Eight
Cleo
When Theresa called me, I knew exactly what had happened.
Valerie.
I picked up a new phone and then made my way to his building just outside the city. I also picked up his favorite lunch, because a good meal might help him calm down. I entered the building and moved to his office. Theresa didn’t stop me from just letting myself in without warning him.
So, he must have told her I could do whatever I wanted…because I wasn’t just his assistant.
I entered his office and saw him at his desk, looking down at paperwork, his jacket over the back of his chair, his tie gone, and the top button of his white collared shirt undone. His hair was messy because he’d been fisting it anxiously. Even though he was having a terrible day, he looked so fucking hot.
I approached his desk quietly and set everything down.
He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn’t notice I was there until the bag hit the top of his desk. His initial expression was full of rage, but once his eyes had a second to adjust to my face, that anger faded quickly. He rose from his chair, came around the desk, and then wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing me in for the kind of hug I loved to receive. His powerful arms took up most of my back, and he squeezed me against him, his chin resting on my head. He held me like it was the only thing in the world he needed.
But I was the one who lived for these moments. They made the world stop, made time stand still, made me so deliriously happy. My lips rested against the skin of his exposed chest, thanks to the unfastened button. My arms hooked under his arms, and my palms flattened against his muscular shoulders. “I’m sorry, babe…”
He moved his lips to my forehead and kissed me. “I know you are, baby.” He gave me a final squeeze before he released me.
There was a warm ice pack on his desk, like it’d been on one of his hands earlier because he’d decided to punch something. His broken phone was there, the screen cracked, with chunks of the glass missing. I opened the box to his new phone and got to work. “I brought you lunch…if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks.” Maybe he just did it to be polite, but he opened the bag, took a seat, and started to eat.
I worked on his phone, syncing the device to his old one, so he would have all his emails, photos, and contacts. “Is your hand okay?”
“Yeah,” he answered between bites. “It’s fine.”
I finished getting everything ready before I presented him with the new phone. “Maybe we should put you on the insurance plan.”
He shook his head. “You’re disqualified if you break your phone more than twice in a year, so…”
It was a bit comical, but I didn’t crack a smile. “So…she’s leaving, then?”
He stopped eating and leaned back in his chair, like he’d immediately lost his appetite. “Yes.”
“Well…” I really didn’t know what to say. It was so devastating, to know that Derek’s mother would leave him like that. He wasn’t even my son, and I had been crippled when Deacon ended things…because I’d lost Derek too.
“The worst part is…she’s leaving at the end of the week.”
“What? What about Christmas?”
He shook his head. “And his birthday is in January.”
I never liked Valerie, but this really made me hate her. “Why?”
“She said Jake wants to move now, and she’s moving in with him.”
“What does that matter?”
He sighed loudly and didn’t answer.
“Jesus…”
He leaned back and dragged his hands down his face. “I just… I don’t know what to say to him.”
I didn’t have any advice to give. There was no good way to handle this.
“And I need to find a nanny…fast.” His eyes shifted to the left, staring at nothing in particular. He was deflated, visibly defeated. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this…be a single parent. I’ve always had Valerie there, and now, I realize she did most of the work.”
“You’ll be fine, Deacon.”
“If I didn’t have to work so much, yes. But I’m torn between my work and my son.”
“You can have both. That’s what the nanny is for.”
“But I’m presenting at a conference in Sweden in January…and I don’t see how I can make that work. Can a nanny watch him for a week? Can I even handle the idea of someone watching my kid for a week?” He leaned forward over his desk, his hands coming together.
“I didn’t know about this conference.”
“I just found out a few hours ago. I’m going with a few colleagues.”
I immediately thought of Dr. Hawthorne but didn’t dare ask. It was the worst time to bring that up, and I shouldn’t bring it up at all. “I can take care of Derek.”