“Come get in the shower with me,” he said, touching his lips to hers for a second. “I’ll make you moan in there.”
With the cover of the water. That might work or it could be a disaster. Somehow, Poppy couldn’t bring herself to care. “Turner Maddox.”
“Mmm?”
His tongue dipped into the groove of her throat. “You fought for us.”
“Always will, Candy-Cane,” he said, rising to taste her mouth again. They lost themselves, staring into each other. “I love you, Poppy Granger.”
She wanted to say it back, intended to until the bedroom door opened, interrupting their moment. Turner was quick to sit up and flip around to face whoever had intruded.
“I have to get out of here! All of us, we need to leave now!”
Charley.
Poppy closed her eyes. Reality had impeccable timing.
“Charley,” Turner said. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I can’t take waking up here. Being here. Everywhere. Why are we here? Why are we in her world?”
“She was in ours,” Turner said. “We welcomed her. Both of us.”
“We welcomed a liar,” Charley said. “How can you just be okay with this?”
Obviously her former friend hadn’t noticed that there was anyone lying in the bed behind her brother. Though Charley was a pull no punches sort, so it wouldn’t surprise Poppy if her friend would carry on regardless.
“Poppy didn’t hide anything from me,” Turner said.
Surprised by his direct admission, Poppy definitely hadn’t expected he’d be so open without being pushed. Laying a hand on his back, she tried to remind him that she didn’t need any more grand gestures, he’d already done enough to prove the truth of his love.
“Because you weren’t close,” Charley said. “She hid this. The house. The family. The money. How could she do that to us?”
“Shrimp,” Turner said, the curl of amusement in the embers of the nickname. “I knew who she was. The house. The family. The money. I knew it all.”
“What?” Charley asked, faltering. Poppy couldn’t see her, but she hated the hurt and betrayal that came in that word. “She told you?”
“Yeah,” Turner said. “Because we were close, Char. Why do you think I came all the way here? I came because I didn’t want to live without her. I came because she’s the only remedy I’ll ever need.”
The silence continued for so long that Poppy didn’t know whether or not she was the one supposed to break it. From her angle, it seemed the siblings were intent on each other. Was Turner waiting for Charley to get it? If her friend was expecting an apology, Poppy knew she’d be waiting a long time. Already it was clear to her that Turner wouldn’t apologize to anyone for loving her.
“What is all the noise?” That was Faye, she must have joined the party. “You’ll wake the kids if you keep shouting, Charley. What is going on?”
“Turner knew the whole time,” Charley said. “He knew about this place, about who Poppy was.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Faye said. “They were together practically the whole time.”
“Figured that out, huh?” Turner asked, his voice lighter.
“I should’ve figured it out when Poppy tried to sell me that ‘I’m Charley’s friend’ line. You’d never be so upset about me tearing into one of her friends.”
“Yeah, we should talk more about that,” Turner said. “You laughed at me.”
“ ‘Cause I thought you were desperate. I knew it had been a while, but screwing around with a tenant, you were always completely against that.”
“Poppy was never a tenant,” Turner said. “Not really. First night in the Venture, she… It was obvious she needed someone looking out for her.”
The night she’d asked him to drink with her in the bedroom. Alone. Her lips curled. He’d been looking out for her. His question about a father or brothers made so much more sense now that she knew how he cared for his mother and sisters.
Poppy’s fingertips caressed his back. “I wanted you that night,” she murmured, enjoying the memory.
His chin moved toward his shoulder. “Yeah, I got that. Why do you think I left so fast?”
“Oh my God! She’s there? Spying on us?”
Turner pushed back and lay against the pillows and headboard, the blankets stopped at his abdomen. “She’s not spying,” he said. “Shit, Charley, Poppy’s my girlfriend, why shouldn’t she be in my bed?”
Although he asked Charley, it was the older sister who answered. “Maybe ‘cause her father could throw us out if you piss him off by screwing his little girl. She’s the youngest, you know.”