She drank from her wine.
“But I connect with you the best.” There was no one else I could sit at this table with, have this conversation with. She made time speed up and slow down at the same time.
She gave me a smile. “I connect with you too, Deacon.”
I held her gaze, my fingertips resting on the stem of my glass. If I hadn’t met her, I’d be at home right now, sitting alone at my dining table and staring at my laptop. But now, I was out in the real world…with a real person. It was completely unlike me, but it felt right.
“Okay, that was the best steak I’ve ever had.” She ate all of it, so there was nothing to take home.
I chuckled, the second glass of wine making me a little loose. “It was good.”
“Good? I ate the whole thing.” She stared at her empty plate. “I’m skipping breakfast tomorrow.”
“I don’t usually eat breakfast.”
“I noticed that. Why is that?”
“Biologically, it doesn’t make sense to eat breakfast. We’ve been hunters for thousands of years. We’d wake up, spend all day hunting for food, and then eat. Eating three meals a day…there’s no scientific evidence for that.”
“So, you only eat twice every day?” she asked.
I nodded. “It’s called intermittent fasting. It’s not a new idea. Monks have been doing it for thousands of years. The idea is to let your body fast for sixteen hours every day, allowing your system to utilize fat as a fuel resource rather than carbohydrates or sugars.”
“How long have you been doing that?”
“Ten years.”
“Well, I guess it makes sense why your body is so…” She cleared her throat. “Why you’re in such good shape.”
I had six percent body fat and a considerable mass of lean muscle. I was in optimal health, and I intended to keep it that way as long as I lived. It was easy for me since I didn’t have a social life. I preferred to eat alone at home.
“When do you work out?”
“In the morning. I wake up early.”
She nodded. “I never work out. Just don’t have time. But honestly, even if I did, I still wouldn’t.” She let out a chuckle.
“You’re on your feet all day long. That’s sufficient exercise. I’m usually at my desk in the office, or I’m standing still in the lab. I need to do cardiovascular exercise every day. And it’s obvious your diet is working.” Based on her appearance and the way she felt against my hands, she was a slender woman with no fat, having a hard body underneath her clothes. Her ass was plump because she walked everywhere she went, taking flights of stairs in all the residences. She probably did twenty thousand steps minimum every single day.
“Well…thank you.”
Tess returned to the table. “Wow, you must have enjoyed your dinner because you ate it all.”
Cleo looked slightly embarrassed. “Yes…it was delicious.”
She grabbed the plates. “Any dessert? We have a great ice cream sundae.”
Cleo shook her head. “As amazing as that sounds—”
“We’ll take one.” I now knew Cleo liked sweets, and she never got to enjoy them because she had no time. This dinner was about her, and I wanted her to have what she wanted. I just wished the waitress hadn’t made that comment that embarrassed her, because there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
“You got it.” She walked away.
Cleo smiled slightly. “You didn’t have to do that—”
“I’m wondering if this will be the best sundae you’ve ever had.”
Her smile widened and she laughed. “I’ve never heard you make a joke before.”
“It happens.”
She held her glass as she stared at me, her smile wide and her eyes bright.
I stared back, loving the way she looked in that moment, like she was happy just to be there with me, like she enjoyed my company instead of dreaded it. She looked at me in a way other people didn’t, as if she liked me for me, not my brilliance or my wallet.
The waitress set the sundae in the center of the table with two spoons. “No rush on this.” She set the tab on my side of the table. “Whenever you’re ready.” She walked away.
Cleo grabbed the spoon and slid it through the ice cream. “I’m going to eat this alone, aren’t I?”
I stared at her.
She put the spoon in her mouth, savoring the rich vanilla flavor.
“So?”
“Yep. Best sundae ever.”
I chuckled and grabbed the tab. I opened it and pulled my wallet out of my pocket. There was a small business card sitting right in the middle, so I picked it up. It had the restaurant logo on the front, and when I flipped it over, it had Tess’s name on it along with her phone number. My eyebrows furrowed for a moment, taking a second to understand what I was looking at.
Cleo watched me, sliding her spoon into the dessert at a slower pace. She dropped her gaze.
I set the card on the tab then put my credit card in the folder before I returned it to the edge of the table. I left my wallet to the side and looked at Cleo again.
Her attitude was completely different. That light in her eyes was gone, and she would barely look at me. She took small bites and then eventually stopped eating altogether. “Thank you for dinner, Deacon. That was the best meal I’ve ever had.”
“What about the pizza we had at the cabin?”
She shook her head. “Nothing in comparison to this.”
Tess came back to the table and picked up the tab. “Wow, looks like you’re full.”
Cleo gave her a polite smile, but it wasn’t the kind of smile she gave me. Her eyes were a little cold.
Tess took everything away.
Cleo looked out the window, holding her glass of wine, severing contact with me.
I could tell something had changed, something was wrong, but I couldn’t figure it out. Nothing had happened to change her attitude so profoundly.
Tess returned the receipt for me to sign.
