Viv caught his gaze across the table, recalling the goodbye kiss he’d given her at the end of that night. “I remember.” A splash of heat pooled into her chest.
Duke lifted his skewer ceremoniously. “Bon appétit?”
She nodded in approval. “Buon appetito.” Viv took her first bite as Duke did, savoring the rich, smoky flavor of the cheese. “That’s amazing,” she said, eyeing one of the baby potatoes next.
“So what do you like most about your job?” Duke asked as he reached for the prosciutto.
“We’re doing the interview in reverse now?” she asked.
He grinned. “Tit for tat, dating style. Off the books.”
“Alright,” she agreed. “I’d have to say…discovering what people are really like. Which is mainly, in my experience, very good. It’s kind of like digging for fossils sometimes. There are the parts we see—the general public. And then there are the parts that take a little more time to discover. But without seeing it as a whole, we can’t really identify what it is we’re looking at.”
“Huh,” Duke said. “I guess that’s what makes you so good at what you do. You reallyareinterested in giving people a chance, aren’t you? Do you giveeveryonethe benefit of the doubt in your life or just those you interview?”
Viv considered that. “IwishI could do the same with everyone. Unfortunately, I still have the same type of snap judgments most of us do. I hate that about myself.” She thought of the countless times she’d caught herself doing that very thing over the years.
“At least you notice. At least you care. That’s an admirable quality.”
She bit her lip. “It’d bemoreadmirable if I could stop myself from doing it. But I will say, I’m quicker to challenge my reactions to people—to the things they do or say. It’s helped me gain perspective in places I might not have otherwise.”
When she glanced up at Duke, ready to ask a question of her own, she was caught off guard by the look in his eye.
“Why did I have to be such a moron back then?” he asked.
A dart of searing heat sank into her chest. “You were just young, Duke. And impressionable, maybe.” She shrugged, recalling the way half that school seemed to adore him. “You thought you were going to lose all your adoring friends, right?”
But Duke shook his head. “There was more to it than that, Viv.”
“I know.” She recalled the award he’d told her about, about the attachment Sylvia’s family had to the founders. The big theme they planned to litter the media with. Two destined lovers from big names and even bigger money.
“I made some pretty moronic choices of my own.Onethat somehow encompasses my biggest mistake and my greatest joy, all in one. Well, two.”
Duke smiled knowingly. “I still can’t believe you’re a mom. To twins,no less.”
Viv sighed, enjoying the candid conversation with Duke more than she’d have thought possible a week ago. But the truth was, she was getting to know a whole lot about his character, and the more she discovered, the more she liked.
“Some days I can’t believe it either,” she admitted.
“So, what’s your favorite part about being a mom?”
It occurred to her that Duke was the one asking most of the questions. Part of her couldn’t blame him; Viv had done a lot of digging, and she’d be doing a lot more in the next day or two.
But there was a part of Viv that felt leery in asking him too much while they wereoff the books,as he’d put it. She didn’t want to confuse the information she gathered from him. Accidentally share something he hadn’t shared with Veritå.
“Favorite part of being a mom…It changes all the time. When they were babies, it was rubbing them down in baby lotion after each bath, getting them in their matching jammies, and turning on their glowing stars and lullaby music at night.
“A few years back, it was story time. Gathered into the big chair while devouring their favorite books. I couldn’t have loved that more.
“And now I’d have to say…seeing them grow into kind, caring little humans. Just the other day, Dante kept pestering Diego over an incident at school. Diego was getting frustrated—who could blame him—but then he surprised me.”
Duke leaned forward. “What’d he do?”
“He’d gotten a note from a group of girls saying he was cute. And even though Dante was being a real stinker, Diego was worried about his feelings getting hurt that he didn’t get one too.”
The knowing smile on Duke’s face made Viv’s heart feel like the dancing flame at his back. Hot, restless, and ready to share its warmth with the man before her.
“That sounds about right,” Duke said. “He, umm…it’s an odd thing, being a twin. Somebody does something to Zander, they may as well be doing it to me. I once punched a kid in the gut because he said Zander was a geek.” He chuckled under his breath and reached for his glass. “The kid was actually a friend of mine. He thought I was going to agree because he was always winning these honor awards, you know?”
