“Why don’t you just block him?”
“I can't block him,” she immediately responded before she tilted her head. “Wait, can I?”
“What are the reasons you can’t block him?”
“I was going to say in case there are any issues with Blake, but she’s in California with her dad. I should take him off my Find My Friends, too,” she said, he wasn’t sure if it was to herself or to him.
“That’s how he knew you were at the bar?”
She nodded as her screen lit up again and she turned around so he could see it.
“And he knows I’m here, He texted,Of course, you’re at The St. Claire?—”
“Block him,” Deacon cut her off.
The last thing he needed tonight was her ex revealing his identity. She smiled and tapped a few times on her screen. When she set her phone down, she took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded as his phone rang. He wanted to ignore it, but couldn’t. It was Mikayla Parsons. She had been his father’s right-hand for the past few years. She didn’t callfor no reason, which is why her phone number was one of the few programmed to ring through.
“I’m sorry, I have to take this.”
“Yeah, no worries.”
He stood and walked to the office as he answered the phone. Out of habit, he started off by saying his normal greeting but stopped himself midway. "This is De…Hello.”
He didn’t know why he was being so secretive about who he was. It’s not like he was Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne and she was going to find out he was Batman or Superman. All that was going to happen was that she would know a lot of information about him he had zero control over. And probably have an opinion about him attached to that information. Tomorrow, he would tell her who he was. Tonight, however, there was magic in the air, and he didn’t want to spoil it.
Ormaybe it wasn’t even about her. Maybe he was just being selfish. Maybe he just wanted one night where he wasn’t Deacon St. Claire.
Jenna sat trying not to eavesdrop on his conversation but failing miserably. She couldn’t help it. Whoever D was speaking to, he wasdefinitelythe boss, not that that was surprising. Hearing his air of authority just did something for her.
In every aspect of her life, all her life, she’d always been in charge. She learned how to forge her mom’s signature so she could start kindergarten. Her mom had been going through a particularly rough patch and it was that or not go to school. Thankfully, or not—she wasn’t sure which side she fell on—she had a very high IQ.
Jenna’s teachers tested and recommended her for gifted programs, but her mom refused to let her participate in them because she felt it would stunt her in social areas, or in her words, she didn’t want her hanging out with nerds. She was seven. And by that age she was making sure bills were paid on time, so the electricity didn’t get shut off and they didn’t get evicted. Hanging out with nerds sounded amazing to her.
Having someone take charge had always been a turn-on to her, which was why it was so frustrating when James wanted things so vanilla in the bedroom. She wanted him to tell her what to do. Asked him to. Repeatedly. But he said it was demeaning and he respected her too much. How? If that’s whatshewanted. And she’d told Bree. She’d confided in her about their issues.
She wondered if they’d laughed behind her back.
No. She was not going to think about them tonight. Not when she was in this insane penthouse with the hottest man alive and the best food, with Kardashian-style clothes and lingerie. In fact, the jeans were Khloe’s brand.
Why would she think about her cheating ex and backstabbing bestie when she could listen to a man who she just knew had no issues taking charge in the bedroom, making it very clear why a deal was not going to happen? Apparently, D didn’t appreciate whoever the other party was going back on their word about some small detail in the amended contract. She could only hear his side of the conversation.
“I don’t care if it’s pennies on a billion dollar deal. If they’ll lie about that, what else will they lie about? We’re walking away. I don’t tie myself in contracts with liars.”
Fuck, why was that such a turn on? As a business owner herself, integrity in business was something sheknew was much rarer than you would think and something she placed high value on.
She heard him laugh, and the sound filled the space like a warm hug. It was comforting and enveloping.
“Well, then if it’s just us in this business, I hope you won’t get sick of me.”
Aw, that actually sounded sweet. He was a nice boss, too. Was this guy actually rich and kind and a hot, single dad? No, that’s impossible. There had to besomethingseriously wrong with him. She’d met his friend, that guy seemed okay. But that was for two seconds.
Why did it even matter? This is what she always did. She always got ahead of herself. Case in point: she’d only had sex with two men, both of whom she married.
“Sorry about that.” D’s deep voice sounded beside her, and she jumped up about an inch off of her seat and screamed a little in start.
