Page 26 of Faking It With the Grumpy Single Dad

“Can he swim?”

Poppy quirks an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“My buddy Derek is a lobsterman. I could borrow his boat and dump that pretty boy out in the middle of the Atlantic, if you’d like.”

She bursts out laughing. “Don’t worry, Joe. I don’t need you to kill anyone for me.”

I find myself grinning, despite how angry I feel.

“Let me help you with this, Poppy. If you need someone to scare the guy off once and for all, you’ve got me and a staff of fourteen hardened laborers at your beck and call. I don’t like the idea that he’d barge into your home like this just because he can’t take no for an answer. He might not be violent, but peoplelike that are dangerous. Nobody should have to deal with that on their own.”

With an unreadable expression, Poppy simply stares at me for a long minute. It’s like she’s trying to decode something, but I’d hardly classify myself as a puzzle.

Then, as if a new thought has occurred to her, she quickly looks away.

“There is one way that I think might work to get rid of him…”

“I’m listening.”

That delicate blush returns. My fingertips itch to touch her smooth skin, but I can’t be feeling things like that about a client, so I quickly shove those thoughts away into the furthest corner of my mind.

“If Percy genuinely believes that I have moved on with someone else—that I’m not available anymore—he might give up. He’s greedy and possessive, but he’s not the sort of person who is interested in taking what somebody else already has. He’d rather have something shinier and newer.”

“We’re talking about human beings here, yes?”

Poppy gives me an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately. I know that’s how he thinks.”

White-hot annoyance flares up my spine. Not at her, but at that monstrous imbecile who thinks he has any right toownher.

“So, if you convince your ex-boyfriend that you’re—for lack of a better term here—used goods, he’ll lose interest?”

“Most likely, yes.” She glances toward the stairs, as if suddenly remembering that we’re not completely alone, but the guys are thankfully back to making plenty of noise. In fact, I’m almost certain that they’re being extra noisy on purpose. “It happened with his ex-girlfriend before me. I didn’t know until later, of course, but, yeah…”

“Alright, then. We’ll convince him you’ve moved on.”

Poppy gulps. “With you?”

“Yep.”

She lets out an incredulous laugh. “Joe, you don’t have to do that. I mean, not only will it require actively lying to someone, but you’re already doing enough for me.”

“It’s really not a problem, Poppy. I want to help.” I mean it, too. “I have no respect for guys like Percy. That’s not how real men behave.”

It’s a shame, honestly, that people like him are allowed to run free all over the place, ruining everyone else’s day and leaving nothing but misery in their wake. If I was that sort of man—obsessive, possessive, and toxic—I’d be horrified. I don’t even know how I’d sleep at night.

And goodness knows that I’d rather die than raise my sons to be like that.

So, I can’t just stand here and let Poppy deal with this on her own. She’s new in town and hasn’t had the chance to build a large community of friends yet. She doesn’t have any siblings. Her father is gone, and her mother doesn’t seem to be present in her life, either.

Poppy Minton might be the human embodiment of a ray of sunshine, but I also get the feeling that she’s secretly very lonely.

I know, because I feel the same way. I put on a brave face and I convince myself that I have everything I need. I have my boys and Flo and the company.

But there’s something missing. I can’t deny it. I live with it every day.

And if there’s something missing in Poppy’s life, maybe I could help fill that void. Temporarily, at least.

At the same time, I also know that I really shouldn’t get myself involved in something like this. It’s a private issue in Poppy’s life that has nothing to do with me, and even though we’ve had some deeply personal conversations over the past couple weeks, she’sstill little more than a stranger to me. I’m here on Atlantic Lane for professional reasons, and I’ve never blurred that line before.

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