History
"Hi." She couldn't help but bat her eyelashes at him.
"Wow." He blinked in disbelief.
Angela enjoyed watching her date struggle to check her out without being impolite.
Go ahead, cowboy, look all you want, you won't find any innocent teenager here.
From the extended silence, and the way Dino's eyes kept twitching between maintaining eye contact and roaming to appreciate other parts of her, Angela guessed her efforts had not gone to waste.
The dark wine-colored cocktail dress was cut to emphasize every slender curve. Black stockings picked up where the short hem left off (just barely -- she almost couldn't get the garter straps short enough not to show!), ending in low-cut black pumps with four-and-a-half inch heels that made the most of her legs. She'd pinned up her black tresses, letting a few stray locks hang artfully to either side of her face. Her makeup took a page out of Sapphire's book, but in warmer tones. It had taken her three hours to get ready -- not that she'd had anything better to do.
Of course, as far as the mature temptress look went, she'd just shot her wad. Nothing else in her closet came close. But she figured she could solve that problem later.
She put on her most fetching smile. "I figured if we were gonna go all the way out to the coast, we could find something better than hot dogs. You don't mind, do you?"
His non-verbal reaction had already answered the question, but he spoke anyway. "I might know a place," he said with a growing grin. He gestured down the stairs with a sweep of his arm. "Your chariot awaits." She stepped down ahead of him, feeling his eyes on her backside -- and minding not one bit.
They began walking toward the front of the complex where he'd parked.
"Actually," he said, "I was hoping I could talk you into staying a bit closer to home." Angela shot him a pout. "I know, I know, I'm really sorry." He stopped walking a moment, falling behind; she turned around to catch him ogling her up and down. "Really, *really* sorry," he said, shaking his head in admiring disbelief. "But my boss is coming down tomorrow to check things out, and I need to make sure everything's perfect."
Angela was disappointed, but... "I understand." After all, a man like Dino should take his career seriously.
"I almost told him to reschedule, but this is my big chance," Dino said as he caught back up to her. (Well, if he thought he had the luxury of another chance with *her*... he was right!) "Anyway, I don't really want to talk about work tonight -- I need a break. Besides, I'm sure you'd find it really boring."
Angela frowned inwardly. It bothered her that she didn't know what he did.
Relax, Angela. You just met the guy. What do you want, a download of his life story in one day?
No, but knowing *something* about him would be nice.
They were at the car now; Dino led her to the passenger side and opened the door for her.
Angela had been thinking about how she'd get into the low-slung exotic, but not when she'd picked this dress. She put one foot carefully on the floor of the car, turning and backing down carefully, bracing herself as best she could against the door frame, but even for her short 5'4" frame the car was just too low. She felt her skirt creeping higher and higher up her thighs as her butt dipped lower and lower, becoming more desperate when she still didn't feel the seat beneath her...
Dino had stopped talking, and was doing his best to be a gentleman, but she knew it was quite a show she was putting on, and he was still a man... dark stocking-tops yielded to garter straps and creamy skin...
Figuring she had to be close, and not wanting to drag the peep show out any longer, she let go -- and plopped very inelegantly into the soft leather. Her right foot slipped on the pavement, getting momentarily stuck under the open door as she tried to yank it in and close her legs.
Dino suddenly looked away and cleared his throat while Angela gathered her limbs together and squirmed to tug down the errant hem. "All set?" he said when she'd finally settled down.
"Yes, thank you," was her demure reply. He closed the door and hustled around to the other side.
"How about Schroeder's?"
"Okay." She'd never heard of it, but she wasn't going to look unsophisticated.
He knew. "If you don't like steak, they've got a great chicken marsala. The veal parmigiana is supposed to be good too, flown in from Kansas." Angela made a face. Dino smirked. "Yeah, I know, baby cows, too cute to eat. I won't eat it, either."
See? Angela chided herself. We do have something in common.
"The view is great, too -- it's at the top of the Nakatomi Tower. Though you don't seem much impressed by views." Of skylines, anyway. Did he know something? Of course not. He's just observant. That means he likes you.
"I've got a great view already," she said with a wink.
"Well, I had a great time."
"Me too. But I did all the talking again!"
"That's okay," he smiled. "You're a fascinating woman."
Angela blushed.
"Besides, I like the sound of your voice."
Okay, that's a bit over the top... but still effective, she thought dreamily. "You're just saying that. Anyway, I still don't know anything about you." The realization spooked her a little. Dino seemed to sense it.
Dino's smile faded. His face turned very earnest. He waited a moment until she looked into his eyes -- those amazing eyes! -- then held her gaze as he spoke.
"My name is Dino Sinclair. I'm twenty-nine years old. My dad was Irish-Russian, my mom Brazilian. They were killed when I was sixteen. This old man, a friend of my father's, he felt bad for me, gave me a little money, got me a job. I've been working for him ever since -- odd jobs, small time stuff-"
"It's okay," Angela said, reaching over to touch his hand. "I didn't mean-"
But Dino continued, determined to level the playing field. "I was basically an errand boy, and not interested in anything bigger. I was going nowhere, doing nothing with my life. But I'm not that man anymore. I never really was.
"About a month ago, I was given a second chance. Someone tried to kill my boss and I saved his life. As thanks, he gave me an impossible task -- I think he wanted me to fail, it would have gotten him out of a tough spot, but I was too green to see that at the time. I saw this opportunity to build something instead of always tearing things down -- something for him, for the city, for myself. So I busted my a-... butt, tried something different, and it worked. Suddenly I've got success, and respect, and it looks like I might actually have my life together."
