CHAPTER TEN
Deacon
I’m just going to go ahead and say it. This is the best date I’ve ever been on.
There were no awkward silences during dinner, and I spent most of the conversation laughing at Amelia’s wild stories from her job as an animal control officer. She is such a badass.
Dinner ended way too soon, and I’m already thinking of ways to spend more time with her as I drive her home.
Checking out the space for the cat gym won’t take more than ten minutes, but maybe I can suggest we go out for dessert after or stay in and watch a movie.
What would a boyfriend-material kind of guy do?
I’ve never wanted to be boyfriend material before. Easy and casual’s more my style.
But I want it now. And I have no idea how to get it.
I pull up and park in front of her adorable house.
“Thanks for an amazing date,” she says, smiling over at me like I’m the only man she ever wants to look at.
“It’s not over yet,” I say.
Her eyes pop wide, and she darts a look at the house, almost panicked. “It isn’t? I’m not sure I’m ready—”
Damn, she’s even more adorable than her house. “You were going to show me where you want the cat gym, remember?”
Her cheeks flush red, and she drops her head into her hands. “I’m so bad at this.”
Gently, I pull her hands away from her face and lift her chin until she’s looking at me. “I think you’re perfect at this.”
She’s made it clear she’s not ready for me to enter her house for any reason other than her cat gym, so I’m not about to kiss her without some definite sign of interest from her.
Which she gives me when she leans in and presses her lips to mine.
She tastes like pasta, and she feels like velvet when I slide my hands over her cheeks and cup her head to pull her to me. The kiss goes from zero to sixty in seconds, and I’m on the verge of dragging her onto my lap when she pulls away, breathing hard.
“Wow,” she says. “You’re really good at that.”
“I think it’s us together,” I say.
And it’s clearly the wrong thing to say, because she pulls away. Not physically. But I see it in her eyes. She wants this to be casual, and she doesn’t want me to point out the blaringly obvious: whatever is between us, it’s anything but casual.
“I should show you the space,” she says.
She hops out of the truck before I can answer, and I follow her into the house.
It’s cozy and clean, if a bit messy, with comfortable-looking couches in the front room and thick rugs over the hardwood floors. I can see from here that the cabinets in the kitchen are outdated, as are the appliances and the fixtures, but the room is bright and as cozy as the rest of the house.
An orange cat sits atop a pillow resting on the floor, surrounded by shredded tissues.
“Marmalade,” Amelia says, exasperation in her tone and hands on her hips. “I was only gone for an hour.” She looks at me. “The cat made this mess. I promise it isn’t always like this.”
“I live with four brothers. Your house is immaculate compared to mine.”
She blinks up at me, clearly surprised and debating whether to ask why I’m living with my brothers. I’m not overstepping or over sharing again, so I take the opportunity to look around her house some more.
I glance toward a hallway leading off to the side, past the living room, but Amelia grabs my hand and takes me straight back through the kitchen and around the corner into a spacious and bright sunroom.
“I think Marmalade will like it here with all the windows,” Amelia says.
I spin, taking in the small but cheerful room. There are a lot of windows, but there’s enough wall to leave me plenty of room for a creative cat gym. “And there're no limits to how many nails I can put in the walls?”
Amelia presses her lips together. “This is a rental, but the owner said I can do whatever I want as long as I fix it before I move out.” She looks away, twists her hands together, then looks back at me, something brazen in her eyes.
“And I’m working really hard to be able to buy it from them so I won’t have to change anything. ”
“That’s awesome,” I say. “I have a lot of ideas. Mind if I take a few measurements to get started?”
She nods. “Are you going to tell me about your big ideas?”
“I promise I’ll tell you before I start installing anything. In fact, I can show you mock-ups on a laptop.”
“That would be great,” she says as Marmalade winds around her legs, purring.
I have never before in my life been envious of a cat, but I’m envious as hell right now. Especially when Amelia gives the cat the sweetest smile and bends down to pet his fluffy head. “Who’s a good boy?” she asks in a child-like voice.
And I’m hard. Is that weird? It seems weird that a baby voice turns me on, but I’m pretty confident everything about Amelia is guaranteed to have that effect on me.
I turn to the wall and get to work, fully aware of Amelia behind me. I take a few measurements, then glance back at her. Yep, her eyes are directly on my ass. I am so glad I wore these jeans today.
Grinning, I finish up and set my measuring tape and notebook on a small table before sauntering over to her. “I’m all done,” I say in the weirdest damn voice. “I’m all set. Want to—”
Before I can suggest a movie, she grabs my shoulders and pops onto her tiptoes so she’s at my eye-level. “One more kiss for the road?”
