Free Enticing An Angel by Leo Charles Taylor Page B

she said with
a smile.
    "Well, I think they would rather have the
Koehler toilet and a glass storefront," he replied. "However, I
have to punch up the representational artwork for them, so I could
probably add some flowers or rose bushes to the image."
    "Ooh, don't go crazy," she said with a
grin.
    Michael pushed her and she lost her balance
as she began to fall backward.
    "Ah," she cried out.
    He only let her fall far enough to feel the
loss of control and quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and
hauled her onto the couch with him.
    "Don't worry, sweetie. Your personal Angel
has you," he said as he kissed her.
    "If you hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn't need an
Angel, you big lump of muscle."
    Michael laughed and stood from the couch to
stretch his arms and legs. He’d been staring at his laptop for an
hour and his neck was sore.
    "Melanie, are you busy this Saturday?"
    "Why?" she said casually as she walked back
to her canvas.
    "One of my brother's is having a birthday.
We're going to have dinner at my mom's, and I thought you might
like to come."
    Melanie stopped in her tracks and looked at
Michael carefully.
    Oh shit, he's serious , she
thought.
    That fact was obvious by Michael's cavalier
attitude. He didn't appear to think much of the request. In fact,
he was just massaging his neck and turning his head in odd
motions.
    "You want me to meet your family?" she
asked.
    "Sure, why not?"
    "Um, don't you think that’s a little
overkill?"
    Michael stopped his massage and turned to her
with a confused look on his face.
    "Overkill?"
    "Michael, we just started dating, and it
isn't even that serious."
    Michael turned grave and watched Melanie
carefully.
    "Am I missing something here? I'm just
talking about going to a party, eating dinner, and having some
cake. What's serious about that?"
    Melanie shook her head. She was often amazed
at the stupid things men could say; and for as intelligent as
Michael was, he could sometimes do dumb things.
    "Come on," he said as he approached her and
kissed her on the forehead. He suddenly began to laugh hysterically
and Melanie shot him the oddest look.
    Now, what the hell is he laughing at ?
she thought.
    She followed her thought with the actual
question, and Michael stopped laughing, but did continue to smile
widely as he spoke.
    "Oh, it was just the thought of you around my
brothers—not to mention my mother. The scene was funny."
    "Why is that?" she asked.
    And the answer better be good, you big
oaf , she thought.
    "Well, Brian can be a little gruff, Nathan is
still in mourning over the passing of his wife and Joshua can't
stand women. You'd probably get along with David the best, but he
has work so he can't be there. Anyway, you’re a ray of sunshine,
and I was just wondering how those interactions will go."
    "Uh huh," she said as she crossed her arms
and began to tap her foot, "and what about your mother?"
    Michael just waved his hand as if to shrug
off the idea. "Oh, my mother will be ecstatic that I have a woman
in my life. When I told her I had a date last week, I thought she
was going to dance a jig."
    "A jig?"
    "Yeah, it's a funny little dance…"
    "I know what a jig is," she said still
tapping a foot.
    Michael smiled at her again and she
glared.
    "Do you see the tapping foot? That means I'm
not happy," she said as she actually pointed to her foot.
    "Oh, I thought you were trying to find a
Steampunk beat," he said with a wide grin.
    Melanie tilted her head. She was not amused
at his joke. Michael continued to smile, then opened his arms and
gave her a hug. She had a choice of whether to unfold her arms or
remain cross at him. She decided on the former and hugged him
back.
    "Look," he said, "you don't have to go if you
don't want to. Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal. I just
thought it would be fun to have you there. It would also be fun to
get my mother off my back."
    Melanie looked up at him as he hugged her and
gave him a skeptical look. She was very uncertain about this