He began to speak faster, seeming almost desperate to get the words out. "And then I meet this amazing woman who's gone through hell but you'd never know it from the way she carries herself, only she reminds me of someone I lost and that makes me hesitate to open up, but eventually I realize what a fool I'm being so I grab hold of her and look into her eyes and overcompensate by dumping my whole life story on her in sixty seconds, and then I shut up and stare at her, hoping I didn't just blow my only chance at something special."
Angela was touched. She couldn't speak. She felt her throat tighten up, and she blinked back tears.
"Oh, Dino," she breathed, her hand moving up to gently caress his cheek. She could just kiss him...
"So that's the short version. Anything else you want to know, you just ask. Anything." His hand met hers, drawing it down off his cheek to cradle it in the space between them.
"No," Angela said finally. "I'm touched, really, but no. I pushed you, and I'm sorry." Her voice cracked -- this was getting a little too deep. "I don't want to do things this way. I don't want to find out about you all at once. You seem like a really great guy, but I don't want to force things only to find out later..." she trailed off. The moment should feel perfect, and yet...
But Dino understood. "I apologize. I scared you. I didn't mean to get all gushy there. I said too much. Let's just take it easy, okay? We just met. I had a good time tonight. We'll go out again, have some fun, find out if we can be friends, see what happens. No pressure. All right?"
A part of her was completely swept. She wanted him to grab her, kiss her, a big strong passionate *movie* kiss, carry her up to her apartment, kiss some more, then maybe... no, then they'd both recognize the magic and want to save it, hold off, anticipate, flirt, get to know more about each other, and *then*...
And then Angela saw that *this* right here was that moment where they recognized the magic. "Yeah, let's do that," she said, a massive understatement.
"Great. You want me to walk you to your apartment?" His tone was that of a gentleman, without the slightest hint of a hidden motive.
"No, I'll be fine." Angela trusted him, but the way she felt right now, she wasn't sure she could trust herself! What had come over her? Was it some mood swing because she skipped her meds? No, it was something else... and she didn't want to ruin it.
She did her best to get out of the car on her own; again her skirt rode way up, but she knew he wasn't looking this time.
"So I'll call you."
"Okay," Angela said through a dreamy haze.
She was out of sight of the parking lot before she heard the civilized snarl of the Ferrari backing up and driving off. Her pace quickened up the walk and up the stairs to her new apartment. Her emotions were swelling... and with them, something else.
She practically collapsed on the couch, not even bothering to kick off her heels. She took a deep breath and sighed. Dino Sinclair was something special all right. He saw something in her that he found attractive -- and something he respected. Something in Angela, not in Sapphire. And she was *certainly* attracted to him -- his eyes, his smile, his soft-yet-strong voice... his strong arms, his broad chest, his cute butt...
Angela sighed again. Calm down. Let's not ruin the mood by letting our minds fall into the gutter. This isn't supposed to be a physical thing.
Well, it was a physical thing, but it was a lot more than that.
Actually, she wished it was a little more physical.
A part of her was miffed at her date. Once he'd gotten his lustful looks at the beginning of the evening, he became the perfect gentleman. That shouldn't have been a problem, but after going to great lengths to look great for him, it was like he didn't even appreciate it. Or like he didn't *want* to appreciate it. Like he *shouldn't* appreciate it. His looks during dinner and afterward, they weren't romantic, exactly, more like... comforting, encouraging, friendly, respectful, but not *attracted*.
If it hadn't been for his big speech at the end, she might get the impression that he thought of her as his kid sister! Come to think of it, maybe that's what he'd been getting at -- something about she reminded him of someone he'd lost, and a kindred soul... did he have a sister? Was she killed along with his parents? She hoped that wasn't it...
Well, if the classy nightclub look didn't work -- and for whatever reason, it obviously didn't, or he would have been just a *little* less gentlemanly -- Angela was sure she could come up with something he couldn't resist. Maybe emotionally he wanted to play it cool and be friends -- God, she couldn't believe he'd used the F word and it slipped right by her! -- but the next time they met she'd make sure she had his *full* attention...
Another big sigh put her mental house in order. Cut it out, you're only making things worse. If you're not careful, you'll get so worked up you'll just jump him right there on the porch, and as yummy as he might be, that's not what you want. Well, that's not *all* you want.
How did I get like this? It's like I've been wearing my sapphires all night...
The young woman sat up. Now what? It was only eleven o'clock. Only -- she smiled; he'd said he had to get home early. So much for that. They really had hit it off. And in retrospect, he had shared a few things with her that evening, though nothing as abrupt and meaningful as what had just happened in the car. Then again, maybe those other little tidbits *were* meaningful. Childhood memories of a simpler time, growing up in a far-off land -- he hadn't said where, but it didn't really matter -- looking up to his dad, spending that day with him in the station, knowing that when he grew up he'd be a cop just like his old man...
Hmm, Angela thought, I wonder what happened? He'd said his parents were killed when he was sixteen. It probably hurt too much to talk about it. Maybe someday he could share his pain with her...
But in the meantime, she had to shake off these thoughts before she got herself worked up. Er, any *more* worked up.
Sleep wasn't going to happen, and despite it being a furnished apartment, there was no TV, and she still didn't have her car so she couldn't go anywhere...
Well, she could pop on over to the chop shop and see if she could get those pictures Miguel needed so desperately. After last night, she needed something simple to get her confidence back as Sapphire. Now that her confidence as Angela Barrett was soaring, maybe she could get some of it to rub off on her alter ego.
No time like the present.
If only these garter tabs weren't so tricky . . .