So much for spending more time with her. Yet again, she’s reminding me that this is not going anywhere. I dip my head and catch her lips with my own.
I mean to keep the kiss somewhat tame because of her earlier discomfort about me coming inside, but that goes out the window when she deepens the kiss, then throws her arms around my shoulders and propels herself up until she’s high enough to wrap her legs around my waist.
This is a definite first. I’ve never had a woman literally climb me like a tree before.
And I am so here for it. I kiss her right back and grip her soft ass as I push her against the nearest wall.
I’m just looking for some more support, a little extra room to work, but she tilts her hips, grinding against my hardness, and I’m lost to sensation and the damn incessant begging for relief from my cock.
“You feel so good,” she says with a moan as I drop my head and kiss her smooth neck. I have the urge to suck hard, to leave my mark on her, so she doesn’t forget me after I leave.
She tilts her hips again and lets out a little whine. “More. Please.”
I have never been happier to oblige. Shifting her higher, I grind my hard cock against her, our clothes both an unwelcome barrier and an additional increase of friction.
I groan against her neck and go back to her mouth, desperate for another taste of her.
“You know what? We’ll come back later.” The unfamiliar female voice breaks through my lust haze and, for just a moment, I think it came from Marmalade.
Irrational thought, but there’s no one else in the house. Maybe Amelia has a roommate?
Amelia pulls back and gasps. “Ellery,” she says. “I’m so sorry. I totally lost track of time.”
Amelia pushes against me, and I step back far enough that she can slide to the floor and step away from me. I’m hard as a fucking rock, so I turn away, pretending to gather up my measuring tape and notebook and studying the view from the window while I work on calming the hell down.
“Don’t stop on our account,” Ellery says. “We can go to my house tonight.”
“We really don’t mind,” another woman says. How many women are here? And how did they sneak in so silently?
“It’s okay,” Amelia says. “Deacon was just, um, helping me with my cat gym for Marmalade. I’m sure he has somewhere he needs to be.”
I have many flaws, but not being able to take a hint isn’t one of them.
“I need to get home,” I say, as I turn to face Amelia and the three other women now standing in her sunroom. One of whom I saw in the diner the other night - Ellery. “Early morning.” Which reminds me… “I can stop by tomorrow to start work on Marmalade’s gym.”
Amelia shifts side-to-side. “I can’t tomorrow. I should have warned you, but my schedule is pretty hectic. Would you mind starting on Sunday? I have to work, but I could stop by to let you in whenever you want to start.”
This woman has no idea how willing I am to make anything work. “I’m an early riser. I can stop by before you leave for work.”
“No,” Amelia says quickly, and oddly loudly.
Ellery smirks, but the others look confused.
Amelia clears her throat. “I mean, mornings aren’t my best time. It’ll be better if you stop over later. Maybe around noon? I can come by on my lunch break.”
Ellery’s eyes widen, and she waggles her eyebrows at me. I bite back a laugh, because my mind had gone straight to the same place, i.e. a little afternoon delight. “That sounds great,” I say. “See you then.”
I hustle out of there and hop back in my truck. As I’m sliding my phone into the cupholder, a notification pops us. I’ve missed a message from DogPerson158. Now that I’ve met Amelia, I can focus on distancing myself from DogPerson and convincing her to meet Sebastian.
I’m already smiling, even before I read her message from earlier today.
DogPerson158: Do you think a person can forget how to be social?
I’m going to have to be social tonight - a one-on-one, sitting across from each other at dinner thing - and I’m kind of freaking out.
Is it possible it’s been so long since I’ve spent time socially with a near stranger that I’ve forgotten how to do it?
My stomach sinks. That sounds like a date. Which is fine. She’s free to date. And that emerald green jealousy that feels like bile rising up my throat is an emotion best ignored. She is meant for Sebastian. She was never and will never be mine.
I try to answer her the way Sebastian would.
Handsyguy37: It’s not a bad thing to have zero social skills. It means most people will leave you alone.
I type out the words, but they don’t feel right. They feel flippant and rude in a moment when DogPerson is actually nervous about something.
I erase the words and try again.
Handsyguy37: Honestly? Probably. I had a job once where I worked for twenty-four hours straight without talking to anyone or seeing another human, and the first thing I said to my brother when I saw him was, “Tired. I sleep.” But I slept for twelve hours, woke up and went out to my favorite bar.
I remembered how to talk to people pretty quickly.
If she’s out on a date, she’s not going to answer, but I wait a few minutes anyway, staring at the screen. She probably is on a date.
I drop my phone in the cupholder and back out of the driveway. Amelia’s friends didn’t box me in. They must have known I’d be leaving.