by Jo Willow
Grant dug one more shovel full. He gave me a cheeky grin first though.
“That’s the first step.”
At that point, two things happened. I understood where Deacon and Anton got their dirty minds, and the man himself came walking in looking like sex on legs. I was thanking every saint that existed (and some I thought should be saints) that his folks were in the room. That’s when I was reminded that prayers weren’t always answered in your favor.
Grant stood up and pulled Bree to her feet.
“We’re gonna take a walk and give you two some time alone. I’m sure you’ve got things you need to discuss.”
Deacon and I watched as Grant practically pulled Bree through the backdoor. He looked at me and I shrugged. He sat down in front of his sandwich and chips and I stood up. He grabbed my hand and kissed my palm. Oh he was good. I had no experience with this level of seduction and that didn’t necessarily go into his “plus” column.
“Where are you goin’ babe?”
“I was going to get you something to drink. What would you like?”
“Iced tea would be nice. Thanks.”
He gave me the full dimpled smile and I did my best not to appear as flustered as I felt inside. If he ever found a way to patent those dimples, the female population at large was in big trouble.
I poured his tea and put it down near his plate. I contemplated a quick retreat out the back door when he stopped me.
“Sit with me. I haven’t talked to you in too long and I’ve missed you.”
I sat down and got down to business. No time like the present.
“And whose fault is that?”
He swallowed the bite he’d taken and took a sip of tea. I thought for sure he’d have a smart ass comeback, but he didn’t.
“Mine and I take full responsibility. I acted childish and I was out of line. I knew that a week after it happened.”
“It took you a whole week? Why? And if you knew after a week, why did you let three more go by?”
He turned to me, giving me his undivided attention. Let me explain something. Lounging around with Deacon Sloan while you’re goofing around and interviewing him is one thing. Having those gray laser beams concentrated on you, is something else entirely. Now I knew why his business was such a success. It was the look he had in his eyes right now. If his opposition was seated at a boardroom table and he looked at them the way he was looking at me, I’d be willing to bet they were begging for a pen to sign over everything they owned. Deacon nailed you to the spot with those eyes. I could not have moved if the house was on fire.
“When you kissed me, we had clear lines drawn. I take full responsibility for making those lines murky. I held your hand, I hugged you, and I got familiar with you in a way that I don’t with other women. You, are not other women Dor’.”
“Thanks for noticing, but I still don’t understand. I didn’t kiss you like you were kissing me Deacon. It was a friendly kiss. Nothing major, no big deal.”
“Wasn’t it?”
I swallowed hard because I needed to ask something but I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer. Yet.
“Wasn’t it what?”
“A big deal. Are you gonna sit there and tell me that you didn’t feel what I felt when you kissed me?”
I closed my eyes to give myself a brief reprieve.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re right. You are the world’s shittiest liar. Never play poker with Anton, he’ll take you for every dime you’ve got.”
I opened my eyes and he was eating again.
“Why do you think I’m lying?”
“Because you don’t cry and I upset you so badly, you left in tears. That kiss hit you as hard as it hit me. There was something there and there’s STILL something there and you know it. You felt it and I denied it. That’s where we got into trouble. Well guess what? I’m through denying it.”
He took another sip of his tea and turned to me again. I reached over, picked up his glass and took a sip myself. My throat was suddenly dry. Once I’d put the glass down on the table, he leaned over and I could feel his breath against my ear as he whispered.
“Dorothy baby, I’m in.”
I felt those words all the way to the toes that were curling up inside my moccasins. This was not a good thing. It meant that he was getting to me and I could not let Deacon Sloan get to me. Not yet anyway. Been there, done that. Know what I mean?
I leveled him with my best stare, but it was nothing compared to his. Still, he seemed to take it seriously.
“That’s all well and good Deacon, but what if I’m not ‘in’? What if I’m tired of being the one with the broken heart and confusion?”
The sonofagoat chuffed at me. He actually chuffed. At me.
“That won’t happen again.”
“How can you say that? I piss you off on a regular basis! How do I know you won’t come to your senses and drop me again? You seem to do that rather easily. What if I don’t want to take that chance again? Huh?”
Oh I was pissed. That man could press my buttons like no other and for the life of me, I could not figure out why I kept putting myself through it. Other than the love thing and all.
He was finished with his sandwich and he dabbed his mouth with the paper napkin. He slowly finished his tea and I couldn’t tell if he was doing it for effect or if he was allowing himself time to formulate his response. When he turned back to me, he took both of my hands in both of his.
“Dorothy, you pissed me off because I was confused about my feelings. I’m not anymore. I could say the words, but I don’t think you’re ready to hear them. I’ve never said them before and when I say them, I want it understood that I mean them and all that they imply. You’ll take the chance because you don’t have a choice. You know, I know it, and I don’t know why you’d fight it. It’s inevitable.”
“What’s inevitable?”
“You and me babe. You can run, but I’ll chase you. I have the advantage of living one floor above you and I’ve got infinite patience when I want something. You’re mine Dor’. You really should accept it sooner rather than later. It’ll save us both a shit ton of misery. Just ask Anton or Pierce.”
