“Have a good birthday, son?”
Derek nodded. “I’m sad it’s over.”
“I’m sad too,” Deacon said. “I can’t believe you’re six now.”
“And next year I’ll be seven…and then eight…and then nine.”
Deacon smiled. “Yeah. I don’t want to think about how old I’ll be…”
Deacon was not old by any standard, and his accomplishments were all the more impressive because of his age.
“Well, we should get these presents loaded up and get home,” I said. “They’re going to open it to the public in thirty minutes.”
“Alright…” Derek hopped off the chair and dragged his feet as he walked away, miserable that his awesome party had come to an end.
I turned back to Deacon. “Looks like this was a success.”
He nodded. “Because of you.”
“It was Derek’s idea.”
“But we never would have come here if it weren’t for you.” He stared at me for a while before he rose to his feet, his jeans low on his hips, his sweater showing his flat stomach. He pushed up his sleeves to his elbows, showing his chiseled forearms. “I asked my mom to watch him for the evening. Thought you and I could go to dinner and celebrate.”
I looked up at him, touched by the offer. “That sounds nice. What are we celebrating?”
He shrugged. “Us.”
It hadn’t been just the two of us in public in so long that I couldn’t recall the last time it happened. Now there was always a little person to focus on. It was never Deacon and me anymore. But having dinner and sharing a bottle of wine immediately brought that intimacy back.
We went to the same restaurant we’d been to a few times since the food was amazing. Tess was there waiting on other tables, and she avoided us. But I didn’t care whether she was there or not because it was obvious Deacon was only interested in me.
When the meal was over, he left his card on the tray at the end of the table. “No dessert?”
I’d already eaten way too much. “No. I had enough cake today.”
“Alright.” He finished the rest of his wine and didn’t glance at the waiter when he took the check. “You still didn’t eat as much as you normally do.” He was observant of things like that by nature, so it was normal for him.
But it was a little disconcerting. “I ate so much pizza today.”
“That pizza was terrible.”
“Was not.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe I let my son eat that.”
“Don’t be a snob,” I teased.
He smiled at me. “A snob?”
“Yeah. They’re kids. They can eat shitty pizza for a birthday party. Let it go.”
He chuckled slightly. “I am a snob sometimes, huh?”
“A bit.”
The waiter returned with the tab.
Deacon signed it and added a tip. “Ready to go, baby?”
“Yes.” I loved hearing him call me that, especially in public.
He rose to his feet then extended his hand to me.
I took it and pulled myself up.
“You didn’t like the wine?” My full glass was sitting there.
“I’ve had so much sugar lately I’m kinda repulsed by it.”
His arm circled my waist, and he walked me outside. After a quick text, his driver pulled up, and Deacon helped me into the car before he went to the other side.
“Are we picking up Derek on the way back?”
He shook his head. “He’s staying overnight at my mom’s.”
“He is?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Thought we could fuck on the couch like we used to.” It was not romantic at all, but to me, it was romantic as hell. He gave me a slight smile from his side of the car, the interior lights highlighting his handsome face in the perfect way.
“That sounds really nice. Good thing I’m wearing lingerie underneath this dress.” I pulled up my dress to highlight the bodysuit underneath.
His smile faded, and his eyes were focused on the peek of lace he got to see. Even when I pulled my dress down, he continued to stare at the spot, like he was so excited he didn’t know what to do. “Baby, I fucking love you.” His hand went to my thigh, and he gave me a squeeze, kneading my thigh with his aggressive fingertips.
I grabbed his hand and placed it under my dress, so he could feel the crotchless opening. “I know you do.”
Once we walked in the door, the lustful energy was immediately shattered when he noticed what I’d mounted on the wall. Above the fireplace and the mantel was his Nobel. The fire was already burning because I’d asked Matt to take care of it, to create the ambiance before we stepped inside the residence.
Deacon stopped and stared at it, seconds turning into minutes.
I came to his side, waiting for some kind of reaction to figure out if he liked it or not. Maybe I should have let him do it himself. Maybe he had a different spot in mind. Maybe I’d overstepped my boundaries. “It’s not permanent. We can always move it—”