Page 107 of Duke It Out
I check my messages. “I’ve got a message from Charlotte asking if I’ve checked my email.”
Rory raises a brow. “And have you?”
I shake my head and untangle myself from him for a moment to take another sip of coffee. “I got locked out of it yesterday and forgot to do the two-factor identification thing. Hang on, let me check.”
Two minutes later I’m staring at my phone screen in disbelief.
“Darling?” Rory leans over to look over my shoulder. “Everything okay?”
I hand him the phone.
“From Charlotte,” he reads. “‘Darling, wonderful news! Germany and Denmark have just made offers for translation rights. Call me asap!’” He looks up at me, his smile huge. “Baby, this is fantastic! I’m so proud of you.”
I look at the screen again, hoping the words might sink in. “I never thought… I mean I hoped when she said it hit the Kindle chart, but…”
Rory pulls me into his arms, coffee sloshing on the bedclothes as he shoves the mug roughly out of the way. “I’m so proud of you. My bestselling author.”
“Hardly bestselling,” I scoff, but I can’t stop the huge smile that’s spreading over my face. “It’s the historical fiction chart, not the main one.”
“The reviews say otherwise.” He kisses my temple and brushes the hair back from my face, looking at me with those green eyes.
“Okay,” I say, climbing onto his lap and kissing him as I straddle him, my hands flat against his chest.
He pulls me close and kisses me, his hands running down my back to catch hold of my hips. I feel his cock rising to attention and shift my body slightly to accommodate him, trying to stay focused on what I’m trying to say as his fingers trace circles on my skin.
“I said okay,” I say, leaning to kiss his neck. Rory groans and pulls me closer, burying his lips in my neck.
“Okay to what?” He’s not really listening.
“I’ll move in.”
He rears back, shock and surprise written all over his face. “You will?”
I nod, laughing. “I will. Because if you keep giving away pieces of the estate, you’re going to need my book royalties to pay for the new roof.”
One Year Later
“Areyou sure you don’t want to wear this?” Kate says from under a yellowed confection of lace. “It’s been in the family for generations, apparently.”
I half-turn to look at her and Janey flicks me on the shoulder to get me to straighten up.
“Keep still, you, I’m trying to do these buttons.”
“I don’t know why you bother,” says Kate, tossing the faded Kinnaird veil onto the chaise longue. “She’ll be ripping it off in about five minutes.”
Janey glares at my reflection in the mirror, her expression stern. “You had better not be, madam.”
“I will not,” I say, lifting my arm as Janey fastens the final one and stands back with a look of triumph. “Despite whatsome peoplemight think, I’m capable of some restraint.”
“That’s not what I heard.” Kate waggles her eyebrows. “The whole village seems to know about the kitchen garden incident.”
I close my eyes, feeling the heat rushing to my cheeks.
“It was once.”
“Once is enough,” Janey chuckles as she spins me round, giving me the once-over. “Anyway, I think we’d all agree that it’s right and fitting that a young couple should be—” She pauses for a moment, choosing her words with a mock-prim expression. “—enthusiastic about each other.”
“We’ve taken over from the ice penis, haven’t we?” I groan, putting a hand to my forehead. “The duke and his writer caught in a compromising position in the greenhouse.”
