My Life as Duke Starr's Assistant

"For being a jerk. For walking away. For avoiding you. For being afraid. But mostly, for lying to myself," I answered.

"Lying to yourself?" he asked.

"By saying that whatever happened between us was a mistake," I clarified. "Because it wasn't. It was probably the most "right" thing I've done," I said. He stood now and faced me, his face close to mine. He didn't say anything; just studied me with those beautiful eyes of his. I wondered if he could hear my heart racing.

"So?" I asked.

"So what?" he replied.

"Do you forgive me?" I questioned. He looked at me, his eyes taking in every bit of me. Then he stepped back.

"Nah, I don't think I will," he said, turning away.

"Duke!" I shouted, stomping my foot angrily, incredulous.

He turned back around so fast, I didn't even see it happen. Before I knew it, he had cupped my face in his hands and his lips had crashed down on mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his hands moved down my body. He placed one on my waist and the other on the little arch of my back, pulling me closer to him. I could feel my stomach erupting in fireworks as he deepened the kiss. When we broke away, my head was spinning.

He smiled at me and leaned his forehead against mine, kissing my nose gently.

"You're an ass," I told him, a smile on my own lips.

"And you're the most beautiful and perfect girl I've ever met," he replied.

He closed the gap between our faces and kissed me again, drawing it out. We moved from where we were standing to the couch. I dropped my bag that was resting on my shoulder and it fell with a loud thump!

The noise distracted Duke and he pulled away.

"What the hell do you have in there?" he asked. I glared at him, annoyed at him for ruining the moment.

"Duke...really?" I asked. He looked at me with innocent, curious eyes.

"You're not hiding a weapon in there, are you?" he questioned.

"Yes, because my plan all along was to seduce you and then murder you and then run away with all your money. You got me!" I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at me and then reached for my bag. I yanked it away before he could get it.

"Valerie!" he exclaimed.

"You can't go through a girl's bag!" I cried.

"What's in there?" he asked. I could tell he was burning with curiousity.

"Fine, if you must know..." I said, opening the zip and pulling out a wrapped box. He looked at me, confused. I handed him the present. "Open it," I said, smiling.

He gave me another dumbfounded expression before tearing the wrapping paper off. Underneathe was a box for a model airplane. But not one of the cheap kinds. It was a collector's edition.

"Now way!" he exclaimed giddily, prying open the box. I watched him pry open the box. He looked like an excited child that had gotten what he wanted for Christmas. He pulled out all the pieces and then looked up at me, his eyes bright with happiness.

"Why'd you get this?" he asked, setting the parts on the table. I shrugged.

"Call me desperate, but I figured that if you rejected me the first time I asked you to forgive me, then I could use this as a back-up to bribe you," I said simply.

He laughed and reached out with his hand to brush his fingers gently along my cheek.  Then he leaned in and kissed me deeply, pulling me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he held me close from my back. I ran my fingers through his hair, messing it up. I could feel one of his hands travelling under my shirt, tracing the curves of my body. I moaned as he licked my lower lip, asking for entrance. I obliged and we deepened the kiss further.

He set me down on the couch so that he was on top of me and began moving his lips from mine and down my jaw to my neck. I could feel myself getting warmer as I brought his face back up to mine and locked his lips again.

After a few long, intense moments, we sat back, both of us partially clothed, breathing hard.

"Jesus..." Duke muttered, running his hand through his hair. His face was a little flushed from the exertion and I knew mine must have looked the same.

"Right?" I replied, with a small laugh. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Then we both sat back against the couch, letting our heart rates steady and our breathing go back to normal.

He looked at me and I gazed back at him with a small smile on my face. Then he turned his face and looked at the disassembled parts of the model plane that were sitting on his coffee table. He reached out and ripped open the plastic bag that was around a shiny metal wing. He held the wing in his hand, running his fingers over the smooth texture of the metal.