Deacon: A BWWM Billionaire Romance by Paige Notaro Page B

the dim yellow living room light, it was almost a perfect evening again. The only thing that could have made it better was Antoine cleverly undercutting my every word as he texted someone on Grindr.
    Maybe I should join one of those apps. After a while though. Right now, it was still hard to compare anyone to Deacon. I'd have to wean myself off him like a drug, patiently and persistently.
    Next week, I’d be off in Abu Dhabi, talking to the solar company on-site. I should be dreaming about the travel, the amazing opportunity for my resume. Instead, it made me nervous.
    Because travel meant I’d have to see Deacon Stone again. And over there, I’d be in a strange place, away from everything I knew.
    And just like in Chicago, I might be confused enough to do the wrong thing about it.
    ****
    Friday afternoon came and it looked like I might get out early. I double checked my initial report for the solar company’s financials along with the dozens of questions I planned to get answered on site.
    My team leader, Leo, had been a little slackjawed at the afternoon meeting when I presented. Even Trey had been taking notes. He might have thought this project was pointless, but that was just because he wasn’t skeptical enough to ask the right questions.
    The memory brought me a dozen fresh smiles through the day. It was a soaring feeling knowing you had something special in you. No one could take that away from me. It made all my other problems trivial.
    Mira just needed to find a part time job like every other artist. I had helped her fill out a few forms for coffee places. She had the perfect vibe for it.
    As for my mother’s new number? That’d be easy enough to block.
    And Deacon…well, maybe he’d leave me alone once we got over there, too. I could handle a couple stray looks if they came from the far end of a conference table.
    Sooner or later I’d stop having those embarrassing dreams about him. They were fantasies, nothing more. A thirty second talk with him would be enough to remind me just who he was.
    Trey rapped on the door outside. I knew his energetic cadence by now. Maybe he was here to praise me again for my meeting performance.
    “Come in,” I said.
    The door brushed open, but it wasn’t an NBA player that stood in the gap. It was the big, rough form of a Texas billionaire.
    It’d been so long. I saw that chiseled face, the sharp gray eyes, those arms that nearly bust the seams of his suit as if for the first time. Words escaped me.
    Deacon wore a teasing smile.
    “Have a good week, darlin’?” he asked.
    “Yes,” I said, softly.
    All my anger was gone. Stupid meeting. I was feeling too good.
    “Great.” He brushed into the room like a hot wind. His pine and earth scent sank all over me. “Sorry, I couldn’t be there for your presentation. I was in Norway all week talking with some boring old oil guys. Shoot me if I ever have to talk to a Scandinavian again.”
    He stood at the side of my desk, gazing out the tall wide window. Power wafted off him. I had never truly seen him in his habitat, but the effect was grander than I could have anticipated. It was almost gravitational. I dug my feet against the carpet to keep my chair from rolling his way.
    To keep me from rolling over.
    The thought lit my fuse. “I told you not to come near me,” I said. “That was our deal.”
    “Deal?” He chuckled. “Darlin', we never shook hands. Heck, we didn’t even have an oral agreement. And it just so happens that this is my building you’re in.”
    He winked. I swung my chair away, keeping my face out of sight. Maybe it looked like a power move. Inside, I was trembling.
    “I can’t work with you standing over me,” I said.
    “Under then? I’m ok with any position.”
    “I’d prefer no positions.”
    “Well, that’s too bad,” he said. “Cause you work for me now. And next week we’re going to the Middle East together. You and me and your team, one big happy family. You decide how you want to