The man nodded his head jerkily. He was upset about what happened and disappointed in his children.
And I suspected he wanted to move on.
“We appreciate you coming,” I said in order to let them know they were off the hook.
“And we appreciate you being responsible for our girls when we were not,” the man declared curtly and I knew he was also kicking himself, which made me feel sad for him but happy that Annabelle had a father that seemed a lot like mine.
“It’s done now and all’s well,” I said quietly.
I got another jerky head nod from the dad then he used his head to indicate to the others they needed to move out.
The mom smiled at Deacon but stopped at me, looked in my eyes, communicating everything that needed to be said (and there was a lot) as she took my hand and gave it a squeeze before she moved away.
The boy avoided my eyes as he nodded my way but gave Deacon a handshake.
Both girls stopped and gave me a hug, Annabelle whispering in my ear, “You’re cool, Cassidy. And we want you to know we’re cool. Thanks to you,” before she let me go quickly, didn’t let me say anything, and hurried to the SUV.
The father shook Deacon’s hand and gave me a chin dip before he walked stiffly to his truck.
We watched them do this before Deacon pulled me gently out of the door and closed it.
I looked up at him, striking a trip to Vista Real off my to-do list and glad for it. Not because it wasn’t exactly close, but because I could feel settled that those two girls were being looked after.
So, with my afternoon (kind of) free, when I caught his eyes, I asked, “Do you like turkey?”
He stared down at me, blank, giving me nothing.
For only a beat.
Then he gave me everything.
He did this by slowly, amazingly, magnificently smiling. His gorgeous lips turning up, deep grooves pressing into the sides of his mouth and radiating out the sides of his glorious, spiky-lashed, tawny eyes.
Taking that in, I was blinded by the beauty. But I didn’t care.
Not even a little bit.
It was insane, foolish, but I knew down to my bones I would have been happy if the last vision I had before all went dark was Deacon Whoever smiling at me.
Chapter Six
That’s Where It’s At
Eyes locked to mine, Deacon moved inside me, slow, sweet, gentle stroking.
Making love to me.
Amazing.
He pulled out, shifted his hips, glided back in and that felt so good, my lips parted.
He watched them part and made a low noise. I felt it rumble through his chest even as I heard it and I knew he saw my reaction.
And liked it.
And I liked that.
He pulled out, shifted his hips, and stroked in.