Page 103 of Riches and Romance

I raised my glass to Luke, who simply clinked his against mine in response.

“You should have seen her at Sue’s this morning. Egg white and veggie omelet. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she was saving it for her pet rabbit later.”

“If you want to die of a heart attack at forty-five, be my guest. I, on the other hand, plan on keeping my arteries clear for the foreseeable future. No offense,” I added, nodding at Luke.

“None taken,” he replied, giving Charlotte an amused look.

We kept on like that for the rest of dinner, the conversation light and easy until Duke or I felt the need to take a jab at one another. Part of me worried that I was being too openly rude to my hosts and clients, but a larger part of me couldn’t resist. Sparring with Duke was fun—and easy. It was like we knew exactly which buttons to push to drive each other crazy.

After dinner, we all took our drinks to the front porch for a night cap. I was really feeling tired by that point, my exhaustion mixing with the whiskey to put a warm, comfortable haze over everything.

Charlotte sat on Luke’s lap in one chair, and Duke leaned against the railing so I could sit in the other. Luke began explaining his idea for a new signature cocktail at the distillery, which was already blowing up with tours and guests in the tasting room. I could feel my eyelids growing heavy, the warm Texas breeze moving gently against my skin. After a few minutes, I woke with a start to Duke’s fingertips brushing against my shoulder.

“Come on, sleeping beauty, I’ll walk you home.”

I didn’t argue, instead thanking Luke and hugging Charlotte goodbye.

“Sorry I’m such a party pooper. You know if it was any other day, I’d be down to drink the night away on this porch.”

“Don’t worry about it, Val. You’ve had a long day. We have plenty of time for all that. Get some rest.” Charlotte pulled me in for a second hug, squeezing me extra hard this time.

After we parted, Duke and I walked down the steps, waving one last time before turning down the path to the guest house. We walked in silence, which should have been awkward after the day of banter we’d just had. But for some reason, it wasn’t. It felt comfortable, familiar, even. When we reached the door to my place, we paused to face each other, and what happened nextfelt as natural as the multitude of stars scattered across the wide-open sky above us.

“I’ve never seen this many stars,” I breathed, tipping my head back to admire the dazzling display above us.

“Pretty damn beautiful,” Duke replied. But when my eyes met his, I saw that he hadn’t been looking up at the stars at all. Instead, he was looking at me.

He slipped his hand around the back of my neck, pulling my face to his. Gazing into each other’s eyes, our lips only centimeters apart, everything else melted away. The lawsuit, his business, my insistence that we keep things professional. With his hand around my waist and the warmth of his skin against mine, our lips met with surprising tenderness, the exact opposite of what you’d expect after fifteen hours of bickering.

“Sleep well, darlin’,” Duke said after pulling away, his fingertips trailing over my wrist as he walked down the steps of the porch, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

“Bye,” I breathed, practically floating through the house to my bed.

As I lay there, a small voice in the back of my head kept whispering at me, even as I drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.

You’re in deep shit, pendeja. Deep, deep shit.

CHAPTER 4

Duke

“I still can’t believethat’s your signature,” Valentina said, tucking the final form of the countersuit in a manila folder as she shook her head.

“What? It’s efficient.”

“It’s illegible.”

Reaching across the kitchen table, I pulled the form back out and pointed to my John Hancock.

“Look, you can clearly see a big ole D and a big ole W. The rest you can use your imagination for.”

“I’m sure it takes all kinds of imagination to call your D big.” Her pretty full lips curved up into a smirk.

I paused, my own mouth twisting into a smile. “Oh, don’t worry, darlin’, you won’t have to use your imagination for much longer.”

Valentina froze, a faint blush creeping over her cheeks as she narrowed her eyes at me. “Duke, we talked about this.”

I raised my hands in surrender, forcing an innocent look on my face. “I know, I know. Strictly by the books.”

---