CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Deacon
I’m in a love triangle with myself. I can’t stop thinking about Amelia and trying to come up with ways to see her again.
I also can’t stop thinking about DogPerson and her ex-husband showing up in town. If given the opportunity, I can’t promise I wouldn’t meet up with her. There’s no way I can set her up with Sebastian now.
Not after the way I felt like I’d been punched in the gut when she brought up the idea of getting back together with her ex.
I feel like a cheat, but neither Amelia nor DogPerson is asking me for anything anywhere near exclusive.
And if one of them did? I’m honestly not sure who I’d choose.
“Leaving already?” Cash asks as I drop the last of my tools in my truck bed.
“Lunch break,” I say. “I do still get one of those, right?”
He shrugs. “Sure. Just don’t let Sebastian see you leave. He’s on a mission today.”
“He needs to learn to relax. We’re all caught up, and we’ve got five properties to look at for Mom and Dad this weekend.”
“Five?” Cash says. “I didn’t realize Ryland found so many.”
I nod. “How’s the search for an office manager going?”
“The office manager who’s going to have to work out of Levi’s dining room? Not great.”
“One thing at a time,” I say. “We’ll find a place for Mom and Dad, then we’ll find a space for the business.”
He slaps my shoulder. “Good plan. Have fun on your ‘lunch break’.” He uses air quotes and smirks.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugs. “If you were having lunch alone, you’d have invited me.”
“Maybe I’m just sick of your face.”
“Probably.” He heads back toward the house. “I’m sure as hell sick of yours. I don’t know how Amelia can stand it.”
As soon as I’m in my truck, I shoot a text to Amelia asking her to meet me for lunch so we can talk cat gym plans. I was up way too late last night looking up new ideas so I’ll have an excuse to expand Marmalade’s gym. An excuse to see her again.
Amelia: I’ve only got half an hour for lunch today. I’m probably going to be eating in my truck.
Not ideal, but I can work with it.
Me: What do you want? Send me your location, and I’ll bring lunch to you.
Amelia: Fine. But I’m paying. I want a tuna sub from The Deli.
Me: Perfect. I’ll let you know when I have it, and you can send me your location.
Amelia: You’ve made my day. Thank you.
I don’t stop smiling, even when I see that the line at The Deli is out the door. I smile while I wait.
“What are you so happy about?” My cousin Goldy Weston stops in front of me, her hands full of wrapped sandwiches. As always, her blond hair is in a neat updo, and she’s wearing slacks and a blouse like she works in a corporate office and not at home.
I’ve never understood why she doesn’t take full advantage of her ability to work in her pajamas every day. I sure as hell would.
I am not telling my romance-writing cousin that I’m smiling about a woman.
“I’m just thinking about how badly the Sullivans are going to beat the Westons in the new and improved epic tug-of-war.”
She rolls her eyes. “There’s nothing epic about it. I can’t believe the committee voted to improve it.”
The committee is made up of every member of our family who’s aged out of our quarterly family competitions. Some people get together and eat lots of turkey for the holidays or set off fireworks. We try to pull each other into a pit filled with the most gruesome combinations we can come up with.
“Because the committee recognizes true genius.”
“A pit filled with mud, glitter, and all the moldy food from everyone’s houses is not genius. It’s diabolical.”
“At least you’ll be motivated not to lose.”
She smirks. “I’ll be motivated to see you and your brothers covered in furry lasagna.”
“We’ll see,” I say.
She narrows her eyes. “We definitely will.”
“I’m glad I ran into you,” I say.
“Me too.” She leans in and I wrap my arms around her, since hers are full, and hug her.
“You feeding an army?” I ask when she pulls away.
“Just my husband and his crew. They’re just finishing up a big job, so we’re having a celebratory lunch.”
Goldy’s husband owns a construction company here in town. “Ah, how is the competition doing?”
She smirks. “I’ll never tell.” Patting my shoulder, she moves past me. “There’s enough work in this town for you all.”
“Uh-huh,” I say. “Love you, cousin.”
“Love you, too.”
She leaves, and I move up in line.
Half an hour later, sandwiches in hand, I get back in my truck, send a message to Amelia and wait for her location.
And wait.
And wait.
It’s a cool day, but the sun is shining, and it’s getting hot enough in my truck that I roll down the windows. Cool air rolls over me as I sit and stare at my phone.
She’s probably busy. And I need to eat and get back to work.
Finally, my phone vibrates with a text that includes not an address but a GPS location. It’s the sort of thing that could totally be from a serial killer who hacked her phone, but I pop it into my maps app and head blindly wherever it tells me to go.
Where I go ends up being down a rutted dirt road that seems more like I’m being lured by a murderer than Amelia, but I keep going.
I see her animal control van at the end of the dirt road, parked next to a sparkling pond surrounded by trees in the full colors of autumn.
Amelia is sitting on a bench next to the pond, her hair blowing loose in the breeze. When she looks back at me over her shoulder and smiles, my heart stutters. She is the most beautiful woman in the world.
I hop out of the truck so fast I forget the sandwiches and have to go back for them.
After grabbing them, I try not to sprint to her, but to walk casually. Because this is supposed to be casual. I’m totally chill about her and us and am in no way feeling the sand shift under my feet like I’m on my way to falling head over heels.
