Page 39 of Beautiful Broken Love

He released my chin, and it was then that I realized my pulse was swimming in my ears. My heart was hammering behind my rib cage, and his words had caused a flutter in my lower belly.

I looked from his eyes to his lips, and he mirrored my action. There was something magnetic humming between us. I hadn’t felt this in months, not since Lew, and it both allured and terrified me.

Craving touch was one thing, but feeling a connectionthispowerful was an entirely different beast.

It was then that I looked at Deke—reallylooked at him for who he was. The man behind the suit and the jewelry. The man without the uniform, the round leather ball in his hands, or the cameras in his face.

The fountain transitioned from orange to purple and bathed the profile of his face. There was a light scruff on his jawline and around his mouth. His lips were sculpted, with a cute bow on the upper lip, and with them pressed like that, his dimples made a faint appearance. He smelled good, like expensive mahogany cologne with a hint of cocoa butter.

But it was his eyes that caught me most. Deep with understanding. Soft, but with a sharp awareness of something he recognized. Something he personally understood.

And that’s when it hit me.

I wasn’t the only person by the fountain who was grieving. He was too. That’s why he cared. That’s why he came to find me.

Who had he lost?

Who was he grieving?

As if he’d read my mind and didn’t like the idea of me finding out his secrets, Deke’s throat bobbed, and he pulled his fingers away. “I, uh ... I’ll go get you some water if you want.”

“Sure,” I whispered. “Actually, wait. I’ll come with you. I should clean myself up and get back to the party before other people notice I’m missing.”

Deke provided me that warm smile again as I stood and wiped my butt off. I was glad I hadn’t sat in goose shit.

We walked side by side, but neither of us was in a hurry. The venue was within sight when we went up a grassy hill, and a few people from the party stood in front of the building, chatting or laughing.

“For what it’s worth,” I said when Deke dropped his head to look down at me, “I think you’re smart, funny, and authentic too. Despite the big gold chains and icy diamond earrings.”

At that, he put on a boyish smile. “That’s a compliment, coming from you, D.”

“Are you blushing?” I asked, grinning up at him.

“Nah. I’m not blushing,” he countered quickly.

“Yes, you are! Aww! I made you blush!” I lightly bumped into him from the side.

He bumped me back, and when we reached the doors of the building, he pressed a hand on the area between my shoulder blades and slowly dragged it down to the small of my back. That hand caught mecompletelyoff guard and seared through my satin gown as he let me walk in ahead of him.

A thought struck me, fleeting and intrusive. I wanted his hand to go lower—to see what it felt like to have that large palm of his grip my ass. It’d been a long time since I was held.

Clutched.

Gripped.

Oh my goodness. No. What is wrong with me?

When Deke pulled his hand away and took that hot touch with him, he lowered his lips to my ear and murmured, “Look who’s blushing now.”

TWENTY

From: Deke Bishop

To: Davina Klein-Roberts

You up?

From: Davina Klein-Roberts

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