Page 22 of Poppy Kisses (Return to Coal Haven #3)

Chapter Ten

Jensen

I waited at the kitchen table while Auggie finished getting ready for school.

Poppy was supposed to take him again. It’d been two weeks since she’d first driven him so she could talk to Miss Whitfield.

She’d been roped into coaching one team and being a consultant.

Since Auggie had heard her shout that I’d coach, too, I might also be involved.

Miss Whitfield made Poppy the head coach of what would become Auggie’s team, and Poppy had also helped by designing age-appropriate drills.

There was more official paperwork to do, but Miss Whitfield was on it.

Since then, Auggie had been asking Poppy to take him to school more often. I gently tried discouraging him. She was basically our guest. We weren’t married yet.

Dread mixed with excitement. I couldn’t look forward to marrying Poppy. The marriage was literally designed to be fake. But I liked being with her. The thought of spending the next year with someone I enjoyed being with…

No. I couldn’t go there.

I checked the time on my phone. Was she even awake?

Miss Whitfield had asked the principal to meet with Poppy this morning. He was working with Miss Whitfield to get the soccer team set up through Parks and Rec and had some questions.

“Poppy?” I called.

No answer.

Auggie wasn’t downstairs yet, but he’d be ready to go. If I didn’t make sure Poppy was awake, he’d charge into her room.

I went to her door and knocked lightly. “Poppy? You up?”

Still no answer. Shit.

I knocked louder. Was she okay? I cracked open the door. Light poured in through her open blinds. How could she sleep with the sun shining on her— A laugh punched out of me just as my dick took notice of how she slept.

She was passed out on her back, covers tossed off.

Her shorts rode up her thighs to gather at her crotch, leaving acres of long, golden legs on display.

Her shirt was my best and worst nightmare.

Twisted across her torso, it was plastered to her chest, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

I could trace her areolas if I wanted to.

Jerking my attention to her face, another smile played over my lips. The blinds were open because she wore a sleeping mask. A bonnet contained her curls and over that were a pair of headphones. No wonder she didn’t hear the knocks.

“Poppy.” I got closer to the bed, afraid I wouldn’t be strong enough to keep my lecherous gaze off her legs, stomach, and tits. She was like a gift, waiting for me to finish unwrapping her. “Hey, four-ten,” I called louder.

She twitched, and a sultry little groan slipped from her.

Whoa.

“Poppy.” My voice was gruffer. “Wake up.” Put me out of my misery.

“Jensen.” A sexy moan resonated from her, and she scissored her legs. “Yes.”

Fuck me. An erection was going to rise faster than the morning sun if I didn’t wake her. I pulled one side of the headphones away from her ear. “Poppy, wake up,” I barked.

She gasped and sat up, cracking her head on my chin. I reeled back, grateful for the pain shooting through my skull. My blood got distracted from filling my dick.

“Wha— Jensen?” She clawed at her head to get everything off, but the sleep mask got tangled in the headphones, and her bonnet pulled sideways.

“Last time you said my name, you moaned it.”

“What?” She ripped everything off in one tangled heap. She scooted backward on the bed, putting her hand over her mouth. “Ohmigod. Don’t get closer. I need to brush my teeth.”

“Honey, morning breath isn’t going to scare me away with your shirt and shorts all knotted up like that.”

Her hair pressed against her head. She glanced down and yelped. “Ohmigod.” She tried to cover her boobs, then her crotch, back to her boobs, before giving up and yanking a blanket over her. “What are you doing in here?”

“You’re meeting Miss Whitfield at the school today.”

Another gasp echoed through the room and she shot out of bed. “Sorry!”

I turned to leave, but the lonely creep in me snuck one more glance at her skull-crushing legs. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Jensen.”

I didn’t turn around. I’d violated enough of her privacy, and I wanted to do it again. “Yeah?”

“You were kidding, right? I didn’t moan your name in my sleep?”

I should be a standup guy and spare her, but Poppy was one of the only people I could actually be myself around. “No, Poppy.” Before I closed the door behind me, I said, “You moaned after you said it.”

* * *

Poppy

My blood pressure hadn’t returned to normal levels after my meeting with Miss Whitfield.

There hadn’t been much more new information.

The city was willing to work with our little ragtag group, and Aspen—Miss Whitfield—had flyers already printed to recruit kids.

It was coming along, and as long as she was in charge, my anxiety was kept at bay.

