“It was a long time ago.” She thought she felt him suck in breath, and he was quiet for a second.

“What was a long time ago?”

She braced herself not knowing how he’d feel about her after she told him. But it was in the past, so what did it matter? She turned around, but he never let go of the fence, so, she was still in his arms, so to speak. His eyes seemed darker somehow. He looked straight at her, waiting.

“Nothing really,” she said. “I met him a few summers ago, when I came out to visit my Aunt, and we hung out one night.”

“Was he your boyfriend?” Angel eyes were still fixed on hers.

She shook her head. “No.”

“You still hang out with him?”

“Nope, he’s still asking me out, but I’m not interested.”

“Good,” Angel said, “he’s an ass**le.”

Sarah’s eyebrow’s shot up. “You know him?”

“Yeah.” If distaste was an expression he wore it on his lips unabashed. “We’ve gone to school together since we were kids but I’ve never liked him. He’s always been a whiny little bitch, didn’t think I could like him any less, until now.”

Valerie had always gone on about how intense the Moreno brothers were. She’d told Sarah about how protective they were with their younger sister. Sarah felt his protectiveness earlier when he refused to leave her side at the party, but this was different. She could feel something, an intensity she’d never felt before from anyone. It made her a little nervous, made her stomach tighten up, but in a weird way, she liked it.

“I’m assuming then, since you’re here with me, you don’t have a boyfriend?”

Her heart at her throat, she shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t.”

She was dreaming? She had to be. Did he really just ask her if she had a boyfriend? Did Angel honestly care?

He dropped his hands from the fence, and placed them around her waist. With her heart pounding against her chest now, she gulped, wondering if he could hear it.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered.

She nodded, unable to speak. Then his lips were on hers. They were soft and warm. He explored her mouth slowly, softly. He tightened his hug around her waist with one arm, and brought the other one up to her face. With a silky-smooth caress to her face, his hand started around and down her neck, pulling her closer to him.

His body was big and strong against hers His tongue moved faster and he pressed against her, suckling her lips and tongue. She’d been kissed before, but never like this, never with so much passion.

It was too much. His hardness pressed against her thigh, and she panicked. She pulled away and heard him groan, burying his face in her hair.

Caressing his back one last time, she could still feel his heavy breathing as she pulled away gently. She looked up just as he was opening his eyes.

“Can we go sit? My feet are hurting.”

He took a couple of deep breathes before answering. “Sure,” he glanced down at her shoes, “I forgot…. they’re nice. I like ‘em.”

They walked over to a stone bench that was part of a huge rock planter with a palm tree in the middle. She sat down and he motioned for her to move further back. She did, and he sat next to her and turned her around so she was facing him.

“Lean back.” He picked up her legs and pulled them on his lap, inches away from the tent in his pants. Wide eyed, she stared for a second, and wondered what he had planned. She watched him pull off her shoes and was about to protest, when his strong fingers began massaging her aching feet.

“Mmm, that feels so good,” She let her head fall back. She wondered if he did this with all the other girls he went out with, and if they’d all been treated to such a heart stopping kiss. She lifted her head back up and saw his eyes swallow her up.

“Your feet are so small.”

She looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes. Then she glanced down at his. They were huge. She started to giggle. “Well, compared to yours, they are.”

His expression hadn’t changed. “I love your smile.”

Her smile disappeared in reaction to his compliment. “Thanks, I like yours. As a matter of fact, that was one of the first things I noticed about you.”

His eyebrows shot up curiously. “Really? Tonight?”

“Oh, no,” she said. “Two summers ago, the first time I saw you.”

Now he looked really interested. “You saw me two summers ago?”

“Yup, same summer I hung out with Jesse.” Damn why did she bring that up again?

He stared at her, half frowning. “You went out with him and not me?” He teased.

“He asked; you didn’t.”

A look of disappointment flashed across his face. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember seeing you.”

Sarah smiled. “Don’t worry, I can be pretty invisible.”

Angel seemed almost annoyed. “You’re anything but invisible.” He paused for a moment, and then as if he just remembered something, “So, you said you’re from Arizona, when’d you move out here?”

Sarah straightened up a little, suddenly feeling uneasy. She hadn’t prepared herself to talk about her circumstances. Since she didn’t plan on making any friends, she didn’t think she’d be put in a position to explain something so personal to anyone, especially not Angel Moreno. “I haven’t exactly moved here. It’s just temporary.”