“Why? Do you own them too? I don’t want to be a possession! That macho, ‘you’re mine’ crap might fly with the women who bat their eyelashes and say, ‘yes dear’ and ‘whatever you say babe’, but I’m not them, Mister. The sooner you come to terms with that, the better.”
He leaned over and planted a chaste but firm kiss on my tightly drawn lips. My eyes were narrowed and I was loaded for bear. The asshat was in full display today boy. He needed to understand who he was dealing with. He might be Deacon Sloan, but I was Dorothy Lincoln and my daddy didn’t raise any sniveling daughters. We were taught to stand up and fight for ourselves. I doubted if Mr. CEO had come across any women like that. If he had, he wasn’t acting like it.
He did that dimple grin thing again and his eyes were twinkling. I wondered if he knew how close he was to being snatched bald-headed.
“Oh Dorothy, you are a prize. I love it when you’re feisty.”
It was a good thing he was holding on to my hands.
“I am no prize!”
No wait a minute. That didn’t come out quite right. Do you see how muddled he made my head? I needed some airspace that didn’t smell like Deacon. All sexy and clean and dark hair and gray eyes and such. Oh for the love of... he was speaking again.
“Baby, I know this is all a surprise. Believe me, when I realized how I felt, I was surprised too. But you’ll get used to it and settle in. We’ve got decisions to make and then plans to discuss. It’s good that we’re here together for a few days. We need to be out of the influence of our siblings.”
I did my best to clear my thoughts and keep my voice level. It would do me no good to kill him before I had time to think this through thoroughly.
“Deacon, my sister doesn’t have the influence over me that your brothers obviously have over you. That�
�s not a dig, it’s a fact. I make my own decisions and the jury is still out where you’re concerned. You couldn’t even keep the commitment to be my friend and now you think you want more? Why in the name of all that’s holy would I give you another chance?”
Ah hell. There were those dimples again. I swear he uses them as a weapon. Gorgeous men like him always have a secret weapon they whip out to impress women with. I’m assuming his dimples were his, although I have seen him with his shirt off and I have to say that if he walked around shirtless all the time, no one would give a flip about his dimples.
He leaned over and began peppering my lips with kisses until I sighed and started kissing him back, the big tease. I say if you’re gonna kiss someone, do it right or step aside. He ran his tongue along the seam of my lip and just as I was leaning into him, he leaned back and looked into my eyes.
“You’ll give me another chance because you love me. Are you gonna try and deny that?”
I reacted as if he’d thrown cold water on me. I jumped up and jerked my hands out of his.
“You suck Deacon! I don’t appreciate being manipulated and you’d better internalize that buddy. There will be no more kisses or whispers or toe curling until you and I have set some major ground rules. You’re not breaking my heart again, I mean it!”
I stomped out of the kitchen and went upstairs to my room. I slammed the door and collapsed into a heap on the bed. I needed a quick lesson in men and I needed it from someone that was as big a player as Deacon. If I had any hope of winning this fight and coming away intact, I needed weapons. Or at least insight into Deacon’s arsenal.
And there it was. My answer. It could not have been clearer if the angels had announced it’s arrival with trumpets. People, sometimes I have moments of genius that surprise even me.
I reached over and unplugged my phone from the charger. I quickly scrolled through my contacts until I found the number I needed. I checked the time and dialed.
Anton was home and on the sofa. He’d changed into shorts and a t-shirt and was getting ready to channel surf when his phone rang.
“Yo.”
“That’s how you answer the phone? I thought you were some hotshot business executive. What if I’d been a business associate?”
“I don’t give my cell number to those people and who in the hell are you anyway?”
I rolled my eyes and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed.
“It’s me Dorothy and I need help.”
His tone grew serious and I couldn’t help but feel bad.
“Dor’, do you need bail money? You finally killed him didn’t you? Not that I blame you, after all the book was perfect as written and if he’d told ME I had to rewrite it...”
“Wait a damned minute. He wants me to rewrite it?!”
I could almost see him raking his hand through his hair.
“I did not say that and you didn’t hear it. Forget I ever said it. What do you need help with?”
Did he honestly think I’d let that go? I thought he had a better handle on me than that.
“You did say it and I heard it loud and clear. He doesn’t like the book?”
“I didn’t say that. I said he was gonna tell you to rewrite it. There’s a difference.”
“If he likes it, why would I have to rewrite it?”
“Do you want the party line or my theory?”
“Oh I’m all about theories Anton. Tell me both.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute or two. I think he was trying to decide if it was worth Deacon’s wrath if I decided to go on a rant.
“Dorothy, if I tell you this, my ass is on the line. You’ve seen him angry, think about it.”
That was fair. As much as I wanted answers, I didn’t want to come between brothers. That wasn’t right. I did have ammo I could give him though, and I decided to put my cards on the table.
“Anton old buddy, I understand your predicament. I have a sister of my own that can be as mean as a snake if she’s crossed, so let me offer you something in return.”
“I’m listening...”
