The Man Who Has No Heart (Soulless 2)

The waitress set the sundae in the center of the table with two spoons. “No rush on this.” She set the tab on my side of the table. “Whenever you’re ready.” She walked away.

Cleo grabbed the spoon and slid it through the ice cream. “I’m going to eat this alone, aren’t I?”

I stared at her.

She put the spoon in her mouth, savoring the rich vanilla flavor.

“So?”

“Yep. Best sundae ever.”

I chuckled and grabbed the tab. I opened it and pulled my wallet out of my pocket. There was a small business card sitting right in the middle, so I picked it up. It had the restaurant logo on the front, and when I flipped it over, it had Tess’s name on it along with her phone number. My eyebrows furrowed for a moment, taking a second to understand what I was looking at.

Cleo watched me, sliding her spoon into the dessert at a slower pace. She dropped her gaze.

I set the card on the tab then put my credit card in the folder before I returned it to the edge of the table. I left my wallet to the side and looked at Cleo again.

Her attitude was completely different. That light in her eyes was gone, and she would barely look at me. She took small bites and then eventually stopped eating altogether. “Thank you for dinner, Deacon. That was the best meal I’ve ever had.”

“What about the pizza we had at the cabin?”

She shook her head. “Nothing in comparison to this.”

Tess came back to the table and picked up the tab. “Wow, looks like you’re full.”

Cleo gave her a polite smile, but it wasn’t the kind of smile she gave me. Her eyes were a little cold.

Tess took everything away.

Cleo looked out the window, holding her glass of wine, severing contact with me.

I could tell something had changed, something was wrong, but I couldn’t figure it out. Nothing had happened to change her attitude so profoundly.

Tess returned the receipt for me to sign.

I opened it, and this time, there were two business cards—both with her phone number on them.

I picked up the pen and signed the receipt before I closed the folder again. “I’ll text the driver.” I grabbed my phone and sent a message.

She continued to stare out the window, one hand spinning the diamond in her lobe.

I was terrible at this sort of thing, but I could feel the change in energy. “Tell me what’s wrong.” I outright asked for what I wanted, knowing I could talk to her that way, that I could be straight with her and she would respond.

Her eyes shifted back to me. “There’s nothing wrong, Deacon.”

My eyebrow rose. Did she just lie to me?

She must have read my expression and then felt guilty about it because she said, “If you want her phone number, you can take it. You don’t need to ignore it because of me. She’s a beautiful woman.”

“Why did you lie to me?”

She dropped her hand from her earring. “I just…didn’t want to make it weird.”

“Why would that be weird? You can tell me anything.”

Her eyes softened.

“And who are you talking about?”

She stared at me for several heartbeats, as if the question surprised her. “Tess.”

I didn’t think twice about the card she’d left behind. When she’d brought me another, that made even less sense to me. I understood she was making a pass at me, but it was so uninteresting to me that I forgot about it the second it happened.

“I don’t want you to ignore her because of me.”

I didn’t understand the statement at all. “I’m not.”

Now, her eyebrow rose, like she thought I was the one lying.

“The thought didn’t cross my mind, actually.”

“Really?” she asked. “Because she’s stunning.”

I could barely remember what she looked like. I’d spent my entire evening staring at Cleo. “I didn’t notice.”

A slight smile came over her features again, her eyes falling a little.

From the moment we’d sat down, my eyes had been glued to her face, looking at her soft hair, her dark eyelashes, her petite shoulders, the way her slender neck led to a beautiful rack. I couldn’t tell her that, couldn’t find the words even if I wanted to. She was the only woman I’d noticed in that entire room.

Four

Cleo

We spent the drive in silence.

Deacon looked out the window, his hands on his thighs, his face slightly tilted to the glass. His sharp jawline was visible, the strong angle between his chin and his neck. His collared shirt was nice on his broad shoulders, highlighting his strong arms and powerful chest. It was tucked into his slacks, showing his incredibly tight stomach.

He was fucking gorgeous.

I couldn’t blame that bitch for wanting him.

Deacon was too dense, didn’t pick up on what actually happened. Tess gave me backhanded insults, putting me down for enjoying my dinner, trying to get Deacon’s attention by making me inferior in his eyes.