Page 53 of Only Ever You

“Always.”

Deacon nuzzles my cheek. “What’s going on?”

Chapter Sixteen

Deacon

Pippa doesn’t engage. She stays nestled in my arms, but she’s quiet.

What the hell happened?

I take a deep breath in her hair.

“Did you just sniff me?” she asks.

“Guilty.”

She laughs, but it’s not a real Pippa laugh. It’s half-hearted and it worries me. “What did they do?”

She says nothing, and I turn her around to face me. There’s a smile on her lips that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m fine, Deacon.”

I shake my head. “No. Mallory said she thought something happened in the bathroom, and just then you two were deep in it, so I want to know.”

Pippa shrugs. “Adeline was complaining that I’m in the way of her hooking up with you. She’s not sure who I am, so she … said some stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“That you’ll dump me, so why delay the inevitable.”

I grit my teeth. All this time I’ve known Adeline’s been interested, but my image is very different to the real me. While I haven’t had any serious relationships—not since before college—I’m also not big on anything casual. Hook-ups have been few and far between.

And I’ve never been interested in her. I didn’t choose her as the model to represent our company, and she’s just not a nice person.

The way she’s treated Pippa? That’s the last straw for me. I’ll be talking to Garrett, Victor, and Mallory about moving on from her once we get this launch out of the way.

I grab Pippa’s hand. “Come with me.”

Her eyes widen, but she follows me, moving fast-paced to keep up with my long strides. We walk out of the conference room and into another, empty one where I close the doors. The muffled sounds from next door carry through, but here I can be alone with her, even for a moment.

With my hand still in hers, I turn and press her against the wall. Her eyes widen.

“Do you remember when I told you I was addicted to your pussy?”

She gulps and nods, uncertainty in her eyes.

It kills me it’s there. I want her to know in no uncertain terms how much she means to me. “I’m addicted to you, Pippa. Obsessed with you. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I want to drown in you.”

She blinks rapidly.

“You’re all I think about whether we’re together or not. You occupy my thoughts. You occupy my dreams. You’re in every single moment, and I am never, ever going to get enough.”

“Deacon,” she whispers.

“Don’t you ever let anyone make you feel like you’re not good enough. You are perfect, and I love you.”

“You love me?”

“With everything that I am, sweetheart.”

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