Chapter 24

Maya’s P.O.V

I think I’m going to enjoy this little outing. And you know why? Well, because it beats being in the stuffy mansion all the time and…Mr Duke would be there. I was feeling like a teenager going to prom with the guy they liked; let’s face it, I do in all honesty like Mr. Duke. I so desperately wanted to reject this and I had been having a constant inner battle warning me against being involved with this walking red flag but as always, us female protagonists never seem to heed the call of wisdom.

I bet if I had told Lexi this, she would have probably had a conniption. She did not approve of Mr. Duke and how he’d conducted himself before, neither did my conscience. But my thoughtlessness was slowly overpowering my reasoning capacity so damn the consequences to hell. Just this once, I wanted the forbidden fruit that tasted too sinfully bad.

I sat in the back with the twins on their booster seats and me inconveniently in the middle like a hotdog between two hotdog buns. It’s a weird analogy but let’s just go with it for now. Mr. Duke was up front with Leslie behind the wheel. I could tell his was highly uncomfortable sitting beside his boss, and it didn’t help either that Mr. Duke was basically shooting him dirty looks every few seconds. I wanted to laugh at the situation. I knew he was only like that because he thought something was going between me and Leslie. Sure, Leslie was cute and all but I felt zero attraction towards him. I wouldn’t mind having him as a friend perhaps, but my so-called boss didn’t have to know that.

My eyes flew to the view mirror and my eyes caught Leslie’s mischievous orbs on me and I smiled at him. “Keep your eyes on the road, Mr. Rushbrook. Do you want to get us killed?” Mr. Duke pronounced gruffly, making Leslie quickly avert his gaze away from me. Okay, I could stifle the laugh that erupted from my lips fast enough, causing someone’s piercing, not to mention icy, eyes landed on me. His facial expression was impassive, lips quirked downwards in distaste. “Something funny, Miss Knight?” he interrogated, his immaculate brows frowning.

I cleared my throat. “I just thought of a joke I heard a while ago,” I replied coolly and Aiden piped in.

“Really, tell us what it is!” he urged and I inwardly face palmed. Why can’t this boy catch my drift and just play along.

I scratched my head, trying to rack my brain for a joke. “Uh, I-I forgot what it is. I’ll let you know once I remember it,” I breathed nervously, and Mr. Duke smirked knowingly at me. I felt heat creep up my neck at that dumb remark. Damn that smug bastard!

The drive to the amusement park, who’s name I didn’t bother to memorise, was relatively quiet except for the twins chanting about how they were happy to spend time with their dad and of course, getting to ride all of the scariest ones. When we go there, I unbuckled them from their seats and both men jumped out before coming round back to help the kids out. Then there came one of the most awkward situations ever; both doors on either side were open and two hands were stretched out to me so I could have some assistance jumping out.

First off, when I’d entered the car, I’d done it by myself. What made them think that I couldn’t get out on my own? Secondly, was this not some scene pulled out of a badly written novel? Honestly, how the hell did we all end up in this position? Lastly, I felt my ego being boosted by this. On the one hand, Leslie was smiling charmingly at me. He was a douche at first but after that date we had, I disliked him a lot less. He was a safe choice but on the other hand, Mr. Duke’s grin held a lot of daringness, self-assuredness like he knew I’d inevitably let him take my hand. And his zaffre eyes were like two magnets, drawing me to them.

I think the choice I made here was pretty obvious.

He pulled me in close, disregarding and invading my space. “Good choice,” he whispered in my ear before pulling away and holding onto the twins’ hands. “Where to first?” he asked them and moved away from where I stood, paralysed but my heart racing wildly.

“That hurt, sweetheart. Like a whole lot. I thought you’d take my hand,” Leslie came beside me, and wiped away a fake tear. I gave him a guilty look and apologised. But what did he want me to do? Just ignore Mr. Duke and go to him? That would have no doubt compromised his job and not to mention that Mr. Duke is so impulsive, he might have done something highly stupid.

He shrugged before we began to trail behind the Dukes. At least I wasn’t alone and there would be someone rational to keep my head screwed on right. I wasn’t at all surprised when our first stop was this hellish looking contraption called Croc Drop. As suggested by the name, it was a 25m plunge into the giant jaws of a crocodile looking thing. I felt my blood run cold just looking at it. Now way in hell was I going to ride that crap!

“Oh daddy, can we ride this one?” the twins pleaded with puppy dog’s eyes. Mr. Duke was hesitant, probably weighing the pros and cons of the ride and just how long the blasted queue was but he ended up nodding his head. I cursed under my breath as we made for the ticket booth, where the children practically requested tickets to all of the horrendous rides. I felt nauseous at the thought of getting on them; I wasn’t really a fan of heights. I didn’t much mind planes because I couldn’t see what would be happening but, in this case, I’d be having a front view.

Leslie must have noticed my change in demeanour as he came to my side. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, and I wobbly shook my head. Okay? No, I was definitely far from it. There were not a lot of things I am afraid of, but just this once I couldn’t put on a brave mask…and I honestly didn’t want to. What if something goes wrong and we’re launched into the air enroute to terrible deaths? The possibilities were endless!

He held my hand and smiled sympathetically at me. “Don’t worry. These rides aren’t as bad as you think. Besides, I’ll be with you to hold your hand when you feel afraid,” he assured me in a gentle voice, only for the devil’s apprentice to butt in and ruin any hopes of safety that I had begun to develop in me.

“Actually Leslie, I forgot to mention that I booked the car for service at the mechanic and you need to get it there. It will probably take the whole day to fix up. I’ll call you when we’re done here. Off you go,” Mr. Duke sanctioned out of the blue, that roguish sneer twitching to emerge from his lips. That’s a lame pretext if I’ve ever heard one.

