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Deacon held up his hands. “Look, I don’t know what vibes I’m sending out, but I’m not gay. And if you come any closer, I’m going to have to prove it with my fist.”
Samuel smiled, the first smile Deacon had ever seen on the man, and before Deacon could stop him, Samuel gave him a stiff hug followed by a peck on each cheek. “Thank you for being the kind of man I hoped you were.”
Feeling uncomfortable and more than a little confused, Deacon only nodded before he left the office. Since Samuel seemed to have things under control in the design studio, he headed back to his office. He had a few more details to finish up before he called it a night. Seeing the light beneath Jason’s door, he stopped and peeked his head in.
Kelly was on the desk with her legs wrapped around Jason as he kissed her. Deacon might’ve ducked out before he was spotted if Kelly hadn’t chosen that moment to break the kiss and glance over Jason’s shoulder. “Oh! Mr. Beaumont.”
Jason whirled around, then smiled sheepishly. “Hi, Deacon. We thought you were down in the design studio.”
Deacon nodded. “Yeah, well, I’ll just let you get back to…”
“We weren’t having sex.” Kelly got off the desk and smoothed down her skirt. A professional skirt in a nice somber gray. Although her belt was hot pink with a rhinestone cat buckle that made Deacon smile. He was glad Kelly hadn’t lost all of her style. “Jason and I have decided to wait until we’re married to have sex.”
“Married?” Deacon glanced at Jason, who only shrugged.
“She asked me on the Jumbotron at AT&T Park. How does a guy say no to that?”
Deacon laughed and walked in to shake his hand and give Kelly a quick hug. “Congratulations. When’s the wedding?”
“Not until next summer.” Kelly grinned from ear to ear. “We’re thinking about having the ceremony performed at home plate during the seventh-inning stretch. I know you’re leaving, but you’ll come back, right? If you hadn’t declined the Giants tickets, we never would’ve figured out that we could stomach each other.”
“I’d love to attend,” he said, even though it was doubtful that he would return for the baseball wedding. Olivia would be there, and Deacon didn’t think he could survive seeing her again. The night several weeks before had been bad enough. Everything inside him had ached at the sight of her. He’d wanted to touch her, to hold her, to absorb every inch of her into his body. All she had done was look at him as if he were crazy. And maybe he had been a little crazy at the sight of another man touching her. He still couldn’t figure out what she’d been doing with the trench coat guy. But she had made it perfectly clear that it was none of his business.
“Well, I better get back to my office,” he said. “I have a few things I need to finish up.” He nodded at Jason. “Thanks for being my right-hand man.”
Jason walked him out to the hallway. “I wish we could’ve found something on Anastasia.”
“After word gets around, she won’t be working as an executive in the industry she loves. That’s punishment enough.”
Jason’s eyes turned sad. “I wish you’d stay, Deacon. French Kiss needs you.”
“It doesn’t need me. It has you, Kelly, and Samuel.” He put a hand on his shoulder. “And I’m counting on you three to advise Olivia and keep her focused.”
“Yes, sir.”
Not wanting to prolong the goodbye, Deacon thumped him on the back. “You might not be good at sports, Jason, but you’re a damned good team player.” He smiled at Kelly, who stood in the doorway with tears in her big brown eyes. “And so are you, Ms. Wang.”
Once in his office, Deacon didn’t feel much like working. So he wandered over to the window and stared out at the view.
The night was as clear as a bell. The lights of the Golden Gate Bridge gleamed in the distance. He would miss this view. Miss the city. And miss French Kiss. But mostly he would miss Olivia.
“We thought we’d find you here.”
He glanced over his shoulder to see Nash entering the office, followed by Grayson.
“So I guess the fittings are over,” he said as he turned back to the window.
“Actually they’re still going on.” Nash joined him.
“And you two left?”
“I think Donny John is more than enough Beaumont for those poor models to have to deal with. He claims he’s found nirvana.” Nash looked out at the view. “And you have to wonder if he doesn’t have a point. I’ve grown kind of attached to this view…the cool weather…the hot women.”
Grayson stepped to the other side of Deacon. “It is funny how much it feels like home.”
They stood there absorbing the view until Nash finally spoke. “So you’re still leaving tomorrow?”
“Ten thirty flight.”
