Free A Discovery of Hope (A Coming Home Again Novel Book 3) by T.I. Lowe

laughs. Yes, Duke has caught me talking to myself, aka Hope, a few times. He thinks I’m weird and vice versa.
    “What are you doing here and how’d you get in?”
    “I live in the apartment out back. And I have a key to the gallery.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me you knew JP?” I pop him one more time for good measure.
    He shrugs his shoulders. “I didn’t think you would accept the internship if you thought I did it as a handout.”
    A handout for me? Now that’s a new concept. “ You put this internship together?”
    He shrugs again, and that shrug tells me he did in fact orchestrate it. “Savannah handled all of the legal junk. All I had to do was get you to fill the forms out. I’m honored you included a photo of me.” He winks, and then quickly turns thoughtful. “JP seriously needs some help. He’s too stubborn to admit it.”
    “So you thought it was a good idea to offer me as free help for the summer?”
    “Look, Willow, JP is the best when it comes to photography. You won’t learn better from anyone else. You’ve seen his work.” Duke motions around the gallery at all of the breathtaking art adorning the walls. He’s absolutely right.
    “Thank you for setting this up for me. And… Sorry for punching you.”
    Duke smirks as he rubs his chest. “Someone taught you to fight for sure.”
    “My dad,” I say proudly. “He took me to self-defense classes when I was eleven. He said no man was ever allowed to touch me without my permission. He wanted me to know how to properly relay that message to any guy who thought otherwise.”
    “I should probably warn JP to keep his hands to himself.” He chuckles.
    “Does he have trouble keeping his hands to himself?” I ask, concerned.
    “Not after I warn him, he won’t.”
    Well, this doesn’t make me feel any better. Maybe I should have taken my dad up on his offer for a self-defense refresher. Dad… Thinking about my dad is seriously making me homesick.
    Duke picks up on this and steps closer. “You okay?”
    “Sure,” I mumble while taking a closer look at him. “Are you wearing eyeliner?” He rubs his fingers under his eye and I see he is wearing black nail polish as well. “And nail polish?”
    “I had a hot date last night?”
    “And your hot date, she liked all this?” I wave my hand in front of him.
    “Oh yeah,” he says with much satisfaction. “We went to a concert and didn’t get back in ‘til four this morning. I just woke up.”
    “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to never sleep in your makeup?” I tease.
    He rubs at his eyes again, making the smudges worse. “I can’t get this junk off.”
    I head to the stairs and wave for him to follow. “Come on. I think I have something that’ll clean it off.” We walk into my room and I motion for him to sit in a dining chair. I head over to my toiletry bag and rummage around until I find a tube of makeup remover and a Q-tip.
    I angle Duke’s head and rub the Q-tip underneath his eye. The makeup remover on it easily removes the dark smudges.
    “You don’t even wear makeup,” Duke comments as he eyes the tube of makeup remover.
    “I thought I tossed it with my makeup, but it somehow ended up with my stuff.” I’m guessing that is another interference by my angel. Once I’m done, I look over his handsome face. I touch my fingertip to the studs in his eyebrow and then the lip ring. “Why all of this?”
    “I’m trying to discover myself. Does it bother you?” His dark eyebrows pinch together, with what I worry is hurt.
    “Of course not. I’m just trying to understand it. Ten years down the road, what happens when the person you find yourself being doesn’t want this anymore?” I touch the tattoo on his neck and he captures my hand to keep it there.
    “This tattoo is the reason why I’m not worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow is not a promise.” He releases my hand.
    I sit in the chair next to him as we both ingest the significance of his words. He is absolutely