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furthest from the French doors, hidden partially by shadow. This would be the only peaceful moment she had all evening. She needed the time to compose herself and prepare for more barbs from her mother because the night was young and her mother was only getting started.
    With her cute little sweater lying in a heap on the table and her head between her knees, she was beginning to feel a little normal again.
    “Loose an earring?” She jerked upright, startled. Dean stood a few feet behind her, his hands in his pockets, feet crossed, and his back against the wall. Vaguely Angie wondered if he practiced those sexy poses in the mirror when he was alone. She shook the image of him just out of the shower wearing only a small white towel around his hips, staring at his reflection in a full length mirror from her head and stood up. She was regretting her earlier inventory of his broad shoulders because now she saw it perfectly in her mind.
    “Um, my shoe wasn’t fastened right.” A lie and they both knew it. Dean looked at the strappy red sandals and smiled.
    “Nice shoes, they go well with the dress.”
    She grabbed her sweater off the table and shoved her arms in the sleeves. “Gee, thanks. Is that another way of saying it looks like I bought them from the kids section at PayLess?”
    Dean’s smile dropped and he looked more serious than she’d ever seen him. “No, I like them. It’s a real complement. “He hesitated for a nano-second before adding, “The dress is nice too.” 
    A snort, a very indelicate sound that seems to only occur when she laughed too hard or when she was so angry she could hardly think straight, reverberated around the balcony. She wasn’t laughing and she wasn’t angry, well not so angry she was out of her head with it, so the only other explanation for the snort was complete and utter embarrassment.
    Note to self, don’t do anything but breathe slowly through your nose when in extremely embarrassing moments.
    “Thanks Dean, but don’t pay me complements you don’t mean just because you’re trying to make up for my mother’s tendency to humiliate me.”
    “I’m not trying to make you feel better, I’m being honest. You look nice. Just take it as it is, an honest complement.” He sounded harsh, frustrated even.
    What does a girl say to that? Angie didn’t know and she wasn’t feeling polite enough to say thanks. So she chose to ignore it.
    “Is it time to go yet? I’m famished.” She push past him, actually he wasn’t standing close enough to have to push him out of the way, she just like the way the image played out in her mind, and found herself in the center of the living room with George, and only George.
    “Where is everyone?” Angie looked past him but it was obvious they were the only ones left in the house.
    “You, Dean and I are driving separately. They left in the Jeep. Dawn was driving so we all promised to say a little prayer that they make it safely.” George smiled at her. “Just kidding, she is perfectly safe. Mostly.”
    Angie forced a smile, something she found herself doing a lot of. “Well, I’m ready if you are. Dean?” She yelled while turning, only to find him standing directly behind her. His broad chest was eye level making her palms itches to pet him. Slowly her eyes worked their way up to his face to find a knowing smile tilting his lips up.
    Please God don’t let him know I’m practically panting standing this close to him . Angie quirked her head to the side. She smiled, attempting to appear normal and not hot and bothered. “Oh, sorry, I thought you were still outside. Ready?”
    She was obviously not fooling him and hoped she wasn’t reading like a sexy chapter in a romance novel. The one that describes the girl who falls head over heels in lust with the muscular hero… eyes dilated in desire; heat pooling between her thighs; spittle dribbling down her chin thanks to the scrumptious hero in front of her. Okay, so she wasn’t drooling,