Page 73 of Duke

But…more than just sex? How could I be thinking that, feeling that? What the fuck was wrong with me? You didn’t just meet a guy and fall in love on the same day.

Except that’s what was happening, and it was fucking stupid, fucking crazy, and fucking scary.

I could go home, right now. I know these men around me would take me home and have someone watching in case this Cain guy tried to come after me. I didn’t ever have to see Duke or these guys again. I could forget this whole thing. Accept that I’d had the best, most life-changing sex of my entire life, and just go home.

Go back to my life, to my rules.

I could go back to picking up losers at shitty dive bars, go back to quick, passionless sex, devoid of emotion or meaning.

I could go back to my show, my infinity pool, my Bentley, my fifteen-thousand square-foot Malibu beach-front mansion, my rich, fake, shallow bitchy friends and their rotating roster of rich, fake, shallow, douchebag Beverly Hills boyfriends.

I didn’t want to go back. Not to any of that.

I wanted to get Duke back. And I discovered, as I searched myself, that I was willing to pick up that shotgun again, if I had to, if it meant getting Duke back in one piece.

I felt someone sit down beside me. “You look shell-shocked, sister.” It was the exotic-looking woman, Thresh’s girlfriend.

“Yeah, that’s about right.” I picked up a brass shell casing from the ground and stared at it. “Less than twenty-four hours ago my life was neat, normal, predictable, and safe. Today?” I waved at the mess around us. “This.”

The woman sighed dramatically. “Yeah, I can identify. Not even seventy-two hours ago, I was doing rounds in the ICU and, like you said, my life was as normal and predictable as you could ask for. And then that big beautiful bastard showed up asking for me. Next thing you know, people were chasing us and shooting at us and Thresh was killing people like it was the most normal thing in the world, when it’s just fuckingnot, right? It’s not, but he makes it look easy. And not only that, but Thresh is—well, look at him.” Our gazes met, and an embarrassed but salacious grin crossed her face. “And yeah, the rest of him is just as big, if you know what I mean.”

I stole a glance at Thresh, did some quick mental measurements, and shot her a look that meant something likeholy shit, woman, how are you able to walk right now?And she shot me a look back that meantsister, you have NO idea, and then we were both giggling like women who’d known each other for ten years.

“Temple Kennedy.” I stuck out my hand, and she shook it, her grip punishingly strong.

“Lola Reed.” She took her hand back, but the look on her face told me what was coming. “So, I promise I won’t say another word, but I have to say that Iloveyour show. I watch it after work, like, every day. And I hope it’s not too forward of me to say, but I really like the show a lot better now that Lane’s not in it. And—yeah. So I’m kind of a fan.”

I started laughing and couldn’t stop laughing until I was out of breath. Lola and everyone else was staring at me by the time I got myself together. “Sorry,” I breathed, “Sorry. I just—after everything I’ve been through today, I don’t even feel like the same person I was yesterday. The show, Lane, everything, none of it feels real, after Duke and all the shooting and everything.” I felt myself shudder, the aftershocks of laughter threatening to become sobs. “I think I might be cracking up a little.”

Lola leaned into me. “NowthatI can identify with. I’m not sure my life will ever go back to the normal I used to know, and honestly, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.” She eyed me with curiosity in her eyes. “What’s Duke like? Thresh talks about him like he’s…I don’t know, some kind of demigod or something.”

I chuckled. “He kind of is, honestly. He’s huge—not as big as Thresh, but huge.” I leaned closer and whispered confidentially to her. “And byhuge, yeah, I meanhuge.”

Lola tried to stifle her laughter, but couldn’t quite manage it. “So you and Duke—”

“Oh yeah.” Images of Duke and me flashed through my head. “Yeah. Which is…part of what’s got me shell-shocked, I think.”

Lola nodded. “Same here. It all happened so fast, but it just seemed…” she trailed off, hunting for the right word.

“Inevitable?” I supplied.

“Yeah, exactly,” Lola said. “So…aside from having a monster cock, what’s he like?”

“Complicated,” I said. “Arrogant, sarcastic, funny…sexy, even sweet when he wants to be…and really, really scary.”

“Sounds like Thresh.”

We sat side by side in silence, then, watching Thresh, Harris, the bald bearded guy, and Anselm conferring. None of them seemed especially bothered by the fact that there were dozens of dead bodies everywhere, and Harris had barely given his house a second glance.

“What do you think they’re going to do?” I asked.

Lola shrugged. “Hell if I know. Some kind of fancy commando shit, probably.”

Harris sidled over to Lola and me. “Ladies, we have to get moving.” He extended his hand to me. “My name is Harris. Sorry to be meeting you under these circumstances, but nonetheless, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kennedy.”

I shook his hand. “Call me Temple. And yeah, despite the weird and scary circumstances, it’s nice to meet you.” I stood up, brushing off the seat of my pants. “I’m sorry about your house.”

Harris waved it off like it was nothing. “It’s just a house. I can rebuild it. I’m just glad you weren’t hurt.”