the rules now. “Keep this up and by the end of all this you’ll be more at home with my family than I am.”
He chuckled. “Sounds good to me. It’s truly a treat for me to be around a happy, healthy family. Even if Dash is my favorite.”
I gave him a playful punch. I relished catching any joy peak out from behind the immense grief he likely still carried.
He had been orphaned at the tender age of eighteen. That couldn’t have been easy.
“I see myself in him,” he confessed softly, voicing what I had come to suspect. “It’s made me rethink some things.”
I gulped a little. “Like?”
His eyes met mine. “Like, maybe having a child around wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
What was he saying? I was too afraid to ask. “Auggie,” was all I could say.
He tangled my fingers with his. “Did you know you were pregnant when you came to Fifty Oaks the first time?”
I shook my head. “I honestly thought it was food poisoning.”
“And yet you came.”
I shrugged. “You’re the Duke.” He scoffed. “What?”
“Whenever I’m around you, I don’t feel like the Duke.” It was my turn to scoff. “Seriously,” he insisted. “My whole life people have wanted to impress me. To earn my favor. They will rehearse what they will say, how they will act. It’s like this never-ending parade of puppets. I never know who is standing in front of me. That person, or a carefully constructed façade of that person. They never let me see the cracks in the veneer to the humanity underneath.”
I laughed. “Might have something to do with that litany of rules laid out for anyone who is brought in front of you. I was a nervous wreck by the time I got to Fifty Oaks.”
He grinned. “Ah, yes. The rules.”
His smile gave it all away. “They’re a test, aren’t they?”
He chuckled. “Smart girl. We all decide which rules we adhere to or reject, for a variety of reasons. Some will find a way to break them, in their own need to keep control. There are some who quake in their shoes as they try to adhere to every single one. I get to know a lot about a person’s character by which rules they keep, which ones they break, and their attitude as they do either. For instance, Christopher Whomever was quick to break the rules because he didn’t think they applied to him, so I knew from the start how entitled he was. He didn’t give a damn about interviewing me, he just wanted the accompanying notoriety. He let me know what a pain in the ass he would be from the start.” I had to laugh at that. “The other girl kept to the rules but tried to rely on her sexuality to make me break them. It showed how manipulative she was.”
“Meanwhile I nearly barfed right in your face,” I concluded.
He laughed. “You were doing your best to roll with the punches, even when things weren’t going your way. That showed me you were strong, dedicated and respectful, even if you couldn’t be ‘perfect.’” He squeezed my hand. “You’re real.”
I laughed. “You mean awkward, clumsy and mortifying.”
“Exactly,” he grinned. “That’s what makes you beautiful. You’re unafraid to be you. That’s a rare thing in my world. In any world,” he amended.
I shook my head. “You know, both Christopher and Monica warned me to be anything but myself.”
“As if they ever had a chance,” he scoffed. “He was world-class grifter and she would have been in my bed during the interview if I had given her the opportunity.”
It struck me how clearly that he saw Christopher and Monica after one meeting. It also didn’t escape my notice that even though my interview went right down the crapper, literally, he still saw something that he liked. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Special.
He held up his finger, as if he had an idea, then pulled his phone out of his pocket. He glanced around, sizing up the room. He shook his head, dissatisfied, before he took me by the hand and led me upstairs to the bedroom. Butterflies lurched in my throat as we passed the petal-covered bed, but he didn’t stop. He directed me to the private terrace.
The night air was crisp and cool as he led me to the edge overlooking the city. “Give me a pose,” he instructed.
I laughed. It felt silly. “Auggie.”
“What?” he challenged. “You in one of the poshest hotels in the world