I opened it, and this time, there were two business cards—both with her phone number on them.
I picked up the pen and signed the receipt before I closed the folder again. “I’ll text the driver.” I grabbed my phone and sent a message.
She continued to stare out the window, one hand spinning the diamond in her lobe.
I was terrible at this sort of thing, but I could feel the change in energy. “Tell me what’s wrong.” I outright asked for what I wanted, knowing I could talk to her that way, that I could be straight with her and she would respond.
Her eyes shifted back to me. “There’s nothing wrong, Deacon.”
My eyebrow rose. Did she just lie to me?
She must have read my expression and then felt guilty about it because she said, “If you want her phone number, you can take it. You don’t need to ignore it because of me. She’s a beautiful woman.”
“Why did you lie to me?”
She dropped her hand from her earring. “I just…didn’t want to make it weird.”
“Why would that be weird? You can tell me anything.”
Her eyes softened.
“And who are you talking about?”
She stared at me for several heartbeats, as if the question surprised her. “Tess.”
I didn’t think twice about the card she’d left behind. When she’d brought me another, that made even less sense to me. I understood she was making a pass at me, but it was so uninteresting to me that I forgot about it the second it happened.
“I don’t want you to ignore her because of me.”
I didn’t understand the statement at all. “I’m not.”
Now, her eyebrow rose, like she thought I was the one lying.
“The thought didn’t cross my mind, actually.”
“Really?” she asked. “Because she’s stunning.”
I could barely remember what she looked like. I’d spent my entire evening staring at Cleo. “I didn’t notice.”
A slight smile c
ame over her features again, her eyes falling a little.
From the moment we’d sat down, my eyes had been glued to her face, looking at her soft hair, her dark eyelashes, her petite shoulders, the way her slender neck led to a beautiful rack. I couldn’t tell her that, couldn’t find the words even if I wanted to. She was the only woman I’d noticed in that entire room.
Four
Cleo
We spent the drive in silence.
Deacon looked out the window, his hands on his thighs, his face slightly tilted to the glass. His sharp jawline was visible, the strong angle between his chin and his neck. His collared shirt was nice on his broad shoulders, highlighting his strong arms and powerful chest. It was tucked into his slacks, showing his incredibly tight stomach.
He was fucking gorgeous.
I couldn’t blame that bitch for wanting him.
Deacon was too dense, didn’t pick up on what actually happened. Tess gave me backhanded insults, putting me down for enjoying my dinner, trying to get Deacon’s attention by making me inferior in his eyes.
Joke was on her, because Deacon was too brilliant to notice that kind of bullshit.
When she became more aggressive and left him another business card, I started to chew on the inside of my cheek, something I only did when I was really frustrated.
But in the end, it didn’t seem like he cared about her.
He only cared about me.
That made the night even better.
We pulled up to my building, and he walked me inside. We stepped off the elevator and approached my front door.
I got the keys out and unlocked the door, not hiding my apartment from view because he’d already seen how terrible it was. But the second I stepped inside, I noticed everything was different.
There were no food wrappers.
No clothes on the ground.
The rug had been vacuumed.
The dishes in the sink were gone.
The place was clean…looking brand-new.
Deacon shut the door behind him and joined me in the apartment.
I looked around, completely confused by what I saw. Then I turned back to him, my eyebrow raised.
He stood with his hands in his pockets, tall, dark, and powerful. He was such a good-looking man, and sometimes, it seemed as if he had no idea just how gorgeous he was. He looked at me with his dark eyes, displaying the same level of focus he’d shown me at dinner. I really couldn’t blame Valerie for wanting to have his babies. My ovaries screamed whenever we were in the same room together.
I waited for an explanation, assuming he had something to do with this.
“I told Matt I wanted to do something for you, something that would really help you. He told me you’re so busy taking care of other people that you never have time to take care of yourself. So…I got you a housekeeper.”
I stared at him blankly. “What?”
“She’ll come every Monday starting next week.”
I had to repeat the same question. “What?”
Now, he stared at me, unsure how to respond to that.
“I mean, you didn’t have to do that. That’s incredibly generous and sweet, but I can’t accept that.”
“You will accept it.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You make my life so much easier. I want to do the same for you.”
“I understand that.” I kept my voice gentle because I knew he was just being kind. “But it’s my job to take care of you—not the other way around.”
“I disagree.” His hands remained in his pockets. “Consider it a tip, if that helps.”
“But you don’t need to tip me every month—”
“I already arranged it with Matt. It’s done.”
I released the breath I was holding, knowing I’d lost the argument. The client always got what they wanted, and if this was what he wanted, I couldn’t deny him. But he already did things to take care of me, loaned me his car and driver so I could get home safely, defended me against people who didn’t show me respect, took me out to a five-hundred-dollar meal without expecting a thank-you. He continued to do more and more…and it was so sweet. “I don’t know what to say…”
“Why do you have to say anything?” He moved to the couch and took a seat.
