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Chapter sixteen

Rescue

P oppy stood on the rec center's veranda, staring at the torrential rain and trying to think of a silver lining for tonight's shitstorm .

At least I didn't make it to the store so nothing's getting ruined.

Humidity is good for the complexion.

And I'm getting a break from doing transcripts.

And rain…will make the flowers…grow.

Okay, so channeling her inner Eponine was maybe not the wisest distraction, even if she understood Les Miserables more with each passing day, but the hyperbole of it did make her smile.

And she needed a smile right now, with the unexpected rain pelting outside and her mom probably freaking out and her car broken again.

And she knew the battery had been charged this time.

She knew she hadn’t left any lights or accessories on, and that she’d driven it plenty long enough the last time she’d gone out, so whatever was wrong, it wasn’t something a jump could fix.

She had to take it to the shop, and that meant more money, which meant more transcripts and more politics and more lying to her mom about what she was working so hard on all the time, and less of everything that made life worth living.

Not to mention less of Rai. Which didn’t seem fair when she only had six weeks of him to begin with.

Her phone had chimed with a message from him as she’d headed out the door, but she hadn’t had the strength to look at it, to see if her change from six to nine o’clock had finally been his bridge too far.

She just couldn’t look yet. Either he would show up at nine or he wouldn’t, and if she was going to have the one juicy carrot that had kept her trudging along for the past three days yanked away, she didn’t want to know yet.

The only saving grace—the only real one that wasn’t her trying to fool herself—was that her mom’s ringtone hadn’t chimed yet, not even once.

It seemed strange, that her mother hadn’t started panicking about her welfare once the rain had hit, but Poppy wasn’t about to look that gift horse in the mouth.

If she was lucky, her mom had gotten engrossed in cleaning with loud music on and hadn’t even noticed the storm.

Or maybe it wasn’t even raining there—that was another thing that had taken getting used to, the way Tucson could have a downpour half a block away from sunshine.

Maybe the storm was just right here, because that was her luck. Cloudy with a chance of heartbreak.

She didn’t even know how she was going to face Rai tonight.

He’d been so proud of his wire-jiggling or whatever that had fixed her car the first time.

What guy would want to waste his time on a hot mess who couldn’t even maintain a functional vehicle, much less a functional life?

But at the same time as she didn’t want to face him, she wanted to see him even more.

To hear his voice saying her name. The thought manifested an echo in her head, like he was calling for her from far away, like he was…

She frowned in confusion. That voice hadn’t been in her head.

It came a little louder, her name being shouted. “Poppy!”

“Rai?” she called out, barely understanding what was going on. Maybe it wasn’t going on and she had just entered a fugue state?

But there came Rai’s voice calling her name again, louder, an urgent call, and then she saw his shape in the rain, like a mirage.

He ran toward her shelter, his vague silhouette resolving into drenched business attire, a brightly patterned tie flapping sluggishly at his chest, his dark hair streaming behind him, and he was there, in her tiny rain-curtained haven.

He came to an abrupt stop before her, his wide eyes searching her face, and then his hands were on her cheeks and he was kissing her.

If it wasn’t real, it was the best damn fugue state ever .

There was something different from the way he’d kissed her before, any of the times he’d kissed her before.

His lips were hard and urgent, desperate, devouring, tasting of rain, and Poppy moaned and fell into it, winding her arms around his neck and arching her body against his, the rec center wall hard against her shoulder blades.

He was drenched, water dripping down onto her face from his hair, soaking into her shirt, and she had to touch him, had to run her hands over that translucent white shirt, dragging it up so she could caress the smooth skin of his back.

He growled like thunder deep in his throat, and real thunder boomed in harmony outside, the rain falling faster and harder just like she was, she was falling, fallen, her heart beating as fast as the bouncing hail.

She let him hike her leg over his hip, ground against him, writhed against him, and god, she wanted him, she wanted him now, and she was about to throw all caution to the driving wind of the storm and beg him to take her right there against the wall when a cheery cell phone jingle sounded and Rai abruptly pushed away.

“I am sorry,” he gasped. “Poppy, I am sorry.” And he dug into the back pocket of his slacks and dragged out a Ziploc baggie that held his bedazzled cell phone.

Poppy gaped at him as he unzipped the baggie and answered.

