But they’d been in his place on Thursday and there was no—
When the door opened, Poppy jerked to attention. The woman was glaring again, disgusted in her judgement.
“Still here?” she asked. “You can just run on back to wherever you came from. Turner’s not interested in the tramps who throw themselves at him every day of the week. Do you know how many women live in the places he manages? How many of them try to trade sex for rent?”
“Oh my God,” Poppy said, shock colliding with her own disgust.
“Yeah, this is no porno, lady. You don’t just call for the handyman and he drops everything to grout your tile.” Poppy’s eyes flared in horror. “Turner’s a family man,” the woman said, coming a step out of the apartment. “He cares about his family.” She came closer, forcing Poppy to back up. “Only about his family. Nothing gets between him and his responsibilities, definitely not some sexed-up hoochie wearing too much makeup and not enough clothes!” Poppy’s back hit the wall as the blonde thrust an arm toward the door. “Get the hell outta here before I show you how a real woman takes care of business!”
Her chest was so tight that there wasn’t even room to breathe. The moment the woman inched back, Poppy slid away from the wall and headed for the exit. Yeah, that wasn’t what she’d expected to be waiting for her in Turner’s apartment. No lunch for them. No anything.
Turner was a father. Poppy would need some time to get over her run-in with the kids’ mom before she could come to terms with how she felt about the latest lesson on his life.
For the whole shift, Poppy avoided Charley. She didn’t know what to say to the woman. Luckily, their breaks didn’t coincide and their lunch only overlapped by a few minutes. At the end of the night, she left without looking back. Charley was on a call, which was exactly the break Poppy needed.
She didn’t even look up the whole way home and didn’t dare so much as look in the direction of Turner’s place as she ran up the stairs. Funny that earlier she’d run down them full of so much excitement.
Rushing into the apartment, Poppy locked the door behind her and fell against it. A father. In the time since learning that he had kids, Poppy had come to a bunch of conclusions. She figured it was a good thing that he was still friendly enough with his ex to have her at his place. If she was his ex. The man Poppy knew Turner to be wasn’t a cheater. But from the way that woman had come at her, things couldn’t be all the way resolved. Maybe the break-up was recent and the ex wasn’t over him yet.
Poppy wouldn’t get over him so easily either, especially after having children with him. They had to have at least two if he’d been sleeping with the baby and there was another eager to play.
Two kids.
Kicking off her shoes, Poppy grabbed the flashlight and went into her bedroom to light some candles. The floor was done in the bathroom, the tub looked to be connected and the shower tray too. He must have been there that day. Was that after the mother of his children told him what had happened? Maybe he’d come up and worked so hard because he was sorry she’d found out the way she had. Poppy could understand that and understood why he wouldn’t share his offspring lightly. He should value his children and should protect them.
Part of her wanted to go down and tell him that, but if the kids were still there… If the blonde was still there… Poppy didn’t want to cause a scene.
The paint and tiles had been brought in to the space between her bathroom and the walk-in. Being wide awake, she couldn’t contemplate sleep. Poppy didn’t need an apology from Turner. If anything, she owed him one for almost barging in on his family.
She wasn’t ready to sleep. Didn’t want to.
Casting off her clothes, she decided it was time for her bridesmaid’s dress.
SIXTEEN
Turner occupied most of Poppy’s dreams. As time went on, he became more tangible with each new dream. Knowing him better made the unconscious experience of him more vivid. She could smell him, feel his strength all around her.
Everything shifted and then his fingers brushed the hair away from her temple. Wearing a smile, she turned toward the sensation, wishing it