The Perfection of Love (12 page)

“The way I see it Sprog, you’ve attracted yourself a decent man.  For whatever reason he is definitely interested in you.  The way he was watching you at dinner I didn’t know whether to stick a fork in his eye or tell the two of you to go get a room.”  Pops had my full attention now.  “You were too busy swigging from that cheap bottle of plonk to notice that he only had goo goo eyes for you.  You had a tough break with Mitchell no one’s going to deny that but you can’t put your life on hold for the rest of time or only half live it.  I may not approve of Lana’s methods in getting that man here without your permission, but she obviously saw something in him that she felt was right for you and I have to admit I think she’s onto something.  Her and Mara are about to come to heads but I’m pretty sure Lana’s doing the same thing for her as she’s doing for you.  She just wants to see her sisters happy.”  Poor Mara.  It’s never a good thing when you get Lana’s unwanted attention.  “So pull your head out your ass girl and get to it.”  Pops gave me a quick peck on my forehead and a hard slap on my thigh.  His way of saying ‘man up’ and left me in my room with my thoughts.  Thoughts that centered on a dark haired, hazel eyed man who was downstairs in my house right now.

I knew everyone was right, not that I was going to admit that to anyone’s face.  I did need to move on.  I seriously did not want to be that woman who had one bad relationship experience and spent the rest of her life afraid of men and intimacy, then died alone in her one bedroom bungalow with her fourteen cats.  I rolled off my bed and crept downstairs.  There was low chatter coming from all of the rooms.  I went into the living room first and found Saz and Mills sitting on the floor with Ma  in her chair.  Saz looked up at me and got up.  Before she could say anything I went over and hugged her tight.

“I’m so sorry for what I said.  I was being a bitch to you to cover up for me being a dumbass bitch.  Please forgive me.”  I held her tighter because I was a little scared that she wouldn’t.

“Don’t be stupid it is my fault.  You never wanted to go out with him.  Your spidey senses must have been tingling and I pushed you anyway.”  Saz was sobbing quietly which made me feel awful.

“Saz we both need to get past this.  Mitchell was who he was.  It’s neither your fault nor mine.  Can we forget this?”  Saz nodded and we hugged again.  She wiped her nose and a grin appeared on her face.  Oh boy.

“So what are you going to do about that stud muffin in there because if you’re not going to call dibs I certainly will.  He is so sexy, like McDreamy and McSteamy all rolled into one but even then much hotter than that.”  So much for dwelling on our last conversation.

“Well first of all I’m going to apologize for the free Jeremy Kyle episode he just got to witness and then whatever happens after that will be my business and you my dear will just have to wait and see.”  Before she could question me any further I sped out of the living room on the hunt for Deacon.  I went through the living room and tried to ignore the sight of Tara trying to block Lana from Mara who was fifty shades of pink and looked like she had murder written on her face.  What the hell kind of stunt had Lana pulled this time?  Either way she looked pleased with the reaction she was getting from Mara.

“They’re in Pops’ den watching TV Dana.  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”  She did an over exaggerated wink and blew me a kiss just before ducking an arm that swung at her from Mara.

I walked downstairs into the basement where I found Pops, Deacon and Jakey huddled round the TV.  Jakey noticed me first.

“You okay mum?”  He sounded a little concerned but not much.  That was probably because he’d seen my sisters and I fight like cats and dogs too many times before.

“Yeah, I’m going to be fine, Jakey.  You know me and your aunties are always ok in the end.” I smiled and he turned back to the TV.  Joe was slouched on the sofa next to Pops drinking a beer.  Deacon was still looking at me though.

“Dr. Greenwood can I have a word please?”  He nodded and made his way over to me.  I took his hand and instantly felt him tense.  I led him through to the kitchen because that was the only room completely unoccupied and where we might not be heard once the door was shut.

“Dr. Greenwood I’m sorry for the way I behaved earlier.  It was rude of me.  In fact I’m sorry for the way I’ve been behaving towards you full stop.  There’s been no justifiable reason for me to be like that and I hope we can put it behind us and start afresh especially as we’re going to be working together for the next few months.”  I exhaled.  I hadn’t realized I’d taken a deep breath before starting my apology.