“Hello? Yes. Yes, I have found her.” Rai’s eyes landed back on Poppy’s face, narrow, his brow black. “Yes, she is well. She had found shelter. You need not fear for her safety. I shall protect her.”

Realization struck. “Is that my mom?”

Rai nodded, though he was still listening to the phone. “Yes. I shall accompany Poppy to the store and return her safely to you. This I vow.” He listened more. “Yes. I shall speak to you again in ten minutes.” He disconnected, working his cell phone back into the baggie and zipping it shut.

Poppy felt dizzy. “Why is my mom calling you? How did she get your number?”

“I gave it to her,” Rai said shortly, and then he was right in front of her again, glaring. “It is storming!” he said fiercely, almost a shout. His breaths were coming almost as fast as hers.

Poppy nodded slowly. “Yes,” she managed to say through her confusion.

He planted his hand on the wall next to her head. Hard. “You are out in the storm!”

“Yes!” Poppy said, her voice rising to match his. “We needed food for dinner. And it wasn’t storming when I left!”

“But your car! It was fixed!”

“Well, it broke again! ”

“But I fixed it!”

“And it broke! ”

“Why did you not tell me? Why did you go out in the storm alone?” He was still glaring at her, all outrage, and Poppy’s face went hot, tears blurring her vision.

“Because!” she shouted, standing taller so she could meet his eyes better. “I was ashamed!”

That seemed to strike him, and he staggered a step back. “Where is the shame?” he asked, the outrage in his voice now overtaken by confusion.

“What, like you haven’t thought it?” Poppy said bitterly, looking away.

The tears were about to start flowing, and she scrubbed at her face furiously.

“I’m such a fucking mess, with a shitty broken job and a shitty broken car, and you’re all Mister Super Salesman with your Bruce Lee and your sales philosophies and your normal-guy life that’s not a fucking mess.

And I’ve been putting you off and putting you off and now that we can finally hang out my stupid fucking car managed to screw even that up, and I just wanted to get something nice for dinner so we could have a nice normal date night and—”

Rai stepped forward and kissed her again, hard and fast. “You are not a mess,” he said, voice a low growl. “You are perfect.” Another kiss.

Poppy tore her lips away. “I’m not,” she whimpered.

“You are delightful,” he murmured against her mouth, and the tears were really flowing now, but she kissed him back, except now he was tender, soothing, and it made her heart rage more.

“I’m sorry,” she managed between kisses.

“No, it is I,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers. “I am to blame.”

Poppy swallowed, trying to convince the tears to stop. “You didn’t break my car.”

“I did not fix your car.” He kissed the tears away from her cheeks. “And there is the rain.”

She snorted. “Yeah, like you made it rain.”

He laughed bitterly, then shoved away from the wall, stalking a few steps away. “I am sorry,” he repeated, his back tense. “Please forgive me.”

Poppy heaved a deep breath. “Just so you know, I don’t appreciate being yelled at.”

He gave a jerky nod. “It was unworthy of me. I have never… I do not get angry.” He turned and looked at her, his face puzzled. “I do not understand it, but I will do better.”

She regarded him curiously. “Everyone gets angry. I…I yelled back, didn’t I? We just need to communicate better. ”

He regarded her warily. “And you will forgive me?”

“Yes. Of course.” She took another deep breath, let it out. “Rai, why are you here?”

His eyes lit up. He strode back into her space, caught both her hands. “Poppy, I have promised your mother I will care for you. And that she may call me every ten minutes. She provided me protection for my phone from the water.”

“Why didn’t she call me?” Poppy knew she hadn’t missed that. She’d been listening for it, dreading it.

“Because,” Rai said gently, “she knows I will not lie to her. I will not tell her you are well when you are not.”

“I don’t…” She laughed faintly, catching herself before she finished that lie, tiny and white though it might be. “It’s not really lying. I am well.”

Rai looked at her for a long moment, stroking her face. “She thinks you are…making a book.”

Oh, fuck. “I don’t want her to worry. She… Well, she was so proud of me.”

He gathered her into his arms silently, and she rubbed her face against the damp fabric of his shirt. His hands were firm yet gentle on her back, long, soothing caresses down her spine. The rain was still pounding around them and his heartbeat was a steady drumbeat under her cheek.

Finally, Poppy sighed. “I told you I was married once, right?”

His arms tightened slightly. “Yes.”