the face or something, I’ll take responsibility for it, okay? Everyone here can vouch for me.”
She nodded and took a step closer. “Yeah, okay. Let’s try again.”
The specialist moved to place the monkey on Duke’s arms as he requested.
Viv’s heart picked up its pace. Her breaths came shorter too. She leaned over her lap, anxious to catch the response of each animal as the monkey neared.
The sloth paid no mind, but the bird’s feathers rose along the back of its neck.
The trainer took a step back. “She’s not happy right now,” she warned.
Viv tried not to imagine how badly things could go if the bird aimed for Duke’s face, as close to it as she was. “Maybe you should give the bird back,” the mother in her piped.
Duke glanced at her from across the clearing and flashed his heart-winning smile. “I think we’re good,” he said, voice soothing. He turned his face toward the bird again and clicked his tongue. “Come on, Polly, it’s okay. You’re still my girl.”
The bird’s feathers perked up once more, then settled slowly, softly into place.
Duke motioned for the trainer to come forward with the wave of his hand. “See if he’ll hang on my arm like a bar,” he said, moving it into flex mode as if to show off his muscle. There was, in fact an impressive knot bulging along his bicep.
The trainer inched closer and, to Viv’s surprise, the monkey stretched one skinny arm toward Duke. Its small fingers curled around his wrist as he released the trainer and gripped onto him with two hands now.
The scene melted Viv’s heart in a million ways.
The small monkey tipped to its side next, swapping one hand for a foot and swinging sideways while Zee captured the shot.
The small creature swung in place a bit more before reaching up with its tail and wrapping it around Duke’s arm. At once it tipped upside down completely and aimed its face at the lens.
Astonished oohs and ahhs lifted over the space.
Zee was clicking away to capture the moment. “Incredible,” he breathed as he zoomed in and clicked some more.
Viv had nearly forgotten about her neglected notebook, too lured in by the man standing center stage. A clearer vision of Duke was unfolding before her eyes. A lovely one. A man who knew his lot in life. The entertainer. The one they could count on to do something different. Something that would either ease tension or cause it. Something that would raise brows, cause chatter, and earn him the reputation that was his. His, perhaps, whether he wanted it or not.
As they finished up the rest of the rain forest shoot, Zee directing the occasional chin tilt or narrowed glare, Viv couldn’t deny the draw she felt toward him.
It was complicated, she’d admit that much. She almost wished she wasn’t so interested in the truth about people. It’d be much easier to assume that Duke was the jerk she’d determined him to be.
Amidst the storm of her own thoughts, Duke’s gaze caught Viv’s across the clearing. Her heart let out a long, extended beat as he narrowed his gaze into a deep smolder. He grinned then, as if releasing her from his alluring spell. Little did he know that smile held a magic of its own.
There was more than friendship behind those eyes.
Viv was used to letting her candid inner thoughts guide her while seeking the truth about her subjects. So why couldn’t she entertain that one?
She knew psychology well enough to know what held most people back: fear. So what was she so afraid of?
Viv flipped to a far page in the back of her notebook. With her pen poised for a few notes on a new subject—herself—she considered the shift in her take on Duke’s feelings for her.
Last night she’d been certain he was interested. Come morning, she’d convinced herself that he couldn’t want more than friendship.
She wrote the word friend at the top of the page. It was a safe word. No potential for hurt and rejection there.
Viv didn’t like turning her own truth-seeking tactics on herself, but if she were analyzing one of her subjects, she’d guess they were simply trying to avoid the risk that came with any romantic endeavor.
Fine. Maybe she was scared of getting hurt by Duke. Why shouldn’t she be? He’d hurt her once before. And even after that, she’d allowed herself to fall blindly into the arms of a guy who cared more about himself than anything else.
Had she