Page 93 of When You Saved Me

It was the life I’d always wanted. Parts of it illuminating things I didn’t even know were possible. Like having a partner who shared in my passion of creating and how important it was to have someone who understood me in that way.

Sliding my hand into the back pocket of Deacon’s jeans, I leaned into him. “I still can’t believe we did all of this in four months.”

“I know. I’m pretty sure I slept more when I was deployed than I have since we leased this place.”

I peeked up at him, in complete awe of how much he’d come out of his shell since the accident.

We didn’t talk about his demons often. Doing so didn’t feel as necessary as it had before because he’d come into the light on his own. But when he did share little things with me, like he just did, it meant a lot. Understanding the weight of his past was something I’d had to grow into as well. Knowing when to push and ask more questions and when he just needed me to listen or give him his space.

“What?” he asked when he realized I was staring at him.

I shrugged. “Just thinking about how beautiful you are.”

He whirled me into a spin before hugging me close to his chest. “Beautiful huh?”

“Yup,” I snickered.

“Hm. Well, just don’t go telling the guys that you think I’m beautiful. They’ll give me hell for days.”

“But it’s the truth.” I curled my fingers through his dark hair.

“Can’t we go with ruggedly handsome? Or hot and smoldering?”

My chest bumped his as I laughed. “Smoldering? Isn’t that just the Rock’s thing? You know, from the newJumanjimovies.”

“Never seen them. But he doesn’t get to claim it all for himself. I can smolder too.”

“Is that right?” I pulled back, putting my hands on my hips. “Let’s see it then.”

“Okay.” Deacon took a few steps back and rounded hisshoulders. Twisting his neck, he turned his head away from me so I couldn’t see what face he was making.

Clapping my hands, I did a little count down for him. “Three! Two! One!”

With another twist of his neck, he swung his face toward me. His eyes were narrowed into slits, with his right eyebrow arched high. But what had me bursting out laughing was the way he pushed his lips out, giving old school influencer duck lips vibes.

“Oh my god!” I bent over, hands on my knees, barely able to catch my breath from the laughter. “Never make that face again.”

He threw his hands in the air. “Was it not smoldering enough for you?!”

Straightening, I placed a hand on my aching belly as I gasped for a breath. “Let me just say that if you ever do that in front of the guys, they will disown you. Honestly…if you ever do that again, I might disown you too.”

“You would never,” he husked as he strode toward me.

I squealed as he caught me in his arms and leaned back until my feet were off the ground. “You love me too much.”

I chuckled. “That might be true.”

Setting my feet back on the ground, his hand wove into my hair. A frenzy of butterflies swarmed my stomach as his thumb grazed over my bottom lip. “Your laughter is still my favorite sound in the world.”

“And yours is mine,” I breathed against his lips before he kissed me. Sparks jutted through my body all the way downto my toes. The kiss was tender and sweet, a reminder of the love we shared.

It was just one version of us though.

I knew what happened behind closed doors. Just the thought of it had my toes curling in my boots. We were an ombré of colors on a canvas. The bright white light of love that transcended into a beautifully sensual darkness. WithhimI got to be everything I needed to be.

As our lips parted the alarm on my cell phone rang. Taking it out of my back pocket, I showed the reminder on the screen to Deacon.

“Only thirty minutes until everyone arrives. EEK! I’m so nervous now!”

---