Fifteen
Deacon watched his friend disappear inside the house with Addy. Lucky bastard.
A shuttlecock beamed him in the head. “Hey.” He glanced over at Little Dee, as he’d taken to calling the boy. So cute, that kid. And smart. He babbled a lot, but he seemed like he was takingeverything in. Future intelligence man.That’s my kid.
Deacon felt foolish thinking of the boy as his. The likelihood he’d knocked up a woman and hadn’t known it? No way. He was human, but like the others, he was cautious. That and he was almost positive he was sterile. Abuse suffered as a boy had rendered him unable to have children. Or so a doctor had told him in his teens. Consideringwhere he’d come from and the things he’d seen, he hadn’t thought that would be a problem.
But seeing Little Dee, watching Ice thaw out and grow to love a woman, it gave a guy thoughts. He glanced at Solene, wearing her yoga pants and a trendy girly sweatshirt that did nothing to hide her curves.
Friggin’ ex-model. Leave it to Noel to find the perfect woman to mess up Deacon’s lovelife. He had no problem screwing on the move, screwing while not moving, or doing more than one woman at a time. Deacon enjoyed sex in a multitude of ways.
Sex was fun. Lighthearted. Dangerous. Raunchy. But the women never made him want to stick around after. None of them did.
Yet he found himself intrigued by the man-hating Solene Hansen. She had an ass and rack that didn’t quit,that was obvious. She also had a face that sure as shit had graced magazine covers and a body that made bikini ads seem indecent.
The moment he’d met her he’d checked her out online.Damn.Talk about Ice. She was like a female Noel, but sexy and feminine instead of deadly.
Another shuttlecock beamed him in the head. “Damn it.”
“Quit staring at my ass and play, Shaw.”
Deacon glared at her. She stuck out her tongue at him.
He grinned. “Is that an invitation?”
“You see?” she said to Vi, the striking nurse and possible Business plant Big Joe had sent to help Noel. “He’s impossible.”
Vi nodded and held the racket between her knees while she adjusted her long black ponytail. She looked Latina, dark hair, dark skin, dark eyes. She also had a finefigure Hammer couldn’t seem to tear his gaze from, and muscle from dealing with the dead-weight of her many patients.
“Try dealing with that giant.” She motioned toward Hammer, who tried to look innocent and failed miserably.
“What? What did I do?”
“Please.” Vi huffed. “You’re constantly rifling through my things, checking on me every five seconds, and I swear I’m missingone of my bras.”
Hammer scowled. “Hey now. I’m just making sure you are who you say you are. You got a bra problem, talk to Deacon. He’s got the underwear fetish. Not me.”
Solene raised a brow. “Is that so?”
Deacon wanted to pound his friend. “Not true.” Not exactly. He had a thing for a fine woman in lingerie, and Hammer had seen him checking out an old ad of Solene modelingsome lacy stuff.
He’d gotten hard just from an ad in a magazine. Pathetic, and a telling fact he needed to get laid again. Maybe he’d call on Julie from the grocery store. She’d been cute and petite, nice. The total opposite of Solene. And she’d been more than willing.
“If you’re missing a bra, try the dryer. Noel’s machines eat clothes. I’m missing half of my socks.”
“Youdo laundry?” Solene asked she sent that stupid birdie soaring over the net.
He forced a grin and returned the volley. Deacon liked the setup Noel had. A fine house, big ass yard, people over hanging out. It was so normal and family-like. So not resembling anything Deacon had grown up with. At thirty-two, he was over having a hellish childhood. Except his teen years had been spent learninghow to kill, to gather information, to seduce a woman into telling him anything he wanted to know. No wonder he had a fucked-up social life. He could pretend all day long, but he had never felt true affection or love for a woman.
Not the way Noel and Addy clearly felt about each other. It made him feel good to see his new buddy, a guy as fucked up as Deacon, find someone to love. Normalcywas possible. Noel was proof.
Except Noel was a decent guy. He didn’t steal more than a life here or there. Deacon stole dreams. He stole hopes. And he sold them to whoever Big Joe told him to.
The birdie flew back and forth a few more times before it landed between the girls. He and Hammer finally won a round, though it was too late to do them any good. The ladies declared the menlame with a capital L, and themselves the victors. Game over.
Deacon grabbed a sleepy-looking Little Dee and carried him inside. He tucked him in his crib, turned on the monitor and dragged its twin outside with him, hoping he wouldn’t pick up any groans and moans through Noel’s adjoining bedroom wall.
He set the monitor down and waited while Hammer lit the grill on the outside patio.Totally killer house, Noel.
