Page 77 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
I worked through the pre-flight check of the chopper carefully. Lily would be here in an hour, and I needed everything to go perfectly. I knew as soon as I thought of this ride exactly where I would take her. A little island off the coast. It wasn’t on maps, but I’d flown over it enough to know where to find it.
A few of Lily’s comfort foods sat next to champagne, cheese, and grapes tucked into a cooler in the small storage compartment. Towels, soft blankets, and several pillows filled the rest of the space. I wanted her to relax today, so all she had to worry about was saying yes to continuing this and turning it into an actual relationship.
“Duke,” the very woman I couldn’t get out of my head called. She appeared before me like a vision in a whitebikini, only barely concealed by a sheer dress. My mouth went dry, and my dick came to attention. All thoughts fled my mind while I watched her saunter toward me. I knew for a fact that she didn’t have a clue what she did to me and that made it all the sweeter.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other men in the hanger watching her closely, and the possessive asshole I barely kept in check reared his ugly head.
I jumped down from where I had stood frozen, inspecting the helicopter, the last thing on my mind now. I grabbed her in a hug and spun us, pushing her against the side of my bird.
“What are you wearing?” I growled, my hands clenching in her dress, both wanting to tear it off her and hide her from the world.
She just laughed at me, clear and happy.
“You said to dress for the beach. Frankie helped me pick it out.” She ran her hand along the fabric of her dress, and I followed the path of her fingers like they were my salvation and damnation all at once. I closed my eyes to collect myself. Fuck, I must have gone insane.
In an effort to regain control, I kept my eyes above her neck. She chewed her lip and looked a bit worried about her outfit choice. As if dressing like a fucking siren when I planned to take her to a private island and pour my heart out to her could ever be the wrong choice.
“So, I did.” I ran my thumb over the slight swell of her lips, soothing the place she had worked it over with her teeth.
“Well, this is beach wear. I was just going to wear some shorts and a t-shirt, but…” she shrugged.
“You look beautiful. Very beautiful. So much so I lost my damn mind.” I wrapped my armaround her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. I wanted to push it further, stake my claim on her, but the other guys in the hangar didn’t need a show. Lily was mine and only mine.
She protested lightly when I pulled away, like she didn’t want it to end. I took her bag from her, stowing it away in the now full storage compartment.
“Are we ready to go?” She asked.
“Almost. I just have to finish my pre-flight check.” I picked up my clipboard to show her what was left. “Want to help?”
“Yes. Teach me everything.” She took the clipboard from me and studied it like she would be tested on it later. “How do you get the helicopter out of the hangar? I can’t imagine you fly it out of here.”
“Excellent question.” I grabbed her shoulders and turned her around so she could see what I pointed to. “See that towing-frame over there? I slide it around the landing skids and lift it up. Then all I have to do is pull it out.”
“Oh! That’s so cool.” She turned toward me, her eyes darting around the hanger like she couldn’t wait to take it all in.
“Come on, I’ll show you the different parts as we go through the list.” I held my hand out to her and guided her over to the next place I needed to check.
“Yes. Show me everything. Leave nothing out.” She stood at attention with her clipboard in hand—Little Librarian Lily, always so studious. God, that was hot.
I walked her through each part, taking every opportunity to show off my knowledge—and my body. She needed to know exactly what I had to offer, after all.
“You know, I’m surprised your helicopter isn’t fancier. I figured a car guy would want his aircraft to be as fancy as his cars,” Lily said as we finished.
“I’ll have you know this is a Robinson R66. Not the fanciest in the world—that would have been overkill for this—but it does have a Rolls Royce engine.”
“That’s the Duke I know and love.”
I froze. Surely she didn’t mean—I shook myself. No, no, she’s said she loved me like this before and it meant nothing. I gathered myself before turning back to her. She studied the seat in the helicopter, biting her lip, clearly uneasy with what she said given our new dynamic.
“Well, if you’re impressed with that, watch me lift and move this helicopter all by myself.” I winked at her and her laughter followed me as I grabbed the towing frame to move the bird out for our trip.
“I’m just surprised you don’t pay someone to do that for you. What if you break a nail?” She stepped back and gave me room to maneuver the lift.
“Oh, I could pay someone to do it, but then you’d be ogling them instead of me. Can’t have that.”
“I’m not ogling anyone,” she protested. Her cheeks flushed bright red, though, so I knew I had hit the nail on the head.
“Besides,” she continued, “it looks easy enough that I could do it. Your muscles aren’t even straining or anything.” She followed me outside as I easily pulled the helicopter to the pad.
