Takeoff (Open Skies #5) - Becca Jameson Page 0,2

was up with her. Something that undoubtedly led to her cutting off contact with him.

At first, when she’d stopped returning his calls and texts, he’d been hurt and annoyed. He hadn’t said a word to anyone else because it wasn’t any of their business. The last thing he wanted was for one of the guys to talk to their woman and it getting back to Raeann. What happened between the two of them was just that—between the two of them.

As the party wound down, he kept an eye on her. He wasn’t kidding. He would follow her home if she fled. He’d left her alone for a month, partially to lick his wounds and partially because he was pissed. Since pissed wasn’t an emotion he usually expressed, he hadn’t wanted to confront her. If she didn’t want to talk to him, fine. He’d let her go.

But seeing her tonight changed things. She was…off. Something wasn’t right. It wasn’t just his opinion either. He could tell the other women were concerned. They kept looking at her with furrowed brows and noticing her fidgeting and discomfort. Maybe it was all because he was in the room and she was worried about facing him, but he suspected more.

No matter what the reasons, he wanted answers. And he intended to get them.

He watched her speak to Heather, who then glanced at him, so he knew she’d told Heather to go home alone. That was a start. Heather hugged her before she left, and if Deacon wasn’t mistaken, she shot him a smile. Whatever was up with Raeann, Deacon didn’t think she had badmouthed him to her roommate.

Deacon had imagined so many scenarios over the past weeks, trying to decide if he’d done something to upset Raeann. He’d come up empty every time. He had to assume whatever her reasons were, they had nothing to do with him.

He could let her go. He could ignore her and shake her free. There were lots of things he could do. But after seeing her tonight, he didn’t want to make it easy. He wanted to look her in the eye and talk to her.

After saying his goodbyes to Bex who was exhausted and remained seated on the sofa with her feet up at Bracken’s insistence, Deacon headed for the door, following Raeann. They didn’t have to make a big deal out of the fact that they were leaving together. He wouldn’t bring it to anyone’s attention. He would simply follow her out.

“Thanks for coming,” Bracken said at the door. “Really. You guys are the best. I don’t know what we’re going to do with all this stuff. Surely one small baby doesn’t need that many bouncy seats,” he joked.

Deacon chuckled. His niece and nephew were very young. He knew they had many types of bouncy seats to keep them occupied. “Looks to me like you better get started assembling all that shit or the baby will be here before you’re done,” he teased.

Bracken laughed. “This is true.”

Deacon waved goodbye as he followed Raeann down the front walkway. Everyone was getting in their cars at the same time. Libby and Hatch. Christa and Kraft. Shayla and Tank. Even Destiny and Trent had shown up during the last hour. The only two members of their group who were single were Neil and Heather. Deacon, for one, kept glancing at them, wondering if there was any chance they would hit it off. Why not? Weirder things had happened.

This was an amazing group of friends, and Deacon felt blessed to have landed this job at Westside Programmers when he’d left the Army. Tank owned the company, and his crew made work not seem like work at all.

Raeann went straight toward Deacon’s SUV. Of course, she knew which vehicle was his. He’d picked her up in it several times during the two weeks they’d been dating.

He passed her at the last second and opened the door to let her in, closing it as soon as she was settled. He was uncharacteristically nervous as he rounded the hood and climbed in his side. “Where would you like to go? We can go someplace public. A bar? Coffee shop? Or my place?” He didn’t want to pressure her to go to his house if she’d rather not be alone with him.

“Your place,” she murmured. She didn’t meet his gaze.

“Okay.” He started the engine and pulled away from the curb. Several of the rest of the crew surely noted he was leaving with her, but