10. Deacon
Chapter 10
Deacon
Soft light swam behind my closed eyelids. I opened them and stretched my arms out wide to find the other half of my bed empty. Blinking away the sleep, I looked over to my right and my heart skipped a beat. Charlie wasn’t there.
I shot forward as dread took hold of me and my mind tortured me with thoughts of something bad happening to her.
But then I heard the clattering of dishes through the open door of my bedroom and realized she must be in the kitchen making herself something for breakfast.
Falling back onto the pillow, I scraped a hand over my face.
Last night…
Cannot happen again.
Charlie got too close with her probing, and I had let my guard down. What the hell was I thinking letting myself sleep in the same bed as her?
Keeping my distance had always been the plan. Distance was my salvation when it came to Charlie Banks and last night I’d brought the woman into my bed. I’d created my own personal hell by letting her stay with me. I should have just driven her into town last night and put her in a hotel.
But no.
My dumbass invited her to sleep in my house and when I thought staying on the couch would be a good compromise, I crumbled as soon as she batted her lashes at me and those delectable lips shifted into a smile.
I blamed the damn night shorts she wore. The way the pale green brought out the blue in her eyes and made every one of her freckles stand out had me salivating to run my tongue over every inch of her petite body.
My cock jumped to attention, straining against the sweatpants I wore.
Fucking great .
Having her stay for longer than a day wasn’t going to work for me. I needed to get down to the cabin and find a way to fix that pipe. I made a mental note to call a plumber right after breakfast.
Pushing my shoulders further into the mattress, I closed my eyes and tried to think about anything I could to get my morning wood under control.
Hitting my finger with a hammer like I almost did the other day working on the dock.
Being shot at during the war in Afghanistan.
The knife fight I found myself in at a bar in Texas when I was stationed there.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for my hard-on to soften. I was fucking starving and whatever Charlie was making in the kitchen smelled amazing. I just hoped it was better than those muffins.
As soon as I opened my eyes, a flying ball of white fluff hurtled toward my face and before I could get my hands out from under the sheet, my mouth and nose filled with fur.
“Agh!” I groaned, twisting to the side and finally freeing my arms so I could pull the furball off my face.
I lifted Casper into the air and glared into his bright yellow eyes. The little fucker was purring so loud, he could rival a generator motor.
My eyes narrowed on him. “You get off on that shit, don’t you?”
Meow .
He tilted his head slightly then licked his chops like I was his next meal.
“Don’t even think about it. You’re going to end up right back in that cabin later today. Mark my words.”
The furry little rascal just stared at me like I was an idiot. I set him down on the floor before rearranging my sweatpants and heading into the kitchen. Sweet and savory notes filled the air along with the sound of some modern country artist whose name I didn’t know. Charlie’s back was to me as she flipped what appeared to be a severely misshapen pancake.
Her long red hair was set in disheveled waves that swung from side to side as she moved her hips to the music.
Fucking hell , I silently cursed as my gaze raked down her back to where her night shorts must have ridden up without her knowing. The bottom curve of her ass cheeks played peek-a-boo under the frilly lace of her shorts hem. My cock stirred in my pants. Before she had a chance to turn around, I snuck my hand down the front of my briefs and tucked my cock into the waistband hoping it would help conceal just how badly my body called to hers.
Seeing her like this in my kitchen made my stomach do flips. Charlie Banks was all sunshine and rainbows. Given our interaction last night in bed, I expected to find her at least somewhat moody this morning. It wasn’t beyond me to know I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. But she seemed to take me in stride.
It made me wonder what else she might take in stride.
The waistband of my pants stretched with my flexing dick. Having Charlie dancing in my kitchen—half naked—was not part of the plan. If I was going to survive this, I needed to go back to plan A and put as much distance between us as possible.
I watched as she flipped the final pancake and layered it onto the stack she had next to the stovetop. The delicate fingers that grasped my arm last night gripped the edge of the plate with ease. She was a painter, I reminded myself. She used her hands every single day and had considerable strength, no doubt.
When she noticed my presence as she whirled around with the plate, a beautiful smile spread her lips wide.
“Good morning, sleepy head. I made breakfast.” She raised the plate of pancakes in the air before setting it down in the middle of the island next to another plate covered with a paper towel.
“Good morning,” I responded cautiously, not used to having someone in my space, let alone cooking my meals.
“I hope you don’t mind.” Her smile faltered for a moment, and I realized she must have seen the discontent on my face. “I wanted to do something nice for you after letting me crash here last night.”
This one is always doing nice things for others. But who does nice things for her?
Charlie’s skin was practically glowing in the morning light coming in through the angled shades. Sunshine didn’t cover it. Charlie was damn near ethereal and the way I wanted her was downright sinful.
“I appreciate it. Thank you.”
I rounded the island and grabbed two plates and forks for us. The sweet scent of vanilla wafted toward me as she slid onto the stool next to mine.
“Your cat attacked me this morning,” I said bluntly, remembering how the little rascal had pounced on my face, nearly giving me a heart attack.
She whirled on me. “Attacked you? What do you mean?”
