Page 12 of Forever My Soldier

Chapter Five

Jenna

His eyes widesearched mine as he breathed my name and my heart skipped a beat.

“Deacon,” I responded, my own voice barely above a whisper, too.

Unmoving, I stared back at him. There he was, right before my eyes. He looked a little older, a little tired, but underneath all that there was the man who captured my heart all those years ago.

Neither one of us moved, as if we were too afraid we might wake from a dream. Finally, I cleared my throat, a nervous habit of mine, and with shaking hands, I finally accepted the lipstick he was still holding out for me. I couldn’t seem to find my voice, though, and I watched as his eyes peered down at my hands.

He suggested, “Do you want to sit down?” tilting his head to the swing bench on the patio.

I nodded my agreement and smiled to myself. So much had changed and yet that one question showed me just how much had stayed the same. Deke would forever try to calm me, be my rock.

Sitting in relative silence, except for the creaking of the old chains as we moved slowly back and forth, I just looked at him, taking all of him in—from his chiseled form to the bandage on his leg. I could feel him watching me, too, waiting, but we were trying to find our rhythm just like the swing.

To think, after all these years, all the time apart, here he was, sitting beside me as if no time had passed at all. I knew we were foolish to walk away from what we had, even if it was the right thing to do at the time, not that it made it any easier. In fact, it made it even more difficult.

I brushed my fingers along his cheek, trying to avoid the few cuts and bruises that were there and then down his strong jawline. He quirked a brow, but stayed still, letting me touch him. “It’s really you,” I said, dropping my hand to my lap, my eyes stinging with emotion.

His eyes were glued to me. “Funny, I thought the same thing.”

I stayed quiet, taking it all in, letting my emotions wash over me. It was hard to fight them anymore. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

He brushed my hair behind my ears. “I’ve missed you. Do you know how many times I thought about you after I went back?”

I shook my head.I couldn’t hear this.“Deke,” I said, all but pleading with him.

He brushed the pad of his thumb on my cheeks and wiped away the tears. I closed my eyes, remembering how good it always felt when he touched me. “What are you doing here, Jenna?” he asked.

I sniffled and chuckled. If only he knew it was because of his mom I was here right now. Instead, I answered earnestly, “It felt like the right thing to do.”

It was all in the way he was looking at me that was making my heart want to burst right out of my chest.

He nodded, his eyes searching mine for something else. “The right thing to do?” he questioned me. “That’s the only reason?” he asked expectantly, as if he knew the answer.

I nodded and then changed my mind quickly, shaking my head. I ran my hands down my thigh, looking for a distraction. “I’m just glad you’re home,” I finally said. “I’ve missed you, too.”

He tried to read me, his beautiful blue eyes looking from my eyes to my lips.Is he going to kiss me?Is it wrong if I really want him to?

I fidgeted, twisting my hands in my lap, not sure what to do with them. I really wanted to reach out and touch him again, but wouldn’t dare allow myself.

Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist. “Nice ink,” he complimented the tattoo on the inside of my wrist. “It’s new?” he asked, knowing full well it wasn’t there when we last slept together.

“In a manner of speaking,” I said, anticipating what he was thinking—something along the lines ofyou still love me.Trying to hold him off before it got worse, I added, “Don’t let it inflate your ego.”

I could tell, though, it was too late for that, so I pushed away from him and stood.

His expression changed and he gave me a cocky grin. “Hey, you’re the one who got a tattoo of a tiara.”

I snickered. “I like tiaras, so what?”

“Bullshit.”

I blew outwardly. “Leave it to you to think that after you left I got a tattoo as a reminder of what we once had.”Of the nickname you once gave me was what I really wanted to say. Because it was true, that was why I got it.

He wiped a hand down his face and exhaled. “I didn’t say all that, you did, and clearly it’s true.”

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