Torn from her thoughts, Macy watched Duke hammer. “Are you following the pencil pattern I drew?”
“Yes, Miss Macy,” he mocked.
Macy shrugged her shoulders, hit her nail on the head and scooted closer as well, making sure her next nail hung exactly where it was supposed to. “Did being a smart-ass get you were you are today?”
The hammer in his hand stopped in midair. He looked up and gave her a devil-may-care grin. Macy told herself she wasn’t the devil and she didn’t care. So what if his mouth looked so inviting? So what if he had dimples so deep, you could swim in them? Those chocolate-brown eyes weren’t going to work on her. “Do you mean did my smart ass get me on top of the roof with a beautiful woman who knows how to work a hammer?”
Tugging a stray hair behind her ear to keep from blushing, Macy shook her head. “I stand corrected. It must have been flattery.”
Bam. One hit on the head again and the nail sank into his roof. He moved closer to the center.
Not bad, she mused at his work. Macy tapped her nail twice and then hit it all the way in. She moved closer.
Another amused laugh filled the air as Duke reached for another nail out of his back pocket. He slipped one out and a second one behind his ear. “I didn’t get here on just flattery and sarcasm,” Duke said. “I worked very hard to get where I am, you know.”
“Yes, from New York to DC.” Macy hummed and hammered.
“Well, there were a lot of small towns along the road.”
“Which is better?”
“Small towns or big?” Duke held his hammer in midair again and pondered that thought. His eyes glanced skyward for a moment before settling on hers. “There’s good in both, I guess.”
“Where has your favorite been?” She hammered and moved closer.
Duke looked down and hit the nail, scooted closer and took out two more nails. “Here.”
“Here?” Macy half laughed. “I find that hard to believe.”
Repeating his task, Duke moved closer. “Why? You’re here.”
“I was raised here,” Macy said, as if that made a difference.
“But you didn’t leave.” He hammered and slid again. Her heart slammed against her rib cage with each inch he came toward her. “Did you think about leaving?”
Had she thought about leaving? She wanted to laugh, but it was too tragic that she couldn’t. For as long as Macy could remember, her grandparents had raised her. But Tallahassee was also her parents’ home, and the idea of leaving made her feel as if she was betraying their memory. “I’ve thought about it. But it was never the right time.”
“Kids?” Duke nodded with understanding. The closer he got, the more Macy found herself studying his face. His cheekbones were high and his jawline squarely chiseled. There was a bit of a five-o’clock shadow on his face, which only made him look dangerous. She guessed a man who was into sports and a reporter wouldn’t have seen the reason to stay in one place.
“Sure, kids kept me here. I mean—” she half shrugged “—there was school, and then Mario was here, and my grandparents. There were lots of reasons to stay here. I like the peace and quiet. I saw what living in the limelight did to my parents as famous reporters, and when they died, I even experienced it.” Macy exhaled a sad sigh at Duke’s quizzically raised brows. “A couple of reporters bombarded my grandparents’ door when they died, shoving cameras in our faces asking how we felt about their deaths. I barely had time to process anything, and there they were. I don’t see how you deal with it.”
“I don’t miss it,” Duke admitted. “I’ve gotten so used to the little amount of fans I have here.”
Macy offered a half smile before fiddling with a bulb on the string of lights. If Duke hadn’t been in the limelight, she never would have developed a celebrity crush. Of course, now she realized his TV and real lives were totally different. She much preferred the man before her.
“Do you at least travel, as in a vacation?” he asked, breaking her train of thought. In the distance, a train’s horn blew and bells rang, indicating its arrival.
Macy shook her head no. For no reason at all, she did not travel. Thanks to the income she earned over the holidays, she had nothing to do during the spring and summer but plan for the next holiday.
“You ought to. I like Tallahassee, but I can admit that I miss seeing the seasons change. You know, right about now it would be snowing in New York City.”
“I’ve never seen snow,” Macy replied. She was used to the look on everyone’s faces when she disclosed that information.
Duke’s eyes bugged out. “Really? Your re-creations of snowy scenes are impeccable.”
“It’s a snowman.” She gave a shrug and looked down at the ground.
“How could you not have seen snow?”