I forgot who I was dealing with, a man who didn’t operate with normal decorum. I took the seat beside him, looking at the vase of flowers he’d brought me a few days ago. They still looked great. My apartment actually looked pretty cute when it was cleaned up.
He rested his hands together on his knees, sitting perfectly straight.
My legs were crossed, and I didn’t know what to say. He normally just dropped me off and left, but now he lingered, like he wasn’t in a hurry to return home. “I had a really great time tonight. It’s nice to get out once in a while…”
He turned to me.
“I’m usually working at dinner functions, but this time, I didn’t have to.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed my company.”
“I always enjoy your company,” I blurted, not thinking twice about it.
He continued to stare at me.
I was a smart woman who was always honest with myself, but I knew I was telling myself a big fat lie every single day. After Jake, I thought I’d learned my lesson, but Deacon crept in slowly, gently getting under my skin until his large hand was wrapped around my heart. Every time he left, I missed him. And every time I saw him again, I was so happy. But I pushed those thoughts away, pretended they were platonic, pretended they didn’t exist at all.
I pretended he wasn’t the sexiest man I’d ever seen.
He faced forward again. “I know I’ll never repay you for what you did, but I hope it’s a start.”
“You’ve done more than enough. And I’m so glad we’re making progress with Valerie. I feel like Derek is my own friend. I can’t wait to see him again.”
He rose to his feet and moved to the door.
I joined him, knowing it was time for him to go. “You know, I think we should invite Valerie to visit New York for a week. If she has a good experience, especially with both of you, she might be more inclined to move.”
His expression dropped, like he didn’t like that idea. “I want to spend time with my son—not her.”
“I know…but I think that’s how it’ll have to be. You’re asking her to uproot her life. You need to show her how it could be. And it’s good for Derek to see his parents get along, to show him how to handle difficult situations with maturity, how a man treats the mother of his child even if he doesn’t love her.” I had no right to give him advice or tell him what to do, but I wanted to help him make this work, to get Derek here.
He released a quiet sigh. “You’re right.”
“You want me to talk to her? Or do you think your relationship is stable enough for you to handle it?”
“I’d prefer it if you spoke to her. I have to force myself to be polite when I don’t want to be. I’ll always care about her since she gave me Derek, since she’s the reason I have him at all, but the rest of me loathes her.”
I knew he had every right to feel that way.
“But I know I have to do it, because I’m the only one that can improve the relationship.”
“I’m sorry, Deacon. But eventually, it’ll get easier. She’ll move on with someone else, and then transferring Derek back and forth will become habit.”
He nodded before he opened the door and stepped into the hallway. “Goodnight, Cleo.” He stood in front of me, his hands by his sides. He didn’t hug me goodbye, not like he had at the cabin. He was far more open with me, far more vulnerable, but he still didn’t touch me often.
“Goodnight, Deacon.”
He continued to stare at me, like he had something else on his mind.
I waited, my hand on the door.
“You look beautiful in that dress.” He let his eyes linger a little while before he turned and walked off.
I sighed as I watched h
im go, watching his strong body shift and move his clothes as he walked, watched his tight ass in his slacks. When he got into the elevator, I quickly shut the door so he wouldn’t know I’d been staring.
And thankfully, he probably wouldn’t figure it out.
Matt stepped into the office and took a seat at the desk next to mine. “Deacon Hamilton really likes you, doesn’t he?” He turned in his chair to face me, his ankles crossed as he leaned back.
“He’s just really generous.” I continued to type my email.
“When he first walked in here, he was a super dick. But you turned that around.”
“He wasn’t a dick.”
He stared at me.
“Alright…” I turned in my chair. “He was kinda dick-ish.”
“But you changed his tune, like all the others.”
I was just patient and competent. I won over all my clients—given enough time. These people were used to being waited on. They weren’t easily impressed. But I became essential to them eventually. “He’s just different from most people. Takes a while to understand him.”
“And now you have free maid service. That’s pretty cool.”
It was fucking life-changing. My laundry didn’t pile up, the dishes were done and put away every week, there were clean sheets on my bed, and all my stuff was organized. And my bathroom, which hadn’t been cleaned in forever, was spotless—that was the best part. “Yeah, it’s really nice…”
“I need to step it up with the clients,” he said with a chuckle. “I get tips every now and then, twenty or thirty bucks. But nothing that nice.”
Deacon was the only client who’d even considered doing something nice for me. The others took me for granted. Then they moved out and realized I couldn’t continue to help them since my contract only pertained to residents of the Trinity Building. If I ever broke it, I could be sued for a shit-ton of money.
Anna came to the desk and set a package on the counter. “This came for 32C. Should we drop it off now or wait until tomorrow?”
I turned the box around so I could see the sender, to make sure it wasn’t important. It seemed to be from his office, and it weighed a lot, like it was paperwork. “I’ll take it to him now.” I grabbed my phone and texted Deacon. I’m coming by to drop something off.
The Man Who Has No Heart (Soulless Book 2) Page 3