I'm so sick of him
going on about her.'

'Yeah, I know what you mean,' Angel replied
more quietly, wanting him to bring his face close to
hers again and thinking longingly of Cal asking her
out.
As if.

'How are things going at the club?' she asked in
a louder voice. Cal was a professional footballer
who played for the local team, but Frank always
said that with his talent he was destined for bigger
things.

'Not bad, but I'm kind of ready to move on now.'

'I can't see you playing for Brighton for much
longer,' she agreed.

'What have you decided to do?' he asked her,
bending down to her again.

Wow,
Angel thought,
we're actually having a
conversation and for once he isn't speaking to me as if I
am just Tony's younger sister.

She had another month left at college and she
really wanted to go to art school, but her parents
weren't keen. They wanted her to take a subject like
business studies, where she was guaranteed a job at
the end of it. Her face fell as she thought of it. She
actually didn't have a clue what she wanted to do,
but found herself saying, 'I'd like to do fashion
design, I'm just not sure if I can fund it at the
moment.'

'Really? I had no idea you were into that kind of
thing.' Cal was looking at her again with definite
interest.

'There are lots of things you don't know about
me,' she said flirtatiously, spurred on by the way he
was staring at her.

'You're right. You suddenly seem all grown up.'

'Well, it
is
my birthday today,' Angel replied,
secretly wishing that he would kiss her.

'Happy Birthday, then.'

As they sipped their drinks, Angel couldn't believe
that she was this close to the man who had filled so
many of her dreams.

The Pussycat Dolls' 'Don't Cha' blasted out.

'Well,' said Cal finally. 'D'you want to dance?'

'Okay,' Angel replied, trying to sound casual,
and the pair of them put down their glasses and
headed for the dance floor. Angel already knew
that Cal was a good dancer; she had spent long
enough watching him from the sidelines of some
club or other. Tonight was the first night he'd
noticed her in that way, and she couldn't believe
her luck. She followed him onto the dance floor,
still feeling awkward in her heels. She rapidly
became aware of envious glances from other
women being levelled towards her; they would love
to have been dancing with Cal. As the Dolls sang
their hearts out, Angel thought
I bet you wish your
girlfriend looked like me tonight, Cal?
The dance floor
was heaving and Angel was frequently pushed
against Cal.

'Sorry,' she shouted as yet again some tanked-up
lad shoved into her and she practically fell onto Cal.

'No worries,' he grinned back, steadying her. His
hand remained on her lower back for a second and
Angel felt a shiver of excitement at his warm touch
on her bare skin.

They danced closely, the club around them
shrinking to just the two of them, and gradually
Angel relaxed. Dancing in heels wasn't so bad after
all. She kept sneaking glances at Cal when she
thought he wasn't looking, and smiled to herself.
Her birthday night was turning out so much better
than she had expected.

'Another drink?' Cal mimed and Angel nodded.
He took her hand and led her towards the bar.
Once they had pushed their way there Angel was
expecting him to let go of her but instead he
draped his arm possessively around her shoulders,
pulling her close. Angel so loved him touching her.
Drinks in hand, he pulled her towards one of the
dimly lit corners.

'Let's go somewhere a little more quiet,' he
shouted above the music. They sat down on one of
the sofas, as far away from Tony and Gemma as
possible.

'You're a great dancer,' he said, giving her a
slow, sexy smile.

She smiled back and was just about to return the
compliment, but she didn't need to say anything.
His hands were on her face and he gently pulled
her towards him.

'You look so sexy, birthday girl,' he murmured,
his thumb caressing her jaw-line softly. 'How come
I never noticed this before?'

Before Angel had time to reply, he started
kissing her. As she had known he would be, Cal was
a fantastic kisser. The feel of his lips on hers, the
taste of him, was so exciting. She pressed her body
against his and kissed him back, praying that she
was doing it right, hardly able to believe that she
was kissing him at last.

After a few minutes he pulled away from their
embrace and looked at her.

'What are you doing to me?' he murmured,
running his hands through her tousled hair.

'Why? Do you want me to stop?' she murmured
back.

