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The note wassimple and to the point, but that didn’t stop me from tucking it into a drawer as a keepsake. Then I trimmed the stems from the flowers, put them in a vase, and set them in the center of my small dining table. When that was all done, I heard the rumble of the engine from Deacon’s truck out front. I headed outside, planning to thank him for the flowers and help bring in the groceries. But I came to an abrupt stop on my doorstep when he strode over to shake hands with a guy climbing out of the driver’s seat of a four-door sedan parked behind his truck instead of walking toward me.
The guy handed him something before jogging toward another car idling in the street. When they pulled away, Deacon finally turned in my direction and flashed me a big grin. “Hey, baby.”
I returned his smile before asking, “How do you know that guy?”
“Never met him before today.” Deacon tossed a set of keys toward me, and I instinctively reached out to catch them. “He was here to drop off your car.”
I glanced at the shiny, brand spanking new car parked at the curb, my brow wrinkling in confusion. “Um, have you had any traumatic brain injuries during your time in the Navy?”
“Nope.” Deacon rubbed his palm over the top of his head. “I’ve done a damn good job at protecting my noggin. Why?”
“I’m a little worried that after driving Betsy from the hospital all the way here and then to your friends’ place, you think that car”—I pointed at the luxury vehicle that cost more than my rent for an entire year—“even remotely resembles mine beyond having four tires and a steering wheel.”
“Yeah, about that. I have some bad news.” I moved closer as he dropped the tailgate on the back of his truck. “When I stopped over at Merrick and Audrey’s place to grab my stuff, Betsy wasn’t there.”
My eyes widened. “Someone stole Betsy?”
“I’m not sure what happened to her.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “But I couldn’t leave you without a vehicle, so I called a friend whose brother owns some dealerships, and he had him send a car over for you.”
I held up my hand—the one that wasn’t holding the keys to a brand-new car—while I tried to wrap my head around what he was telling me. It took me a moment since it was a lot to take in. “Your friend’s brother sent over a Lexus for me to drive? No questions asked? Just here’s a forty-thousand-dollar car to replace the one you lost?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that model costs more than that, but there’s no way to know for sure since we’ll never see the invoice.”
The hint of color that spread across his cheeks as he grabbed his duffel and a couple of bags of groceries from the back of his truck piqued my curiosity. “Your friend’s brother sent over a car for me to use, and he’s not expecting any money for it?”
“All Cory would say was that the ES 350 model is popular with women and is one of the safest cars on the road. That was enough to sell me.” He jerked his thumb toward the sedan as he walked toward me. “And he didn’t just send it over for you to use.”
I gripped the keys so hard that they dug into my palm. “It isn’t a loaner?”
He shifted the bags so he could fling his arm over my shoulder and lead me back into my apartment. “Nope, the temporary documents are in the glove compartment, and he’s having someone handle the paperwork to transfer the title over to you.”
“That-what-I…” I shook my head, unable to articulate what I was thinking. My thoughts were all over the place as I followed Deacon into my kitchen and watched him put away the food he’d bought. “Why would your friend’s brother give me a car?”
He heaved a deep sigh and scrubbed his palms over his face. “Because he’s a billionaire who feels like he owes me because I helped his brother, Jasper, rescue him when he was kidnapped. Cory has been trying to find a way to pay me back, so he jumped all over this situation.”
If I’d had any doubts about how boring my life was compared to Deacon’s, the ease with which he talked about his part in rescuing a kidnapped billionaire would have cleared them up. “I’m not sure what to think about all of this.”
“You’d be doing me a favor by accepting the car. Maybe Cory will back off on the gratitude then.” He tugged me against his chest, his hands sliding down to cup my butt. “Do you need some persuading to take a new, safer car that’ll make me worry less when we’re apart? Because I’m more than happy to do whatever it takes to convince you.”
Maybe I was an awful person for capitulating so quickly, but I’d been meaning to replace Betsy for a while. The Lexus was so darn cute, and I didn’t want Deacon to be worried about me when he should focus on his duties. Not to mention that my sexy man was offering me orgasms to get me to agree, and there was no way in heck I’d ever turn down the mind-blowing pleasure I was quickly becoming addicted to.
Tossing the keys for the Lexus onto the counter, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and jumped up to wrap my legs around his hips. “Convince away, big guy.”
* * *
Over the next week,my cute bungalow apartment was our love shack. I didn’t have a lot of space, but Deacon and I didn’t need it because we were glued to each other’s side. My plan to spend some time at the beach after catching up on errands quickly flew out the window. I didn’t cross a single item off my to-do list—except for getting plenty of sleep since Deacon kept wearing me out to the point of exhaustion—because I was too busy enjoying my time with Deacon to worry about stuff that I could do when he was gone. Although I did end up with a new car after he’d driven me to the tip of orgasm five times without letting me go over the edge. By that point, I was out of my mind with need and would have agreed to anything, including accepting the Lexus.
We did try going to the beach, but we’d spent a grand total of ten minutes there before Deacon tossed me over his shoulder and carried me to his truck. As much as he’d loved my bikini—and stripping me out of the tiny scraps of material once we were back at my place—he hadn’t been a fan of other guys seeing that much of my bare skin.
But our little love bubble was about to burst because Deacon’s leave was over, and he only had three hours before he needed to report to the naval base. Time had never flown for me as quickly as it had this past week. Twining my arms around his neck, I buried my face against his chest and mumbled, “I can’t believe you have to go already.”
“Neither can I.” He pressed his finger under my chin and tilted my head back to claim my mouth in a deep kiss. “I wish I had more time, but I’ve already pushed my departure to the last minute. Luckily, I have what I need on base so I can head straight there for morning PT with my team.”
“I can’t give you a lot of details about what I’m going to be doing or where I’ll be when I’m deployed, not even when we’re married.” Butterflies swarmed in my belly at his casual mention of marriage. “But I can say that there will probably be a small amount of time when I’m unreachable soon. And I swear that you’re the first person I’ll call when I’m able.”
“The last thing you need to worry about when you’re on a mission is me, Deacon.” I went up to my toes to brush my lips against his jaw. “Just focus on coming back home in one piece. My job keeps me plenty busy, so some of the sacrifices that come from being in a relationship won’t be as hard on me as they are for others.”
“There’s another thing that can keep you busy this time.” His fingers dug into my hips. “Start packing your stuff, baby.”
