Tempted by Elise Marion Page B

said as they walked. “We call him Jack.”
    “ He’s adorable,” Sarah said, remembering shining gray eyes and a smile missing several teeth. “He looks just like you.”
    Jackson walked beside her in silence, his eyes lowered. Sarah was relieved to have a break from the stormy depths. When he’d been staring so intently at her before, she could not help the tiny frissons of awareness that ran through her. She remembered his fiery gaze and felt her cheeks growing hot.
    “ And the woman?” she asked finally. “The boy’s mother?”
    “ Rochelle,” he said, his expression hardening. “My ex-wife.”
    Sarah sensed anger and sadness sweeping through him as her name fell from his lips. He glanced up at her and his scowl darkened.
    “ I can tell by the way you’re looking at me that you know what happened.”
    “ Yes.”
    Jackson stopped walking abruptly and whipped around to face her. “So, what, you think I’m some kind of woman-beater? You think that’s why she left me?”
    Sarah’s eyes widened in shock at his abrupt mood swing. She had known him for less than two days, but had a feeling she was going to have to adjust to his turbulent personality.
    “ Of course not,” she answered calmly. “You would be surprised what an angel can learn from viewing only one memory or dream. It is easy to see that going off to war has changed you. Those changes were too much for her to handle, so she left. Am I right?”
    Jackson didn’t respond, but his face did soften a bit. He glanced down at his watch. “You hungry?” he asked.
     
     
     
     
    “ I can’t believe you’ve never had a hot dog.”
    Sarah wrinkled her nose at the long, foil wrapped package as she examined its contents. Jackson couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on her face.
    “ I do not need to eat to survive,” she said with a shrug. “If an angel eats, it’s merely for the enjoyment of food.”
    “ Let me guess,” Jackson said as he took a big bite of his hot dog, “you’re not the pleasure-seeking type of angel.”
    “ I am here for a purpose,” she said, tearing her eyes away from the mustard, onion, and sauerkraut smothered hot dog to glare at him. “Hot dogs are not exactly a requirement.”
    “ Just taste it,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “You can unbend for five minutes and enjoy a hot dog.”
    With a sigh, Sarah peeled back the foil and lifted the hot dog to her lips. After taking a bite and chewing for several seconds, she closed her eyes and an expression that could only be bliss crossed her features.
    Jackson nodded in agreement before taking another bite of his own hot dog. “I know, right?”
    She practically inhaled what was left of the hot dog. Jackson wondered if she planned on licking the foil. For some reason his stomach flip-flopped at the thought. Thankfully, she merely balled the foil up and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. Jackson followed suit and they continued on their walk with Mason trotting along beside them.
    “ It was interesting,” she said as they walked. “I suppose I could eat another one.”
    Jackson snorted. “Are you always this uptight?”
    “ I don’t know what you mean.”
    “ Oh come on! You have got to be the most uptight person I’ve ever come across. Are all angels like this?”
    “ Angels have personalities just like humans,” she said, hooking her thumbs in the pockets of her jeans. “They are developed through our experiences.”
    “ I don’t understand.”
    “ Well,” she said slowly, obviously trying to figure out how to explain it so that he could understand, “humans are born with an inherent need for emotional stimuli. You crave it. Babies like to be held, comforted, and talked to. Your emotional needs are programmed in. Angels don’t have emotional needs, nor do we experience any feeling that we have never encountered. For an angel like me, who has not dealt with many humans, things like vanity and pleasure-seeking are not high on my list of