Page 60 of Trust and Obey

“Oh, I told her you had a parade of women in and out of here every night.”

That got a flash of a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you would rat me out.”

Rat you out, I repeated in my own head. Because what you and I have is a dirty little secret, isn’t it?

I quickly pushed that thought away. I was being ridiculous. Even I knew that. There were many good reasons why we were keeping this fling of ours on the downlow.

“I told her that I couldn’t be bought. I really wanted to tell her to stick the money where the sun doesn’t shine, but I do have a job to think about.”

“How did she take it?”

This was the part that worried me the most. “She looked annoyed, but… not concerned. I don’t know, it was weird. She told me to tell you that she had other ways of getting what she wanted.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

I set down my fork. “Hell if I know, Deacon. She’s your ex-wife. Not mine. You tell me.”

Deacon closed his eyes, pained. Immediately, I felt bad for snapping at him. I reached across the table and took his hand in my own.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m used to seeing all sorts of drama here at the resort, but it’s never felt so personal before.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m worried about you,” I admitted. “Is there anything in your past she can dig up? Other than our relationship?”

“No,” he said simply. “There’s nothing. I live a shockingly boring life.”

I felt worse than ever. Then I really was the one flaw in Deacon’s bulletproof armor.

And he didn’t know how far deep that flaw ran.

* * *

We finished the meal in silence. Deacon had slipped into a brooding, sour mood, and I found I didn’t have it in me to bring him out of it.

I cleaned up quickly after the meal was through. Deacon walked over and sat down in a pool deck chair, staring out at the beach as if it held all the answers to life. Cautiously, I approached.

“Do you need anything else from me tonight?”

He glanced up sharply at me, and then shook his head with a rueful smile. “No, I will be good by myself tonight. Thank you, Kendall.”

No, I thought. Thank you.

It was a relief because, frankly, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hide what I was thinking if we got into bed again. More than anything else, I wanted the week with Deacon to end on a good note, and without Deacon learning who I was.

Had we been inside, I would have given him a goodnight kiss. But tonight, it felt like the foliage had eyes. So instead, I quickly made my way out.

20

DEACON

I felt like a heel by dismissing Kendall but did see his quick flash of relief. It made me feel bad. I had erupted into his life and pulled him into a whirlwind fling just to also get him wrapped up in my divorce drama.

I hated it, but it was understandable for Lauren to go after me. I was her ex, and there were a lot of dark emotions tangled up in the last few years of our relationship.

But it was unfair for her to approach Kendall, and to try to buy him off like he was a tool to be used.

It upset me more than I had any right to be.

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