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Duke shouldn’t have been surprised at all this shit. The office was like a bunch of fucking high schoolers, especially since he was the only one not married. Well, apart from the new hire, Knox. But no one knew fucking shit about him. He did his job, spoke as if words were rationed, and didn’t offer anything about his personal life. Rosie had considered it her personal mission to find out more about him, using interpersonal skills instead of hacking into his background—only because she’d tried to hack into his shit and there was nothing to hack. An interesting first for Rosie.
So no, Duke wasn’t surprised that they were taking fucking bets on this shit. He should’ve been more pissed off than he was. But he was too busy listening to the sound of Anastasia’s laugh and watching her legs move in those jeans.
“Yes, brother,” he said, as she walked toward him, still smiling. “You’re totally fuckin’ wrong. She’s everything but what she seems.”
Duke had had a weird look in his eye since I got back from herding cattle with his father and brother.
No, that was a lie.
He’d had a look in his eye ever since he ate me out at the breakfast bar, and then after Harriet had interrupted before things could go further. Although I wasn’t sure I would’ve survived much further, so maybe the interruption was a good thing. At the time, I didn’t think so, of course. At the time, I would’ve been willing to let the life drain out of me in order to continue…whatever that was with Duke.
He had looked pissed off at his grandmother, the one he’d shown nothing but respect and love to since I got here. But he masked it quickly. He masked it all quickly. It was impressive the way he could wipe that entire moment from his face, as if it had never happened, as if it weren’t as pivotal and important as I had thought it was.
Which had me second-guessing the moment the entire day.
Had me overthinking every moment I’d spent here.
I didn’t have experience in men wanting me. Sure, they wanted my tits, my ass, the bragging rights to say they’d fucked a movie star. If they wanted more than sex, it was also for the same reasons, plus money, status, whatever they could suck from me like a leech.
I had been kidding myself thinking Duke wanted more. There was no evidence in my entire life that I was worth wanting, that I was worth anything.
Maybe Duke wanted to make the act that much easier if we fucked. Maybe he was just horny and there weren’t any other options.
“Baby?”
I jerked myself from my self-pity. I’d been unsaddling the horse I’d taken out riding today.
Duke took the saddle as I heaved it off. I glared at him. Of course I couldn’t do the heavy lifting.
I was pissed off at him. I decided that was easier. If he really wanted to do the dirty work for me, he could be my guest.
“Anastasia! Jesus,” he yelled at my back while I walked out of the stables.
I ignored this. Unfortunately, Duke had longer legs and the macho-man purpose stride, so he caught up with me easily.
“You runnin’ away from me now?” he asked as I walked in the direction of the house. Harriet was bound to be there.
“I’m not someone who runs from anything,” I replied, though that was not completely true.
“You sure seem to be walking fast,” he shot back, sounding far too amused.
I stopped abruptly, put my hand on my hip, narrowed my eyes—the patented female battle stance.
Duke’s eyes twinkled but he knew better than to grin.
“I’m not running, Duke,” I said, voice quiet this time. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on between you and your brother?”
That took the twinkle out of his eyes. “It’s complicated.”
I raised my brow. “You think everything else is simple?”
He shook his head. “Touché.” He sighed, looked out on to the ranch, to the home in front of us. There was regret, loss in his expression. I hated to see it. I wished that I was a woman who could take all of that away.
“It’s not just one thing,” Duke said after a long pause. “Not a huge event that split us apart. Guess nothin’ in life is truly that dramatic.” He looked to me. “I left. Things got fucked from there. I lost the ability to be a good brother, a good son, a good man.”
I stepped forward, grasping his stubbled chin in my hand and jerked his face to meet mine. “You need to stop,” I snapped. “I’ve had the displeasure to encounter many men in my life. Many terrible men. Selfish. Cruel. Violent. Everything in between. Up until I witnessed a murder, I wasn’t sure that good men existed. Now, you sure can be an asshole when you want to be.” I grinned at him. “But you can still be a good man and an asshole at the same time. You do it beautifully. I’m not an expert on how to be good, but I can see you’re not bad, just human. Unfortunately, even macho-men bleed.” I placed my hand in the area where I’d seen his two most prominent scars.
