Page 32 of Poppy Kisses (Return to Coal Haven #3)

I tucked Auggie in. The stress of the phone call hung over me, along with the self-recrimination.

I should’ve called Hassie earlier, but for a woman who’d been occupied with everything but her husband and kid, she was a little salty about the thought of her ex getting married.

I didn’t appreciate her sudden demands to know the situation, but for Auggie’s sake, I had played nice.

“Night, Dad.” Auggie rolled over and his breathing evened out almost immediately. Today had been a full day, followed by an exciting night. If he sensed some of the tension between me and his mom, he didn’t let on. He’d been so damn happy to hear from her. She had that effect on people.

He didn’t move when I got up and left his room. I should talk to Poppy. She’d have to be curious since Hassie’s reaction could affect her. When I got downstairs, I stopped to listen. Nothing.

Was Poppy asleep? I hadn’t seen her since she also sensed the potential conflict of the phone call. I hated that she felt like she’d had to flee.

She deserved an update. And maybe I wanted to have someone to talk to after dealing with my ex. I knocked lightly on her bedroom door. The slightest movement came through the wood before she cracked the door open a few inches.

“Hey.” I scratched the back of my neck and took in her curvy legs. She was wearing her pajama shorts and a loose shirt. I didn’t look close enough to see if she was wearing a bra. My brain would go offline if I did. “Can we talk?”

Worry filled her eyes. “Sure.”

I wanted to smooth the divot from between her brows. She opened the door wider, her expression expectant.

“In the living room?” she asked.

Oh. Yes. She was in pajamas, and if I entered her bedroom, I’d want to spread her out on the bed and forget both the “no bed” rule and the one dark cloud in the day. “Sure.”

We sat in our same corners on the couch, only she faced me, one leg curled under her. Her shoulders were hunched. No bra. Warmth spread through my gut and headed lower. I would never not be turned on around her.

“If we need to refigure this deal,” she said, “that’s fine.”

“What? No.” Did Poppy think I’d put a stop to everything over a Hassie hissy fit?

I wiped a hand down my face. Hassie might feel better about canceling the arrangement, but I wouldn’t.

I looked forward to the next year, and after Poppy had returned from dress shopping, her face glowing, I was eager for the wedding.

I wanted to see her in that dress, her smile aimed at me.

“I made sure Hassie knew the marriage is a deal between us and that discretion is key.”

“Okay.” She drew the word out. “She was good with that?”

“I don’t care.”

Surprise lifted her brows. “You don’t?”

“I’ve had my own life for five years, and she’s been involved in very little of it.

” I shrugged. Hassie’s insistent questions had been irritating, and I’d patiently answered them all.

Beyond that, I owed her little else. “I also stressed that her son lives here, and if it got out that we were faking a marriage to get the house, it could hurt his reputation at school and negatively impact my business.”

“Dang… I didn’t think this through. I can’t risk you and Auggie—”

“No.” I grabbed her foot. She straightened her leg until her heel rested on my lap.

I worked my thumb up her arch. Her eyelids fluttered, and she moaned.

My erection was going to push right into her sole, but I didn’t move her foot off me.

“We’re doing this, and my ex can figure out how to handle it. She’s probably forgotten it already.”

She giggled and then looked guilty for doing so. “Auggie was so excited to talk to her.”

“I know. Breaks my heart.”

“Did you—” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

“Ask me.”

“No, it’s not my business.”

I feathered a fingertip up the bottom of her foot. She jerked, but I held her ankle.

“You’re mean.” She tried to tug her leg away, but I refused to let go.

“Talk, woman.”

She sighed and quit fighting me. “Fine. Did you think she’d be like this when you married?”

My grip on her foot loosened. I hated thinking about the Jensen from back then. The wildly oblivious man who forged ahead when he should’ve stopped for a moment and thought really hard about his future. “I thought it would be different once we were married.”

She sucked in a sympathetic breath. “I’ve heard that from some divorced women I know.”

I stroked her foot under the guise of a massage.

Having my hands on her grounded me. “I think she thought the same. I dunno. It’s probably giving her too much of the benefit of the doubt to even say she thought that much about it.

I was nothing but blind adoration, and whether I turned into a rodeo cowboy or not, I’m sure she assumed I’d follow her anywhere. ”

“I’m surprised you didn’t,” she said softly. “You were all about her.”

I beckoned for her other foot. A little blush stained her cheeks, but she gave me that one too.

“She was safe, in a way,” I said.