“I called to ask for advice and I’d appreciate it if this call never got back to His Highness. If he finds out I called you and why, my life would get complicated in a hurry. Do you catch my drift?”
“I like how you think Dor’. I’ll show you mine and you show me yours. Is that the long and short of it?”
“Your mama didn’t raise no fools. Is it a deal?”
“Deal.”
“Okay. As a show of faith, I’ll even go first.”
I spent the next ten minutes telling him everything from Deacon’s arrival to my leaving him in the kitchen. I left nothing out. I recounted the hand-holding, the kisses, and the conversation verbatim. He listened closely and never interrupted. When I was done, I paused but he said nothing.
“So? What do you think?”
“I think I’m way out of my depth here. This is a side of Deke I’ve never seen Dor’. You’ve stumped me.”
“Is he sincere?”
“One thing about Deacon you need to understand is, if he says it, he means it.”
“So how do I handle this? I was serious when I said I don’t want to get hurt again Anton. He nearly destroyed me the last time and I’ll never come back from it if I let him in and he does it again. I’m serious.”
“Oh I believe you, but you didn’t see the shape he was in. You got your licks in and you weren’t there to see it. He was worthless at work and a bear to boot. You changed him and he couldn’t sustain the change without you. The thing was, he couldn’t change back. I don’t think he realized how much he leaned on you until you weren’t there. It was more than losing his best friend Dor’, he lost his spirit.”
You could have knocked me over with a breeze. Anton was describing me perfectly. It seems that Deacon and I were going through the same emotions and didn’t that just alter my perception of our situation.
“Anton, what do I do now? I can’t pretend he didn’t hurt me, because he did. How do I know he won’t run scared when the shit starts getting deep? We both know how he is. All it’ll take is us getting linked in the press or our folks making comments about weddings or babies and he’ll be off like a shot.”
“I don’t think so. Not this time. But I can see where you’d be skittish and I can help you with that if you want me to.”
“That’s why I’m calling. I figure you and Pierce probably know him better than anyone else. How should I handle this?”
“Play hard to get.”
“Pardon me? You did NOT just tell me to play hard to get with Deacon Sloan, did you?”
He chuckled before he answered.
“I did in fact tell you to do exactly that. He messed with you, now you mess with him. If he hangs in there, you’ll know he’s determined to win and keep you. The doubt will be gone and he’ll be so grateful he’ll be yours to keep if you want him. If he gets fed up and walks away, you’ll have your answer. Either way, your heart stays intact and your questions are answered.”
I had to give it to him. Anton Sloan was more than just a pretty face.
“How do I play hard to get?”
“You’re a woman Dor’. Do I really have to answer that?”
“Yes I’m afraid you do. I haven’t dated in three years Anton. The hard to get thing isn’t well practiced in my life.”
“You haven’t dated in three years? Does that mean that you haven’t....”
“Stop right there Anton. This isn’t truth-or-dare and we don’t know each other well enough for those types of questions. Just tell me how to do this.”
“Well, knowing Deke like I do, you’ll need to be able to walk a fine line.”
I stuck my nose up in the air and shifted my position.
“I can do that.”
“You think so? This is my brother we’re talking about. He typically gets what he goes after my friend. Think about that long and hard.”
Damn it, he was right. Dimples and ch
est. Dimples and chest. If he took off his shirt and smiled at me, I’d probably climb him like a vine. It HAD been three years after all and he WAS Deacon Sloan. Why in the world could I not have fallen for a nice accountant named Milton?
“So give me ideas then.”
“Stay friendly. Hold his hand, let him put his arm around you, innocent kisses are all okay. Flirting is good too. Just don’t sleep with him. Whatever you do Dorothy, you cannot sleep with him.”
“Why? Does he have a magic spell that sucks you in if you sleep with him?”
“I don’t know about that, but the kind of voodoo he wields sucks every woman in. I’ve seen it myself. Craftier women than you have fallen after one night in his bed and if I were you, I’d make him work for it.”
I was grinning a mile wide. I could touch him, taste him, and even play with him. I could do pretty much anything I wanted to with him, as long as I didn’t sleep with him. I could do that. This would be easier than I thought.
“Dor’? You still there?”
“I’m here. Sorry, I was thinking about how lucky I was to have you as a friend Anton. You’re a good guy. Do you know that?”
“I’ll be a dead guy if Deacon finds out I’m behind this.”
“He won’t, don’t worry. I’m good at keeping secrets. Now it’s your turn. What’s the deal with my book?”
He sighed and I knew he was hoping that I’d forgotten about that part. Like THAT was gonna happen.
“He says, and I don’t believe him by the way, that he wants more in there about his high school years. He says that what you’ve got so far is good, it’s just missing a big chunk of his life.”
I’m touchy about my work, but I am not a prima dona. I can take criticism if it’s valid and he was right. There was nothing in there about his high school years. I hadn’t thought about it because I didn’t know anyone he went to high school with, and Deacon didn’t seem like the type to keep his yearbooks.
“Was he some varsity jock or something?”
“Nope. He never played a sport at all.”
“Homecoming or Prom King?”
“Nope.”
“Editor in Chief of the newspaper or yearbook?”