Page 31 of Duke, Actually

“Hello, hello!” Marie, god bless her, stuck her head into the room. She met Max’s gaze briefly but didn’t give anything away as she swept her attention over the rest of his family, assessing in her efficient Marie way. “I hope I’m not interrupting. I was about to take a preliminary walk around Cocoa Fest. Leo and Gabby are busy, and I was hoping to drum up some company.”

She smiled brightly, and Max stifled a sigh. He was grateful for the rescue, and he’d much rather be strolling the palace grounds with Marie than lunching with his family, but he couldn’t help thinking that what he really wanted was to click his heels three times and be back in New York.

Chapter Six

Max:How’s the sex quest going?

Max:Any big New Year’s Eve plans?

Max:How’s my namesake?

Dani looked up from her computer, startled as a series of texts from Max arrived. She hadn’t heard from him since Christmas Eve, and she had initiated that contact.

Dani:The sex quest has gone nowhere.

She had done some research on different apps, but the idea of all the getting-to-know-you chatting that would be required was turning out to be more uncomfortable than she’d expected. But that was stupid. If she couldn’t make herself talk to a stranger through a phone, how well did that bode for her ability to get it on with a stranger?

Dani:No New Year’s plans. I’m working, and I might watch a movie later. Living the high life here.

Dani:Dog Max—still not your namesake because as discussed, I had him long before I met you—is sick.

She was about to add that Dog Max would be fine when a voice call came in from Human Max. Were they going to be talking-on-the-phone friends now? It wasn’t lost on her that this was the thing she was having trouble imagining herself doing with potential hookups. “Hello?”

“What’s wrong with my namesake?”

She smiled at the lack of greeting. Unlike her imaginary app-dude conversations, things weren’t awkward with Max because somehow they had skipped over the polite-pleasantries stage of most relationships. “He’s not your namesake, but he has an ear infection. He started antibiotics today, and he has to wear one of those cone things so he doesn’t scratch his ears.”

“Aww.” Human Max made a noise that was part sympathetic, part amused. “So you can’t leave him alone? That’s too bad.”

She thought about agreeing.Yes, I am so devoted to my dog I canceled my New Year’s Eve plans to tend to him.She looked over to where Dog Max was snort-snoring. “I could leave him alone—he’s fine. Honestly, he’s my excuse. The truth is, I’m committed to staying home in my pajamas and watching cheesy Christmas movies.”

She almost told him the rest, which was that she was sitting and staring at her computer, thinking about writing something.Something different from usual. And that it was his doing. His wild story about Karina Klein had ignited—reignited—the idea. But it was only a formless blob in her mind. It would probably go nowhere.

And she couldn’t shake the memory of last time she’d told someone about this idea. It had not gone well.

She rose from her desk and made her way to the couch to stretch out—she’d been hunched over for too long. “Where are you?” There was background noise on his end. “Are you at a party?”

“Paris, and I am. Or I was.”

“What do you meanwas?”

“I am at a party, I suppose, but I came outside to get some air.”

“So what am I hearing?”

“I’m on a terrace, and the doors to the main room are open because it’s hot in there. There’s a band as well as a more generalized din.”

“What kind of party is it? Minor European royalty? Are you still wife-scouting?”

“Ha-ha. I wasn’t wife-scouting in New York, nor am I this evening. A friend of mine was having a New Year’s Eve party, and I wanted to... Well, frankly, I wanted to escape my family, so I jetted over.”

“Ah, took the private jet to the party in Paris.” She was teasing, because she didn’t quite know what to make of the baron who wanted to escape his family so he “jetted over” to Paris.

“I’ll have you know I flew commercial. I always fly commercial.”

“You flew commercial when you came here?”

“I did.”

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