Nathaniel Teen Angel by Patricia Puddle Read Free Book Online

don’t make a habit of talking to guys you don’t know.”
    Her mouth opened with indignation. “Hey, what’s with the lecture? You’re not my father.”
    “Maybe not, but I worry about you. Anyway, did you tell your mother where you were going?”
    She rolled her eyes. “I am eighteen, you know. Anyway, she’s gone to the cinema tonight and I was going to a new gym in town, but I changed my mind because ...” She stopped talking and just stared at him.
    Uh-oh, now he’d done it. She was probably going to confront him about his behaviour at the bus stop.  He collected the rubbish and carried it over to the bin to avoid her questions. On his way back, he noticed she was still watching him. He took a deep breath. It seemed she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. Sitting back on the blanket, he smiled, though he had no idea what to talk to her about.
    Grabbing her backpack, she rummaged through it. “You don’t have to worry about me going home soon. My mother won’t be home until after eleven o’clock.”
    “Eloise, you shouldn’t go out without your mother’s permission. That’s so dangerous. What if something happened to you? She’d have no idea where you were.”
    “But I told my friend, Brooke, and my mum is with her mum. Jeez, I’m not a child for goodness sake.” She took a tube of gum out of her bag and put some in her mouth, then she tossed him the packet. “Here, have some chewing gum. It might stop you from preaching to me.”
    “I’m not preaching to you. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” Reading the label on the tube of gum, he wondered what it would taste like. He’d seen humans chewing the stuff, but they always spat it out. “So you like this spearmint gum then?”
    “Yeah, well it’s a lot easier than carrying a toothbrush and paste around.”
    Oh, so that’s what it was for, to clean the teeth. Still expecting it to be gross, he ripped off the wrapper and popped a piece onto his tongue. As he began to chew, a pleasant flavour of freshness filled his mouth and tickled his tongue, the essence of it bursting into his throat and drifting into his nose. Still chewing, he nodded. “Mm, it’s good.”
    She chuckled. “Anyone would think you were eating chocolate from the look on your face.”
    He raised a brow. “Are you making fun of me?”
    Still laughing, she shuffled he backside closer to him. “Of course I’m not. It’s just that you’re super expressive with everything you do. You’re so cute.”
    His jaw dropped. “ Cute? You think I’m cute? ” He scowled. That wasn’t the masculine image he was hoping she had of him.
    “See what I mean? You don’t even know how cute you are.” She knelt up next to him and began combing his hair with her fingers. “And your ringlets are every girl’s dream.”
    He quivered as a thrill shot down his neck. “Oh, so I’m not only cute, but I look like a girl ?”
    She giggled. “No, Nathaniel, you definitely don’t look like a girl, but with curls like these framing your gorgeous face, you look like an angel.”
    He tensed in disbelief, his eyes wide. Did she just call him Nathaniel? And why did she say he looked an angel? Was she starting to remember him? No, there was no way she could. When he erased her memory of him, it was permanent—unless someone above him had given it back to her when he was cast down to Earth. But who would do that, and why? Not Michael, and certainly not God. He shook his head. There had to be another explanation.
    Moving back onto the rug, Eloise bit her lip. “Sorry, did I hurt your feelings again? I’m so tactless sometimes.”
    Nathaniel waited until a group of noisy teenagers had passed by, then he turned to face her, “Of course you haven’t hurt my feelings, Eloise. I just wondered how you knew my name was Nathaniel.”
    Her brows furrowed as if she was confused. “You told me.”
    “Yes, but I said my name was Nate.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Well, Nate is short