The entire room looked at me, and I startled, suddenly feeling like my emotions were onstage for the office.
I forced a smile, discreetly pushing Duke’s elbow off the armrest. “Yeah. I rode a motorcycle.” Though, to be fair, the termmotorcyclewas definitely an exaggeration.
“And was it everything your dreams were made of?” Mike asked, the orange of his button-down shirt nearly blinding my retinas.
I looked at his face. He definitely knew. Did Duke tell these guys everything?
“It was okay.”
Duke coughed.
Mike grinned before turning his attention back to the rest of the board room. “Anybody else?”
Duke raised his hand. “Finally got one checked off.”
To Mike’s credit, he didn’t look directly at me, but I could tell that it took some effort.
“Go on.”
“Got my movie scene reenactment out of the way.”
“Which movie was it again?” Mike asked innocently.
“That’s classified,” Duke said. “But I will say, Hollywood’s got nothing on us.”
“Us?” Anita asked, leaning forward in her chair, a wolfhound on the scent.
“Me,” Duke amended, his elbow back in its place next to mine.
The rest of the office chuckled. Another employee raised their hand, talking about finally getting to take the Fun Bus to Wendover, Nevada to go gambling.
When the attention had moved to the other side of the room, I leaned slightly against Duke’s arm before teasing softly, “Nothing on you?”
“I didn’t hear any complaints.”
His smile just for me spoke of secrets and teasing and something else that made me swallow and glance away. I spent a lovely few seconds enjoying the post-Duke-interaction glow that seemed to happen more and more frequently. I allowed myself to revel in it—until a certain darkness cast a pall upon me. I looked up and met the eyes of Anita, who was staring at me with her eyebrows raised before looking pointedly at my arm squished next to Duke’s on the armrest.
I didn’t want to remove my arm. I shouldn’t have to remove anything. My arm was on my armrest. Duke’s was on his. It wasn’t my fault he chose to scoot his chair a mere one millimeter from mine. Anita shot daggers in my direction, however, and eventually, I moved my arm and folded it across my stomach. I felt Duke’s questioning gaze but kept looking at Anita, feeling gratified when she turned away first. I snuck a glance at Duke, only to see him also staring toward Anita.
Very soon after, tingles shot up from my ankle to my hip as his leg pressed against mine underneath the table. It was all I could do to keep from soaring out of the room.
24
Two daysbefore the projects were due, I arrived to work early, sat down at my desk, and went through the motions of turning on my computer, gathering papers, and putting my purse away. I even attempted to look busy. I said hi to Shawn and gave my best smile to Anita, though she only stared vacantly through my attempt at pleasantry. She really should have taken me up on what I was offering, because I was feeling anything but pleasant at the moment. If looks could kill, I would have murdered Duke Webber a hundred times today already.
When Duke finally arrived and stepped into his office, I bolted out of my chair. I didn’t even knock. I strode inside and closed the door behind me. He had just sat down and looked up at me in surprise. My hands were clenched by my side while a sick ache filled my stomach.
“Hey, Kiss Cam. What are—”
“Did you pay off my student loan?” I wasted no time on pleasantries, even though he was wearing the navy blue suit I loved, and it was honestly hard tearing my eyes away. I swallowed nervously but stood my ground.
He held my gaze for a long moment, probably trying to gauge how to proceed. No need to think too hard, Duke Webber. I just wanted the truth.
“Did you pay off my student loan?” I asked again, slower.
“Yes.” He blinked, but there was not even a crumb of remorse on his face. “It was supposed to be anonymous.”
“Yes?” I repeated softly, the feeling of betrayal like a knife in my back.
