“I was an angel in heaven for two days or at least I thought I was. Really I was whacked out on drugs and in ICU.”

“You’re a fucking miracle,” he whispered against my skin and I closed my eyes. I loved that he thought that about me. “I’m a woman,” I whispered back. “You’re an angel.”

“That night, it wasn’t Dobie Gray,” I whispered. “It was this song. It was Ella Mae singing this to me when I thought you weren’t all I knew you to be, which is all the words to this song. Twenty-nine years, I held out for this. Then, half an hour later, you proved every one of these words true and every moment since then, you kept doing it. I’ll take you thinking I’m your angel but you need to know you’re my hero. Twenty-nine, honey, I held out for this. Twenty-nine years, I held out for you.”

“I pretty much thought everything about Mike was awesome but this new side to Mike was beyond awesome. I didn’t even know what that was and I was too turned on to try to figure it out.”

“What’s happening?” Her question was quiet.“Honey, cast your mind back,” he urged gently. “Two minutes ago, I was kissin’ you. Three days ago, I was dancin’ with you. You know what’s happening.”

“I’m falling in love with you, Mike Haines.” As I spoke, with every word his arms got tighter and tighter and his face, already close, became a breath away. “Angel, you’re already gone.”I blinked and asked, “Sorry?”“I read your diaries. I caught your pass in that hotel room. I listened to your offer to stay. I saw you wave good-bye at the airport and got your call before I’d pulled out of the parking lot. You fell with a kiss. I know, honey, because I was right there with you.”

“And I wake up happy, baby, because I possess beauty and I own that beauty in all the forms it can take and the least important of those are physical.”