Page 60 of The Small-Town Seduction Plan

She gets to her feet before I can reply. “I’ve got to get going. But it was great meeting you,” she adds, flashing a brief smile. “I’ll be in touch when I make a decision about the role.”

“Thank you,” I bounce up. “I mean, thanks for watching my tape, and coming out here, and… well, not laughing in my face that I could even try and get cast for this.”

Madeline shakes her head. “Don’t do that. Don’t start believing what they say about you. It’s fine for people to underestimate what you’re capable of. Hell, I get that all the time, just walking onto a set. But you won’t change anything unless you believe in yourself first.”

She strolls away, leaving me to try and figure out if that was a “let-her-down-easy” pep talk – or an, “I’ll-be-seeing-you-soon” hint that I’m still in the game.

Does this mean I still have a shot?

I can’t help feel a surge of excitement. Just the fact she didn’t immediately toss my email in the junk file is a huge victory– let alone wanting to sit down and meet me in person. She hasn’t written me off– not yet.

The audition self-tape worked!

And I would never have thought to send it, if it hadn’t been for Duke...

Impulsively, I hop in my car, and drive out to his construction site. It’s not far from town, and when I arrive, I find the place quiet. Duke is alone in a corner of the half-framed house, consulting over blueprints with a stub of pencil tucked behind his ear.

He looks focused, and capable… and handsome as hell.

“Look me in the eye…”

His words from last night echo in my mind, and my body temperature shoots up another couple of degrees just watching him.

Then he looks up and sees me, and a surprised smile spreads across his face. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Duke comes to meet me. “Don’t tell me you’ve found another bar brawl you need backup for.”

I laugh. “Even better!”

I fill him in on Madeline’s unexpected visit– minus the part where I’d just been driving myself crazy to the memory of his touch. “Isn’t it amazing? She has her pick of talent, and she came out of her way just to talk to me. Now I want to work with her even more,” I add, excited. “I can already tell she’s smart, and thoughtful,” I pause my gushing, trying not to get carried away. “But I know, there are still a ton of hoops to jump through?—”

“No ‘buts’ about it,” Duke cuts me off, grinning. “This is huge. I told you, sometimes you’ve just got to cut through the bullshit, and take your shot.”

I pause. I want to throw my arms around his shoulders and hug him, but I’m suddenly self-conscious. Barely twelve hours ago, Duke had his fingers inside me, driving me out of my mind with his gaze locked intently on mine. But now, in the bright light of day, it feels way too intimate just looking him in the eye.

I clear my throat, blushing. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to tell you ‘thanks’, for giving me the idea.”

“It’s no interruption.” Duke rolls the blueprints away. “We’re actually on pause here today, waiting for a permit to come through. I was going to deal with some paperwork, but… do you have plans?”

“You mean, besides obsessing over every moment of my meeting with Madeline?” I ask, only half-kidding.

He chuckles. “I think we can find a way to distract you.”

A hot, sweaty, naked way…

But just as my imagination roars to life in all its technicolor, surround-sound glory, Duke adds, “There’s a festival on, a couple of towns over. Do you want to go check it out?”

A festival. In public. With our clothes on.

“Sounds good,” I agree quickly, covering for my filthy mind. “Just as long as there’s something to eat. I was so nervous with Madeline, I haven’t had a bite today.”

Duke grins. “You haven’t been to many local festivals, have you?”

I shake my head. “No, why?”

“Trust me,” he says, steering me towards his truck. “Finding you a snack will be the least of our problems.”

16

DUKE

---