Page 49 of Only Ever You

“Nervous?” he asks.

“This is a bit much.”

“You’re my girl, and I’m showing you off.” He brushes his lips on my temple. “Don’t you forget that. I’ll be by your side the whole night because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

I love you.

I’m so close to saying it, but I bite it down instead and nod.

“Deacon.”

I’m not intimidated at all.

That’s the chant that goes on in my head as a blonde amazon walks toward us. She’s flawless, her face perfectly made up, leaving me self-conscious about my own efforts.

Her gaze is fixed firmly on Deacon, but his hand on my waist doesn’t move an inch as she approaches.

It must take a lot of skill to completely ignore me—her eyes don’t move from Deacon’s face. But as if sensing my discomfort, his grip tightens and instead of greeting her, he buries his face in my neck and plants a kiss on my skin.

“Pippa, this is Adeline. She’s the face of Infinity Drinks products.”

I nod. I have seen her in the advertising before, but if anything, she’s even more beautiful in real life.

Her eyelashes flutter as if she’s fighting her distaste. That’s all it takes for me to completely change my opinion. There’s an inner ugly there that she’s trying hard not to let surface.

“Nice to meet you.” I smile as if my stomach isn’t doing backflips.

“You too,” she says before her eyes flick back to Deacon and a sly smile appears on her face. “Dance later?”

Deacon shakes his head. “All my dances are taken by this beautiful lady.”

The smile disappears, and her eyes flash with anger before she turns and stalks away.

“That made me popular,” I mutter.

“I don’t care what she thinks.” Deacon gives my hip a squeeze. “There’s only one woman in this room whose opinion matters to me.”

My heart warms and I lean my head against his.

He kisses my temple before grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

After leading me toward a tall, blond man in a tux, he lets go of me long enough to extend his hand. “Jacob Preston. It’s good to see you, man.”

Jacob grins. “Deacon. It’s been a while. I don’t even think you were at the last launch.”

Deacon shakes his head, and I raise my gaze to meet Jacob’s.

“Jacob, this is my girlfriend, Pippa Chapman.”

His eyebrows rise. “Girlfriend? Someone actually tamed you?”

I laugh, and Deacon chuckles.

“Very much so. And I’ve never been so happy.”

I lean on his shoulder at his words. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life with him, but we’re usually so busy losing ourselves in each other that we don’t talk about it.

“I’m happy for you.” Jacob fixes his gaze on me. “What do you do, Pippa?”

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