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My lips quirked. I didnotwant to smile at him.
His eyes glinted with admiration. “And while you know I think you dress well, you might want to glam things up a bit for this.”
He thought I dressed well? “Well, you are in a suit. I suppose it would look strange if I came in jeans.”
“You might feel better. I’m taking you out on the town after we’re done.”
First, Pat, now this? I wasn’t sure I could handle any more surprises from him. “Oh, you are? That’s news to me.”
“How so? Remember the part where I said we’d see Eureka Springs? The houses? The sights?”
I folded my arms, mostly as an attempt to help me feel like I wasn’t about to burst in a dozen different directions. “Most people don’t dress up to do that.”
Duncan’s expression turned serious. He swaggered toward me, parting his suit jacket to rest a hand on his side. He leaned conspiratorially toward me, sharpening my edges like a knife.
Everything inside of me stilled. I was frozen in place, trapped in the shimmer in his eyes, in the twist of his tantalizing mouth, in the heat building between us. His pupils dilated. He leaned his head toward me, capturing what was left of my ability to think.
“I’m not most people,” he said, his voice gruff.
“No, you’re not,” I breathed.
He wasn’t like anyone I’d ever known. And he really needed to back up before I did something stupid like tilt my face up to meet his.
His eyes flickered down to my lips. My lungs pumped in double time. I knew I should back away. Sidestep. Do whatever it took to get out of his crossfire.
“This sounds too much like a date,” I said, needing to ground myself.
That little kink in the corner of his mouth appeared. He backed away, giving me room to breathe once more.
“I know very well how you feel about that,” he said. “It’s not a date.”
He buttoned his suit coat and stepped back near the cupboards he’d been by before. The moment lingered between us, silent and noticeable.
“You know what?” Duncan said, his scowl returning. “Forget it. Friend, here. Dress however you’d like.”
“Okay…” The word came out slowly.
He paced, his motions stiff and suddenly awkward. “It’s true. You don’t need to dress up. I’m in a suit because it’s my power stance, but I respect you and want you to be comfortable. Wear whatever you want.”
“Power stance?” I laughed.
I couldn’t help it. I pictured him in that old Goofy cartoon about the exercise equipment, flexing his muscles or bouncing on the balls of his feet the way a fighter readying for battle might do while the equipment malfunctioned in humorous ways all around him.
That had not been the case in his gym this morning. He clearly knew how to use every piece of equipment in there.
He smiled in response, and the sight only stretched my own. When had I ever seen Duncan smile this much?
Happiness lit up his face, making his eyes gleam. Better still, it brought out a dimple in his left cheek.
“You have dimples?” I wasn’t sure I’d ever noticed as much before.
His amusement dimmed. He pointed to his cheek. “Just the one. I try not to smile. Don’t want to let that thing loose.”
“Why not? It’s cute.”
“Cute? Did you just call me cute?”
“No. I called your dimple cute.”
