I turned my head and kissed his chest.
He slid his hand into my hair. “You know that goes both ways.”
I turned my head back and rested my cheek to his warm skin. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.”
That got me his body tense again and his fingers in my hair pressed into my scalp.
I felt him relax before he said, ‘You know that goes both ways, too.”
I loved him. God, I loved him. And I wanted to tell him. I was aching to tell him.
I didn’t tell him.
I bossed, “Got to sleep, Deacon.”
“Only if you go there with me, Cassidy.”
I smiled at his chest.
He slid his hand out of my hair, taking his time, then wrapped his arm around me.
And together, we fell asleep.
* * * * *
The next afternoon, I shut down my computer after dealing with bills, e-mails, bookings, and trolling websites to see if there were more travel sites where I should register Glacier Lily.
I got up, went to the kitchen, and looked out the windows to see Deacon on the porch, feet up on the railing.
I went to the door, opened it, and Bossy, who was allowed on the porch since the slats in the railings weren’t big enough for her to push through, came bounding to me.
I bent and scratched my dog, calling, “You need a drink, honey?”
“Got one,” Deacon replied.
I looked to Bossy and shoved her back a bit, saying, “I’ll be out in a sec.”
I closed the door, got my cold drink, then went out to join Deacon on the porch.
I stopped dead behind his chair, seeing he had a spiral notebook he’d purloined from my desk pressed to his thigh, a pencil in his hand, and he was sketching a gazebo.
He felt my presence. I knew when he asked, “You want one like this?” He flipped the page to another sketch of gazebo. “Or like this?”
“I…uh…” For once in my life, I was at a loss for words. This was because the proof was right in front of me that Deacon could sketch and he was good at it. This was also because both gazebos were beautiful. Far more spectacular than anything I’d dreamed up in my head. One was round with gorgeous carved slats in the railings and woodwork around the edge of the roof. The other was octagon, with different but still gorgeous carved slats and roof edges.
Both would be beautiful at Glacier Lily.
Amazing.
I went to my chair, rested my booty on the arm, and looked at him.
He was looking to the notepad.
“Can you build those?” I asked.
His eyes came to me. “Yeah.”
“Really?”