Poor Leslie’s face fell in disappointment, but he nodded understandingly before waving us goodbye and making his way back to the parking space. Well, there went my last hope of having a companion today. I was now left alone with a wolf who wanted me all to himself. Heaven knows if I’ll survive being in his unbearably overpowering presence and these infernal mechanical death traps that people somehow found amusing.

Aiden took my hand in his and began to drag me toward the aforementioned Croc Drop, a huge grin plastered on his face. “Come on Maya!” he cheered, and I gulped audibly.

Dear God, I know I’ve been a bad girl most of my life but please don’t let me die like this! I prayed silently, and Mr. Duke came behind me. “You aren’t scared of heights, are you?” he taunted in a low voice, just like how a mosquito circles around its unsuspecting victims before going in for the kill. I ground my teeth in frustration. Too bad I couldn’t just swat his stupid, handsome face away from me.

“You can hold on to me but don’t get carried away. There are children in this place,” he winked before laughing at my shocked expression. Could he be any more inappropriate?

A few minutes later, we were all strapped in, except for my heart which wanted to shoot out of my chest like a canon. Brianna was next to her dad, whilst Aiden sat to right and I was in between him and Mr. Duke. As soon as the ascent commenced, I subconsciously latched onto Mr. Duke’s arm and squinted my eyes shut. When we got to the summit, there was a stop and I made the mistake of opening my eyes. They collided with familiar misty blue ones.

“Here comes the fall. Brace yourself,” he quipped and true to his words, the plummet came so fast that I barely had time to put my fear into place. I bit my lip just as we began to descend and held the safety bars so hard that I was afraid I’d fracture the bones in my hand, that is until I felt warm fingers detach them from the cylindrical metal and wind gently around them.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I wasn’t alone. How could somebody who made me feel uneasy also make me feel secure? We made it to the bottom in one piece and once we’d dismounted from the ride, even then he didn’t let go off my hand. I became so aware of the contact of our palms, and I won’t lie, I liked it a lot. The lopsided grin he offered me had my heart doing somersaults. Slowly, he pulled me towards him and for a split second I thought he was going in for a kiss…until the twins interrupted the moment (as usual).

“That was fine. Let’s go to the net one,” Aiden clapped from beside me and tugged at my wrist. I was pulled out of the daze and frowned at myself. Had that just really happened or was it my imagination? I shook it off and went off to the next adrenaline rush.

***

I opened up the front door with much struggle and grunting since there was a small human being in my arms. I t was way past ten PM; let’s just say we got a little bit carried away at the amusement park. But all things considered, I got fun and it seemed like so did the kids, as well as their father who was smiling constantly and even cracking jokes. I thought he had lost his funny bone but little did I know that Mr. Duke is a man of many surprises.

He clicked the door shut behind me and locked it, shifting Brianna onto his shoulder, being extra careful not to wake her. They were both tuckered out for sure, the whole day had been much too exciting for them. It felt nice to see their cute smiles and hear them laugh at how much fun they were having…too bad it was just for today. If it were up to me, I’d make sure they lived like this almost every day. They must miss having their mum around and a normal family. I still wonder from time to time what exactly went down between their parents but I was certain I wouldn’t be finding out very soon. Maybe one day Mr. Duke will tell me himself but yet again, maybe that wouldn’t happen at all.

At the back of my mind, an inner voice kept on reminding me that this would all end very soon. And the worst part about it is that I’d grown so used to being around here, I despite Meredith’s rotten personality, and I had an inkling that in the next weeks there would be a sudden shift that would slap me in the face and bring reality back to me.

What the hell am I doing playing this game of cat and mouse with the man I owe a debt? Better yet, why was I enjoying it so much?

When we made it up to the twins’ bedroom, Mr. Duke assisted me in switching their clothes with pyjamas before tucking them in for the night. He kissed them both on the forehead, making me swoon at how loving he is towards them, before we both walked out. I was about to make my way towards my room when I was pulled back by the arm before colliding softly with the adjacent wall. A second later, a hard chest pushed into me and a set of lips captured mine in a hungry, hasty caress.

And like the wanton fool I am, I responded just as actively like I’d been starving for his touch for centuries. My hands went around his neck, whilst his were gripping my hips. I let my fingers curl into his plush hair and tugged gently, causing him to groan deliciously against my lips. He detached from me and looked down at me through his long, thick lashes. A smirk was tugging at his heavenly mouth. “That is something that I’d been dying to do for the last couple of days,” he admitted in his husky, British accent laced voice.

I fluttered my eyes at him, continuing to play with his hair. “Oh, is that so? I thought you said you don’t get involved with your workers,” I threw out at him, making sure to rub the irony in his chiselled face. If I’d ever come across a hypocrite…he was the biggest one.

His hands slid up and down my waist. “And when exactly did I say that?” he teased with a mischievous glint in his now silver looking irises.

I laughed briefly. “Last night or do you suddenly have amnesia?”

“I remember you saying something along those lines but I neither confirmed or denied it. Besides, what wrong with one little kiss?” One, that was anything but a little kiss and secondly, everything was wrong with it!

“You are a walking red flag, you know that?” I told him with a mock glare but he only drew me closer to him.

“That is true, but you cannot deny the fact that the quality of the fabric is excellent,” he replied haughtily. That is definitely something I’d heard on Tik Tok before. Another new fact about him; he watches Tik Toks. Who would have guessed it?

Before I could poke fun at him for it, his lips settled on mine once again.

And just this once, I let myself take pleasure in the moment.

Because it for sure didn’t last for long.

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The long awaited Friday chapter. I tried to make the amusement park trip quite enjoyable, hope it didn't disappoint.

What did you think about it?

Favourite moments in the chapter?

I'll see y'all on Monday,

~Deetronite ✌🏽