Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
Valentina
I woke up to sunlight streaming through the window, one of the oak trees in the yard casting a long shadow on the hardwood floor. I rolled over to check the time, only to be confronted with a tousle of brown hair attached to a very muscular, very attractive shirtless body. The tousle turned to me, its green eyes fluttering open, an adorably dimpled smile spreading across its face.
Oh fuck.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty sight to see first thing in the morning.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Clapping a hand over my mouth, I immediately sat up, my head spinning as the realization of what happened last night washed over me. The bar…the whiskey…the dancing…the porch…and Duke Wilder inside me, rocking my world to its core.
“I, uh, I have to go,” I muttered, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and quickly scanning the room for my clothes. My jeans were in the corner, my top and bra right next to them. Where are my fucking panties?
“Are you sure you don’t have time for round four? Or would that make it five?” Duke drawled, propping himself up on his side with one elbow, the gray cotton sheet slipping from his waist.
Quickly clasping my bra and slipping the straps over my shoulders, I threw my top over my head, covering myself with my jeans while I kept searching for my missing underwear.
“Last night was a mistake,” I said, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Duke. Or with his dick. His thick, nine-inch, magic dick, which apparently had the power to make me throw all common sense out the window.
“Wait, hold on, what do you mean a mistake?”
“ Gracias a Dios ,” I said as my fingers landed on the thin lacy fabric of my panties, which had somehow ended up under the bed. After pulling them on, I turned to tell Duke off, but the look on his face caught me off guard. Any trace of cockiness was gone, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d almost say he looked sincere.
“I don’t want you to regret what happened. We’re adults, and we deserve to have a little fun.”
He stepped into a pair of boxer briefs and sat on the edge of the bed, the outline of his manhood in the stretchy cotton sending my mind to the first day we met. In some ways, it felt like we’d come a long way since then. But then again, there I was, half-naked in his bedroom, just like he’d wanted.
But if I’m being honest? Just like I’d wanted, too.
I sighed and sat on the bed next to him.
“But I’m going back to LA soon.” Not to mention Charlotte will have a fucking heyday when she finds out about this.
“I know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy each other while you’re here.”
I crossed one leg over the other, already aware of the soreness in those tiny thigh muscles that hadn’t been used in a while. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Duke lived up to his reputation.
And then some.
Jesus, the man was an animal in bed.
“What do you have in mind?”
Duke smiled, his lip curling into that stupid half-smirk that made me want to slap him and dry hump him at the same time.
“You have a bathing suit? Go get changed. I’ll pick you up in a little while.”
Half an hour later, Duke’s truck pulled up the driveway. My stomach did a backflip at the thought of him in a pair of swim trunks. Not that his six pack was a surprise by this point. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t excited for the show.
I adjusted the strap of my baby blue bikini, tucking it under my tank top. I was grateful in that moment for my over-packing tendencies. Charlotte hadn’t said anything about swimming, but I’d figured it couldn’t hurt to be prepared. Thank God for intuition.
As I climbed into the passenger seat, Duke jerked his head to a picnic basket at my feet.
“Careful, darlin’, you don’t want to crush our lunch.”
“Lunch? Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. And no peeking,” he said, arching a brow as I leaned down to lift the lid. “I was hoping we could leave one last thing to the imagination.”
I sat up straight, raising my hands in surrender.
“I didn’t take you for the modest type.”
“There’s a lot about me you still have to learn.”
With that, Duke turned up the radio, country music filling the truck. Normally, I would have rolled my eyes at that twangy stuff, but as we turned down a dirt road, Duke’s taste in music seemed weirdly perfect. The trees outside my window were unlike anything I’d seen in LA. All the Texas greenery and plant life made the lonely palm trees back home look like sad Hollywood excuses for nature.
We came to a stop at what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by more trees and bushes I’d never seen before, the spot was beautiful, sure, but not exactly what I’d imagined our picnic getaway location would look like.
“Is this it?” I asked as Duke put the car in park.
He smiled and shook his head.
“Follow me.”
With the picnic basket in one hand, he took mine in the other, weaving through trees and pushing shrubs aside as we went. We weren’t following any path I could see, so I had no idea how he knew where to go, but by that point, I wasn’t worried. My mom had always warned me about letting strange men take me places, but Duke wasn’t a stranger anymore. I didn’t know it until that moment, but as I followed him blindly to what looked like the middle of nowhere, it hit me like a ton of bricks:
I trusted him.
Even if that made me like every other doe-eyed sucker who fell for him.
Duke pushed past some thick leafy bushes, revealing a clearing unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The dirt beneath our feet led to a small sandy beach and water bluer and clearer than I thought possible. A stream poured into the swimming hole from between two huge rock formations dotted with giant leafy trees, making it feel like we’d entered a whole other world.
“Welcome to the best kept secret in all of Shady Grove,” Duke said, setting the picnic basket down and admiring the view.
“How is this place even real?”
I could barely keep my mouth from gaping open as I took it all in. From the sound of the stream flowing into the reserve to the trill of the birds across the way, that place was like something out of a fairy tale. I even saw a few magical-looking dragonflies skimming the surface of the water.
“Our parents used to take us here when we were little, before everything went south. Some of my best memories as a kid happened here.”
“And I thought Six Flags was cool growing up.”
Duke peeled off his T-shirt and tossed it by the basket, climbing onto one of the rocks and turning to wink at me.
“Are you coming or what?”
Without waiting for me to answer, he dove into the deepest part of the water. Part of me wished he would have stood a little longer on the rock so I had more time to admire his rippling back muscles, but I knew there’d be time for that later. Shedding my shorts and tank top, I walked to the water, yelping when my toes reached the edge.
“It’s freezing!”
“This is all-natural spring water, darlin’,” Duke said when he resurfaced. “Sixty-eight degrees year-round.”
I shuddered as I stepped deeper into the water, submerging my feet and calves.
“At this rate, you’ll barely get your head underwater by sunset,” Duke said, splashing water in my direction.
“Shut up.” I kept walking until the water came up to my waist, sending a spray of water into Duke’s face.
“Make me.”
He flashed that devilish smile of his and dove under, popping up a few feet to my left. I smiled and swam after him, loving the way the cold water made me feel like a kid again. We kept on like that for a while, chasing each other around the swimming hole, splashing and teasing and laughing until our limbs were tired and our stomachs started to growl. We swam ashore, where Duke spread out a picnic blanket, and we ate the meat, cheese, and fruit plate he’d packed for us. He’d even managed to slip a few beers in there—a couple IPAs for him, and something a little more drinkable for me.
Everything about the day was perfect, from the surprise of the swimming hole to Duke’s lips against my skin after lunch. I thought I’d been on good dates before, but this was something else. I’d never had a man plan something like that for me, taking me somewhere I’d never been, showing me a part of his world.
As we lay on the blanket, lips tired and sore from kissing, the Texas sun warming our skin, just one thought kept crossing my mind.
Why can’t guys like this exist in LA?
“Get your pretty little ass over here, I’m not done with you yet.” Duke smirked, heading straight for me with a determined expression, and my belly flipped.