nearly double my pay, that Deacon was right. With that kind of income, I could have a nice life, take care of another person…entirely on my own.
I snapped out of it and got to my feet. “Thank you so much, Mr. Kline. That’s very generous of you.” I shook his hand.
“Don’t make me regret it.” He turned away and walked toward the entryway.
“Enjoy your dinner.”
He ignored me and kept going.
I took a seat at my desk again because I couldn’t stand, couldn’t believe that just happened.
I was still not rich, but I had financial security now…something to fall back on if I ever needed it.
I’d just entered the condo with groceries when Deacon called me.
The week was almost over, so this separation didn’t have to last much longer. He would be home, and this week from hell would be a memory. It was hard to sleep in that bed without him, hard to look at his son’s face and not miss his father, hard to come home every night and not see him at the dining table.
It’d only been a week, but it’d been rough.
I set the bags on the counter and answered. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby,” he said with a happy tone. “How are you?”
“Good. Just walked into the condo, actually. Delivering groceries.”
“Hope there’s no pizza in there.”
“No. I’ve been feeding Derek well.” Derek tried to get me to take him to ice cream and get fast food, but I wouldn’t betray Deacon’s trust like that, so I said no.
“Good. Because I know he’ll try to manipulate you.”
“Oh, he already has.”
He chuckled. “Butthead…”
“Having a good time?”
“Yes, actually. I’m presenting tomorrow, but it’s been interesting to hear what other people are working on. I wished these people lived closer so I could see them more often, maybe go out for a beer or something, but they’re from all over.”
“And what about your team? Are they having a good time?”
“We’ve kind of dispersed since there’s so much to do.”
Good. I was glad he wasn’t spending a ton of time with Dr. Hawthorne.
“But I am eager to come home. I miss you guys.”
“We miss you too.” More than he could ever know.
“And I miss fucking you too.” He said it bluntly, his deep voice making it sound so sexy.
It caught me off guard, made me stare at the bags of groceries on the counter with tinted cheeks. “Yeah…me too.”
He sighed, like he was thinking about it. “It’s only been a few days, but I miss it.”
I missed it too. I’d gotten great sex on a daily basis, and then it just stopped.
“Well, if you ever want to…it wouldn’t bother me.”
He picked up on my meaning. “I’d rather wait until I get home.”
Fuck…I hadn’t waited.
“I want you.”
Now I felt a little guilty.
He picked up on my silence. “Baby?”
“I…I didn’t wait. I’ve been doing it every night.” I could have kept it to myself, but I blurted it out, because keeping any extra secrets was just too hard for me right now. I needed to unload everything because I was already carrying so much.
He was quiet for a while, but when he spoke, there was a smile in his voice. “Yeah?”
“Sorry…I didn’t think you’d care.”
“I don’t care. That’s…pretty sexy.”
I should put the groceries away, but I continued to stand there, my heart beating rapidly.
“Maybe you can record yourself tonight…and send it to me.”
I’d never done anything kinky like that in my entire life, but Deacon made me want to try new things, to be adventurous, to connect with him in whatever way I could. “Alright…”
“I look forward to it.”
I couldn’t believe I was actually going to do this.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he said. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” I listened to him hang up before I set my phone on the counter. I had all these groceries to put away, but all I could think about was what we agreed on. I didn’t even tell him that I got the raise. It didn’t seem important, even though he would have wanted to know.
Fifteen
Deacon
I sat in the middle row, between Kathleen and Marcus. We were supposed to present soon. I hated social interaction in all forms, but public speaking didn’t bother me, not when I was excited about what I had to say. It didn’t feel like a speech I had to give when accepting an award, the kind that embarrassed me. I actually wanted to do this.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I glanced at the screen, seeing the message from Cleo. Have a good night. The