Every time she got nervous, she came up with one excuse or another to let him out of his obligation. Yesterday, he’d foolishly hit his hand with a hammer while tacking up lights, and she tried to let him off the hook. The truth was, he’d been so preoccupied with their last kiss that he hadn’t been paying attention.
As the traffic around them grew louder with the afternoon shoppers, Duke squeezed Macy’s hand slightly. “Will you stop trying to offer me a way out of this arrangement? I said I am helping.”
“Yes, but that was so I could do your house. I’m just saying, I’ll still do your house.”
“You don’t seem to get it.”
“Get what?”
“You don’t seem to have time any other way, so this is my selfish method of getting to spend time with you.” He thought she would eventually figure that one out.
After a minute of his hand resting on hers, Macy conceded and nodded her head. “I supposed I should be grateful for your help. I can’t believe Andy and Spencer would bail on me. I know that Serena is sick...so I guess I should stop.”
Duke hid his smile at her reluctant “should.” Either way, Duke didn’t mind. He let go of her hand and sat back, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. He knew he should have felt guilty for buying off Andy and Spencer, but he didn’t. He had Macy all to himself.
“Have you thought about when you want to have your party and who you want to invite?”
“What about Christmas Eve?” Duke picked up his drink, pushed the straw out of the way and sipped from the cup. Macy did the same. He liked that she didn’t look at him with such hate, like she had the first time they’d spoken. He wanted all the folks at the WKSS studio, as well as the viewers he’d pissed off, to accept his apology. In Mao, having a village party took little effort, so why not do the same here? “And I want to invite everyone.”
She half choked on her drink. “Everyone?”
“Yes, I’m going to announce it on the morning news this week. I wanted to discuss it with you.”
“Duke, your party is going to cost a fortune.”
“Money is no object, and I want the house to be really festive, so whatever you want to charge me, have at it.”
“That’s three weeks away.”
“Do you need more time?”
He liked the way she pressed her lips together when she was in thought. “No, we can do it.”
Duke gave her a devilish smile and grin. Macy rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed. When was the last time someone had openly flirted with her? A gorgeous woman like her...men surely threw themselves at her feet left and right.
“I mean the party,” Macy quickly clarified. “What kinds of food do you want?”
“Whatever you think would be good.” He shrugged, not caring about the food or the cost of things. The only thing that mattered to Duke was that he was spending more time with Macy, and he had three weeks to secure her presence at his party, not as his caterer and decorator, but as something more. Something much, much more. What? Duke didn’t know. It dawned on him that he had no game plan here.
Macy was reluctant to get involved with him because he would be leaving after the New Year. But what kind of life would he return to? He hated the fact that his personal life was displayed in the tabloids. Prior to Kristina, he never thought of marriage. Though his parents had been happily married for what seemed like an eternity, there was more to life than marriage—or so Duke thought.
Kristina had proposed to him in more of a businesslike manner. Like Duke, she’d attended college in South Florida. They both wanted to conquer the media world. He never imagined they’d be what the viewers called a power couple. Late last spring, after celebrating at a successful music award show, Kristina laid out her proposal, including all the endorsements they’d receive for product placements as a married couple, and she already had a date set for when they’d adopt a child and introduce it on a special report. At the time, he had no idea how to answer her.
Truthfully, the whole idea sickened him. His parents married for love, not business. His father made a grand scheme of a proposal to Duke’s mother. Without being able to provide the potential for a child, Duke felt a proposal should at least be his decision. He hated not having control of his life, from the trainers who kept him fit to the ladies at the studios who chose his wardrobe. Feeling powerless scared him. And he’d taken a leave of absence from the DC news desk and headed down to Mao for some soul searching and got caught up with the baseball training camps back in the DR. The temporary break from the news desk and the permanent break from Kristina would change his world if he went back.
If? Funny how his “when” turned into an “if” now, he thought. A few weeks ago, he couldn’t wait for the day when he got a late-night phone call with a story breaking. Now his mindset was a bit more relaxed. If he decided to renew his contract, he wasn’t sure it would be with the DC affiliate. At work, there was always someone picking out his clothes. Thanks to a trainer who kept him fit, he remained in the magazines as a sex symbol. He always had someone to keep him on track.
There was something about Macy, Duke thought as he shifted in his seat. What he liked about her was the refreshing way she dealt with him. She gave him a task and allowed him to complete it without handling him with kid gloves. She gave him what he’d sought after for a while. She treated him like a man.
He got simple joy from just being around her. She was refreshing. She was entertaining. He enjoyed being around a woman who didn’t count every calorie before it entered her mouth. He liked that when they were shopping, she didn’t dictate orders to everyone around her. People seemed to follow her every whim because they genuinely liked her, not because they were scared of her. Kristina demanded
fear from everyone. She may have not wanted Duke for his money or for a family, like other women he’d dated, but she did crave attention. The more, the better.
“Is everything okay with your food?” the waitress asked, rushing over to the table. She’d already come by for a picture and an autograph, and had him speak with her grandmother on the phone, who seemed to be in love with him.
Kristina would have called the manager over and had the woman fired by now. Macy sat back and grinned the entire time; she’d even made a sarcastic joke here and there each time the waitress came over with something new, but it was never anything malicious, just a joke on him. Duke realized he must have been frowning. The thought of Kristina did that to him. He pushed his plate away, folded his hands across his lap and smiled. “Yes, thank you. Everything is just perfect.”
After she left, Macy was still looking at him. “You were frowning,” she confirmed with a raised eyebrow.