He nods, smiling. “I’ll take you up on that.”
Shit. I just invited him to come back and see me at work.
Not a smart idea.
I start pushing the cart toward the exit. He trails beside me out to my minivan. As I busy myself buckling the boysinto their seats, Duke takes it upon himself to load our items into the back. I shudder to think about what he might see back there, like a beer-stained work uniform and a graveyard of crushed Goldfish.
I finally get the boys in and turn to thank Duke, once again, for the small but very meaningful acts of service that I really hope I don’t look too far into.
“Thank you—again. You didn’t have to do any of that.”
The usual smirk on his face is gone. His eyes are steady on mine. “I know that.”
I open my mouth to say something, but think better of it and close it. I nod, turning toward the driver’s door, which, of course, he beats me to and opens. I climb into the seat, trying to remember the last time a man opened a door for me, but I can’t. It’s been so long that I don’t remember who or when it was.
Too young. Off-limits. Playboy extraordinaire. Healing era.
“Bye,” I tell him.
“Bye, Dallas.”
I reverse the minivan and drive away, refusing to look at him in the rearview mirror.
I don’t even realize until I get home that I’m still wearing his damn cowboy hat.
5
DUKE
Dallas
I can return the hat tomorrow, if that works for you. I’m sorry. I completely forgot I was wearing it.
Duke
Who is this?
Ismirk at the phone as I stand at the stove and flip bacon. I jump back as a grease bubble explodes, and a tiny burn sizzles on my bare abs.
My dad shuffles over to the coffee maker, the pot shaking as he tries to pour it. A little bit splashes on the counter, but it’s not much. He scoops a spoonful of white sugar to stir into it before taking a slow sip.
“Morning, Pops. How’d you sleep?”
He grunts as he moves to take a seat at the kitchen island. “I slept all right.”
“I slept pretty damn good. We gotta run up to thenorthern fence line today and make some repairs. You up for it?”
He grumbles something, and it appears we might be having a rough day today. My phone buzzes on the counter with a text.
Dallas
How many people have stolen a cowboy hat of yours recently?
Duke
You know what? Now that I think about it, it was just this one hot blond mom in Walmart.
I know that flirting with a married woman kind of makes me an asshole, but I already had my tongue down her throat and my finger inside her.