attention, but it wasn’t her place to point that out.
“This is a reprieve for you,” Poppy said. “I’m one less thing on your plate. You could let Charley move into your guest room and get a real tenant in upstairs… You and I won’t be having sex, but your eyes work as well as mine. You won’t ever convince me that you couldn’t have women lining up in Naughtie’s if you wanted sex… Your whole family are ridiculously attractive.” His family. Thinking of them, she faltered. “Appreciate them, First. They’re incredible people; you should be so proud of them.”
“They’ll miss you,” he said, maybe because it would be easier than saying he’d miss her.
They’d clicked straight away. Their attraction had been too powerful to ignore, so they’d surrendered to it. Telling themselves whatever they had to just so they could taste the forbidden fruit. Except giving in hadn’t sated their appetites or satisfied their curiosity, the magnetism hadn’t gone away.
Poppy couldn’t ignore her feelings any longer. Standing there looking at the man she loved, Poppy accepted that Primrose had showed up at exactly the right moment. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but Poppy needed to go. Immediately. She needed to get away from him before she humiliated herself and complicated his life even more than she already had.
Staying any longer would only increase the chance that she’d say too much.
“My First,” she said, stepping close to rest a hand on his chest. “Thank you.” His fierce frown wasn’t going anywhere. In spite of it being the best thing, Poppy was loathed to tear herself away. “Tell Charley I’m sorry.”
Breathing him in one last time, Poppy showed him her smile and then turned to walk. She took one step before he grabbed her wrist to whirl her back around. With no time to process, it took her a second to realize that he was kissing her.
She’d thought their previous kiss was their last. Turner hadn’t known it and needed to say goodbye in his own way. Loosening, she relented and coiled her arms around his neck, angling her head to accept his deepening of their kiss.
No one had ever made her feel the way he did and no one ever would. Her tears were the last thing on her mind when his lips retreated from hers to kiss the moisture on each of her cheeks.
“You will always have a place here,” he murmured, his mouth coming to rest on her forehead. “You have my word.”
With her eyes closed, savoring the last moment they’d exist together, she forced herself to smile. “Without a signature, you don’t have to do anything.”
He tipped her head back to meet her eye. “For you, anything would never be enough.”
If only that were true. She sighed. “I’m sorry I made you break your rules.” He took on so much. The last thing she’d want him to do was doubt himself because she’d impugned his integrity. “But I’ll never be sorry we met.”
One side of his mouth rose. “Me either…” Although it seemed he didn’t want to, he released her, letting some distance form between them. “You need a ride somewhere?”
That was almost funny. Poppy shook her head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” She started to turn, but second guessed herself to look back. “You might want to keep the front door locked for a while… And tell the girls to stay in for a few days… Call Charley and have her come back straight away. She’s with David, but he won’t keep her safe… And it wouldn’t hurt for her to take a few extra days off work.”
His frown returned. “Popkat?”
“Protect your family, First. They’ll need you. And I’m sorry for what’s about to happen.”
Walking away from him was the second hardest thing that she’d ever had to do. The first was staying silent about her feelings. Telling him wouldn’t make anything better. Wouldn’t make leaving any easier.
In a few hours, definitely in a few days, he’d understand why she left. He’d probably even regret her ever coming into their lives. The press could be relentless. They’d quickly learn where she’d worked and lived, and who she spent her time with. At least her relationship with Turner had been a secret. No one would find out about that.
Thank goodness.
Turner would not appreciate the world scrutinizing his sex life. With it becoming apparent that Holden had a flare for the dramatic, Poppy wouldn’t put it past him to call Turner out either.