Deacon smiled and let his mother do whatever she wanted. “I enjoyed our time together too.”
“And now we’ll see each other all the time,” she said excitedly. “I’m so happy I have my boys. And I’m so happy I’ll have my grandson too.” She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him again, this time not letting go.
He hugged her back, his chin on her head. His eyes moved to me, and he held my gaze.
When she pulled away, she squeezed his arms. “Your father would be so proud of you…”
That made him stiffen, made his eyes shift to her face and remain there. He was quiet, expressionless.
“Not just for everything you’ve accomplished, but for taking care of me.” She gave him a smile and turned away. “Alright, I’m ready to go.”
Deacon remained there, in a shirt and sweatpants, his expression blank, like he didn’t know what to think or feel.
“I’ll let you know when I’m settled in.”
Matt piled the luggage onto the cart. “I’ll bring these to the car.”
“Bye, honey.” Margo waved at Deacon.
He watched her go. “Bye, Mom.”
They walked out of the condo.
I remained behind, watching Deacon’s expression, watching the way he stared at the door even after she was gone. Regardless of his mood and emotions, he was always so handsome, whether he wore a grimace or a smile. He was beautiful—always.
I walked up to him and stopped when we were close together.
He shifted his gaze to me and held the look.
“Your mother is sweet.”
He clenched his jaw slightly, his thoughts somewhere else.
I waited for him to tell me.
“I just feel guilty…”
“Why?”
“I didn’t talk to her for almost three months.”
My heart skipped a beat as if I could feel what he felt, feel the same heavy guilt. “Deacon, you were going through a really difficult time. You left a bad marriage, moved across the country, and moved to a city where you didn’t know a single person. Give yourself a break.”
“I packed up my stuff and just took off… ran.”
“It’s okay to run sometimes. How are you supposed to take care of other people unless you take care of yourself first? Look at you now. You’re in a much better place. You’re handling Valerie. You got your mother a place just down the street. Things are good.”
“But all those things happened because of you.” He looked into my face, his brown eyes deep and focused. “I didn’t do any of those things.”
“But you hired me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, like he wouldn’t take credit for the things I did.
“I may have gotten the ball rolling on things, but you would have made it happen…when you were ready.”
He rubbed his palm across his jawline, across the scruff that had started to come in.
“Let it go.”
He slid his hands into his pockets.
“It doesn’t matter how you got here. You’re here now. And you’re a great son, a great father, and a great friend…” He did a lot of things for me, was extremely generous, caring, protective…and he didn’t even realize it. “You’re my favorite client for a reason.”
He smiled slightly. “Because I feed you sometimes…”
I loved that smile. Loved it so much, it made my heart ache. “That does help… I’m not going to lie.”
He chuckled, his eyes softening, turning carefree, which was a rare sight.
I wanted to stay there forever, wanted to feel this good all the time. Deacon and I didn’t even have a relationship, but it felt like the best relationship of my life. It made my marriage seem heartless, made my fling with Jake feel so wrong. This felt right, perfect. “Well, I should go.” I turned away.
His hand reached for my wrist.
My heart stopped beating.
His fingers gently tugged me toward him, brought me closer to his hard body. He looked into my face, still smiling.
I thought I might die.
Then his arms moved around my waist and he hugged me, his powerful arms almost covering my entire back. His face moved into my neck as he squeezed me, not having to drop his neck far because I was in my highest pair of heels.
My arms circled his muscular torso, my cheek against his chest, my ear over his heart.
Oh wow…
He held me that way for a long time, his fingers digging through my clothes and into my flesh. His breathing was deep and gentle, and his heart was steady, like a drum in the background of a ballad.
I closed my eyes and just enjoyed it.
It was just a hug, a simple gesture between friends and family members.
But for me, it was better than sex.
The butterflies soared, my heart raced, my palms turned sweaty, my thighs ached to squeeze his hips. I wanted to brush my lips across his, feel his warm breath sprinkle across my face. I wanted to tilt my head back and feel his hot kisses all over my neck, have his scruff scratching my skin, rub along my inner thighs as he pressed his mouth against the area that ached for him most.