Deacon took my hand and pulled me into him and I went willingly.  My heart was beating so fast that I was sure he could feel it up against his chest.  He leant into me and just as I thought our lips were going to touch he leant to the side so that his lips were against my right ear lobe.

“Can you please just call me Deacon?  I liked the way you said it earlier.  Don’t apologize Dana.  Your family have been nothing but warm and welcoming to me.  I even like Lana and she’s bat shit crazy.  But if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have been able to come here tonight and have the rest of your family fight my case because your walls are pretty high.”  His right arm had crept up my back and his hand was now massaging my neck which felt so good I couldn’t really think straight.  “In any case I wouldn’t have stopped working to win you around.  I had a whole plan mapped out to woo you and my plan hasn’t stopped because of tonight.  I might just be less secretive about some of my tactics.”  He kissed me right under my lobe where his lips had been resting.  “By the way when you get all pissed and angry, it is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.  I just sit there waiting for you to stomp your foot.  You’re probably easily the most intelligent person I know.  You’re sensitive to others, when you haven’t downed a bottle and a half of wine and you’re funny.”  He leaned in even closer so there wasn’t even a hairs breadth between us.  “I know you call me and Colin the dickwad duo.” Oh God.  I buried my head into his chest and laughed and so did he.  The rumble was almost as soothing as him massaging my neck.

“You guys owe me a tenner each.  I so knew it.”  Lana’s chirpy voice well and truly broke the moment.  Followed by the group of groans.

Deacon released me and I smoothed down my dress.  For some reason I felt like we’d been caught doing something much more inappropriate rather than just being in an embrace.  At that point Ma pushed through the crowd of women.  “Dana Josephine Daniels, let me remind you that this is a house where we worship God.  Keep these kinds of shenanigans for somewhere private, not my kitchen.”

Urghhhhhh double groan.  “Ma I wasn’t doing anything like that.”

“Yes they were Ma.  He had his hands all over her.  They need the power of God, both of them.”  Lana walked off laughing and Ma gave me a second stern look and walked after her with the rest of my sisters and friends following her.  Saz turned to give me two thumbs up and her biggest grin and then walked off after Mills.  Deacon chuckled again then wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Dana?”

“Hmmm”

“Why do you and your sisters and even Saz and Mills call your grandparents Ma and Pops, but Mara calls them Grandma and Grandad?”  It was my turn to laugh.  He looked really perplexed and I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

“When we came to live with my grandparents after the accident none of us were able to call them grandma and granddad properly because we were too young apart from Mara.  Mara insisted on calling them grandma and granddad, I think because Ma and Pops sounds too much like mum and dad.  The rest of us used Ma and Pops and it stuck.”

“It’s cute.   You’re all like kids that grew up but once you get together you become children again.  It’s fun to watch.”  I turned to play punch him in the arm but he caught my hand and kissed it instead.  I looked up into those hazel eyes once more and they confirmed what I had known from the beginning.  Deacon Greenwood was definitely going to be trouble for me.

CHAPTER TEN

The weeks that came after that disastrous family dinner were amazing.  Deacon was so attentive I had to wonder what I’d done to deserve this man in my life.
  I found myself thinking more and more that he was absolute perfection which frightened me a little because I thought I’d learned my lesson that a perfect man didn’t exist.  Every morning I arrived at the office there was a beautiful cup of coffee waiting for me on my desk as well as a kiss on my cheek.  Most days we had lunch at my desk and on Fridays, Deacon brought in a picnic basket.  We would lock my office door and sit on the floor like we were in a park.  We hadn’t been on an actual date and this was entirely my fault because it wasn’t for a lack of Deacon asking.  Every time he asked I shut him down.  I wanted to, I mean I really wanted to but that would mean we were dating and then what would happen.  Would I get attached only for him to leave once our research project was finished.  He’d take my heart with him and I don’t actually think I would recover this time.  And that was if I was lucky.  Part of me thought he was too good to be true and eventually he change in to a monster like Mitchell.  One heartbreak was good enough. 

