Page 33 of The Rancher's Second-Choice Wife

“That’s what I’d like to know as well,” he said grimly.” How do you know Grachyov?”

“I went to the same high school he did.”

“That’s not enough for someone like Grachyov to remember you.”

“I was also in the same year as his sister’s. I was one of the few girls she was friends with.”

Valerian was not close friends with Grachyov, but even he was aware of how Misha and all the men in his family doted on Seri. Poppy’s explanation made perfect sense in light of that, but even so.

"Do you want to know the second thing that bothers the fuck out of me?"

He didn't wait for her to answer, with a part of him already bracing for the worst since even he knew his next words weren't warranted.

"I don't know how to trust you the way you trust me."

And now there was nothing to do but wait.

"Oh."

What the hell did that mean?

"Okay."

That was it? Okay?

"You're...jealous."

The way she was suddenly biting her lip hard completely gave her away, and Valerian didn't know whether to feel amused, exasperated, or amused by her one-track mind.

"Did you even hear the last thing I said?"

"You're jealous?"

“I said I have a hard time trusting you.”

“Because you’re jealous.” And this time, Poppy was clearly losing the battle against stifling her smile.

I give up, he thought.

He knew she had been joking earlier when she said she could be mysterious.

But he had meant it when he told her she wouldn't get any arguments from him.

Because it was this side of her that was a mystery to him.

His whole life was a sinking ship, and yet here she was, struggling not to show how amazed she was that he was jealous.

She even had someone like Misha fucking Grachyov charging to her side like some knight in fucking Valentino. But here she was, and the stars in her eyes had actually multiplied in the last thirty seconds.

"Poppy?"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

He should've probably expected how she would respond to this. But he didn't, mostly because a part of him hadn't stopped reeling since standing at the top of the world in one moment and then finding himself hitting rock bottom the next.

And so that part of him had expected her to say no. Or play coy. Or just something worse.

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