Prince Pucking Charming

I laugh at his comment. “No, I don’t think we could be.”

“This is business,” Ted says. “Lighten up, Duke. I thought this would be an easy proposition for you.”

“If you ever want us to be friends, you could do this favor for me. You’re going to see a lot more of me after I get Lila back.”

“So, confident,” he says in a cocky tone. “Okay, fine. I’ll make you a new deal. Come with me to the game tomorrow night. I want a private box to ourselves, top-shelf everything, and signed merch from the team.”

He strolls over to me, clutching the towel with one hand, holding the cigar in the other. Only an asshole of his magnitude would carry on a full conversation in a towel. Seriously, what did Lila see in him? I don’t get it.

“I won’t make fucking Alessandra part of the deal,” Ted says, blowing smoke in my face. “But, I want to meet her.”

My stomach stops doing backflips. At least now I can go home feeling like less of an asshole for making a deal with the devil.

“I’ll send a car for you around five,” he says as I turn my back to him. “Dinner at Plume, my treat.”

I raise my hand above my head in agreement and get the fuck out of his house.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Delilah

I lucked out and managed to keep my other contracts. Since there was no proof I violated any other ethics clauses, I still have the rest of my patients. At least I’m not jobless. But now, Max hates me for taking away the one thing she loves most.

“I want my iPad back,” Max shouts, getting into my face on the couch. “You said I could have it back. That was weeks ago.”

“I don’t want you online, Max. It’s for your own good.”

She swings another couch pillow and smacks me on the side of the head. “Why are you punishing me?”

“Max, knock it off.” I remove all of the pillows from the couch. “We’ve gone over this already. I don’t want you to get upset over nothing.”

“You’re the one who messed up,” she says at the top of her lungs. “Not me.”

&nb

sp; “Okay,” I groan. “You can have the iPad if you promise not to Google Duke or me. No more videos or GIFs, okay? Stick to YouTube Kids.”

“Fine.”

“You have to pinky swear.”

She smiles and holds out her pinky for me to wrap mine around hers. Max believes pinky promises are as ironclad as swearing on the River Styx. We’ve been doing this since she was old enough to know that people break their promises.

I reach for the iPad I hid on the top of the curio cabinet and get a hand full of dusk before my fingers touch the cold surface.

“Are you kidding me?” Max jumps off the couch and marches over to me. “It was up there the entire time?”

“Yep.” I blow the dust off the iPad cover and give it to Max. “But my secret is out. So, don’t go looking up there the next time.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“Do you want some hot chocolate, baby?” I brush the hair out of her eyes, and she looks up at me with a genuine smile.

Things haven’t been the same between us since I told Duke we needed to take a break. Max misses Duke. I miss him, too. She talks about him all the time and begs me to call him. Not a moment has gone by over the past few weeks that I didn’t think of him. Duke changed both of our lives.

“When is Duke coming back?” Eyes pointed down at the tablet, her fingers work at a feverish pace. “I need his help with my slapshot.”

Max follows me into the kitchen. I get out the box of hot chocolate, and she grabs the bag of marshmallows from the pantry closet.