“Come on, girls. Let’s get you to school,” Duke said, pushing to his feet. I covered my laugh with the back of my hand as he dragged the pillows and blankets with him, earning a pointed glare.
“So… About that,” Charlie said. “Today was our field trip to the park. If you take us to school, there will be no one there because everyone left at nine.”
“Oh my god, that was today?” I groaned.
The girls nodded. “Yup.”
Duke cursed, still standing there holding the blankets and pillows at waist height. Honestly, it was sort-of adorable seeing him so disheveled.
Charlie turned to Harper and loudly whispered, “We should really start a swear jar.”
Harper nodded. “Then we’ll definitely be able to afford the ponies we want.”
“Ponies?” Duke and I turned toward our daughters.
“As in plural?” I asked.
“One for each of us. Duh,” Charlie deadpanned.
Right. Yes. Silly me.
“You know I’ve wanted one for years now, Mom. Dad keeps saying he’ll get me one, and then he doesn’t.”
I wasn’t opposed to Charlie having a horse, especially since she’d learned how to ride thanks to Cleo a few years ago. But that was a big responsibility I wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for. It was a miracle Grady hadn’t caved yet. Normally, Charliejust needed to bat her long eyelashes at her dad to get whatever it was she wanted.
Duke shook his head. “Where would we even keep a horse, sugar? In your bedroom?”
“No, we’d need to build a barn out back,” Harper said. To her credit, she looked deadly serious.
His long fingers came up to scratch at the stubble along his jaw. Stubble that’d grown out significantly over the past few days. I noticed he never seemed to fully get rid of it. Not that I minded. I liked the sexy pornstache with a five o’clock shadow look.
Duke had always been attractive, but the way I was seeing him lately put his younger self to shame. He was muscular and yet soft. Handsome and yet rugged. There were no overpriced flashy accessories. The man didn’t even own a smartwatch, and his phone was at least four years old, given the cracked screen and shitty battery life.
He preferred stained T-shirts and a worn flannel to five-thousand-dollar suits. The boots by the door looked as though they were in desperate need of a resoling. There was no pomp or circumstance. Just a simple man with simple needs living a simple life.
When was the last time life had been simple for me? I’d operated at an all-or-nothing, breakneck speed since the day I graduated high school. John sent me away to college, where I majored in business operations and minored in music theory. He had me out on scouting trips before I’d even graduated because I had an ear for talent.
That was how I met Grady, after all.
But even after I left school and started shadowing him at Hartstrings corporate office, I never took a break. The only vacations I went on were weekend trips I could get away to visit Grady on tour, but that was years ago.
This was the first time since I’d started my career that I’d been able to slow things down and relax, but it wasn’t the same. I still had to check my email. Still had frequent meetings with lawyers and others, not only for business matters but also for John’s estate planning.
I didn’t realize how desperate I was for a change of speed until I woke up late in Duke’s arms on a Wednesday morning.
“Looks like we have no choice but to play hooky,” I said, stretching my arms above my head. Duke turned toward me, eyes homing in on the sliver of exposed skin where my shirt had ridden up.
Both the girls cheered as the grump in front of me cocked a brow. “Hooky?”
“Are you unfamiliar with the concept? See, it’s when you take off work or school just because you can.”
“I know what it means,” he muttered. “But I can’t just decide not to work today. There’s a bunch of shit I didn’t get to finish last night. Sawyer’s probably over there already.” He walked toward the windows and pulled back the curtain. “Yup. Her car is out front. I have to go.”
With a sigh, he began walking toward the laundry room to drop the blankets, which I’m pretty sure was just an excuse to grab some pants. Charlie and Harper turned toward me, frowning.
“What if the girls and I came with you today?” I asked.
Duke stuck his head out of the kitchen. “What?”