I could see he found it a little frustrating but still he tried.  He would ask me why not and I never had a decent answer to give him.  Not without explaining my past and my current fears of all things love related.  Deacon had even asked about meeting Jakey again.  That was a definite no go area.  I know they’d met at Ma’s and Pop’s house but that was down to Lana’s interfering.  I was struggling to get myself to go on a date with Deacon and if I couldn’t manage even that then no way was Jakey meeting him again.  Furthermore how would Jakey feel if he got attached to Deacon and the he just left and went back to his life in LA which is what I’m pretty sure he will be doing, I mean who wants to stay in this country where we get summer for all of a week and then it rains or snows the other fifty one weeks?  I needed to find out exactly what Deacons intentions were towards me.  Once I had that information then I could make an informed decision on what to do about him because at this rate there was a high probability that my desk was going to see a lot more than writing action very soon.  The only way that was going to happen was if I went on a date with him so when he asked me the week before the annual winter ball I decided to bite the bullet and say yes.

“Are you being serious?  Or are you messing with me?”  Deacon looked like a child who thought you were going to take away their chocolate bar at any moment.

“Yes Deacon.  I would like to go on a date with you.”  I was laughing at his face which kept flicking between relief, confusion, happiness and disbelief.  He suddenly swept me up and kissed me hard and I tensed.  This was the first full on kiss I’d had since Mitchell and I hated that even now in such a perfect moment he was still ruining it with his memories.  Or maybe I was allowing him to.  In that same second I decided that this was the last time that Mitchell was going to affect what I was doing with my love life.  I wrapped my arms around Deacons neck and kissed him back with all that I could give him.  He groaned into my mouth which set my body on fire.  He held a little tighter and backed me up against the wall.  I could feel his growing bulge through his trousers and it turned me on in such a way I couldn’t stop my hand drifting south to cup him.  Deacon sucked in a breath and this time I groaned in response.

Deacon took that as an invitation to push things further and his fingers pulled my shirt out shortly before his hand moved under the chiffon fabric.  It felt like his long fingers were exploring every inch of my skin.  I tensed slightly, I was in good shape but my body was definitely not what it was before I’d had Jakey.  Deacon stopped kissing me and leaned back.  If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew I was two touches away from a very loud orgasm, that had been induced by his hands alone, I would have described his eyes as burning pure gold.  He looked as if he could see right into me and there was nothing but honesty and admiration written all over his face.  A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and then he buried his head in my neck.  His alternate between sucking, nibbling and nipping at the soft flesh he had found.  His hands had begun to move up towards my chest and I gasped when he pulled the cup of my bra down and begun to roll my nipple between his two fingers.  My God he knew what he was doing. 

“Dana, tell me to stop if you’re not comfortable.”  I’m sure he said something but his hands had sent me to a different plane where I couldn’t hear anything.  “Dana?”

“Uh huh.”  I wish he’d stop trying to talk to me and just keep moving those hands of his.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Hmmmmm?”  I felt rather than heard his chuckle.  His other hand pulled the collar of my shirt to the side and he kissed from my collarbone to the base of my neck, up my chin and back to my lips.  Who knew collarbones were so sensitive?  I didn’t?  Why has this information not been shared with me before?  Deacon ravished my lips for what didn’t feel like nearly enough time before he was moving again.  This time it was him who was moving south and now he was unbuttoning my shirt as his mouth moved down to the top of my bust.  He suckled gently on the swell of my left breast and I prayed to God that he never stopped.  I had this overwhelming desire for him to leave his mark there and I think deep down it’s because I knew I wanted to belong to him.  The sharp rap on the office door brought us back to reality.   Deacon tore his lips away and I whimpered at the loss.  He was positively glaring at the door which only turned me on even more.  As if that was possible.  I used the sudden reprieve to smooth my clothes down.  I don’t know how far things would have gone if there hadn’t been a knock at the door.  By the time Deacon had turned his attentions back to me I had already begun to button my shirt back up.  This time disappointment was evident on his face so I leaned into him and gently placed my lips against his.  He brushed the lock of hair that had fallen forward behind my ear and kissed my forehead and sighed.  I gave him a forlorn smile in return and turned to focus on getting myself back to being neat and tidy.  Deacon put away our lunch kit that had been pretty much kicked all over the office.