Page 4

DAVINA

I was right. Deke definitely wanted his ego stroked.

Standing at the back of the restaurant, Deke grinned with two women in short, shimmery dresses while holding one of their phones in the air.

“Give me a smile, ladies,” he said, his voice as smooth as satin, and the women giggled behind bright smiles, hands on hips and elbows popped out as they peered up at the phone for a selfie. “There you go.”

He handed the phone back to one of them, and they thanked him graciously before wandering to their seats. That didn’t stop them from giggling and gawking at him, though.

When Deke caught sight of me, his mouth turned up, and those dimples of his made yet another appearance. With his eyes all soft and relaxed, he looked innocent, boyish even.

“Did I interrupt your little threesome?” I asked.

Deke’s smile slipped, and his eyes widened. “My what ?”

I felt a prickle on my forehead. Yeah, I was about to break a sweat from the stress of this moment. Why would I ask that? Just be normal, Davina!

To my good fortune, Deke busted out laughing, and my shoulders relaxed.

“I’m sorry. That was so unprofessional of me.” I laughed nervously and waved a hand, hoping to dismiss the awkwardness.

“Trust me, I’ve heard worse. Don’t sweat it,” he said.

A man in all black waltzed up to the table, with a tray in hand and two cocktails on top of it.

Deke took both drinks off the tray and offered one to me. “They say this drink is the best in the house.”

“Oh, I, um ...” I glanced down at the drink. It looked yummy enough, topped with flowers, sugar crystals, and a purply liquid. It was very aesthetic ... but I couldn’t drink it.

“Shit. Let me guess.” Deke set the spare drink down on the table. “You don’t drink?”

“I ... don’t as much anymore. Just a personal choice. I’m so sorry.” I forced a smile at him, adjusting the strap of my purse on my shoulder. I was butchering this night.

“Ah, see. That’s my fault for assuming things.”

“If that poses any issues, I apologize,” I added as he signaled for the waiter to come back.

“An issue? Over alcohol ? Nah. If anything, you’ve gained more of my respect. Do you know how hard it is not to drink in America?”

I couldn’t help laughing at that. He had a point.

“Hey, man. You think you can take these back and bring us some waters, please?” he asked the waiter. “Lemon in mine would be good.” Deke’s head swung so that his eyes met mine. “Lemon?”

“Uh, sure. Yeah.”

“Lemon in both,” Deke told him. “And don’t let those drinks go to waste. Send them to the girls over there.” He pointed at the two he’d taken a selfie with.

The waiter nodded, collected the pretty drinks, and scurried away. I watched as he placed them down on the girls’ table and said something. The girls immediately looked at Deke and squealed “Oh my God! Thank you!” in unison.

He gave them a swift nod before returning his focus to me. Pulling out one of the chairs at our table, he gestured to it and said, “For you.”

I sat and gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you so much.”

He walked to the opposite side of the table and sat down, resting his back against the chair and spreading his legs. “So, you don’t drink. Not to be all up in your business, but why choose a place with a bar if you don’t bother with alcohol?”

“You want the truth?” I asked with a nervous smile.

His mouth twitched. “Yeah. Give me the truth.”

“Well, the truth is I’ve never been here before. Tish told me about it, and it was the first thing to come to mind when you asked about a favorite restaurant.”

Deke chuckled, nodding. “I see.”

“To be fair, I would’ve been fine going to Outback or even Olive Garden, but I didn’t think that would impress you as much.” We both laughed. “And just so you don’t think I’m recovering from a drinking addiction or anything, I do have a drink from time to time. It’s just not as often as it used to be a year ago.” He nodded like he wholeheartedly understood, which made me want to further explain. “I toned it down last spring when I decided it was time to develop a new lifestyle. Now that I’m thirty-two and busier than ever, I’m sure my liver thanks me for it.” I laughed, and he smiled. “But if I’m celebrating or if there’s a major event happening, I’ll have a drink or two. There just hasn’t been much to celebrate lately, so ...”

“This night isn’t cause for celebration?” He gestured to the space around us with a hand.

“Not unless we’re closing this deal right now.” I pursed my lips and looked into his eyes, challenging him. Deke fought a grin, embracing the challenge. Then he leaned forward in his chair to dig his phone out of his back pocket.

“It’s an e-signature, right?”

“Yes,” I said as more of a question than a statement.

He was quiet for a moment, tapping and scrolling away at the screen of his phone. Then he placed the phone flat on the table and used his index finger to sign in a box.

“There,” he said, tapping the Submit button. “Signed. All you have to do is complete it with your signature, and this partnership is official.”

“Wow.” I blinked rapidly. “You didn’t even read it.”

“Didn’t need to. Arnold took care of that for me. He said it was legit, and I trust him.”

I swallowed. “Um ... okay. I guess you gave those drinks away for nothing.” I bubbled out a laugh as I glanced at the girls in shimmery dresses, now taking pictures of each other posing with the drinks. They were definitely enjoying the free cocktails.

“Nah.” Deke glanced over his shoulder to where the waiter was preparing our H 2 O at the bar. “We can stick with the basics tonight. I don’t wanna throw off the lifestyle thing you have going on. And, like you said, this is business. But next time we’ll be celebrating with proper drinks. You feel me?”

“Oh, there’s a next time, is there?”

He lowered his eyes to my chest, then brought them back up again. “Absolutely.”

I crossed my legs, feeling a tingle between them that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Thankfully, the waiter appeared with our waters and took our orders.

I wasn’t sure what we were going to do or talk about now that he’d signed the contract. I’d had some things in my mind that I’d wanted to mention, like sales figures and what we used in our products. Fortunately, I didn’t have to lead many of the conversations, because Deke took the floor.

Before he started, though, I noticed him glance at my wedding ring as I collected my water. His face had warped a bit, and when he noticed me noticing him , he cleared his throat and forced a smile.

I could tell he had questions—or that maybe he was regretting his wine and dine initiative with a woman he didn’t realize was (or had been) married—but if he felt any sort of way about it, he didn’t show it. He still acted himself ... and still stared at me like I was naked.

I should’ve told him about Lew—about why I still wore the rings—but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back the tears. It was better to let it be and let it go. After all, I doubted Deke and I would be having any more one-on-one “business” dinners after this.

“What made you get into skin care, anyway?” Deke asked after chatting about how packed his summer schedule was going to be.

“Well, believe it or not, I used to make my own body scrubs and creams when I was younger. All in my mom’s kitchen. I went to a community college and got my bachelor’s in business and figured I’d put that degree to use doing something else I loved.”

“And that’s how GOC was born,” he said.

“Yep. Exactly.”

“Seems to be doing well for you. Don’t know what you need me for.” His eyes lit up as he waited for my response.

“I mean, sure, it’s done well, but it can always do better. And by the way, I’m really glad you’re doing this with us, Deke. Seriously. Having you as the face of our products is going to change a lot of things for us.”

“You don’t have to thank me. You did the work, and it paid off. But let’s make a sober toast to it,” he said, picking up his glass of water and raising it in the air.

I snorted a laugh, picking mine up too. “Okay.”

“Here’s to Golden Oil.” His eyes twinkled beneath the warm lighting as he studied every detail of my face. “May it continue to prosper for you.”

“To Golden Oil,” I said, tapping his glass.

As we locked eyes and sipped, I tried very hard to ignore that warm, fuzzy feeling inside me.