Page 136 of Duke
“Oooh.” He ducks his lips. “That’s one sexy title.”
“You’re one sexy cowboy.”
Patsy laughs. “Y’all need the room? I gotta finish up the cornbread anyway—”
“I mean, if y’all are willing…” Duke’s eyes gleam.
I give him a shove. “Success turn you on?”
“Yours does, yeah.” He kisses me back. “I can grab a shower—”
“How ’bout we celebrate first?” Cash asks. “Then we ‘nap.’”
Mollie bites her lip. “I like naps.”
“Who doesn’t like naps?” I rise, putting my hands on the small of my back. I’m achy and I’m tired and I’m so freaking happy.
And relieved.
Andhappy.
“You’re glowing, Blue,” Duke says later when we’re at home, naked in bed after the slowest, most delicious sex ever. “I’m proud of you. Proud of us.”
I turn onto my side and tuck my hand underneath my cheek on the pillow. “We’ve had an awesome year so far at Bellamy Brooks. So many wins we’ve been working toward for such a long, long,longtime.” I shut my eyes. “For a while there, I wasn’t sure we’d make it. We were spinning our wheels year after year, trying to catch a break.”
He nudges my knee with his underneath the covers. “But you stuck with it. Remember our motto—perseverance is everything.”
I nod, opening my eyes. “It really is. And today’s win—it hits different for some reason. Like, I suddenly feel like our success isn’t a fluke. We’re not just going to hit it big once with onecollection. People are banging on our door, asking for more. Which is how you build a career out of something like this, right? People wanting more of what you’re creating?”
“Absolutely. It’s how you create longevity.”
“Yes.”Yes.“And I think I’m seeing for the first time how we’re not a one-hit wonder. Our success isn’t a fluke. It’s happening for a reason, and that reason is—”
“You were right.” Duke’s blue eyes bore into mine. “You knew you could build a successful business doing something you love.”
My heart flutters. “Yes. Even though everyone told me I couldn’t.”
I was right.
Holy fucking shit, I wasright.
Everyone told me I would fall on my face trying to make it as an entrepreneur in the fashion world. But here I am, making a damn good living doing exactly that. Have I loved every minute? Hell no. There were entire years I dreaded going to Mollie’s condo in uptown Dallas to work. I feel like I spent a good chunk of my twenties feeling ashamed to tell people what I did for work when they asked me.
But I couldn’t quit. I knew in my heart of hearts that this is what I wanted to do—be a successful entrepreneur in a creative field. It just took me a lot longer than I thought it would to figure out how to make that happen.
Took me a lot longer than I thought to realize I was doing the right thing.
I want to shout. I want to smile. I want to kiss the shit out of the man beside me.
I do all three, Duke and I giggling like lunatics as we make out.
“I was right,” I keep saying into his kiss. “Duke, I wasright.”
“You know what else you were right about?” He takes my hand and guides it to his dick. He’s hard again, his velvety warmth filling my hand.
I give him a pump. “What’s that?”
“Me.” His lips move into a grin against my own. “You knew the night we met you liked me.”
