Page 40 of Spotlight on Poppy

"Well, I'm not sure I would say well adjusted, we all have our trauma. I’ve only ever told that to one other person."

She pulled back so she could look into his eyes. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Josh. I mean it. I consider myself so lucky to have someone like you in my life." She reached her lips up to his and gave him a gentle kiss.

He rested his forehead on hers. It was a simple gesture and the intimacy of it settled in her heart. She traced his strong jaw line with the tip of her fingers. “You are an amazing person, Josh Turner. I hope you know that. If you ever need anyone to remind you, I will tell you over and over how amazing you are,” she whispered to him.

Lifting his head, he looked right at her. It was a piercing gaze that threatened to overwhelm her. The intimacy of this moment was not something Poppy had ever felt before. She was overcome with emotion when he looked at her like that, but then his mouth slanted across hers. He kissed her, that kiss saying all the words that were left hanging between them. Then he fisted his hand into her hair and deepened that kiss. After that Poppy was only feeling one emotion.

Desire.

CHAPTER19

Josh

Kissing Poppy Smith was like nothing Josh had ever experienced, and he had kissed his fair share of people. He had even been in love before, but nothing could have prepared him for what it was like to kiss her. This kiss in particular. The first kiss in the prop room had been an awakening to him. He knew he had always had feelings for her, but that kiss made those feelings impossible to push away. This kiss felt like it was shifting his whole world. He would never get enough of her.

He pulled himself out of the kiss and looked down into her deep brown eyes. Her lips looked thoroughly kissed and her eyes swimming with lust, he knew this was it for him.

"Poppy, I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of you."

"Good," she purred as she leaned into him and snuggled.

The wind whipped through the trees and the chill ran through them. He held her close and rubbed her arms to warm her up. The apple trees surrounding them rustled in the wind. They had been walking for a while and the sun had set. He had no clue where they were. As another gust blew around them, she shivered against him.

"Poppy, come home with me," he rasped out at her. He wished he didn't sound quite so desperate, but when she immediately replied yes, he was on top of the world.

"Lead the way back to your house,” he said.

She took his hand, and they made their way back to the house. He stopped by his car, "If you still want to come over, do you want to ride with me or would you prefer to have your own car there?"

"Would you bring me back in the morning before my shift?" she asked.

"Of course, I’ll bring you back whenever you want. Just say the word.” The fact that she even had to ask this made him feel like punching Damien St. Cloud all over again.

She reached up and pulled his face to hers in a deep kiss. Leaning over her, his arms caged her against his Jeep. Her fingers traced under his shirt and along his back. His leg pressed against hers. They opened and he settled one leg between hers. He could feel the warmth from her core, and he was sure she could feel him poking her in the belly with his erection, but right now he was so far from caring. She bit his lip and ground against his thigh.

"Are you going to take me home or not?" She asked with a smoldering gaze.

He kissed her one last time as he reached behind her and opened the door. "Get in."

As she turned to get in, he gave that delicious ass a little spank. Poppy looked up at him with a playful smile and he walked around the car and got in. The engine purred to life. He tried not to peel out of there too fast, but the thought of Poppy in his bed was making it hard to go slow.

They pulled up to Josh's run-down little house he shared with his sister. Her car wasn’t in the driveway, meaning she was still at the inn. He was happy about that. He loved his sister more than anything, but she was extremely protective of him. And after what happened with Abbie, he wasn’t sure how she would handle him seriously dating anyone again.

He pulled in and put the car in park. Leaning over, he kissed Poppy again.

"Well, this is it." He walked around and opened her door.

"How have I never been to your house before?"

"Not many people have. It's not much, your house is much nicer --" Her hand reached up to his face to stop him.

"I'm sure it is lovely," she said with a smile. "But right now, I am not here to see your decor." The look of her face as she said that last part shot straight to his cock which was already straining against his pants.

He opened the door and tried not to be self-conscious. It looked just like it did when his mom lived there all those years ago, but now it was a little sad and run down. Josh worked very hard to curate his image. He was happy and helpful, and people loved that about him. He loved that about him. And on some level that was truly who he was. But there was this side of him, the sad run down side, he never let people see. He had opened up to Poppy in a huge way tonight and he was still feeling a little exposed from that, but this had him wanting to hide.

His eyes darted around the room. It was tidy at least. The dishes were done, and the floor had been vacuumed, but that didn't hide anything. His heart thudded in his chest.

"This is really nice," she said.

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