she wouldn’t if she were pressed. “Kent, I told you I had to leave immediately due to an emergency. Kai’s good friend didn’t return from a hike yesterday. He’s lost in a jungle.” She threw her shoulders back. “And I don’t appreciate what you’re implying.”
Silence.
She rubbed the side of her mouth to massage her tight jaw. “If you decide to go home, please drop Charlie off at the resort. They’ll take care of him.” If she’d had time, she would’ve dropped Charlie at the resort’s kennel service herself. He loved it there.
“Poppy.” Kent’s voice softened. “I’m sorry.”
Sorry for what? she said to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose. It would be better to talk to him when she wasn’t so upset and stressed. “Can we talk about this later?”
“Hold on. Hold on,” he begged hurriedly.
“This isn’t a good time,” she said, seeing Kai bury his face in his hands out of the corner of her eye.
“I love you, Poppy,” Kent burst out. “This day hasn’t gone as planned. I thought we’d be celebrating right now.” He breathed out a sigh. “I’m not leaving. You are my home. You won’t find another man as dedicated as me. We’ll work this out when you get back.”
“Alright,” she said to silence him. “I’ll call you when I’m back in town.” She thought it prudent to make it clear that she didn’t plan on connecting with him until she returned. This wasn’t the time to sort through her feelings for Kent; she needed to be completely on task for Kai. She glanced at her boss. If only she knew what tasks he had for her.
Kai lifted his head and caught her eye. He rubbed his hands against his thighs, then stood and walked over to her. He dropped into the seat facing hers. “Interesting choice of breakfast.”
She looked down at her tray. “Are you making fun of my gummies?” she asked, picking up a vitamin.
“No way,” he said with a chuckle, resting his head back against his headrest and staring out the window.
“I’ll have you know that these two are vitamin D,” she said, picking up the gummies that resembled mini gum drop candies, then popped them into her mouth before continuing. “These are vitamin C, and these are calcium.” When she finished chewing, she asked him. “Any news?”
He nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving his window. “Wyatt’s hurt. I don’t know how badly yet.” His hands formed into fists. “They’re treating him like a pawn in a maritime fight with drug runners.”
“I’m so sorry, Kai. What can I do?”
He scratched the side of his head, then pointed to her computer. “Do you remember me telling you about Wyatt’s younger brothers?”
She told her mind to search its data base, then snapped her fingers when it came to her. “Right. They’re computer nerds like you.”
He stretched out his arms as the flight attendant placed a plate of food in front of him. “Thank you,” he said to the woman with a nod.
The attendant batted her lashes at Kai, then handed Poppy a plate with fresh fruit, an assortment of cheeses, and a myriad of processed meats. Kai didn’t even notice the woman flirting with him.
Poppy’s stomach rumbled. “Beats gummy vitamins.”
Kai laughed. “Sure does,” he said, lifting his fork. “Damian and Eli are tech prodigies. I brought you with me to meet them.”
Poppy’s mouth dropped open. She didn’t know how to ask him if he was playing matchmaker. “I thought me coming with you had something to do with Wyatt being lost and injured.”
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “I’ve spoken with everyone who knows anything about Wyatt. I’ve handled that as best I can.” He opened his eyes and took a bite of mango. “It won’t do any good stressing about what we don’t have control over.” He held up a finger, his eyes brightening. “Our energy will be better spent planning. I emailed you a few links with articles, which will give you an idea of Damian and Eli’s expertise. After you research, we’ll discuss how much funding their company will need to execute an idea I have in here,” he said, tapping his temple. “They’re the only two people who have the programming capacity to execute my idea.”
“Damian and Eli have a tech company? I thought they were still in school,” she said with a wrinkled brow.
Kai’s face lit with excitement. He rubbed his palms together, then pointed at her. “You’re right on all accounts, and you’re going to pitch