Resonance of Stars (Greenstone Security #5) - Anne Malcom Page 0,51

leg had healed nicely, the doctor had cleared me for doing most things, though Duke was still hovering and overprotective. He’d tried to tell me I couldn’t ride. Tried, being the operative word. He couldn’t be around me constantly, and Harriet proved to be a great partner in crime.

He’d been pissed off when I got back from the ride with Tanner—at both of us. The tension between the brothers was getting thicker, with the novelty of Duke’s presence wearing off. I hadn’t asked Duke about it because I was on my mission to distance myself from him as much as possible, and avoid his sexual promises, despite what my libido craved. I’d actually managed it this entire week. In a beautiful turn of events, one of the ranch hands they’d been expecting to arrive back from college for his summer break had decided to flit off to Europe with his girlfriend. Another had an appendicitis and was currently recovering from surgery.

The ranch was down two men and they were very busy. That meant Duke was very busy—gone at dawn and not back until dinner. Every dinner we had at the homestead, mostly because I was avoiding Duke and also just because I liked it there.

If you’d told me this before I’d arrived, I would’ve laughed in your face. The thought of being alone in a stranger’s house, having to make small talk, having to be polite would’ve turned my stomach. I couldn’t keep up an act for that long. Even villains needed a moment or two to themselves to take off the mask, stretch the facial muscles.

But I didn’t need that, didn’t need the mask. Because they didn’t feel like strangers. None of them. The first few mornings, I’d pretended to be asleep when Duke left. I wasn’t sure if he realized or not, but he still held me tight, kissed my head, and brushed my hair from my face before leaving.

Then, once I was sure he was gone, I’d get up, get dressed, walk to the homestead for coffee or walk into the kitchen to see Harriet.

We’d sit and eat breakfast together, talk. One morning she’d decided I needed to know the basics of gardening, so we donned sunhats and gloves and spent the day in the soil.

That was where Duke had found us. By this point we’d taken a margarita break and forgotten about lunch. Anna had joined us and we had dirt on our hands and laughter in our hearts.

I’d sobered immediately when something started blocking the sun. Something large. Duke was staring down at us, cutting a harsh yet beautiful silhouette.

It was the look in his eyes that cut through any kind of buzz tequila could give me. Each day, it got more intense. Softer. Full of something that couldn’t be real, again making it hard to know where the act ended and the truth began.

So I did the only sane thing, I drank more margaritas and got myself buzzed enough to the point I passed out the second we got home from dinner that evening.

I woke up the next morning in bed, with a faint headache, and not wearing a night gown. Instead, I was encased in Duke’s scent, wearing a faded tee that he’d obviously worn before. It felt better than the finest silk.

“Figured you might need this.”

Duke entered the room, fully dressed, and placed a steaming cup of coffee on the nightstand.

I moved up in the bed and made the mistake of making eye contact. His eyes were twinkling with a little amusement, warmth, and a whole lot of hunger. He leaned in to kiss my head. “Like you in my tee, babe,” he murmured against my forehead. He pulled back just when I was going to forget all my promises I’d made to myself and pull him back into bed.

His expression told me he was feeling the same. “Don’t look at me like that, baby,” he rasped. “Gotta be out of here in less than a minute. And what I’m planning on doing to you is gonna take hours. Not gonna start somethin’ I can’t finish properly.”

I clenched my thighs together, and my panties were already soaked with need. I couldn’t even find my tongue. Couldn’t sling a retort back to him.

“Gotta say, Anastasia,” he continued. “I like walkin’ in here and seeing you’ve planted roots.”

And on that note, he left.

The words followed me around for the rest of the day. Even with Harriet to distract me, I was troubled. I did