The fluffball’s ears must have been burning because I felt his body rub against my leg just then. He looked up at me with feigned innocence reflecting in his giant eyes. I glowered at him.
“He jumped right on my face while I was still lying in bed.”
The giggle that came from Charlie’s mouth made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was so melodic and pretty sounding.
“That wasn’t an attack. More like a gesture of affection. He wanted your attention, so he…made sure you were paying attention.”
When I noticed the smirk on her face, I growled. She was too cute for her own good and it was starting to get under my skin.
Done with her games, I set the dishes and utensils in front of our seats and reached for the paper towel that was covering another plate full of bacon. Charlie sat in silence as I filled our plates with the breakfast she’d made and I tried not to look at her because I knew if I did, I’d lose control, just like I’d done last night.
And I needed to be in control.
Pouring syrup over the stack of three pancakes on my plate, I silently hoped they would be better than the muffins that were buried somewhere deep in my trashcan.
I took a bite and had to choke it down. I looked at the stack on my plate where I’d cut out a triangle to see that pockets of flour had spilled onto the plate. The mixture hadn’t been combined all the way, so there were spots of dry flour.
I finally looked over at Charlie. She was mowing down on the pancakes like nobody’s business.
“Do you like them?” she asked around a mouthful of food and something about it made her look so damn cute.
How the girl didn’t end up with food poisoning or at the very least, an upset stomach, was beyond me. I stole a glimpse at the large stack on my plate.
I’m going to have to eat this whole damn thing .
“Yeah, they’re great. Thanks again for making breakfast.”
The delicate column of her throat worked as she swallowed her bite down. “I was happy to.”
Of course you were , I wanted to say. She was happy to do anything I was coming to realize. Whatever man claimed this woman as his wife was going to be damn lucky.
She was too good.
Too beautiful.
And it pissed me the fuck off.
The image of her making breakfast for another man while he came up behind her and kissed her neck. How her lips would call out his name as he worshiped her body. The long nights they would spend together.
I gripped my fork with a vengeance, the metal biting into my palm.
“Everything okay?”
My vision cleared from the personal hell I’d made for myself, and her face came into view. Despite the look of concern, her blue eyes sparkled. They were so bright with all her attention on me.
Just like they’d been when I found her huddled under a towel in the corner of her bedroom. Her eyes had been the first thing I’d noticed that day. They struck me to my core because even in the midst of the flames surrounding her, there had been hope reflecting in those crystalline blue depths.
“Yeah, I…um…” I cleared my throat as I tried to make sense of the thoughts warring in my mind.
Her auburn brows pinched together even more as she assessed me with concern.
“I was just thinking about how I need to fix that broken pipe so we can get you back to the cabin. It’s probably going to be an all-day project.”
The lines of her forehead smoothed as she leaned back a little. “Oh,” was all she said.
I felt like a deflated balloon seeing the disappointment wash over her. Did that mean she wanted to stay with me longer?
“I just figured you’d want your own space again.”
Her lips pulled back, but I could tell the grin she wore was forced. “You’re right. It will be nice to have my own space again. There are some projects I need to finish anyways.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling an urgency to take back everything I’d just said. The retraction was stuck in my throat though and I didn’t know how to get the words out.
So, I did the only thing a man in my position could do. I stuffed my mouth with half-mixed pancakes and shut the fuck up.
“Are you sure you don’t need me to come with you to help?” Charlie asked as we stood by the front door, and I laced up my boots.
“No. I’m going to call the plumber on the way and take care of some of the water damage to the wood while I wait. You’re better off staying here.” I gestured to her paint supplies that I’d brought in from my truck last night. “The house is yours. Light a fire. Get some work done. Whatever you need, just use it.”
“Thanks for everything, Deacon.” A rosy tint graced her freckled cheeks as she nodded, and I found myself wanting to find everything in the world that would make her cheeks glow like that.
But that wasn’t my job. She wasn’t mine to hold or kiss or do anything with. And I had to let that be okay.
My hand gripped the door handle and as I pulled the door open, bright white light shone in, assaulting my eyes. I raised my arm to shield my vision and heard Charlie gasp from beside me.
Blinking a few times, everything cleared, and I realized it wasn’t the morning sun that did that. It was the several feet of pure white snow built around my porch.
“What the fuck?”
I stepped onto the wooden deck and looked around. Glimmering snow went on for as far as I could see. Charlie’s car roof was barely visible, and the tires of my lifted truck were buried completely.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlie step onto the front porch with me. Craning my neck, I looked down at her. There was an awed smile on her lips as she took in the sight.
“Has it ever snowed this much here before?”
I gazed back out onto my property, completely flabbergasted. “Never.”
“What do we do?” she asked quietly.
The Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia had been known to get snowstorms. Last winter had produced a couple that gave us some solid inches, but nothing to this degree. It had to be a record-breaking snowfall.
Tightness struck my chest as realization dawned on me. There was no way out of this.
My plan to get the tiny cabin back into living condition so Charlie could leave my house by tonight was a no-go. We were stuck here.
I was stuck here.
With the one person I had tried like hell to avoid.