don't forget that they're that way largely because you followed your dreams with reckless abandon."
"Isn't that part of what you love about me? Didn’t you always say that you loved the way I go for it? Damn the torpedoes and all of that?"
She laughed quietly, but there was an unmistakable edge of exasperation. "It is definitely what I love about you. It's all of the other stuff that's a disaster."
"Like what?"
"Take your pick. The endless touring. The inability to go anywhere without being mobbed. And let's not forget the girls."
"I can't do anything about the first two, but the last one won't be an issue. I've gotten it out of my system. Completely."
Her vision narrowed on my face. "What did it take to get it out of your system, Graham? How many girls are we talking about?"
Bugger. I'd walked right into that one. "You don't really want to know the answer to that, do you? And I didn't exactly keep track."
She sat back and folded her arms across her stomach. "I guess I don't really want to know."
"The important thing is that you were always on my mind. Always. You can ask Chris if you want. He'll tell you I was talking about you all the time."
An unflattering snort popped out of her, oddly adorable coming from Angie. "You don't really expect me to believe that, do you? It's not like you called me. It's not like you wrote me any letters. I show up in Philadelphia for my job and suddenly we're talking about fate bringing us back together? Let's be honest, if you'd really wanted me back, you would’ve done something about it. You just said it yourself. You're a damn the torpedoes kind of guy. You didn't damn a single torpedo for me."
Now I could see why logic and reason wasn’t working. There was still part of her that was right pissed with me, and it had nothing to do with other girls. She’s mad I didn’t go after her. "Ang, think about what you’re saying. Would you have actually read a letter from me? Would you have stayed on the phone with me? Because I didn't think you’d do either of those things."
A frown fell across her lips. "No. I guess not."
"See? I had to do this in person. You know, where you wouldn't be able to avoid my sparkling personality." I probably shouldn't have said that last bit, nor should I have bounced my eyebrows at her like I did, but it prompted a smile out of her. At least the mood was lightened.
She glanced at her Swatch. "Graham, I love you, but this is crazy. Let's just get back to the band's trailer so I can get back to work."
"Hold on. Can I have one thing? For spilling my guts only to be told that I'm a nutter?"
"What?" She cast a distrustful look at me, knocking her head to the side.
A soft breeze blew through, ruffling the canopy of leaves above us. "One kiss. That's all I want. You can tell me to sod off forever, but I'll feel a lot better about it if I can have one kiss."
She sucked in a deep breath—a sure sign that she was thinking. There’d been a time when she wouldn’t have turned down a kiss from me if her life depended on it. Now she had to think. "One kiss. And if I kiss you, you have to stop being a wanker about my job. I'm not only being paid to take pictures, it's my career. Your job is important to you, mine is important to me." The fire was back in her eyes, the one thing I had no defense for. She didn’t often allow that to so noticeably rise above her even nature.
"I promise." I leaned in and kissed her. At first, her mouth was merely a place for mine to land, but it only took an instant before she was kissing me back. Her lips were even more plump and giving than I'd remembered, the flicks of her tongue so delicate as I parted my lips, her smell even sweeter this close. Sweet memories of kissing Angie swirled with the hot reality of the present. It engulfed me with anticipation and longing. That was familiar response. It also left me with the undeniable conclusion that I was home when I kissed Angie. God I missed this. I missed her.
I cupped