Chapter 17
Duke glided his fingers along Viv’s silky wrist, observing the slender slope of her arm. “You’re so…delicate,” he said under his breath.
Vivi gave him a playful nudge. “No, I’m not. I’m tough stuff.” She bent her arm and flexed, making the long muscle along her bicep bulge.
Duke traced over the muscle as well. Strong, yes, but also soft, silky, fragrant, and warm. Just a few words that described her.
“You are tough,” he admitted. “You can be both at the same time, you know?” He moved in, pressed a longing kiss to her inner arm, and sighed. “When do I get to meet the twins?” he asked, rolling onto his back.
Thick green leaves in twisty branches allowed spots of the blue, sunlit sky to shine through overhead.
It had become a routine over the last couple of weeks.
He’d take a three-hour lunch break each day, head over to Viv’s while the kids were in school, and lounge on a blanket beneath the big oak in her backyard.
The daytime dates at her place worked out for a few reasons: first, they planned to keep their relationship private until the article was released. Second, the boys weren’t home and, to Duke’s growing frustration, Viv wasn’t ready to tell them about him yet.
“I was thinking we could try a picnic this Saturday,” she said.
Duke propped himself on an elbow to look at her. “Really?”
Viv kept her eyes closed, soaking up a spot of sun where she lay. “Yeah. I’ll make some sandwiches. You can meet us there. It’s a school playground, actually. The one down the street. It doesn’t see a lot of traffic, so I think it’ll be perfect.”
Sparks of childlike excitement flickered through him. Thoughts of meeting them often triggered that same reaction. Like spending time with the twins would be a chance to have parts of his childhood back for a time.
“Think I should bring some baseballs and bats? I can get mitts their size. Are they both right-handed?”
Viv pried open her eyes. “No,” she said. “Dante’s a lefty. How’d you think to ask that?”
He shrugged. “It’s baseball. The mitt has to go on the correct hand. You said they’re on the rec team this summer, right? Do they already have their own gear? Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to have two mitts…”
More excitement stirred at the idea of playing ball with the boys. Of teaching them some of his hard-earned tricks. “You’ll play too, won’t you?”
“Sure, just watch out. I’m a lousy pitch. On another note,” she said, propping herself onto her elbows as well, “The article is coming along very nicely.”
He lifted a brow. “It is?”
Viv gave him a silent nod.
“I’m kind of nervous just thinking about it,” he admitted.
That earned him a grin. “You shouldn’t be, cuore mio, my heart.”
Heat roared low in his belly. Duke loved when she called him that. He ran his gaze over her as she looked at him, a sassy gleam in her gorgeous brown eyes. So intelligent, so confident, so beautiful. He shrugged onto his shoulder to place a kiss to her lips. And then another one.
“I’m…” His pulse shot into the next gear as he considered what he wanted to say. Something he’d thought about saying to her dozens of times before. His throat tightened as if it might close up around the words if he didn’t hurry and say them.
“I’m falling in love with you, Vivia Tripoli.” Duke’s heart raced impossibly faster now. Hotter too as Viv pulled back slightly to look at him.
Vivi’s eyes went wide, her brows lifted, and her lips quirked up on one side. Her face softened then as she toyed with the hairs at the nape of his neck. “I’m falling in love with you too, cuore mio, my heart.”
She pulled him in for another kiss, assuring him with the passion behind each lingering touch and taste. She sandwiched his bottom lip with hers, caressing it gently as she pulled back ever so slowly before coming in for another heavenly encounter.
He let it feed the desire in him, the growing need to know if she felt the same way. Her verbal answer had done him a whole lot of good. Her physical affection made it all the sweeter.
Wanting to make sure his attention did the same for her, Duke slid a hand down the side of her thigh, looped his fingers around the back of her knee, and hooked her leg up and around him.
He deepened the kiss then, drawn in by the warmth of her, sensing their time was coming to a close.
At any moment, his alarm would sound, reminding him of how very precious their time together was.
He longed for the day he could have not only Vivi’s lunchtime breaks, but her mornings and evenings too. Duke needed more of her. After falling so deeply, he sensed life wouldn’t be complete without her in it.
At last, his dreaded phone alarm began to buzz from its spot on the blanket.
