Page 36 of Room One Hundred and Eleven

A blush highlights her prettiness.

Before Carter can continue to grill her, there’s a knock at the door. Room service wheels in cart after cart laden with silver domed plates.

“What the hell did you order?” Knox chuckles at Carter going over the top. Usually, he’ll scowl at us for doing the same.

It seems all of us are mixed up and off balance around our beauty.

“Everything.” Carter shrugs. “I wasn’t sure what she liked.”

“Me?” Poppy squeaks as she takes in the options from waffles to bacon and eggs to sandwiches to braised ribs with haricots verts. “I usually have a protein shake or maybe a bowl of oatmeal. A breakfast bar from a vending machine would be fine, really.”

“Absolutely not.” Carter tips the staff generously.

While he sees them out, Knox loads up a gorgeous wooden tray with more dahlias and as many different options as he can fit on it. For a long time we’re quiet, fueling ourselves while slipping bits of our favorite dishes between Poppy’s lips.

She accepts each one hungrily. The tiny sighs and hums of delight she makes as the flavors of fresh fruit and tea burst on her tongue remind me of how she sounded last night.

We eat in peace, and a growing sense of rightness.

Only when we’re finished, the dishes picked up and all four of us entwined in a pile on the bed, do I realize that Poppy’s gone quiet.

“What are you thinking so hard about, beauty?” Carter traces her eyebrow with the tip of one finger.

“You three could have anything in the world. Why this? Why do you want this so bad?”

“Breakfast in bed?” There’s a mischievous glint in Knox’s eye.

She laughs at him but shakes her head. “You know…the breeding thing.”

“Cravings are what they are.” He shrugs, but even she must be able to see there’s more to it.

“That’s bullshit. I’ll be honest with you.” Our beauty deserves the truth. “I grew up without a relatives. An orphan. And I’d like to give a child what we have—a real family, even if it’s one we’ve made ourselves.”

She hesitates, her mouth opening then closing again.

“Spit it out.” Knox nudges her with his knee.

“I’m afraid my question is insensitive.” She glances away.

I draw her chin back so she’s staring into my eyes. “We’re not delicate. We’re the men who entered a damn contract to take your virginity. Ask.”

“Why not adopt?” She rests her forehead on mine as if letting me know it’s not a judgment but genuine curiosity. “You’ve got plenty of resources for it.”

“Would love to.” I beam, the idea alone warming me from the inside out. “But Carter wants an heir and Knox just wants the experience of messing someone up. So this is how I got them to go along with it. My evil plan is that as soon as they have the first kid, they’ll want a million more, and I can bring a bunch of babies into our lives and our hearts and our home.”

“Oh…” Is she melting right in front of me?

“You want children too?”

“Um. I haven’t really thought about it.” She shakes her head. “But no. At least not right now. Not when I have so much on my plate and can barely support myself. It wouldn’t be fair.”

We could change those things for her overnight.

“What if none of that was an obstacle?” I don’t mean to press, though I’m sure I’m being too aggressive when Carter shoots me a glare.

“No sense in dreaming. It is. Besides, parenting is so much responsibility. It’s too easy to screw it up.” Poppy swallows hard.

“Where are your mom and dad?” Knox asks what I’m thinking. “Why aren’t they helping you out?”

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