A line formed between his brows. “It hasn’t even been a day.”
I laughed, but it was dry. “Considerate of them, huh? No matter how long I’ve been in the business, the callousness of others will never cease to amaze me.”
“Tell them to fuck off. You’re grieving.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Even if it did, well, I doubt that would go over well. It’s fine, though. My assistant is fantastic. She’ll take care of it the best she can and buy me a few weeks to take care of things here before I have to go back.”
Even if I didn’t want to go back.
Duke pushed off the ledge and walked toward my bed. He paused, taking the seat next to me. We didn’t talk at first, letting my words settle over us like a weighted blanket. Only, instead of comfort, it felt suffocating.
“What if you didn’t?” he asked quietly.
I turned my head towards him, noticing the way he kept his gaze trained on his hands in his lap. “What if I didn’t what?”
“Leave. What if you didn’t leave?”
I wanted that. God, I wanted that more than anything else in the world. And not just because I’d found myself drawn to the man sitting next to me, but because being home was the happiest I’d felt in years. Seeing Charlie every day and going to Harper’s soccer games felt so normal, and so right. Having my brother on hand for any emergency that might come up was comforting.
And Duke? Duke made me feel alive. He made me feel like a woman—one with needs and desires and dreams. He made me feel seen—not just the face I showed the world, butme.A woman who could do anything, be anything, she wanted.
Even if what I wanted was to live an inherently average life without paparazzi following me around and men in suits looking down on me every time I walked into a room.
I shook my head. “I can’t stay. The company needs me.”
“And what about the people here?” he asked, staring straight at the wall. His jaw set in a hard line. “Don’t they need you too?”
“And who would that be?”
“I can think of two perfectly good reasons in that room in there, and one right here.” He turned his head, letting me see the way his bright green eyes burned with fire. “Including Lukas, Grady, and Cleo.”
Duke’s words made me want to cry. Why couldn’t he see that my hands were tied here? I couldn’t throw away my life—my family’s legacy—for someone I wasn’t even sure I had a future with.
This conversation was too much, too deep. I wasn’t prepared to be poked and prodded before I’d even had a cup of coffee in my system.
“Duke—”
He put his hands up in surrender. “It’s just something to think about, honey. I just want you to know you have options.”
I could walk away from the company with little effort, settle down here, and live out the rest of my days in comfort. But why couldn’t anyone ever try to understand the way my guilt gnawed at my conscience, telling me that the option didn’t exist? Or that if I did walk away, it would be met with smug judgments and “I told you so” whispers.
I didn’t want to be a failure. I didn’t want to let anyone down, other than myself. At least then, I had no one to blame but the woman staring back at me in the mirror every day.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to get some more sleep, are you?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Figured as much. Why don’t I make us some coffee? We can sit on the back porch and watch the sunrise.”
Duke pushed to his feet, turning to hold his hand out for me to take. My gaze dipped to his open, waiting palm. “You don’t have to do any of this, you know. Last night was amazing, and I’m so appreciative of it, but?—”
“I’m not just doing this for you, Olivia. I’m doing it for me. I like taking care of people I care about, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone save for Harper.” He moved, cupping my jaw and letting his thumb trace my bottom lip. “Let me take care of you a little while longer. Let me pretend there isn’t an expiration date on whatever the fuck this is.” His gaze dipped to my mouth. “I don’t make a habit of begging, but I will if that’s what it takes.”
The thought of him begging—regardless of what it was for—had me squeezing my thighs together to stop the ache blooming between them. And then I remembered last night. How he’d been so enraptured by me, by my body, that he couldn’t move. Having that kind of power over someone was a heady notion. One I didn’t take lightly.
But it left me wanting more. Craving more.
“It would be reckless to pretend,” I whispered. “We’d both end up hurt.”
His tongue darted out, wetting his lips. They gleamed in the low light of dawn peeking through the windows. “I can’t possibly be any worse off than I was when you showed up.”
I leaned into his touch without thinking. “But I don’t want to hurt you, Duke.”