by Marie Force
“Katie is all over it. She’s got me appointments with Victoria at the clinic and Kevin McCarthy. She wouldn’t leave on her trip until I agreed to both.”
Sarah smiled at that. “Good for her. I love the way you kids look out for each other.”
“I wish everyone paid a little less attention to me.”
“We worry.”
“I know, and I realize it’s because I’ve given you reason to in the past. But it’s under control. I promise.” She’d been doing really well in maintaining her health until everything with Mike happened. That was another reason to treat the risk of another relationship like the potential grenade that it was. When things went sideways emotionally, her physical health suffered, too.
“I’m always here if you need me. I hope you know that.”
“I do. Thank you. Now get out of here and go be with your husband.” Julia hugged her mom. “Thanks for coming to check on me.”
“I love you, and all I want is your health and happiness.”
“I’m working on both.”
Sarah kissed her cheek and got up to leave. “I’ll check in tomorrow.”
“You’re on your honeymoon.”
“I’ll still check in.”
“If you must.”
Sarah left with a wave. Long after her mother was gone, Julia thought about the things she’d said and tried to decide if she had the fortitude to risk her heart one more time.
Chapter 13
Deacon spent two hours digging into the past of the man who’d scammed Julia and learned this wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of stealing from a romantic partner. But it would be the last time.
He wanted to reach out to “Mike” directly and tell him what he thought of scumbags who preyed on women. But that would tip their hand, and he wanted to nail him. So he put through a call to the Plano Police Department and asked to speak to someone in charge of detectives.
“Lieutenant Webb.”
“Hi, my name is Deacon Taylor. I was formerly on the job in Boston. I’m calling about a situation in your area that I wanted to make you aware of.” He spent the next fifteen minutes detailing the specifics of Julia’s case and answering the lieutenant’s questions. “I did a basic search and found that this isn’t his first rodeo.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“My friend has provided photos, text messages and a detailed summary of what transpired that I’ve put together into a report that I’d like to send to you. She’s interested in filing formal charges and seeking restitution for the fifteen thousand dollars she gave him.”
Webb rattled off his email address, and Deacon sent the email he had ready to go.
“Got it. I’m going to need to hear from your friend directly that she’s interested in pressing charges.”
“I’ll have her call you today. Could I give you my number in case you have any questions?”
“Sure.”
Deacon gave him his cell number.
“I took a quick look at the report. Thanks for the legwork you did. That’ll make things easier for us.”
“I want him nailed. My friend gave him money she didn’t have to lose, and the whole time he was romancing her, he was planning to con her. That’s not okay.”
“Agreed. I’ll have our officers pick him up and bring him in for a chat.”
“Excellent. Keep us posted?”
“Will do.”
Elated after the conversation with the detective, Deacon showered, soaked his bloody dress shirt in the bathroom sink the way Julia had told him to and changed into clean clothes before leaving to return to the hotel to update her. Yes, he could’ve called her, but he wanted to see her and be there when she heard the news that the police had taken the complaint seriously and would be bringing her ex in for a formal conversation. He hoped that scared the living shit out of the son of a bitch.
He walked through town, noting the sun heading for the horizon, promising a spectacular sunset. Deacon went up the stairs to the Sand & Surf Hotel, Julia’s mom was coming out the main door. She smiled when she saw him. “Were your ears ringing? I was just talking about you.”
“All good, I hope.”
“Of course. I was telling Julia what a nice young man you seem to be and how she’d be silly to write you off because of what others have done.”
Deacon laughed at her moxie. “How much do I owe you for pleading my case?”
“My services are free of charge to anyone with the last name of Taylor.”
“I appreciate the family discount.”
“Don’t disappoint me, Deacon. My little girl has been through so much. More than you can imagine. I’m not sure she could withstand another big hurt.”
He looked her dead in the eye, because he knew it would matter to her. “You have my word that I’ll never hurt her intentionally.”
Sarah surprised him when she went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
As Deacon approached the front door to the hotel, he put his hand on the doorknob and stopped for a second, realizing that if he walked through that door, went up the stairs to her room and allowed this, whatever it was, to continue, he would be committing to something far bigger than anything he’d been involved in before.
He’d gone out of his way, his entire adult life, to avoid the kind of entanglements this thing with Julia promised to be. He’d never wanted to be tied down or committed or obligated to someone else.
The day after meeting Julia Lawry, he already knew she was special. Everything about this with her was unlike anything he’d experienced with a woman before. And he wanted more. Much, much more.
That final thought had him opening the door, nodding to the young woman working at the desk and charging up the stairs to the third floor. Feeling breathless, and not just from climbing the stairs, he knocked on her door and waited like a teenager about to see his first real girlfriend.
When she opened the door with towels wrapped around her body and hair, his mouth went dry and every word in his vocabulary seemed to desert him, except for one.
Want.
