I gave in.
“All right. You pay for the gutters but only if you let me help you put them up and on the added condition that if something like this ever comes up again, we have a discussion. You don’t catapult me into the Badass Zone, take over, and make the decisions for both of us.”
“The Badass Zone?”
“A zone you live in constantly. A zone I live in when I’m with you. It becomes capitalized and I visit it when you establish badass boundaries, so, FYI, it’s the zone we’re in right now.”
A smile spread on his face even as his lips ordered, “Here.”
“See?” I stated, lifting a hand to point at his mouth. “Badass Zone.”
He crossed his arms on his chest.
“Just to say,” I continued, dropping my hand. “I’m not only argumentative, I’m ornery and stubborn. If you want to have a badass stand-off, I should warn you, as badass as you are, there’s still a very good chance you’ll lose.”
I finished my declaration on a startled cry because Deacon lunged, nabbed my hand, and stepped back, sending me sailing into him. I was still dealing with colliding with his long, hard frame when his arms wound around me and his mouth crushed down on mine.
He kissed me with tongue and he did it deep.
When he lifted his head, he murmured, “Funny, feels like winning.”
And again, he was not wrong.
* * * * *
“Okay, Milagros,” I said into the phone. “See you later.”
“Hasta luego, Cassidy,” she said back then I heard her disconnect.
I put the phone down on the arm of my Adirondack chair and tangled my feet with Deacon’s on the railing.
Deacon didn’t object.
I fought the grin that caused and asked, “You cool with dinner tomorrow at Milagros and Manuel’s?”
“Said I was when you asked me when you were talkin’ to her,” Deacon noted.
“Yes, but I was talking to her when I asked,” I replied. “Now’s your chance to get out while you can.”
“It’ll be good, Cassie.”
I had a feeling it would.
I also had a feeling it wouldn’t.
That was because everything with Deacon was turning out good.
But Milagros and Manuel meant the world to me and there was no way Deacon could sit at their table and be Deacon. I knew this when he introduced himself as Priest.
And you didn’t lie to your friends.
Resolutely turning my mind from that to the bright side, I was right, astoundingly right, gleefully right.
Working alongside your man was fun.
Okay, not fun but it was still awesome.
I knew this because I helped Deacon install my gutters. It wasn’t done but we had three sides of the house completed.