That Poppy knew. “A few of us are going to this bar for karaoke, are you into that?”
“Oh, I can’t sing.”
Charlotte laughed and looped their arms together as they stepped off the elevator to head for the main door. “No one cares about that. We just get together for a few drinks, you know, to have some fun. It’s not a big deal. But you should definitely come.”
Poppy didn’t know any of the others in their team. “Are you sure?”
“Sure,” Charlotte said. “I can come over early… we can get ready together.”
Getting ready together usually meant a stylist and makeup artist; it had at the Granger house anyway. Hiring a staff wouldn’t be a great way to invest her nest egg.
“Oh, uh… if you want, but I don’t have—”
“Yay! Okay, I’ll bring wine… Do you drink wine?” A little confused, Poppy just nodded and ran her employee card to get out of the security gate with Charlotte going through the adjoining one. “Do you have a preference?”
“Just… anything,” Poppy said, wondering if it could be a setup.
“Great,” Charlotte said, hooking their arms together again. “I have to get a cab home at this time of night. Do you want to share?”
“No, I’m happy to walk.”
They went into the cool dark night and down the stone stairs. Charlotte noticed the man loitering against one of the square pillars at the bottom before Poppy did.
“Geez, have you been waiting there all night?” Charlotte called out, which made Poppy look up.
Turner pushed off the concrete pillar. “Yeah, ‘cause I’ve got nothing better to do than wait outside your work for eight hours to finish an argument I already won.”
In an awkward position, Poppy couldn’t pull away from Charlotte without drawing attention to her aversion to being near Turner. So she just had to stand there as Charlotte took them to a stop in front of the man she’d been avoiding for two days.
“Uh, you didn’t win.”
“Whatever,” Turner said. “We both know I did.”
“So what are you doing here? Crowing? Did you stay out after dark for a pat on the back? You’ll be waiting a long time if you expect me to stroke your ego.”
“I was in the neighborhood and stopped to tell you I might have a unit for you at the end of next month. But since you’re in one of your moods…”
He tried to swing around away from Charlotte. The young beauty grabbed for him to pull him back. Her whole demeanor changed in a snap. From tough and defiant, she was suddenly so hopeful and open.
“You do?” Charlotte asked. “You promise?” He just arched a brow. “Okay, I’m sorry, you were right. All hail, powerful you.” Clinging tighter to his arm, she dug her nails in. “Is it close? A building I like?”
“A building you can afford,” Turner said, focusing only on Charlotte. “It’s still only a maybe.”
“Evict them,” Charlotte said, throwing up her free arm. “Whoever they are, just kick them out. You know how much I need this.”
“I know how much you want it. Still don’t agree with it.”
“Oh, who cares what you agree with,” Charlotte said then gasped and widened her smile again. “I mean, I do, I care.”
“I thought you only had one building,” Poppy said without intending to talk, the statement just came out all on its own.
“He does,” Charlotte said. “He only owns one, but he takes care of twelve others too.”
Poppy’s head spun. “Twelve!”
“Used to be eighteen,” Charlotte said, leaning closer. “Took a lot of persuasion to get him to kick the other six.”
“Charley,” Turner warned.
“What?” Charlotte asked on a pronounced shrug. “Poppy and me are going to be friends now.”
“Great,” Turner said. “Like my life wasn’t already complicated enough.”
“Why don’t you stay with me?” Poppy said, figuring things out. “If you need a place to stay, there are two bedrooms… You can have the master if—”
“No,” Turner said, his deep voice not equivocating.
Charlotte squealed. “I love that idea!”
“No,” Turner said.
“Oh, you and your rules. Everyone has a roommate at some point in their lives. You tell me not to live with anyone you can’t trust,” Charlotte said, linking their arms again. “But you must trust Poppy some, you said you don’t even have a contract… Wait, hold on, does Pres know that?”
Turner’s head shook as it went back. “Why the hell does everyone think Pres has to clear everything?”
“Because you trust Pres’ opinion more than anyone else’s in the whole world,” Charlotte said, pulling them closer together. “You should let Pop