Sweet Southern Nights. Rochelle Alers
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chicken, then stuff it so you don’t have to prepare separate side dishes.”
Levi gave Angela an incredulous look. “You live here with your aunt?”
Angela laughed, the sound resembling the tinkling of a wind chime. “No. She now lives in a chateau in France’s wine country with her longtime lover. She gave me the house as a wedding gift.” She compressed her lips. “It was the only gift that I didn’t have to return.”
He heard the throatiness in her voice when she’d mentioned wedding gift. “Your aunt sounds like a colorful character.”
“Colorful wouldn’t begin to describe her. Folks around her called her everything but a child of God. And those were the compliments. They’d failed to realize she was her own woman who lived by her own set of rules. If something made Nicola Chase happy then she made everyone around her happy. If not, then stay out of her way.”
“It sounds as if you are quite fond of her.”
Walking over to the refrigerator, Angela took out bottles of chilled white and rosé wines. Using her shoulder, she closed the door. “I grew up wanting to be just like her, much to my mother’s horror.”
Resting his hip against the cooking island, Levi crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you?”
“I wish.”
“Don’t you like how your life has turned out?”
“Please don’t get me wrong, Levi. I’m quite satisfied with my life. It’s other folks who don’t believe I am.”
She turned and walked out of the kitchen. Levi followed with the platter as she led the way to the glass-enclosed sunroom. Charcoal-gray solar blinds provided privacy from prying eyes. When he’d followed the private road leading to Angela’s house, he noticed that it overlooked a lake surrounded by a copse of weeping willow trees.
His gaze swept over the room, the focus of which was a table covered in a white linen tablecloth with a black-and-white-striped runner, and set with china, crystal and sterling silver. White candles in varying heights flickered in crystal votives, hurricane lanterns and candelabras. Angela touched a wall switch and track lighting illuminated the space like starlight pinpoints, while soft music filled the room from concealed speakers.
He set the platter down on the table beside a vase of white and deep pink flowers. “This is very, very nice.”
Angela met his eyes across the table. “Thank you.”
Levi stared at Angela, whose face was illuminated by the soft light coming from the candles, his gaze moving slowly over her features as if committing everything to memory. He’d spent less than an hour with Angela and already he found her incredibly fascinating. She appeared conservative in her choice of attire, yet her home and furnishings were luxurious and exquisitely tasteful. She seemed reserved yet daring, somewhat of a contradiction.
“Who do you mean by others?”
“My mother in particular, and a few of my brothers would probably agree.”
“They’d like to see you married with children.”
She nodded. “What they don’t understand is that I’m quite happy being single. Aunt Nikki never married and she enjoys being a free spirit.”
“In other words she’s content to live with her lover rather than marry him.”
Angela gave Levi a mischievous smile. “She couldn’t marry him even if she wanted to.”
“He’s married.”
She nodded. “He and his wife have lived apart for more than two decades.”
“Why doesn’t he divorce her?” he asked.
“He would if his estranged wife wasn’t a devout Catholic. They live apart, but he supports her financially.”
Intrigued, Levi asked, “Did he and his wife have any children?”
“They had a son, but he drowned in a boating accident when he was a child.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
Angela sighed audibly. “Yes, it is. He wanted my aunt to have a child, but she refused because she didn’t want to have a child out of wedlock. Excuse me. I have to go back and get the salad.”
Rounding the table, Levi pulled out a chair at one of the place settings. “Sit down. I’ll get it.”
“That’s all right. You’re my guest.”
Leaning over her head, Levi took a deep breath, breathing in the subtle fragrance of the perfume clinging to Angela’s body. The scent was like its wearer—subtle and sexy. “You cooked, so it’s only fair that I help out.”
“What if you open the wine and allow it to breathe while I get the salad and put the asparagus on the grill,” she countered in a soft, but stern tone.
Levi resisted the urge to salute Angela. Her refusal to let him help told him more than he needed to know about her. She was stubborn and controlling.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, reaching for the corkscrew opener resting on a folded napkin. “Are you rolling your eyes at me?” he asked when she rested her hands at her waist.
“I’m not old enough to be a ma’am.”
“How old are you?” he asked, removing the foil and inserting the corkscrew into the bottle of rosé.
“You should know better than to ask a woman her age.”
Levi lifted broad shoulders under his crisp white shirt. “It doesn’t matter. I can always ask Duncan.”
Angela rolled her eyes again. “Thirty-two,” she spat out, “and soon to be thirty-three.”
He winked. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
“What else are you going to ask Duncan about me?”
The soft pop of the cork was the only sound in the room as Levi and Angela stared at each other. “If I wanted to I would’ve had Duncan tell me everything about you before we met. He asked me to do him a favor and I said I would. I’m willing to be your date tomorrow, and the only thing I’m going to ask is that you do the same for me at my family reunion, since my mother will undoubtedly have some woman there for me to meet. She thinks it’s time I settled down and give her some grandchildren.”
Angela compressed her lips. “As long as we understand each other I think we’ll get along quite well. Excuse me, but I’m going to get the salad and grill the asparagus.”
“Angela,” Levi said as she walked away. She stopped but didn’t turn around. “I’d like to sit down and enjoy the food you’ve prepared without talking about us.”
“So what do you want to talk about?”
“Your aunt, sports, books, movies or TV for a start.”
She half-turned and smiled at him over her shoulder. “Thank you, kind sir, for giving me a choice,” she drawled in her best Southern accent.
Throwing back his head, Levi laughed, the rich sound echoing in the room. “You’re quite welcome, ma’am.”
Angela couldn’t remember when she’d spent a more enjoyable evening with a man. Not only was Levi a great listener, but he was also a wonderful conversationalist. They’d discussed sports. He’d seemed surprised that she was so knowledgeable about the subject, but after she’d explained that she’d grown up with five brothers and a father who were sports nuts, he’d understood completely.
Between forkfuls of food, washed down with the chilled wine, dinner was a comfortable and leisurely affair.
Levi raised his water glass. “When you talk to your aunt again, please let her know her roast chicken recipe is