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Temptation
Duke wasn’t certain what it was that he’d said that afternoon that had upset Caitlyn, but he was smart enough to know that he didn’t want it to happen again. Focusing his attention on her, he pulled out the stops on his best west-Texan charms and concentrated on showing her a good time.
In the end, it was nothing that he did that distracted her. Well, aside from making the suggestion to tour the Doge’s Palace on St. Mark’s Square.
As their boat pulled away from the dock that evening, carrying them towards the rendezvous point for their tour at their bus, he took a seat next to her and casually but deliberately rested his arm behind her shoulders. “What kind did you get this time?” he asked, nodding towards the meager little cup of gelato in her hand.
“Apricot.” Caitlyn dug the tiny plastic spoon into the cold creamy treat and scooped some out, obediently depositing it in his opened mouth like a mother bird. “I was going to get lemon, but that woman in line be
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Blanching, Caitlyn staggered backwards, crashing against the wall. Her heart spun inside her chest like a hummingbird’s wings and her breath came in frantic little pants. There was only one way the blue-eyed stranger could know that she hadn’t looked at her phone since they’d arrived in Italy. He had been trying to reach it. Which meant that he knew who she was, even if she didn’t know him. For a long minute, she racked her brain, searching for any possible connection. Any possible way she might know him. Aside from a striking similarity to Duke in both build and looks, and vaguely, the same sort of physical appeal, there was nothing. She had to get to her phone. Dashing forward, she snatched the paper towel message off the sink, wadding it up and tossing it in the bin quickly. She glanced up at her reflection in the mirror and a faint groan of anxiety escaped her. Her face was pale as a sheet. As attentive of a partner as Duke was, th
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Behind Duke and Caitlyn a few seats, Dex exhaled a disgusted sigh. He’d developed a genuine dislike for the big Texan who’d usurped him as Caitlyn Maddox’ Duke. Not because he cared one way or another about her—he was still on the trip, and frankly, enjoying himself since he didn’t have to babysit and entertain her. Still, he felt a little bad. She was being taken in, taken advantage of, and in the end, he knew that a woman like her, well, she’d come out of this with a broken heart. That wasn’t what she’d signed up for. Shifting to one side, he slipped his phone from his slacks’ pocket. <Where are you!!??> he demanded again of Rachel, not expecting to receive a response. She hadn’t bothered to reply to any of his texts for the last twelve hours. When the phone vibrated in his hand a few seconds later, he glanced down at it in shock. <Atlanta. Layover before the flight to Venice> Venice? Internally, Dex groaned. <I thought you we
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“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
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