“Thank you so much,” she says as I hand over her sandwich. “I’m starving, and it wasn’t looking good for me to be able to make it to town and pick up lunch before my break was done.”
I sit on the bench next to her. “So, does that mean you miss lunch on busy days or do you usually pack a lunch?”
“Both,” she says. “This morning was…” She shakes her head with a wistful smile. “Chaotic. I didn’t get a chance to pack a lunch.”
“Is Marmalade causing you more trouble?” I really hope he is, because it gives me an excuse to go back to her house.
She purses her lips and nods. “Uh-huh. He is a chaos demon.”
I want to cheer for joy, but I slowly unwrap my sandwich, take a bite and chew while admiring the view before I speak. “I actually have some ideas about expanding his gym to keep him happy.”
She smiles. “That’s sweet, but I can’t ask you to do more free labor. He’ll adjust.”
“I want to,” I say, trying not to sound too eager. “And these ideas I have will definitely be something I can sell to other clients.”
“What did you have in mind?”
I put my sandwich down so I can use both hands as I describe my ideas. A walkway that goes around the entire room. Adding fake branches and leaves and creating a ‘tree’ he can climb on. A hammock and a nest.
“Wow,” she says when I’m done. “That sounds…elaborate.”
“I know you’re busy. But it’ll all be easy to do and won’t take long. Give me another full day and I can get it done.”
“I’m not sure when I’ll be able to… I’m interested, but I need to look at my schedule.”
I deflate, but hope my smile doesn’t show my disappointment. “Sure, just let me know.”
She’s almost finished her sandwich, which means this lunch is going to end way too soon. I need to get her talking. I wrap my sandwich up for later and angle myself on the bench to face her. “How’d you find this place?”
“My family used to own this land, years ago. The current owners never come out here.”
I’m not buying what she’s selling. “But they put this bench here?”
She shrugs, her expression pure mischief. “I’m in a city vehicle. I can come up with a reason for being here.”
I chuckle. “So I’m the only one going to jail?”
She bundles up her trash and pats my thigh. “I’ll cover for you. I’ll tell them you’re helping me. Official government business.”
“You’ll perjure yourself for me?” I bat my eyelashes dramatically. “That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
She laughs, and my happiness meter rockets off the charts. She has a great laugh.
“I don’t have much time left,” she says, glancing at her watch.
“Got a long list of animals to save today?”
She nods. “I’m like Wonder Woman, but for animals.”
I can’t resist her anymore. She’s just too damn adorable. I lean in and kiss her smiling lips, gently at first, but when she responds, more firmly.
She pulls away with a little sigh, then climbs onto my lap, straddling me. I’m rock hard in an instant and already trying to figure out how we can have sex on this hard wooden bench.
“How often do the owners really come out here?” I ask.
“Never,” she says against my lips. “Seriously. And I know them. They wouldn’t call the police on us.”
“Are you sure? Because what I really want to do right now is strip you naked and fuck you on this bench.”
“That sounds amazing,” she says. “But there’s no time.”
No time for me to do everything I want, but definitely time to get her off.
I grip the waistband of her pants and give a little tug. “Can I touch you?”
“Deacon,” she says my name on a groan that’s so fucking sexy I’m ready to tell her to forget her job and the real world. “I don’t have time—”
“I know,” I say. “I won’t make you late for work. Trust me?”
“I’m definitely not thinking clearly right now.”
I nip her neck gently.
“I trust you,” she says, her voice deliciously breathy.
I undo her pants and urge her up for me to lower them just enough to get at her sweet pussy. I slide a finger between her soft labia, and she is soaking wet. It just makes me harder, my cock begging for a release, but this is all about her.
She moans as I rub her clit. I kiss her, my hand working to bring her closer to release as I taste her and feel her grinding against my hand.
She gasps when I slide a finger inside her and moans when I add a second.
It feels like no time at all before she’s clenching around my fingers and making the sexiest noises as she pulls away from my mouth to catch her breath.
I pull my hand free and button her back up, my dick angrier at me than it has ever been.
“Wow,” she says. “That was…” She meets my gaze, her eyes still heated, her expression happy and sated. “Thank you.”
She reaches between us and rubs my cock through my jeans. “I want to do something for you.”
“Another time. You have to get back to work.”
She sighs and kisses me before climbing off my lap. “I hate leaving you like this.”
“Don’t.” I grab her hand and squeeze it. “I’m perfect. Watching you come like that has made my day.”
She shakes her head, looking confused. “You’re too good to be true.”
It’s a post-orgasm compliment, but it sinks into my chest and pumps from my heart out through my veins and arteries. I want to be too good to this woman. I want to give her everything. “Let me know when you have time for me to come over and work on Marmalade’s gym.”
She frowns, her gaze sharpening. Reality is crashing back in. “I have no idea when that’ll be. The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty hectic.”
“No problem,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ll text you.” She grabs her trash and hurries to her truck. “Thank you again.”
She drives off, kicking up dust as she hightails it back down the dirt road.
I stay next to the pond, eating my lunch and trying to talk myself out of a deepening suspicion that I’m way past falling and already head over heels for this woman.