Julia felt her face flush—hell, her whole body flushed—with embarrassment when she found Deacon standing outside her door. She’d expected to find one of her family members when she’d opened the door in a towel.
The way he looked at her…
Her heart pounded and her blood felt warmer as it coursed through her veins. He’d showered and changed and looked gorgeous with his messy damp hair, as if he’d used his fingers to comb it.
Julia had no idea how long they stood there staring at each other, but in those charged moments, everything changed for her. Her man diet might never have happened for the way she wanted this man. “I, um, give me a minute to get dressed.”
“Don’t get dressed on my account.”
She released a nervous laugh. “Well, the vet called. Puppy is doing so well that I can pick him up any time, but I probably shouldn’t go there dressed in a towel.”
“Probably not, but let me just say for the record, you’re rocking that towel.”
With other guys, Julia would’ve chalked the comment up to predictable male bullshit. With Deacon, she felt complimented rather than objectified. She wasn’t sure how he managed to pull that off.
“I’ve got big news.”
She went into the bathroom where she’d put her clothes and left the door ajar while she quickly got dressed. “What kind of big news?”
“The kind where your local cops are bringing in your buddy Mike for a chat.”
Julia pulled a T-shirt over her head and went to the door, not caring that her hair was a wet mess around her head. “Seriously?”
“Dead serious. I talked to one of the detective lieutenants, and he said they’d get right on it. I also found that Mike has done this before, so the pattern helped to convince the police that they need to act sooner rather than later.”
“He’s done it before.” Hearing that, Julia felt numb. Of course he had. “How do you kno
w?”
“I did a search for him and found a previous complaint had been lodged against him.”
“What kind of search? Like a police thing?”
“No, I found it through a basic online search.”
“So that info would’ve been available to me if I’d taken the time to look for it.”
He came over to her, put his hands on her shoulders and gazed at her with golden-brown eyes gone warm with compassion. “It’s a lesson learned, Julia. There’s no sense beating yourself up for what you should’ve done. You cared about the guy. You thought he cared about you. I hope you never lose the impulse to help others, no matter what it might cost you personally. That’s a very rare thing. Don’t let him take it away from you.”
“I feel so stupid.”
He drew her into his embrace and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t feel stupid. You’re a kind, generous person who encountered an asshole. That’s not your fault.”
Julia burrowed into him, breathing in the rich, clean scent of him and absorbing the warmth that came off him in waves.
“You’re a good person who had the misfortune of caring for someone who didn’t deserve you. That’s the only so-called mistake you made. He’s the one who did this, not you. And hopefully, he’s going to pay for it in more ways than one.”
“Is it petty to wish I could see his face when they arrest him?”
“Not petty at all. I don’t know him at all, but I’d like to see it, too.”
Julia pulled back from him, just enough so she could look up at him. “Thank you. I never would’ve gone after him or the money if you hadn’t helped me.”
“It was my pleasure. One of my favorite things is seeing bullies get what’s coming to them.”
The fierce expression that accompanied his fierce words had her disregarding her plans to keep her distance from all men. She couldn’t keep her distance from this man, and if she was wrong about him… Well, she’d have to deal with that when it happened. Right now, with the encouragement of her mother, grandmother and sister, she felt confident stepping off a cliff into the unknown. She flattened her hands on his chest and slid them up around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair as she licked her lips.
“Um, Julia…”
“Yes, Deacon?”
“I… uh…”
She moved her hands to frame his face and bring him down so she could place a soft, sweet, chaste kiss on his very kissable lips. “Thank you.”
His hands found her hips in a light but possessive grip. “I’m happy to help you.”
“I’m happy to have met you.”
“You… You’re on a man diet. We shouldn’t…”
“I think we should.”
“You do? Really?”
“Uh-huh.” Hearing that he’d succeeded in getting the cops to go after Mike on her behalf had replaced the vat of bitterness inside her with something new and fragile and hopeful. It’d been a very long time since someone had stepped up for her the way he had, and she’d known him for only two days. She gazed up at him, hoping he would take the hint that she wanted him to kiss her.
He took the hint, shifting his hands from her hips to her face, cradling it like he was holding something special. Then he tipped his head, and keeping his eyes open and fixed on hers, he kissed her with a tenderness that made her knees go weak. She, who had been kissing boys since she was fourteen, had never been kissed quite like this, as if she was precious to him. She’d never been precious to anyone.
But how was it possible that she could be precious to Deacon? They barely knew each other. No, that wasn’t true. He’d shown her who he really was from the first minute they met, and nothing she’d seen since then had changed that first impression. And now that she knew how it felt to be kissed by him, she couldn’t wait to do it again.
Deacon cleared his throat. “We, uh, we need to go get the pup.”
“I know.”
Standing there in her tiny room, with their arms wrapped around each other, neither of them was in any rush to end this hypercharged moment in which everything between them had changed.
