Page 15 of Duke, Actually

Max:You, me, and your mother. I can send cars for you both. Or one that gets her first, then collects you, if she doesn’t mind the scenic route.

What? Hang on. She zoomed in on the picture and gasped. Dog Max started yapping. It was a ticket to the New York City Ballet’sTheNutcracker.

Dani:You’re inviting me and MY MOM to The Nutcracker?!

Max:Yes. I got three tickets, and I promise not to talk.

Max:I promise to TRY not to talk.

Max:Well, I promise not to say anything untoward.

Max:I promise to TRY not to say anything untoward. Final offer.

She didn’t know what to say to such an unexpectedly kind gesture.

Butwasit that unexpected? Max had gone out of his way to help her last night, both at the party and in terms of getting her settled in at home.

Dani:Did we make grilled cheese sandwiches last night?

Max:We did. A first for me, but you proved an excellent tutor.

Ha. She’d been right. She could have sworn she remembered bantering with Max about it. She’d had the drunken munchies, and he’d teased her about wanting cheese and carbs for dessert after her dinner of cheese and carbs.

Dani:How did I get into my pajamas?

Max:I ripped off your dress with my teeth and manhandled you into them. I am the Depraved Duke, after all.

Max:I’ll thank you to give me a little credit. You wanted to change into your pajamas. You asked me to unzip you, which I did.

Max:I even averted my eyes.

Dani:You did not.

Max:Fine, I did not. But all I saw was your back. Then I waited in the living room while you changed.

Dani:And then what?

Max:And then we made mad, passionate love. I thought I could control myself, but in the end, I could not resist those plaid flannel pajamas.

She snorted. She was wearing possibly the world’s least alluring sleepwear, a pair of men’s-style old ratty flannel pajamas in navy and dark green.

Dani:What really happened?

Max:Nothing. You went to bed. I took your ridiculous dog out to relieve himself. You were asleep on top of your covers when I came back up. I went back to my hotel.

But not before setting her up with water, painkillers, and her phone. And she had been under her covers, not on top of them, when she woke up.

Dani:Did you tuck me in?

Max:I might have tucked you in.

Well. Damn. Dani could think of a lot of reasons to decline the ballet tickets. She didn’t need charity, for one. Yes,The Nutcrackerwasn’t in the budget, which was tight now that she was floating the rent on her own. But if she’d really wanted to go, she could have made it happen. But more importantly, she’d planned to do the fruitcake tonight. She was going to watch holiday movies, too, now that it was officially Christmas according to the Dani Martinez calendar.

She had plans, was the point, and going to the Nutcracker would violate #6 on theThings I will Never Again Do for a Manlist:Rearrange my schedule to indulge his whims.

Max had said, “Indulge me,” several times last night, after all, and he seemed like the kind of person who was accustomed to being indulged. She didn’t need to add herself to his army of indulgers.

Her resolve lasted five seconds. She zoomed in on the image of the ticket again. Those were really good seats.

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