Page 41 of One Weekend in Los Angeles

He stepped back, but took my hand. “I know and I’m sorry. I wasn’t prepared for this.” He motioned between us. “I’ve never wanted someone in my space before.”

I hadn’t allowed myself to hope he might want more than our one weekend together. “What about your songwriting?”

“I had total writer’s block for the first time. My inability felt like a message letting me know I was missing you.” His thumb stroked over my cheek. “I figured I’d stay in LA for as long as you need to be here, what with selling the house and all. But once you’ve taken care of all that and are ready, maybe you could come to my house in Australia. I could show you around there.”

He wasn’t done with his pitch. “You could bring Callie with you. And if you can only spend a few days, that’s fine. We can fly back here whenever you want or need to. I know you have a lot going on.” He blew out a nervous breath. “I just want a chance to get to know you better, you know, have you see my place, and take you out on a proper date.”

Unlike my ex, Deacon didn’t minimize what I had going on in my life or try to manipulate my decisions. He’d proven again and again that I could trust him. “Callie and I would love to join you in Australia.”

He dropped his lips to mine. “I know this sounds crazy, but I don’t care. I fucking missed you, Andi.”

The way he said my nickname would never get old. “I missed you too. And this can’t be any crazier than our first kiss happening in front of a crowd of thousands at a concert I almost didn’t attend, or my pretending to be a couple for a weekend in order to deal with our crazy exes.”

He flashed a lopsided smile. “Imagine time together that doesn’t include thoughts about our exes or the idea of faking it.”

I returned his smile, the thrill of spending time together for real starting to sink in. “What would we possibly do with all that extra time?”

“I have lots of ideas.” He captured my lips in a searing kiss.

While his mouth migrated to my neck, I ran my hands through his hair. “As much as I love the direction your thoughts are obviously taking, Ollie is outside with Callie.” I paused, realizing he’d been out there awhile. “Did he know you were here?”

His smile got sheepish. “I might’ve given him a heads-up I was coming back.”

“How soon could we leave for Australia?”

He pulled back to lean his forehead against mine. “Say the word.”

“My luggage is in the car, and my passport’s in my purse, so is tomorrow too soon?”

He kissed the sensitive spot below my ear, murmuring, “My brave girl.” Then he stepped away to grab his phone. “How about I schedule the trip while you invite Ollie inside?”

Later that night after Ollie had said his goodbyes, Deacon and I sat outside on his deck overlooking the city, a delivered pizza on the table between us along with a bottle of red wine.

He shook his head in a slow, sexy way. “This doesn’t count as our first real date.”

I took a sip from the glass he’d poured. “Do you know how I like my first dates?”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Tell me.”

“I like my first dates with a taste of red wine, the smell of pizza, a gorgeous view, and your company.”

His gaze locked on mine. Taking my free hand from across the table, he kissed the inside of my wrist. “This is the best date I’ve ever been on.”

The sincerity in his voice left no doubt he meant it. Setting my glass down, I got up from my chair and moved to his lap, loving the way he set his own glass down and put his arms around me.

“Prepare yourself; it’s about to get better.”

He nuzzled his face into my neck, breathing deep. “It already is.”

EPILOGUE

Andrea

The first time I saw Deacon in concert, I’d been fresh off a breakup and hardly paying attention to the other fans or the performance until I got called up on stage.

This time, seven months later, I took in every detail from my front-row seat at a music festival in LA. I saw everything, from the way the crowd knew his songs, the first note on, to the way everyone danced along and shouted his name.

It felt strange to share the man I loved with the world, yet at the same time I felt so proud to see him in his element. And yeah, every time he met my gaze, I could feel the tingle clear down to my toes.