“Ben, this is Winston Kane, the man I was telling you about.”
My eyebrows shot up. It was a little strange for me, but only because Kane was Angela’s surname.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kane,” I said.
“Please, call me Winston. It’s nice to meet you as well, I’ve heard a lot about you from your mother.”
We shook hands, then all three of us sat back down. Not long after, our order arrived, including Winston’s, since Mom ordered for him.
“So, you two are dating now, that’s great. For how long?”
“Oh, honey, we’re not just dating,” Mom said, sharing a secret smile with Winston.
I glanced between the two of them. “What do you mean?”
“We’re getting married!”
She turned that beaming smile back on me, and even though I was shocked, I quickly hid it.
“That’s even better,” I said, getting up and leaning across to give her a kiss on the cheek. “When is the wedding?”
I was okay with whatever left Mom happy, and this was clearly it for her. So, as she told me the date and went on to gush about the wedding and how I absolutely had to be there, I wasn’t concentrating. I was too busy thinking about what I planned to do to Angela tonight, instead.Chapter Fourteen
AngelaI was still really worried about my neighbors since I was a professor and Ben was a student. He showed up at night and left early in the morning, but that wasn’t enough for me. So, I booked a hotel room for us. It was Friday, so we had the whole weekend, and I texted him the info.
As soon as I was done with my classes, I headed over there. I stopped by the home to shower and get dressed up. This was, technically, the first date like the thing we’d done. I was almost sure we’d just spend the whole weekend in the hotel room fucking, but I was still going out to some swanky hotel with a hot guy, even if he was more than a decade younger.
I’d been going along with this and having fun because I wasn’t thinking too deeply about any of it, and I wasn’t going to start just yet. This was the happiest I’ve been since the divorce, then moving, and I didn't want to give it up to rational thinking just yet. Before then, I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Ben.
Half an hour after I arrived, there was a knock on the door. I’d been pacing around the room, fidgeting with my hair and my dress. It was a slim, red dress that fell to my knees and with a wide neck that draped around my shoulders, showing off my collarbones and some cleavage. I’d bought the dress maybe three years ago to go to a friend’s wedding and never worn it again.
I went to the door and was surprised when I opened it to find red roses in my face.
“Oh!”
Ben lowered the roses so I could see his face, and he was grinning at me.
“Hey. I was actually outside when you texted me, and I bought these on the way.” His eyes ran over my body, eyebrows jumping up. “You look extra beautiful today, Angela. Did you dress up just for me?”
I felt my cheeks warm as I pursed my lips. I had, but there was no way I was going to say that. He didn’t seem like he needed me to say the words, though, as he walked into the room and closed. He looked for a surface to set the roses down on, then took me into his arms. I went willingly, wrapping my arms around his neck with a sigh when he kissed me softly.
Then he pulled away and said something that surprised me.
“My mom is getting remarried.”
“Really?” I hid the surprise away quickly. This was the first time he’d told me something personal, and I’d already told him plenty. “Do you not like the guy?”
He smiled. “No, I’m happy for her. My dad was rich, but the bastard was a total narcissist, and it’s really obvious this new man makes her happy. She wasn’t dressed in black, something she only did when she was married to Dad, but because she was so used to it and had mostly dark colors in her wardrobe, she doesn’t dress in bright colors often. She was in pink today.”
I frowned. “Why would she only wear black?”
Somehow, I doubted his dad was into goth fashion.
He sighed. “He used to say Mom was fat, and black made her look slimmer. She still used to dress in bright colors when I was a kid; then it slowly turned to all black. I’d be happy if she threw all of the black out, even if all she did was switch to grey. It was just nice to see.”