She shrugged. “Okay. Just a thought. Anyway, you were apologizing so please continue.”

“Is it weird that it makes me hot when you get like this?”

“Get on with it, Duke Bradshaw!”

“Okay! I’m sorry. I understand why you’re angry. I’ll work a lot harder to tone down the flirting and there’ll be no more traitor teriyaki going forward.”

“I think your being flip is not even cute. So, I’m going to send you on your way because you have work to do and a delivery to make later and I’m not in any kind of mood for this.” She made a shooing motion.

“I’m not being flip.”

She went past him to the door and pointed. “Go. I have work to do too.”

“We still on for tonight?” he asked on the way out.

“Probably.”

He skulked off, dejected, but relieved she seemed not to be in a kick Duke to the curb state of mind.

“What did you do?” Mick asked when Duke stomped over to his tools.

“Nothing. Just dumb guy stuff. I should have listened to Asa.”

“He gives better advice these days. I think you’re both getting old and starting to make sense.” Mick snickered. “Lots of apologies are in your future.”

“I made a dent in that already. I hate when she’s mad at me. Or sad. It’s those big blue eyes.” But she had clarified that it was normal dumb stuff and not burn shit down stuff. There was that.

“I’m guessing next time you won’t be taking hot blondes into your office.”

Duke snarled, but he couldn’t argue. It had been a stupid move and he should have thought about it more.

“I need to get back to it. I’m taking her to dinner after work and I want to get a lot more done before quitting time.”

CHAPTER Twenty-seven

He showed up at her door five minutes early carrying a brown paper bag. “I brought you bulbs to plant for spring. I was going to buy you flowers, and then I realized you’d just think they were a waste. Bulbs last and are still flowers so I went that way. How’d I do?”

He passed them her way.

She gave him a smile because how could she not?

“Nicely done. Come in a moment. I’m just finishing up getting ready.”

She left him in her living room as she normally would have done so she could run back to put on some lipstick and grab her shoes.

The bulbs were truly lovely. Not only because he came with a present she’d like, but that he thought about the why. He’d remembered things about her far more important than her favorite color.

She ditched the robe she’d been wearing over her clothes while she did her hair and makeup. And thought about what he liked too. She’d worn one of the vintage dresses her grandmother had kept at the back of her closet and given to Carmella when she passed.

The one she’d chosen was blue. The linen had gone softer with time, as had the color. But she loved it still. A Peter Pan collar, three-quarter sleeves, with a skirt that had a little bounce but not too much as her grandmother would have worn this one to work while her grandfather had been in Europe during World War II.

Duke liked her in blue, and he seemed to prefer her vintage stuff and that sort of overall look.

She pulled out a tube of lipstick. Red. Also a tip from her gran, a fellow redhead. The right shade of red lipstick made Carmella feel like a fierce, beautiful woman. It was like armor.

And Duke favored it.

She headed out, shoes in hand, to find him having a chat with Ginger, who sat in front of him, resting her chin on his knee. The adoration in Ginger’s eyes was enough to let the last bit of annoyance she’d had drain away. The way he treated Carmella’s dog always made her soft for him.

Another woman he flirted with. Good gracious.

“If she had opposable thumbs, I might have to worry about her killing me in my sleep to get to have you all to herself,” Carmella said.

They both looked to her.

“You both have the same dumb grin.” Probably the one she wore too.

“So many beautiful women live here I can’t help myself.” He gave Ginger one last scratch before he stood. “If the plan was to look the absolute most beautiful I’ve ever seen you look to punish me because I was a dick, you win.”

“I did consider that. But I wasn’t really that mad at you anymore by the time you arrived and the bulbs did the rest.”

He kissed her, just to the left of her mouth. “Don’t want to smudge the lipstick.” When he straightened, he looked her over slowly. “I do love this dress. And the hair and makeup. Absolutely perfect. So beautiful and sexy.”

“Thank you.” He was better than a tube of lipstick. “And thank you again for the bulbs. Very thoughtful.”

“I’m sorry again about today. Let’s go stuff our faces with dim sum. That’s part one of my forgiveness plan.” He held his elbow out for her to take as she slid into her shoes and they left.

Carmella settled in, watching him as he drove. That night he chose the ’67 Mercury Cougar. Most likely because he knew she loved it. The traffic was heavy so he wore a look of fierce concentration. He rarely got impatient, so his intensity was of a different sort.

“I called home last week.”

“Is everything all right? You told them about the hotel information, right?” She’d wanted so much for his family to come and be truly happy for Duke’s success. He deserved their support. So she’d gone out of her way to set them up at the Inn at the Market and to take care of a bunch of other small details that she hoped kept them happy and ready to heap some praise on their son.