“By the time I started to realize he wasn’t the guy I’d thought, I was married. It was a whirlwind thing. You get me? Like this between you and me. It makes me nervous.”

“Did you know him at all? When you first started it up with him?”

Duke really hoped she’d say no so he could explain to Carmella why they were different from that angle.

“I met him and two weeks later we were married.”

“How old were you?”

“Twenty.”

Duke paused. So damned young. He bet this ex of hers used that to manipulate her every chance he got.

“So I don’t need to say that what you and I have is based off years’ worth of attraction, not two weeks. It went from zero to a hundred once we got our hands on one another, yes. But you’re an adult with a lot of life experience, as am I. I want you but I don’t need to exploit you in any way to survive.”

She reached up to cup his cheek. “I’m trying to keep this casual and you keep saying this stuff. I can’t fight you off right now.”

He knew she meant emotionally, but he didn’t want her to admit her feelings for him like this either. Carmella needed to come to it on her own and at a pace she chose. He needed to be patient with that and back off when she asked him to.

Duke nodded and she continued speaking.

“Point taken about the differences between my marriage and you and me. I was divorced by twenty-two and I didn’t even care that he was gone. I tried as hard as I could. But one person can’t hold a relationship together. No amount of trying on my part was going to make things work. And I deserved more. I won’t be like her.” Meaning her mother. “That’s the lesson. And that’s the divide between me and my mother because she only sees her worth through men. And she has awful taste in men so naturally the worth she gets from them is nothing. One of those horrible cycles.”

He’d never think on this ex as a threat to his relationship with Carmella, but if he ever came across this guy, Duke would have no problem knocking him the fuck out.

“I think that’s a very good lesson. If you don’t know your worth, how can anyone else? I read that somewhere a long time ago, thought it was pretty true.” Duke hooked his fingertips at the sides of her panties and pulled them off.

“I think I might have a few lessons of my own to impart. These are the fun kind, though.”

He kept her legs wide so her pussy was open to his touch.

“I’m a lifelong learner,” she wheezed out.

“A quality more people should have.” He circled a fingertip around her clit and delighted in the way she arched on a strangled gasp.

“No one else in this room now,” she demanded. “Just you and me.”

“Just you and me,” he agreed, shifting to kiss her.

That intensity that overtook him every time he touched her rose to life, drawing him in.

She opened her mouth on a sigh as he kissed her. Shortly after that, a condom got slapped into his palm.

“You should work harder on asking for what you want,” he said, nuzzling her neck and shifting her body down so he could lie between her legs.

“I’ve been told I’m too shy.”

Duke laughed, holding her close, content to just snuggle for a moment until the slick heat of her pussy stroked over his cock and there was nothing else he wanted but to sink inside her.

She’d already had that idea so he was fortunate enough to have a solution in his palm, which he rolled onto his cock before teasing it around the opening of her body until he took pity on her and slid in slowly but surely.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He kept that pace—slow, hard, and deep—letting the pleasure build between them. He watched her carefully, noting the flush gathering on her shoulders.

He wanted her climax. Wanted to make her feel so good, to know he brought her pleasure. Loved the way it changed her expression as she flung herself into it.

He went back to his knees, pulling her up and on top of his thighs. She gave an oof of sound, but held on, not losing the pace. Once he was sure he hadn’t hurt her, he grabbed her hips and bounced her on his cock so that they both moaned.

He let go with one hand, burying it between them to find her clit. She was slick and ready for him, inner muscles tightening around his cock with each thrust.

She was so beautiful. All her flaws and broken parts caught the light and made her a diamond. No one was like her.

Her nose was at his, putting them eye to eye. “Don’t look away,” he said.

She came. He saw it in her eyes before he felt it all around him and it was the last bit he needed to follow her.

CHAPTER Seventeen

I noticed the other night when I drove your truck that your timing was off a little.” Duke dropped a bag on her desk before he stole a kiss.

“We talked about that,” Carmella said primly.

“I know. I brought burritos. Have lunch with me and then let me look at your truck afterward.”

“Not taking a lunch today. I need to take my mom to the doctor tomorrow so I was going to shift my hour to then.”

“You think Asa and I are running a sweatshop here? Jesus. You don’t need to skip lunch to take your mother to the doctor. We’d never expect anyone here to do that. Your schedule is flexible and you work your ass off.”

“Are you being shirty with me right now?” Carmella asked him.

“I love that word. I’m not shirty. I’m hungry and in the possession of burritos. Come eat them with me. Take the time you need when you need it. Period. You did something the first week and I should have said this then.”