Page 35 of Poppy Kisses
I couldn’t let her down, but then Poppy had never made me feel that way. “We aren’t married. Not yet. And you still owe me the first date. After this, I’ll give you compliments.”
I thought she’d continue to be flirty, but her expression shut down. “I don’t need compliments from you.”
“I just wanted to?—”
“It’s fine, Jensen. It’s not the same if wehaveto give them, right?” She guzzled the rest of her drink.
I knew what she meant, but her sudden shift felt personal. She was protecting herself. From me?
“I’d better get to bed.” She rose before I could say anything.
“Poppy, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t,” she said lightly and tossed her can in the recycling closet. “Good night.” She shut herself in her room.
What the hell just happened? Was I destined to let down the women in my life?
ChapterEight
Poppy
Jensen and I were seated across from Clover and Elijah in a booth at Rattler’s. Clover’s boyfriend wasa choice. Of what, I wasn’t certain. He was handsome enough. Very good-looking with his short, styled hair and business-casual clothing. He reminded me of the finance bro I told Jensen about. I might just be irritated with Elijah because I hadn’t gotten my sister to myself since she’d arrived. I might be protective of my barely younger-than-me sister, but I hadn’t felt this way about Lily and Eliot or Violet and Evander. Yet I had a similar emotion when it came to them and their exes.
Dread pooled in my stomach, but I put on a smile as Clover gushed about the food to an unimpressed Elijah.
“Afraid this place is more my brother’s speed,” he said in what I expected was a practiced, cultured voice. “I’m more of a sushi and sashimi guy.” His mouth turned up. “You know the difference between them?”
I snuck a glance at Clover, but her adoring stare was on her new boyfriend. “Yes,” was all I said.
“I’m sure I’ve had both,” Jensen said congenially. “Sashiu—” The rest of the word got garbled. “Sash-sh—” He winced. “Sorry. Tongue-tied.”
Elijah’s laugh dripped with obnoxiousness. “It’s not a hard word, my man.”
“He just got tripped up, my man,” I said in a sweet voice. Jensen’s snort was quiet.
Clover’s startled gaze landed on me. She was lucky I didn’t launch into a diatribe about how dyslexia affected speech and it was more than just flipping sounds around like aminals instead of animals. Sometimes it was remembering the correct word, knowing it but not being able to say it, but that wasn’t my issue to discuss. Could I say “dyslexia” really quietly around Elijah’s phone so he could be served all sorts of ads for learning programs?
Wait, my feeds weren’t full of ads for it, and I talked about dyslexia all day.
I could run ads when I opened my center. But I’d wait until then. I should have at least the key to the house first.
Jensen laughed. “Sometimes my tongue doesn’t cooperate. Sashimi,” he said deliberately, “isn’t something I eat a lot.”
“Not landlocked like you are.” Elijah’s grin rubbed my last nerve.
“Omaha is quite the coastal Mecca.” My sarcasm came out stronger than I intended, and I earned a sharp glare from Elijah.
Clover shot a warning look my way. I’d try to rein it in.
“I’ve lived other places. Sacramento, Miami, a summer overseas.” Elijah snapped his cuffs back and rolled his sleeves up.
“Remington is the chef here,” Jensen said, his tone light, but I caught the competitive glint in his eyes. “He says he’d offer more choices beyond walleye, but the resort on the lake is superb, and he doesn’t want to compete with their seafood and sushi menu.”
“The population cannot handle both.” Elijah had a rich man’s laugh. “And there is a snake on the logo, so I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
Elijah couldn’t handle not getting in the last word.
Clover rubbed Elijah’s arm. “I’m sure you’ll find something you like. Everything I’ve had here has been great.”