I moaned Jensen’s name in my sleep? That part didn’t surprise me. That he heard was a total embarrassment. What were the odds that one of the dreams plaguing me, where he peeled a wet shirt off me, happened exactly when I had overslept and he walked in?

Why else was I slumbering too long? I hadn’t wanted to wake up from that wet dream.

But I had, and he’d seen me in all my bonnet, sleep mask, and headphones glory. And I’d had a wedgie from hell after writhing around.

We loaded back up in his pickup. I couldn’t look at him. He hadn’t minded the wedgie.

“So what’s with the sleep routine?” He pointed to his head.

“My hair’s so fine that it tangles like a nightmare.

Mom got tired of fighting me to brush it, so she ordered a bonnet.

I’ve been wearing them since. The sleep mask happened when a college roommate used to study all night and her light shone in my face.

” My phone vibrated, but I wanted to finish the explanation to save some face after the morning debacle.

“Sometimes I wake up too early and I can’t get to sleep if I’m not listening to a podcast or something. ”

“Makes sense. It was cute.”

“You don’t have to try to make me feel better.”

“I’m trying not to make you uncomfortable, or I would’ve said it tied with the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ll have to see you in that wet T-shirt again to decide between the two because, with all that leg on display, it’s a tough choice.”

He did not mean that. He’d been married to Hassie Heart of all people. She had more sexiness in her little finger than I’d possessed in my entire life. My phone buzzed again.

I took the distraction and pulled it out of my pocket. “It’s Aunt Linda.” I answered.

“Oh, Poppy.” Her light voice came through the line. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“No, I’ve been up for a while.” I had to twist away from Jensen, or he’d see me blush. Sexiest thing, my ass.

Apparently, it wasn’t my ass but my boobs and my legs.

“The tenant—former tenant—called. Their house closed early, and they said they’d be moved out by the end of the weekend.

I didn’t want to tell you if it ended up falling through, but they gave me the keys this morning.

Usually, Darren replaces the locks right away, but I thought I’d wait. You might want something else.”

“Yes, I can take care of that.” Excitement swelled inside of me. It was happening. The worry sparked right behind it. I was at the beginning of a long road. “Do you mind if I come by and get the keys?”

“Not at all. I have to warn you, I don’t know the state the house is in. There’s always some sort of mess left behind.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of that too.” It sounded like she was sick of dealing with renters. My benefit, otherwise she wouldn’t let me in so Jensen could get to work.

“I’m in town now, and I can meet you in a few minutes.”

“See you in five.” I hung up and spun in my seat. “The house is open.”

Jensen turned at the end of the block without asking. Going straight would’ve taken us to the highway to get to his house.

I pressed a hand to my stomach. “I’m nervous.”

“It’s normal. Doesn’t mean you can’t do it. In no time, Poppy’s House of Dyslexia will be open.”

“That’s really bad, Jensen.” Yet I was grinning.

“Poppy’s Brain Time.”

“Nope.”

Linda waited outside of her car. She didn’t stop for small talk but thanked us in her pleasant way and drove away.

I clutched the cool metal keys. This felt like such a monumental moment, even though the house wouldn’t be officially mine for a year after the wedding, which was in a month.

What if all the floors needed to be replaced?

The roof? The closets. Did closets get replaced? What if the house was that bad?

Jensen waited next to me while I gazed at the house.

“It’ll need a paint job.” I stuffed my thumb through the key ring. “A couple of shutters need to be replaced.”

“The deck looks solid,” he said. “I’ll check it out before we leave, but all in all, it looks good. Shingles are in decent shape, drain spouts are straight, and the fascia and soffits are strong.”

Relief flooded me. Without Jensen, I wouldn’t have known any of that.

I could call Dad. He’d be here in a heartbeat, but he and Mom had bailed me out of the mess in South Dakota.

They’d given me money to move for my master’s degree.

I hadn’t told them about the Wyoming debacle.

Alder was a CEO. Violet was a chemist. Jasper used to work some high-paying IT job and now he was ranch manager for Knight’s Cattle Company.

Lily had a good job and was raising a family.

Clover was a geologist. I wasn’t going to be the first Duke to be a failure to our parents.

He placed his hand on the small of my back. “Ready?”

He couldn’t have known I needed his strength, but I soaked it up from his warm touch. “Ready.”

Nerves exploded in my stomach as I opened the door. This whole place was my responsibility. Linda trusted me with it. The Perez house was a community treasure. And now it was in my care.

Pushing inside, I waited to be impressed. It didn’t happen. “It’s…normal.”