Page 25 of Only Ever You

The snort that comes from her is baffling, and she pulls away, her hand over her eyes as she laughs. “Oh, he takes very good care of me.”

“Damn it, Pippa. I care. Okay?”

She stops laughing, the expression in her eyes softening as she gazes at me. “It might not seem like it right now, but I appreciate you looking out for me.”

I grab hold of her hand. “Always.”

The gentle smile she gives me makes my heart pound. What is wrong with me?

“I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea at lunch, Deacon. I just thought if I spend time with your team that it might help me understand some of the things I have to work with. Simone said she did it.”

Ugh. Her words just make me feel like an even bigger bastard.

“Simone isn’t you. I don’t care who she spends time with.”

She swallows hard. “You’re jealous?”

“Yes.” There’s no point in hiding it. I am jealous. I want her attention—all of it.

Reaching up, she cups my cheek. I fight a frown—is she going to let me down hard?

“If you want me to have lunch with you instead, I’ll do it. I’d rather spend time with you anyway.”

“Really?”

She has a boyfriend.

“I’d rather spend time with you than anyone else.”

Chapter Nine

Deacon

I think I’m going mad.

I’ve pored over Pippa’s social media for the past few days—she’s on Instagram, and I’ve sent her a friend request on Facebook, and there’s no sign of a boyfriend.

There are photos from her uni days of her with groups of people, and a couple of photos where she’s with a particular guy I assume she was seeing at the time. But nothing matches what she was saying yesterday.

I’m neglecting my work, scrolling through endless photos and looking at captions.

“I’m just going for coffee,” Pippa calls. “Want one?”

“Yes, please.”

She appears in the doorway, a bright smile on her face. “I’ll see what food they have too. Be back in a minute.”

“Okay.”

After she’s gone, I study the empty doorframe for a moment. When I saw her photo on that application, I never anticipated her. While I thought it would be nice having her back in my life, I never foresaw myself having such strong feelings.

I don’t want to mess this up.

“Deacon?” Mallory walks straight into my office. “Where’s Pippa?”

“Gone for coffee.”

She drops into the seat on the other side of my desk. “I wanted to ask for her help for organising this next product launch. I know it’s not for another couple of months, but Simone helps out and an extra pair of hands would be great.”

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