Page 135 of Duke
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Re: Bellamy Brooks Men’s Collection
Y’ALL I’M NOT EVEN GONNA SAY HEY I’M JUST GONNA SCREAM IN ALL CAPS ABOUT HOW MUCH WE LOVE YOUR BOOTS! The City Boot is killer in that ostrich. Our fancy customers are gonna LOVE those. And the Country Boot is exactly the classic-with-a-twist silhouette we’re always looking for. I know you said the samples were fresh from the boot maker, but if you’re game to accept orders we’d like to place one. See attached for the details. Send me an invoice whenever is convenient for you.
Peace, love, and damn fine cowboy boots,
Nick
PS—any chance we could convince you to come to Aspen again for another trunk show? Maybe we try for the summer this time ;)
____
I yell.
Mollie shouts.
I hear the thump of footsteps, and then Duke, Ryder, Cash, and Patsy appear at the door, eyes wide.
“Y’all okay?” Patsy puts a hand on her chest.
“Is it the baby?” Duke and Cash blurt at the same time.
Mollie laughs, smoothing her dress over her bump. “Babies are just fine.”
“Come here!” I wave frantically at Duke. “Big news!”
He hustles across the room in his full cowboy getup, hat and all, and bends at the waist to look at the laptop screen over my shoulder. I can smell the sweat on him. The clean air too. He and his brothers just arrived at the New House for lunch—Patsy’s barbecue chicken, which she’s serving with cornbread and collard greens.
My stomach grumbles just thinking about it.Hell yes.Chicken is no longer the enemy. In fact, it’s something I suddenly crave. Now that I’m finally in my second trimester, I’m starting to feel worlds better.
Hungrier too.
Duke points to the screen. “Still makes me smile to see my new email address.”
“And Wheeler and I are still your bosses.” Mollie elbows him. “No horsing around, you hear?”
I laugh. “Love the cowgirl jokes.”
“I got lots of ’em.” She nods at the laptop. “Now read the dang email, Duke, so we can freaking celebrate already.”
Duke squints, the edges of his eyes crinkling in the most adorable way imaginable as his smile grows and grows and grows.
He looks at me, tapping the bottom of his fist on the desk. “Well, hot damn. How many did he order?”
“Onlytwo hundredpairs of each.” Running my fingertips over the mouse pad, I click on the order. “Which means—”
“You’re well on your way to building a women’sandmen’s cowboy boot empire.” He laughs. “Congratulations, Blue.”
“It’sourempire, dummy.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “You’re still good to go shirtless in the ad campaign, right? Because that was part of our pitch to Nick.”
Duke laughs, a velvety chuckle that I feel in my nipples. “How many times I gotta say you could pay me a hell of a lot less to show a hell of a lot more?”
“We didn’t offer to pay you,” Mollie teases.
I kiss his cheek. “We just brought you onto the team and made you partner.”
