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Duke gestures for me to take a seat on a stool, and I watch as he grabs several tools. The workshop is huge, but somehow, Duke can make any space feel small. He’s so big that everything around him looks tiny by comparison, and even his giant tools are dwarfed by his hands.
“Your dad built furniture too?” I ask as Duke heaves several boards of wood toward me.
“Yep. He owned the store before I did. And this cabin. Left it all to me when he died.”
I feel a twinge of sympathy in my gut. “I’m sorry he passed.”
Duke’s eyes meet mine, and he nods. “Thanks. It was a while ago now.”
“I guess he’s the reason you got into woodwork?”
“Taught me everything I know.” Duke’s gaze turns unfocused, like he’s lost in memories. “He was a great man.”
My instinct is to get up and give him a hug, but before I can summon the courage, we’re both distracted by a loud meow.
“Aww!” I exclaim as a cat saunters into the workshop, looking at me curiously. Its coat is white with black and orange splotches, and there’s a stump where a tail should be.
“This is Scout,” Duke says, smiling slightly. “She’s the real owner of this cabin.”
“Scout.” I reach down to stroke her soft fur, grinning at the name. “Like Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird?”
“Yeah. I read it back in high school. When I found Scout outside my cabin, she was just a kitten. Feral. Her tail was gone, and the stump was bleeding all over the place. I patched her up and for some reason, the name just came to me.” He bends down to scratch under Scout’s chin. “Now she’s a sweetheart. Spoiled as hell, too.”
My heart flutters as I imagine this burly giant rescuing a tiny kitten.
Just when I thought Duke couldn’t get any sexier.
“Do you still read?” I ask, smiling as Scout starts to purr.
“No.” His eyes shine as he looks at me. “Not like you, judging from all those books in your apartment.”
I grin at him. “They’re my weakness. Always have been. Especially mysteries.” That look in his eyes is back, gentle, affectionate, and it encourages me to say, “Want to know a secret?”
“You bet.”
He’s watching me eagerly, as if what I’m about to say is the most interesting thing he’s ever heard.
“Well, I have this dream,” I say, biting my lip. “I want to open a bookstore in Cherry Hollow one day. A cozy little place that’s totally overflowing with all kinds of books and lots of comfy chairs, and tea and coffee, and there’d be a book club that meets once a week, and a section for bookish gifts…”
It all comes out in a rush. Owning a bookstore has been my dream for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never told anybody about it before. My family is full of big dreamers reaching for gold medals and world records. I guess I felt like my dream was kind of small and insignificant in comparison. But Duke smiles at my words.
“Sounds like an awesome idea,” he says. “This town could really use a bookstore. I bet you’ll have plenty of customers.”
“You think so?” I beam at him. “It won’t be anytime soon. I’ll have to save up a lot of money and it will probably take years, even decades. But I’d love to make it happen one day.”
“You will.” He says it like it’s the simplest thing in the world. Like there’s not a single doubt in his mind that I will succeed. “I’m looking forward to visiting one day. Maybe I’ll buy a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird from you—give reading another try.”
I’m so flustered that I can’t speak for a while. Duke sounds so earnest, like he truly believes in me and my dreams. It means a lot to me, and eventually I squeak out a thank you.
“Maybe you’ll make a bookworm out of me one day,” he says before grabbing a pencil and drawing out my bookcase.
I don’t say anything for a while—just watch Duke work, my heart beating twice as fast as usual. Once his plans are drawn up, he starts taking measurements and making cuts, talking me through everything he’s doing. But I barely hear him. All I can focus on is how hot he looks, muscles rippling beneath his shirt as he saws through a board of cherry wood. He’s so strong that it barely seems to take any effort at all, and I clamp my legs tight, trying to stop the growing ache.
I’ve never felt like this before. This scorching desire burning through my core…it’s driving me crazy. I’m still a virgin, but that’s never bothered me before. There’s never been anybody I wanted in that way. But now Duke has woken up desires I never knew existed, and it’s making my head spin. When he rolls up his sleeves to reveal those thick, tanned forearms, I squeeze my thighs tighter together, wishing more than anything that this giant lumberjack would pick me up and take me to his bed.
Oh God, I think I’m losing it.
He’s so hot that he’s fried my whole brain.