By way of an answer he once more moved
towards her, this time showering her neck with tiny
kisses and slipping his hand under her T-shirt.

Neither Greg nor any of the other lads she'd
been out with had ever made her feel like this.
Angel was on fire as Cal expertly caressed her skin,
her breasts. She slid her hands under his T-shirt
and started touching his smooth skin. Then she ran
her hand across his flat, hard stomach and dared to
move further down. Drink and desire made her
bold.

He pulled her on top of him so she was sitting on
his lap and could feel his erection rubbing
tantalisingly against her.

'God, I want you,' he murmured in her ear.

They kissed again, harder and deeper, and
Angel could feel herself losing control, caring about
nothing but his mouth and the feel of his hands on
her body. But suddenly Cal abruptly pulled away,
whispering urgently, 'Christ, Tony and Gemma are
over there!'

Angel turned and across the room she saw
Gemma looking at them, raising her eyebrows, but
Tony clearly hadn't seen them. Cal pushed Angel
off him and frantically straightened his T-shirt.

'What was I thinking?' he muttered. 'You're
Tony's little sister. And I'm with Mel.' And to
Angel's horror, he got up and walked off without
giving her a second glance. She sat in stunned
disbelief for a few moments, trying to get a grip.
What the hell was that about?
She saw Gemma waving
and reluctantly got up to join her.

Gemma looked like the cat who'd got the cream. Tony must finally
have asked her out because the two of them were all over each other for the
rest of the night. Cal was nowhere to be seen until two o'clock, when, to
Angel's extreme discomfort, she found herself sharing a taxi home with him.
Gemma and Tony were entwined in each other's arms, whispering and giggling,
while Angel and Cal sat opposite each other in stony silence. Angel tried
to occupy as little space as possible in the taxi, desperate not to touch
Cal's long legs. She folded her arms, shivering as she looked out at Saturday-night
Brighton, the lights of the pier sparkling in all their kitschy glory, the
groups of clubbers roaming the streets. She felt totally humiliated by Cal's
reaction. What was wrong with her? Was she only good enough for a quick grope
in the dark?

'You two are very quiet,' Tony suddenly put in.

'Just knackered, mate,' Cal replied coolly.

'What's your excuse, Angie?'

'Pissed,' Angel muttered, wishing she was
anywhere but here.

First stop was Gemma's.

'See you later,' Angel mumbled, getting out of
the car and deliberately not looking at Cal. She was
forced to wait by the front door as Gemma and
Tony shared a passionate goodnight kiss and she
willed herself not to look back at Cal. After the
longest minute of Angel's life, Gemma prised
herself away from Tony.

As soon as she had shut and locked the front
door Gemma turned to Angel, bubbling over with
curiosity.

'So what happened with you and Cal. He was all
over you!'

'I'll tell you in bed,' Angel muttered, longing to
cover her head with the duvet and forget the night
had ever happened.

'I can't believe it! What a total bastard,' Gemma
exclaimed ten minutes later when Angel told her
what had happened. As they always did when Angel
stayed with Gemma, the two girls were sharing
Gemma's double bed. Angel felt so cold she'd had
to put on a jumper over her pyjamas, and even
clasping the hot mug of tea Gemma had got her
from downstairs, she still kept shivering.

'I feel so embarrassed, Gemma, how am I ever
going to face him again? Why did he treat me like
that? He practically pushed me onto the floor, he
was so desperate to get away from me.'

'I'm sure he was just pissed,' Gemma said, trying
to reassure her. 'And maybe he felt guilty – he is
going out with Mel, after all.'

'He didn't seem that pissed. It was more like he
felt ashamed to be seen with me, that I wasn't good
enough.'

Gemma looked at her friend and her heart
ached to see her looking so crushed.

'God, I'm sorry, Gemma,' Angel finally said
tiredly. 'I haven't even asked you about Tony.'

Gemma had been looking forward to telling
Angel all about her night, but the last thing she
wanted to do was go on about her happiness.

'I'll tell you in the morning. Just try and forget
about tonight. It's Cal's loss, honestly. Look at you
tonight. I bet every bloke in the room wanted
you.'