He stared at me, his eyes questioning my statement.
“If someone sees us together, they’ll know.”
His expression didn’t change much, but the subtle annoyance was clear. It lasted for several heartbeats, but he didn’t argue with me. “Then we’ll need to spend more time at the cabin.”
It was my favorite place in the world. “I would love that.”
“I’ll go to the store and grab something for us to cook.”
“You don’t need to do that. Let’s just order something.”
“You know I’m picky.”
“There’s this vegan place around the corner. I think you’ll like it.” If he was going to come over more often, I’d have to buy better groceries. I didn’t want him to be hungry or unsatisfied by what I had around the house. He’d rather die than eat one of my frozen burritos. Unless it was vacuum-sealed meat, nothing was in his freezer.
“I’ll try it.” He moved to the couch.
I pulled out my phone and looked at the menu. “They have a cauliflower pizza. Want to split it?”
“Sure.”
I ordered it on my phone before putting it down.
He eyed the empty coffee table. “I need to buy you more flowers.”
The broken shards from the vase he’d given me were still under the fridge. I’d have to move it if I wanted to sweep it up. “You don’t need to get me anything, but I did love the ones you gave me.”
“You had them for a really long time.” His arm moved over the back of the couch as he leaned into me.
“Because you gave them to me…”
He moved his lips to the shell of my ear and gave me a soft kiss.
I closed my eyes at the touch. When I opened them again, he was staring down at me. “What?”
“You’re beautiful.”
A man had never said that to me before and looked so sincere.
“I’m going to miss you.”
“It’s just for a few days,” I whispered. We wouldn’t be able to sleep together anymore, stay at each other’s places. Even if Valerie weren’t there, Derek would be, and that was inappropriate.
“Every day without you is a lifetime. So, you’re asking me to wait four lifetimes.”
“That’s pretty long…”
“Too long.” His lips moved to my temple, and he pressed a kiss there, his affectionate embraces making my blood steam with heat.
I stared at his lips for a while, seeing his clean jawline, the smooth skin after a close shave. “Since she’s coming tomorrow, Tucker and I thought it would be a good idea to pretend to still be seeing each other…just to get her to stop thinking about me.”
His affection disappeared, his eyes dark and furrowed.
“It’s not forever.”
“I’m not going along with that.”
“Deacon—”
“No. You’re mine—not his.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen him possessive, jealous. “Just think about Derek.”
“I already lied to her and told her we aren’t seeing each other—”
“And this will allow her to keep believing it. Come on, we have this energy between us—she’ll see it. If Tucker and I pretend to still be together, it’ll assuage all her suspicions….and might buy you a lot of time.”
He looked away, like he was so angry he couldn’t look at me.
“We don’t even need to touch. Just sit next to each other when we do things.”
“Tucker would never do that to me.”
“Well, I already talked him into it.”
He sighed.
“Deacon.”
He wouldn’t look at me.
I grabbed his chin and forced him to turn back to me.
He allowed me to move his head, but his eyes were still dark, like black bullets.
“This is for Derek. Just remember that.”
His nostrils flared as the air left his lungs.
“We get him here, and then it’s over. We can tell her we’re together, and she’ll have to deal with it.”
He was still angry.
My fingers brushed over his soft chin, touching the skin around his lips. “I didn’t sleep with him because I wanted to be with you. How can you be jealous?”
“You think I’m jealous?” he whispered, like the suggestion was absurd. “I’m not jealous, Cleo. I’m just an honest guy, and I feel like a coward for letting some woman run my life when she’s not even my wife anymore. I’m a man. I stand by what I believe in. I should hold your hand, look her in the eye, and tell her to fuck off.”
“I know, Deacon. I would agree with you, but she’ll take Derek away. It’s not right, but we have to play this game. We have to take our time, take this slow, and get to a place where the two of you can be civil and cooperative parents.”
He turned away again, releasing a deep sigh.
I hated seeing him this way, seeing him on someone’s invisible leash. He deserved so much better. “It’ll be alright, Deacon. I promise.”
He turned his head back in my direction.
“We’ve just got to be patient, and everything will work out.”
Twenty-One
Deacon
After the driver picked them up and delivered them to the hotel, I walked the few blocks and entered the lobby.