this from happening.”
“Apparently I have a God complex. I thought I could will myself out of your orbit… It doesn’t work like that, not when it’s real… Something I recently discovered.”
“We’re learning,” she said. “That’s something. So how do we get over it?”
“I don’t know that we do,” he said. “I’ve been tearing it apart since Thursday night, and I think you got it right.” He pressed his mouth into her hair again. “Long as we keep ourselves… out of each other… And being in public works too… When other people are around, we can’t be thinking about getting naked with each other.”
“We can’t get naked with each other in public,” she said, turning her face against his chest. “Doesn’t mean I won’t be thinking about it.”
Another groan. Poppy was getting to like that groan. Liked the way it vibrated through her and betrayed his tension.
“Candy-Cane,” he ground the words out.
“The apartment you have for Charley… how many bedrooms is it?”
“No, no way you’re moving out,” he said, reading her mind. It should make her feel violated. It didn’t. She only felt treasured. “You’re staying where you are.”
“If I moved with her, the sex wouldn’t have to be secret. It wouldn’t violate your rules.”
“Technically it would, you’d still live in a building I manage… And I’m not so sure how the sex would go when I know Charley’s in the next room.”
Fair point. If it was off limits for his sister to live in his building, Turner probably hadn’t ever needed to perform with her in earshot.
Still, Poppy believed her point was valid. “If it’s a choice between staying and going… when you’re the incentive, I know which one I like.”
Turner didn’t seem so open to the idea. “This Holden guy who’s in love with you. Who is he?”
“How do you know his name?” she asked because she’d only just given him her last name.
“You said it the other night. You said we were the same, that you didn’t know about my attraction just like you didn’t know about his love.”
“Oh God,” she mumbled. “Didn’t I ask you not to repeat my words back to me? Can’t you just forget everything embarrassing I’ve ever said?”
“Tough to forget being compared to the guy you ran away from.”
“I didn’t run away from him,” she said. “I ran away from everything… And you were right too, I ran to you. I just didn’t know you were who I was running to.”
“Tell me about him.”
“Holden Abernathy? He’s some old-money coal and steel magnate. At least, that’s where his family made their money back in the day. He invests in biotech now… His company has interests in various industries… Why?”
“He’s rich. I knew that already. Tell me about his personality.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s the reason I need to be safe for you. The reason I have to keep my distance, so you will always come to me. I can’t have you hiding from me like you did the last two days, Popkat. I have to know you’re safe.”
She was confused. “I thought we weren’t together because we had a business deal.”
“For the sake of two fifty a month, you can keep your money, babe,” he said, a thread of irritation in his words. “Your safety is more important.”
“He’s not violent,” she said, though admitted she didn’t know everything about Holden and Violet’s relationship behind closed doors. “He’s shorter than you and definitely not packing as much muscle, so I don’t think you have to worry about him throwing a punch at you.”
“You’re gorgeous,” he said in the way he usually did when humoring her. “Guys like that don’t start fights, they send their guys, usually ex-military, to start fights.”
Wandering toward home, Poppy was in no hurry to get there; it would mean saying goodnight. “I don’t understand why he would ever get physical with you. If I wanted to be with him, I’d be with him. Grammie said he was mine if I wanted him. She’d have supported me. But I… I didn’t want him. Holden showing up here to confront you isn’t going to change that… And why would he confront you? No one knows about us, do they?”
“No, but if he finds you, I’ll be standing between you and him.”
Poppy had to clarify. “Do you mean physically standing between us or the proverbial obstacle because like I said—”
“I mean literally standing in front of him… and if he upsets you…”
“I’m not interested in going anywhere with him and he’d have to mean something to me