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Subtleties
Caitlyn’s cellphone battery had less that ten percent left on it after four days off the charger, and even though they’d left Venice, she still had no service. With a frustrated sigh, she powered it off, then zipped it back inside the pocket of her carryon. “When we get to the hotel in Florence, would you mind if I used your phone to call my wireless carrier?”
Next to her, Duke turned his head and stared at her, thoroughly perplexed. Though she knew it couldn’t be true, she couldn’t shake the impression that he was a tall, dark and handsome, walking, talking lie detector most of the time, and spending nearly every hour of her last four days with him had cemented it.
It was subtle things—so subtle in fact that it hadn’t been until he’d said something about her not liking asparagus to the waiter at one of their meals without her every having mentioned it that she’d begun to think about it. To catalog all the exceptionally specific things he’d noticed about her.
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Italy With A Duke Arrival
“Oh!” Caitlyn huffed in frustration, extending Duke’s phone to him. “Here. There’s no point calling my carrier. My phone’s dead. I’ll have to charge it when I get to the room.”“Hmmph.” His brows lifted and he nodded in agreement. “Tends to happen when it hasn’t been used for four days. Not saying that’s your fault,” he tacked on hurriedly. “I’ll carry your bag. What room are you in?”“It has wheels. You don’t have to do that.”“Darlin’, I know what I do and don’t have to do. Me taking your luggage to your room isn’t debatable. It’s those manners you’re so fond of, right?” He gave her a pointed look, softening it with a heart-stopping smile that didn’t hide his personal agenda. “So what room are you in?”“Three twenty-five,” she inhaled. “But if you’re on a different floor—.”“I’m not.” He’d made damn sure he wasn’t the instant he’d checked in at the desk. Though the desk agent wouldn’t tell him which room she was in, he’d assured him they were on the same floor. “I think I’m across t
Italy With A Duke Lust for Life
Sometime in the minutes after the door had closed behind Duke, after Caitlyn had sunk weakly into the chair at the desk, her pulse slowed enough for her to think—really think—about where she was and what she was doing with this man.She was supposed to have been in Italy on her second honeymoon. Only her husband, and actually, her only true friend—the person who knew her best in the world— was dead. Yet even when they’d both known he wasn’t going to make it, he’d made her promise that she would go on the trip.In the long, depressed days after Alex’s passing, she’d wondered why he’d asked such a thing of her. What she had understood was that he’d never know whether or not she went. She harbored no delusions that he’d never again care whether she kept her promise or not. And as such, she hadn’t felt honor-bound to abide his dying wish.So why had she bothered to come?If she was honest with herself, she’d come because she wanted to. Because her own curiosity had demanded it and her hea
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It wasn’t the first time that Duke’s thoughts towards Caitlyn had veered—no, more like careened wildly at Mach speed—in a carnal direction. Far from it. Though he was honest enough with himself to admit, it was far more often since he’d won the lottery among the four agents assigned to her, and was the one appointed to follow her on this trip.No more was this simply a casual male reaction to a captivating woman, kept at a distance. He couldn’t see any other woman but her. Couldn’t desire another woman more.“So very beautiful,” he murmured again, fascinated by the sheen of gloss on her already mesmerizing mouth. The pale tint reminded him of the flushed way her lips looked when he’d kissed her roughly and he itched suddenly to do it again.“Duke,” she whispered.The sound of her voice chimed like cathedral bells in his head. A curling lock of her hair brushed his fingers beneath her chin, sending a hot, unsolicited rush of blood into his groin. Though it was dry, the flowery scent of
Italy With A Duke Trattoria di Gerardo
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Urging Caitlyn to follow the older Gerardo, Duke closed rank behind her as they navigated the tight quarters of the restaurant.“Where is he taking us?” she whispered anxiously over her shoulder. “Every table is filled, every seat at the bar taken.”“Not to worry, darlin’. Gerardo’s been successful in business here for nearly fifty years.”Ahead the restauranteur made a sharp left, guiding them through a curtained door. On the other side, a long narrow room opened with more table seating tucked inside cozy partitions for privacy and romantic ambiance.“He knows how to take care of his VIPs,” he said smugly.“Oh!” she breathed, tipping her head back and slowing to a halt to take in the extraordinary design, created to give the impression of dining on an outdoor terrace. Murano-glass chandeliers resembling fruit-laden grapevines were suspended in the air from arbor beams over each booth and beyond them, the vaulted ceiling was painted a rich, midnight blue that sparkled with gold-leafed
Italy With A Duke Slow Dance
It was the last thing that Caitlyn had expected to hear thousands of miles away from home on a piazza in Italy, but there was no mistaking the familiar tune and the lyrics of the sultry songstress singing Ella Fitzgerald. Grinning like the cat that swallowed the canary, Duke dragged her with him through the loose crowd, to an empty spot beneath the illuminated fountain of Neptune. There, he pivoted, his open palm sliding around her waist to her lower back to press her against him while his free hand lifted hers. “Let’s dance.” “There’s no one dancing!” she sputtered in a near-panic. He merely grinned, politely refusing to accept her refusal. “There will be.” “I—no! Duke—I—can’t!” Stumbling over the cobblestones, she clung to him, tripping over her own feet and his. “Sure, you can,” he encouraged, reluctantly allowing some space between their bodies and directing her attention to his feet. “It’s a two-step. Easy-peasy for a woman with your IQ.
Italy With A Duke Fast Forward
“You sure about this?” Duke demanded again, waving the key card in front of the sensor lock beside the knob and gritting his teeth in frustration when the little red light didn’t waver. Wedging her soft, sweet body between him and the door, Caitlyn knotted her fingers in his shirt at his waist. “I’m sure,” she replied firmly, then her voice dropped to a soft whisper. “Take me to bed with you, Duke.” Utterly vexed, he groaned, banging the card against the sensor several times. Forcing himself to be calm, he rested it gently against it and waited a three-count. An ear-blistering string of obscenities hissed from his mouth. Hell with it. He’d just break the damned thing down. Then a flash of brilliance struck him. Stuffing his hand back in his pocket, he pulled out the second key card he’d been carrying, then waved it in front of the sensor. Immediately, the light blinked from red to green. Brainless idiot—he’d been waving her room key in front of his door. He c
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