She blinked. “You did not act like she was only safe.”

I was going somewhere I never talked about, and I’d rather haul her on my lap to talk about it.

Amazingly, I didn’t shove the words back down my throat.

I never talked about my dad, but other than Mom, there was no one to talk to about him.

“Dad knew her. He’d heard me talk about her.

Everyone did,” I said bitterly. My face burned at the memory of how I used to be.

“So when I was going into high school and getting used to life without Dad, without telling him about my day or who I talked to, it was easier to stay in Hassie’s orbit than to adjust to another change in life. ”

Her lips parted. “That’s understandable.”

“When I thought about who I was marrying, it hurt to think about meeting someone he didn’t know. He was already missing everything, and he’d miss being a grandpa.” I let out a long breath. At some level, I’d known why I made the decisions I had, but I had still been too close to the loss.

“Oh, Jensen.” She scooted closer, bending her legs until she was sitting at the edge of my lap. “That makes so much sense.”

I ran my hands up her legs. “It was immaturity.”

“It was also really sweet and innocent.”

“Well, she wasn’t.”

Poppy didn’t reply. Her steady gaze remained on me as if she was waiting for me to elaborate. “Did she cheat on you?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.

“She says she didn’t.” I was probably a dumbass to have believed her.

I could leave it at that, but Poppy had opened up about her dating life.

“Who knows? I went for a full physical after I moved out, and I was honestly a little surprised it came back clear. Every little itch was making me paranoid.”

“Why did you think she cheated?”

“You left before she got really popular.”

“She got even more popular?”

I gave her a pointed look. “When all grades merged into one for high school, and then she got noticed by upperclassmen? You bet. We didn’t date until senior year was almost done.”

She held up a hand. “Wait. You and Hassie weren’t high school sweethearts?”

Surprised, I shook my head. She’d been gone. Had she assumed I’d been tied at Hassie’s hip until the divorce? “She dated other rodeo guys and Trey, the quarterback.”

“He played football?”

“Puberty loved him. He grew like a foot the year after you left.”

She laughed. “Ohmigoodness. I missed it all.”

“You missed awkward high school dances where all the kids cleared out early to party in a pasture?”

“There was some of that in Billings.”

“I could’ve challenged you to a dance-off.” It would’ve made those nights more fun. Having Poppy around during those days might’ve changed everything.

She chuckled. “So how did you two start dating?”

I dragged in a deep breath. I’d been so fucking stupid.

“I’d gone out a little here and there, but no one stuck, probably because of my Hassie infatuation.

But she was with some guy from Dickinson.

So I asked Becky Lee to prom. Remember her?

” She pursed her lips and tipped her head back and forth.

“Well, she was nice and she liked me, so I asked her to prom and we started dating.”

Her eyes flew wide. “And you being with some other girl made Hassie jealous?”

“I liked to think she finally saw my potential and realized what an ideal mate I was,” I said wryly.

“Sure.” Her reply was light, but her eyes were guarded. “That’s what happened.”

“Whatever the reason, I fell for it. She laid it on thick at prom, and by the next day, I broke up with Becky and went all in with Hassie. I followed her to Texas, then to Colorado, and when she got injured, I took care of her. I was a dutiful husband, taking freelance jobs around her schedule until all her partying took a toll on us. When Auggie started to ask where his mom was and why she didn’t want to play with him, I decided that was it. ”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“Not your fault.” But it helped to have someone understand. Mom did, but I hadn’t let her in on everything that had happened. I skimmed my hands up Poppy’s legs. “Unless I blame you for moving away.”

She laughed. “What? Like, you would’ve asked me out?”

I gave her a steady stare.

Curiosity filled her gaze. “You really think we would’ve been something? At least, until the first prom when Hassie said, ‘not on my watch.’”

“I can’t promise I would’ve been in my right mind. I needed each day until my prefrontal cortex matured.”

She giggled. “Perhaps I did too. I needed to date more Dillons to know that being single is better than that.”

“But the house?”

A sexy smile spread across her face. “The house is worth marrying a talented cabinetmaker struggling to get by as a single dad. He doesn’t know how sexy he is, and my job is to show him that not only is he good with his hands, but he’s good with his tongue.”

The lust that had been kindling the whole evening—hell, the whole day—roared to a fully stoked fire. “Auggie was asleep before I left his room.”

Interest lined her face. “Oh? I haven’t showered yet.”

“Neither have I.”

She leaned forward, stopping when she was close to my mouth. “Race you.”