Page 2 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
I knew that wasn’t true, he had his brothers from the Marines, but it made me feel a little better when he said it.
The world spun, but I felt good and boneless as Duke helped me into the pumpkin.
“I’m tired, Duke,” I said when he slid into his side of the Bronco. I turned to my side and curled up under my seat belt.
“Yes, well, you are very drunk and that is a side effect,” he said with a smile, his words melting between us like warm honey.
“No, I mean, I’m tired of dating. Men are stupid.”
“That we are.” He laughed, and he looked so handsome when he did. I reached out and placed my hand on his arm, just to feel him near me.
“He ordered for me when I went to the bathroom, and I couldn’t even get this ridiculous tag off, so it wasn’t even worth it. I didn’t want a stupid salad. I’m not a bird. I’m a human that wants chicken nuggets. Will you stop and get me some?”
“Already planning on it. You need something to soak up your drinks.” He pulled into my favorite chicken place a minute later, the smell of fry grease and sugar alreadywafting to us through the vents, making me salivate.
“You’re awesome.” He wouldn’t be a bad date. Maybe. He would let me eat whatever I wanted, at least.
He ordered the food, and the first chicken nugget tasted like manna from heaven. I moaned around the taste and licked the crumbs off my fingers. Duke choked on his stolen fry when I did, so I passed my drink over to him.
“Careful, you can’t choke and drive.”
“Eat your food.” He stole another fry from me and popped it into his mouth.
“Is this dress too slutty?” I asked after I had finished licking away the remnants of my last chicken nugget.
“What?”
“That’s what Chris said when he picked me up. ‘Isn’t that a bit slutty?’” I did my best Chris impression. Duke didn’t laugh at it. “I thought it was pretty.” I ran my hand down the soft, stretchy purple fabric pulled tight across my hips. I didn’t know much about these things, but I felt beautiful in it. “Is too much of my boobs showing or something?”
He squeezed the steering wheel tight, and I worried my questions bothered him.
“No, Lily. You look amazing.” He sounded gruff when he said this, so I passed him my drink.
“If I asked you to beat him up, would you?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate to answer, and warmth spread through me, knowing that he was on my side.
I giggled at the image of Chris’ fat head turning red as Duke held him in a headlock.
“What’s funny?”
“You would kick his ass so hard.” I took a long draw from my soft drink, the cool liquid sliding down me, waking my body up to its thirst.
“Say the word.” He smiled at me, and everything feltright.
“No, I’d rather forget him.”
“Alright, have I told you yet about the time the guys caught me with my pants down in the middle of a dust storm?”
“What? No. Tell me.” I latched onto this distraction he offered and let the rest of my worries fade away as he told me about how some new guy didn’t secure the top of the latrine, and it blew away with the sand.
“It wasn’t the first time the guys caught me pants-less. Thankfully, I had a good explanation for this one. Still, I got to be Mooney for a month before the next embarrassing thing happened and they let me off the hook.”
I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. Duke always made me laugh like it was his job to do so. I didn’t remember interviewing him for it, but he seemed to be a good fit.
“You’re good at everything, aren’t you?” I asked as he helped me out of the car. “Just… so good.” I patted his chest and realized he wore his business suit without the tie and had too many buttons undone. “Oh, no.” I ran my hand along the buttons of his shirt to make sure it was real. “You were meeting a date there and now you’re stuck with me.”
My hand slid up his shirt to the opening. A tiny bit of the large tattoo he had on his chest peeked out, stark black against his tan skin. I traced the visible lines of it. I knew what it looked like already. He came home from one of his first tours with it and I had been so surprised that I made him let me inspect it up close to memorize the addition to his skin.
