Page 9 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
The shirt had stains I couldn’t ever get out and he insisted it belonged to me now, anyway.
I ripped the shirt off and threw it to the side. Nope. That wasn’t going to help. I picked a neutral shirt and then nudged the tea cups littering my nightstand out of the way to look at the books piled there for something good.
Duke’s Wallflower
Taming the Wild Duke
The Damned Duke
Oh. My. God.
What was wrong with me that this is all I had right now? I searched through my list looking for something not about a Duke, a lord, a billionaire, or a Marine… and nothing.
“God dammit.” I threw my reader across the room and went through the piles of books stacked on every surface.
“Here we go.” I picked up one with a bright cover, the colors splashing across the front highlighting a dark figure on the cover with horns and a tail. “Aliens.”
That would be safe.
“One month,” Gloorick said as he traced his tail up the inside of her thigh, petting lightly, bypassing the one place she wanted to feel him most. “You give me one month, and in exchange, you’ll get all the coin you could want.”
“Yes,” she gasped as his tail parted her lips and settled just over her most private part. She knew she shouldn’t. She’d been spurning his advances for months now. How could she accept him when she could never give all of herself to him? One month with him, and then she could walk away. She would get the money to buy her freedom and then… then she didn’t know. She couldn’t think that far ahead. One month.
I’d read this one before and knew exactly how it ended. Love. True love. That’s how it always went.
It wasn’t real life, but that’s what made it perfect.
An idea came to me, outrageous and insane, but desperation drove me, and books always held the right answer. Maybe… maybe I could make it work.
I picked up my phone and messaged Duke for the first time since my drunken antics.
lily
come over
duke
now?
If I said ‘yes,’ I know he would, and that’s why this would work. I was sure of it.
lily
whenever you can
duke
I’ll come by after work is everything ok?
lily
can’t a girl just want some time with her best friend?
duke
brat I’ll come over later
Chapter Four