Deacon’s phone chimed with a text that had him reluctantly pulling back from her. “I should check that in case it’s the police in Texas. And they want you to call to give the go-ahead to press charges.”
“That’ll be my pleasure.”
Trying not to notice the obvious—and sizable—bulge in the front of his shorts, Julia took a step back from him and went looking for her hairbrush and her equilibrium. She was pulling the brush through her wet hair when she heard Deacon laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“This text from Blaine: ‘Will you PLEASE’—all capital letters—‘tell my wife that I apologized to you?’” He cracked up laughing, which was a very good look on him. “This is so awesome.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Eventually. When I get around to it.”
“That’s evil.”
“I know, and it’s the least of what he deserves for busting my balls my entire life. I need to make him suffer a little bit.”
“Sounds like he’s already done some suffering.”
“Please. One night without won’t kill him.”
“But two might.”
His evil grin made him even sexier, if that was possible. “Let’s go get your pooch.”
“He’s our pooch. You’re his daddy, whether you want to be or not.”
He took hold of her hand as they went down the stairs. “He bit me.”
“Because he was scared. You can’t hold that against him.”
“If he has rabies, I’m definitely going to hold it against him.”
“He doesn’t have rabies.”
“And you know this how?”
“A mother knows these things.”
He laughed—hard—and Julia took great pleasure in having made him laugh. They turned the corner on the landing and nearly ran into Owen, who was on his way up. He immediately zeroed in on Deacon holding her hand.
Julia’s first impulse was to pull back her hand, but she didn’t. Rather, she gave his hand a squeeze. “What’s up?” she asked her brother.
“Going up to help Laura put the wild ones down for a nap.”
“Could I come by to see them later?”
“Of course you can. You don’t have to ask first.”
“With three kids under the age of two, I do have to ask first. I’ll text you to see if it’s a good time.”
“We’ll be around. Where are you guys off to?”
“Just a quick errand. We’ll be back soon. Did the boys get off okay on the ferry?” Their brothers Jeff, Josh and John had planned to take the three o’clock boat to the mainland.
“Yep. It was great to have everyone here. You’re still hanging out for a while?”
“That’s the plan. All depends on whether I can find a job and a place to live.”
“Cindy went ahead and leased the house where Kevin McCarthy and his sons were living until Finn moved in with Chloe. I’m sure she’d appreciate the help with the rent.”
“If I get the job I’m applying for tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“Running Mac McCarthy’s construction office.”
“I can put in a word for you. He’s Laura’s cousin and a good friend.”
“That’d be great, O. Thank you.”
“Sure. I’m thrilled you might be staying. We need to hang out. Catch up.”
“I’d love that.”
He glanced at Deacon and then back at Julia, but thankfully held back the questions he clearly wanted to ask.
Julia had no doubt he’d ask his questions the next time they were alone.
“I’ll give Mac a call.”
“Thanks again. I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Sounds good.”
They parted company, with Julia and Deacon continuing down while Owen went up.
“Hey, Deacon?”
They turned back to Owen, who looke
d down at them from the next set of stairs.
“You’re holding hands with my sister.”
Julia held back a groan as she glared at Owen.
“Yes, I am.” Deacon glanced at Julia and smiled, revealing the sexy dimple. “I like her a lot.”
“She’s a big girl who can take care of herself, but she’s got a lot of people around here who love her.”
“I hear you.”
“As long as we understand each other.”
“We do.”
“Good.” Whistling a jaunty tune, Owen continued up the stairs as if he didn’t have a care in the world. These days, he probably didn’t. He had his whole life figured out and was happily married with three kids.
“I’m going to smack him,” Julia said as they took the last set of stairs to the lobby.
Deacon laughed. “Nah, it’s fine. I know how he feels. I have a younger sister, too. I’ve given my share of thinly veiled threats to guys she dated back in the day. It’s always good to let them know that people are watching.”
“I’m still going to smack him.”
Deacon chuckled and held the main door for her, releasing her hand so she could walk out ahead of him. The second they were both outside, he took hold of her hand again, smoothly, as if he’d been holding her hand for years rather than minutes. The feel of his hand wrapped around hers made her feel giddy and silly.
She was doing it again. Getting all nutty over a man she’d only just met. The pattern was so familiar to her as to be laughable. Julia pulled her hand free.
“What’s wrong?”
She crossed her arms so he couldn’t take her hand again. “Nothing.”
He stopped walking and faced her. “Why do women do that?”
“Do what?”
“Say it’s nothing when it’s clearly something.” He found her hand and gave it a gentle tug. “Why’d you let go?”
“Because I’m doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Getting giddy and silly and hopeful about a man after I told myself I wasn’t going to do that anymore.”
“Ah, I see.”
“No, you don’t. You have no idea what it’s like to never be sure who you can trust.”
“Does that go back to the fact that you couldn’t trust your own father?”