Viv brought things to a long, sensual close with a kiss that made him groan. “That went fast,” she said against his lips.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Too fast. Guess you’ve got to get back to work in that spare room. I still wish you’d let me help you,” he added, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Viv grinned. “Yeah, but if we were doing that when you came, it wouldn’t be a break for me. It’d be work.” She winked.
“Your two jobs—writing and house-restoring—aren’t very alike,” he pointed out.
Viv gave that some thought. “In a way, they’re not so different,” she said. “What I do with an old home is make it look appealing again by helping its best features shine. It’s sort of the same thing with the people I interview.”
Duke grinned, appreciating her perspective. Loving the way she always helped him see things in a new light.
“When can we go on another date?” he asked. Luckily, Duke had been able to take Vivi out over the weekend; her parents offered to watch the twins after their birthday party, giving them a few hours at his place—her first time there.
The thought made him recall the gala. “Did your parents say they could watch the boys at the end of the month, bellissima?” He may as well tack on a little Italian too. Not that he knew much.
“Ah,” she said in approval. “Very nice. I like it.”
“So you can come to the gala with me?”
Viv shook her head. “Oh, I still need to ask them.”
Duke leaned a bit to catch her gaze. “Is there a reason you keep putting that off?” he asked. This wasn’t the first time he’d sensed her hesitancy where the gala was concerned.
Viv tipped her head, seeming to weigh the question. “I’m almost tempted to just…have you go with Sylvia Sampson, like your family wants.”
Duke forgot she even knew about that. He’d have preferred that Viv never discovered the option. It wasn’t anything she needed to know. Unfortunately, Vivi had been scrolling through pictures when the text came in.
Hey, it’s Sylvia. Sounds like our families want us to go to this year’s Gala together. Let’s play along.
Duke wasn’t interested. And he’d gently said so in reply right in front of Vivi. What else could he have done?
“My family only wanted that because you weren’t exactly in the picture yet.
Now they want me to take whomever I’d like, of course.
They’re not worried about appearances.” The moment that statement came out of his mouth, Duke second-guessed it.
The truth was that both Grandma Lo and his mother were very worried about appearances. Of course, their concerns varied.
While Grandma’s main focus was upholding the Benton name with good and decent behavior—nothing underhanded or scandalous—Mom still battled the inner snob from her childhood. She’d have preferred her children married big names that elevated the family’s status even higher.
Duke shook off the thought and glanced back at Vivi. His face flushed with heat as he realized her gaze was fixed on him. As if she could read the inner workings of his mind.
“What are the chances that the exact girl you took to prom instead of me comes prancing back into your life ten years later and asks you to take her to some high profile version of that prom?”
Duke shrugged. “I don’t see why any of this makes you hedge,” he finally said. “You’re my girlfriend.”
Vivi’s full, pouty-looking lips transformed at his words. “I am?” Her cheeks went pink.
He chuckled under his breath. “Of course. Isn’t that what you’d call it?”
Viv nodded, tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and moved in to press her lips against his. A slow, teasing kiss.
Perhaps he could stay for a few minutes more.
Duke tipped his head, cradled her cheek, and gave in to another taste.
And then another, drawn back in by the silky heat of her mouth.
As complex as Vivi was—and guarded where her feelings were concerned—she expressed herself in their passionate exchanges in the shade.
The way she’d grip the back of his neck or pull at the front of his shirt, anything to get him impossibly closer.
And for Duke, anywhere close to Viv—that had become his heaven on earth.
The art of putting things into compartments, focusing on one thing over the other, had taken root hard and fast where she was concerned. During their few hours together each day, it was easy to be present.
But even still, a part of him knew that as much as Vivi cared for him, as much as she returned his feelings, she was holding back.
The situation with the gala and the twins said it all.
But he wouldn’t focus on that now. Couldn’t, was more like it.
For now, Duke would simply enjoy his little piece of heaven.
Viv set a freshly made sub sandwich on a sheet of butcher paper, positioning it on the top corner.
“Remind me why we’re doing it this way,” Duke said through the line.
She propped the phone to her ear and began to roll the sandwich, wrapping it as she went. “Because this way the twins won’t know we’re dating.” Viv set it in the basket, reached for the next sub, and inwardly prayed he wouldn’t push the topic.
“Why can’t you just tell them you like me and that I like you? I thought that’s what we were doing.”