He stepped out of my grasp, holding out his hand toward my roommate, who shook his with stars bouncing around in her eyes—which was interesting because according to our gab-fest the night before, she was still very much happily engaged.
“I’m Duke.”
“Mira.”
“Got anything good on Nora?” Duke asked, acting very pleased with himself.
She folded her arms, her eyes twinkling. “Oh, I’ve got stories.”
“Okay, bye.” Grabbing his arm, I physically pushed him toward the door. “Good chat.”
“We’ll talk more later, Mira,” Duke called cheerfully as I closed the door behind us. I dropped his arm so I could lock the door. Okay, I hadn’t fully prepared for Duke to be in my space and conversing with my people. There had to be something work-related I could say to bring us back on safe ground.
“Is Tenisha here?” I asked as we walked toward the stairs to head to the parking level one floor down. I scanned the parking lot for his white truck and found it, but I couldn’t tell if anyone was sitting inside.
“She couldn’t make it.”
“Did you ask her?” I asked, eyeing him with suspicion.
A hint of a smile touched his lips and vanished before I could point it out.
“Duke…”
We got to the stairs, and he motioned for me to step down ahead of him. “I didn’t want to make her work on a Saturday. She’s got a family.”
My heart begrudgingly thawed. “Don’t think that being all considerate and nice is going to make me think any better of you.”
He laughed. “Good to know.”
I tried not to stare as we walked toward his truck in the back of the lot. I hadn’t been expecting Casual Duke. In fact, I’d almost completely forgotten about that side of him. The Duke of the basketball game. Of long legs clad in denim and deep-set eyes underneath a baseball hat. I’d been surrounded by sexy Office Duke in a business suit, and like any red-blooded female, I enjoyed seeing a handsome man with a crisp white shirt and tie. Of course I did. But his clothes today spoke more to my soul than all the ties and dress shoes ever could. Casual Duke erased physical barriers between us. Instead of my boss, he became a hot guy I could have met on the street or in the cafe.
Or at a basketball game.
Casual Duke felt attainable and close enough to touch, which he was still very much…not.
Just before we reached his truck, his low voice reached my ears.
“Pretty ballsy move to wear the hair curly today, Kiss Cam.”
In an instant, a wave of tingles, excitement, rapture–and anxiety–began coursing through me. I made the mistake of looking over at him, his dark eyes blazing into mine. My cheeks flamed, and I fought for control. I wanted to hide my face away and let my blush go unfurled, but this was a business trip, and he was my boss—even when wearing jeans.
“I didn’t do it for you.” My hands grasped self-consciously at my strands, silky and brushing against my shoulders.
“Never said you did.”
“I like to change it up every now and then.”
“Sure.”
“I’m meeting clients. I wanted to look nice.”
“You look beautiful.”
By the time we arrived at his old white Tacoma, the amount of butterflies in my stomach were at an all-time high. It was going to be a long day if I allowed Duke full flirtation power. I needed to keep us focused and on track. This was a business trip.
Should I say it a little louder for the people in the back?
He opened the passenger door for me, and I climbed inside, transported all at once to the night when this truck first became familiar to me. The smell of mint and pine that was inherently Duke wrapped me up like a blanket. He slammed the door shut and walked around to his side while I took in the state of the interior. It had been recently vacuumed, and I smiled to think of Duke taking the time to do so. A pack of mint gum had been flung onto the dash. The backseat was clean, except for a gym bag tucked in the back corner. And in my cup holder was a brown drink, clearly fresh from the gas station, with ice and bubbles fizzing deliciously.
