Page 89 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
“What the fuck?” He dropped his food, and it splattered on the tray. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ll just leave you two alone.” I stood, my heart sinking to my feet. I let myself forget that our time was up and someone else was waiting for him.
“No.” Duke grabbed my arm, keeping me in my chair. “Stay.”
“We’ve been so worried about you,” the woman cooed, eyeing me before turning in a clear dismissal and focusing entirely on Duke.
“Mercedes, what are you doing here?” Duke ground out,frustration filling his voice.
“Well, when you didn’t come to work today and didn’t answer your phone, I just knew something had happened.” Her hands fluttered at her side, like she wanted to touch him. Jealousy raged through me. He wasmine.
“So you thought it would be your job as the CMO to personally hunt me down at the hospital? For what?” Oh, she worked for him. Wait. I looked between the two. Duke’s hand had moved from my arm to hold mine, holding it like a lifeline.
“Well…” she seemed at a loss for words.
“It’s not in your job description and we aren’t close.” She looked at me and then down at our hands, like she just remembered I was there.
“Right. My mistake,” she said carefully, taking a step back.
“We’ve talked about boundaries before. Is this going to be a problem?” Duke would have sounded patient to anyone that didn’t know him, but I knew him. He was pissed.
“Of course not.” She turned and let herself out.
“Uh, what just happened?” I asked when the door closed. “I thought… I thought…” I couldn’t say it.
“That she and I were together?” He raised one brow at me, challenging me to admit it.
“Yes. She came to your office and then I saw her at the ball and the way she looked at you… I just…” I shrugged.
“The way she looked at me, but not the way I see her. It’s been a problem, and I think I’m going to need to find a new CMO. Tricky business, though.” He pulled my hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over it.
“Oh.” Silence fell as I absorbed this new information and tried to assimilate it with the reality I thought I knew. Dukedidn’t have someone waiting for him. Maybe… maybe he really could be mine.
Eventually, the doctor came in and gave us the news.
“You have a concussion and will need to take it easy for a bit, follow up with your regular doctor, but you’ll be ok.”
The nurse delivered the discharge paperwork, and we found Jenkins waiting for us at the front of the hospital in a black Benz SUV. He helped Duke get in the car after me, and I immediately reached across Duke and made him buckle up. We didn’t need any more brushes with danger.
“Come here,” he said, pulling me to him once I buckled myself into the middle seat. I nestled my head on his shoulder. “I love you, Lily.”
He didn’t mean it, not right now—he couldn’t—but my heart sang, anyway. I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t, not when it meant so much to me. Not when I had so much more to say.
It took a week for the panic over possibly losing him subsided. I stayed at his apartment, making Frankie bring me everything I needed, and taking all my remaining sick time at work.
He ventured out of his bedroom on the Sunday after our island mishap, and sat on the big sofa with me, content to hold me and play with my hair while I read a book.
“Tell me a story, Lily,” he murmured in my ear.
“Like read out loud to you?” I asked.
“No, tell me your own story.”
This was my chance. I needed to tell him everything. I sat up so I could look at him while I spoke.
“Once upon a time, a girl named Lily almost lost her bestfriend,” I said, climbing onto his lap, needing the contact. “And she realized how many regrets she really had.”
“What regrets?” He cupped my cheek and ran his thumb along my lips.
