“Because I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have said yes and I’m trying not to push her or scare her off,” he said. “And I didn’t suggest the club contract, she did.” The expression on Angel’s face made him laugh. “Oh, didn’t know that, did you? Nosy thing.”

He poked her back, but he poked her thigh, and a lot more gently than she’d dug her finger into him.

“But you like her right? You want more than a club contract?”

“Why the third degree, pest?” he asked, rather than answering her questions. Angel really was a nosy thing, but she usually wasn’t this bad. She might ask, but she didn’t usually shoot questions at him like he was under interrogation, or with such an accusatory tone in her voice.

Angel crossed her arms, resting them between her breasts and swelling bump as she frowned at him. “Because I think she likes you. And she deserves a real relationship.”

“Well I like her too, and I agree,” he said, raising his eyebrow. “Is that all?”

A strange look came over her face, almost like hesitation and a little bit of doubt. “You’re... you’re careful with her right?”

There was a strange note in her voice, alerting Michael to another unexpected shift in the conversation. Hesitant and doubtful were not adjectives often applied to Angel. In fact, he’d say they almost never applied to Angel.

“What’s going on, Angel?” he asked, turning more fully towards her.

She bristled defensively. “Nothing. I’m just asking a question.”

Asking a question and worrying about it. Michael tilted his head, studying her, and Angel blushed. They’d done a lot of theater together and Angel was a very good actress, but she wasn’t great at hiding her own emotions without putting some real effort into it, and he could tell when she was doing it. Something had riled her protective instincts with Ellie, which Michael didn’t have a problem with, but now he was curious exactly why. It didn’t seem like just the club contract.

Ellie had been at the self-defense class last night, helping Angel out...

“Did something about Ellie’s past come up last night?” he asked. Whatever had happened to her, it seemed like the class would be a likely avenue for something to actually come out.

“I can’t talk about that,” Angel said immediately, her face going neutrally blank. Which, of course, was an answer in and of itself.

“I don’t expect you to betray her confidence,” he said, giving her a look. Really, she should know him better. “I know something happened to her though. Her hard limits make it pretty clear.”

“Really?” Angel’s natural curiosity perked her up a bit and Michael just had to shake his head in amusement.

“And you know that’s confidential information too, unless she chooses to share it with you.”