Page 42 of Poppy Kisses
“You’re trying to get into my head,” she whispered.
“I very much am not. I meant every word.”
The sound of an engine approaching had her stiffening. She’d run if the table wasn’t right behind her. “I’m not the same kid you knew. I’ve grown. I’ve matured. So have you. And I’ve found myself living under the same roof with a very attractive, very sexy woman with freckles I want to count with my tongue while I see how far down your body they go.”
Her eyes shone, and her breath came in pants.
“Dad!” Auggie’s shout came from outside the shop.
I pulled away from her, gave her one last intense look to make sure she knew I meant every single goddamn word, and went outside to meet my son.
* * *
Poppy
Jensen: Do you have break in sessions I’m overhauling my site with a coming soon page for the Perez house
He hated using the keyboard, even with the app I installed, but it shouldn’t be missing this much punctuation. I focused on his message. At least one word was missing.
Poppy: I’m done in forty. Then I’m off the rest of the day.
I still hadn’t worked on building my own client base. Vacations were starting, and Debbie was throwing more fill-in jobs my way. It was giving me a reprieve from worrying about building my own list. No keys, no client base. That was my mantra.
I finished with Caden, an active six-year-old who couldn’t concentrate for the whole half hour. I didn’t blame him, but the policy is a minimum of ninety minutes a week. So his mom arranged for two sets of fifteen minutes three times a week. This was our second set of fifteen minutes.
I pressed my hand to my stomach. I’d go downstairs to meet with Jensen about his website, and like I’d been trying to do for the last week, I’d try forgetting that he wanted to trace my freckles with his tongue. I’d attempt to quit considering how serious he was. We’d acted like roommates since that day in the shop, and I’d started to wonder if I’d imagined it.
He claimed to be a different guy, and honestly, I’d made some prick moves as a kid. I’d said things I regretted and I had behaved abominably at times. All kids did. I shouldn’t be holding it against him. But his words had burrowed in and molded into my personality, and I couldn’t reverse that.
His tongue might be able to.
No, Poppy.
I made a few notes about my sessions, emailed Debbie an update, and closed my laptop. The spare room upstairs was sparse, but it was quiet. A perfect office, minus the view. I couldn’t wait to get into the Perez house.
Anxiety clamped down on the sandwich I’d had for lunch. Even if this marriage worked and the house was mine, I’d need a job to live there and to keep the house maintained. I had some money socked away for the renovations Jensen would be undertaking but beyond that… My learning center needed a name. It needed to be launched. But the renters had only just parked a moving van on the sidewalk. So that could wait.
It was time to face Jensen and forget about how his calloused fingertips had felt on my skin.
He was sitting at the island when I reached the kitchen. The laptop was open in front of him, and he was deep in a plate of chips and queso.
“Hey,” he said around a mouthful. “Want some?”
“I’ll grab my own bowl if you promise not to tell Auggie when he gets home from school that I’m ruining my supper.”
“Why do you think I’m eating it?”
“If you don’t like the chicken you threw in the Crock-Pot, why did you make it?”
“Because I didn’t know how busy I’d be with the estimate. Some clients talk an extra hour, and I’m not in a place to tell them I have to go.” He shoved a chip full of queso in his mouth. “Mom’s picking Auggie up.”
Disappointment heated the back of my neck, and I retrieved my own bowl. Did he think of asking me? “I could’ve helped out with that.”
“I was hoping you’d go to the estimate with me.”
“Oh.” He had plans for me? I liked that thought. At least one of us did something that wasn’t impulsive. I sat at the island next to him, stole some of his queso, and grabbed a handful of chips. “Why?”
“Can you make sure I get their names right? It’s Germy and Kate.”
