Page 22 of The Rancher's Second-Choice Wife

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Valerian heard Giovanni groan. "It really is him, so will you hurry up and get to the phone? Joy will kill us both if she finds out how long we've made him wait! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Valerian heard Poppy taking audible gulps of breath before coming to the line, but with Camelia's deception still too damn fresh in his mind, he would be an idiot to make a big deal out of this.

"Mr. R-Rossfield, good morning."

Her breathless tone suggested she was nervous, but that didn't have to mean anything either.

Just play it cool, he told himself, and see where you stand with her.

If it turned out he had kissed her against his will, then he would apologize and bear the consequences for his drunken mistake.

But if that kiss was not unwelcome?

Stop getting ahead of yourself, dammit.

Valerian took a deep breath.

Play it cool.

But when he finally spoke, the words that came out were the fucking opposite.

"I think I asked you to call me something else already."

Poppy gasped at this while Valerian was already up on his feet and literally slamming his head against the wall.

What the hell, Rossfield?

It was unlike him at all to think one thing and do something entirely different the next. Was this because he was concurrently dealing with a hangover while talking to Poppy?

"I'm...I'm afraid that's not possible, sir."

Poppy's awkward tone spoke volumes. "You're not alone, are you?"

"No, sir."

"So you can't say what's on your mind?"

"That's correct, Mr. Rossfield."

"But if no one else was listening...would you call me what I asked you to?"

Poppy gasped again, and if he had been the type to gasp, he would've done so as well. Why the hell had he asked her—-

"Yes."

His brain completely shut down at the speed of her reply.

I think I'm losing my mind.

Was it exhilaration or adrenaline that was suddenly making his heart race?

The last time he felt like this was when he had gone skydiving.

He had to be involved in something wildly risky and out of control—-

And Poppy was that, Valerian realized.

To consider dating her was a risk of unimaginable proportions, the variables too many to count. They were so damn different, he couldn't even picture how things would work between them.

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