Wow the sex was right.

“You probably have a point. I’ll probably see you later at the track,” Carmella told PJ. “In the meantime, Asa just caught sight of you up here with me and he’s headed this way.”

PJ turned, just watching her man as he came to her. “He’s incredible. You can admit it to me. I won’t hold it against you.”

Carmella laughed. “Asa is a very fine example of gorgeous man. Absolutely no lie.” But she preferred blond with a little gray salted through to black. The rockabilly way Duke wore his hair to Asa’s. Duke seemed to flow into a room and fill it with sexy. Asa sort of crackled with his sexuality.

Carmella would take Duke any day. Asa’s intensity would exhaust her.

Just an hour later Duke came in with a new client pack and a huge, satisfied smile.

“I don’t even need to ask if it was a good meeting. I can see it was.”

He headed to the big whiteboard calendar on the wall nearby. “If everything goes as it should, I think we’ll be delivering a very fine ’fifty-six Jaguar—drophead coupe—in the new showroom. Maybe even the first week we’re open over there. It gives me a chance to rehab the rack and pinion. It’s a total mess.”

“I can’t wait to see it. Mick will get me all the timeline stuff so he and I will handle things on our end,” Carmella said, entering the new client information into her system as she spoke to him.

“Thank you. Tonight is race night. You should come along. Cheer for Twisted Steel.”

Pleased he asked, she looked up from her screen. “I was hoping you’d ask.”

“I should hope I don’t need to ask. I always want you to come to the track. I’ve been trying to give you some space to get used to me and my friends.” Duke propped his hip against her desk, his cock pretty much at eye level. “Stop looking at me like that or I’m going to be really fucking uncomfortable when I have to hobble back out to work.”

Carmella flicked her gaze up to his face. “You can’t just put it there and then say I can’t look at it. Jeez. I’m only human.”

“You really know what to say today, you know that? Want to catch a ride to the track with me?”

That meant she’d be at the mercy of someone else when it came to leaving. She wasn’t there yet.

“I’m actually stopping by my aunt and uncle’s house tonight after work. I’ll meet you out there, though.”

“Deal. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

She hadn’t lied. She really did promise her uncle that she’d stop by to see him and her aunt that night. It had been about two weeks since she’d seen them last and she missed them. The older they got, the more it became real that at some point she’d lose them. So Carmella tried to keep that in mind whenever she had an opportunity to spend time with them.

After running home to drop Ginger off and change her clothes, Carmella made the quick trip to the house she considered as much her childhood home as any she’d ever shared with her mother.

Carmella parked and followed the noise of Salazars until she found them all in the kitchen and living room, arguing over a baseball game.

At the sight of her, she was hailed to come all the way in and greeted with hugs and kisses.

“You look very pretty tonight.” Her aunt looked her over carefully. Carmella should have known she’d notice date makeup and clothing. “Why didn’t you bring the dog?”

“I’m going out after I leave here so she’s at home. She was at work with me all day so it’s not like she’s lonely.”

“A date going out?” her uncle interrupted.

“I thought you were watching the game?” Carmella teased.

“I can do both. So is this a date?” He’d be a bulldog now. And her aunt already stationed herself at his side so getting out of telling them wasn’t an option.

“Yes. I’m going out with Duke Bradshaw. I’ve been seeing him.”

“Your boss?” The tone of her aunt’s voice told Carmella she’d have to assuage some concerns.

“It’s okay. I mean, yes, he’s my boss. And yes, I know it could be complicated. He knows that too. But I have a job offer if this goes bad. I’m not dependent on him for anything.”

“He’s a really decent guy,” Craig added. “He worries for her. Is protective. And if he messes with her, I’ll know before Carmella can hide the evidence.”

Carmella snorted but her uncle nodded, assured they could hide the body should it be needed.

“I appreciate the backup. But really, things are fine.” After she said it, Carmella realized how true it was. She was dating someone she liked. Someone with a real life. Someone who seemed to truly listen when she spoke. A real-life, normal, adult-type relationship.

“Carmella, we didn’t step in with that moron you married and it got you hurt. We won’t hold our tongues again.” Carmella’s uncle felt guilty about how Clifton had been. But it wasn’t anything to do with them at all. Clifton was a con man and a petty thug. Everyone liked him. At first.

It was nice they cared, though.

“And I love you for it.” She hugged her aunt and then her uncle. “But I do mean it. He’s not Clifton. Or even in the same universe. I’m not saying we won’t break up. I’m saying he won’t abuse me or steal from me. He doesn’t need to do those things. And truthfully? I don’t think it would ever occur to him to do that to anyone.”