few seconds before she could think about sitting with him. Eventually, she got there. On her knees, she met his concerned gaze.
“Something?”
“Popkat,” he said, driving his fingers into her hair to hold her head. “If you’re pregnant—”
“What? No! No, I’m not… I…” Oops, she really hadn’t meant to put that idea in his head. “I promise, that’s not what I was saying at all.”
“Because you know I’d step up,” he said. “Yeah, things would be tough. It would put a strain on everyone, I can’t deny that, but I’ll figure it out.”
“No,” she said, grabbing for his free hand. “I would never—”
“You wouldn’t leave… would you? Is that it? Your plan is to go back to your family if we—”
“Turner—”
“I can’t give you that life, but you’ll never go hungry. Whatever it takes—”
“I am not pregnant,” she said, clamping a hand over his mouth to silence him. “I promise. I just… misspoke.”
He seemed suspicious and lowered her hand. “You asked if I was pro-choice.”
“Uh… yeah.” Because she was an idiot. “I did ask you that.”
“If you’re not pregnant, why would you…” His frown loosened before he exhaled. “Damnit, Charley.”
“No!” Poppy exclaimed too loud and bounced closer. “She’s not pregnant, I promise. Not that she’s told me. Last we talked, she wasn’t even sleeping with David and she’s still cuckoo for him. The way she feels, Charley wouldn’t be with anyone else.”
“So what is it? I know there’s been something on your mind,” he said, peering into her again. “Poppy, you can tell me anything.”
And it was then as she searched his concern that she relaxed. “You’re an incredible man, you know that?” He wasn’t appeased, but it didn’t matter. Poppy smiled and shifted to drape her legs across his thighs, getting as near to him as she could without actually sitting in his lap. “You really mean that. You really would accept anything, wouldn’t you? You’d just deal with it. Even if it wasn’t ideal or caused you problems, you’d just deal with it.”
“Yes,” he said, glancing at her stomach.
Poppy cupped his jaw to bring his attention back up. “So I return to…” She pulled him down to press her lips on his for a long moment. “You’re an incredible man.”
Zoey had talked to her about softening up the ground. His sister’s sexuality wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that could be subtly mentioned in casual conversation. As he kissed her again, Poppy shirked the task. There was no need to soften anything up. For a second there, Turner had suspected they could be pregnant and he’d just accepted it without question. He’d do the same when his sister told him that she was in love.
“Poppy!”
Charley’s hollering from the other room broke their kiss.
“I preferred it when you lived alone,” Turner grumbled, sweeping her hair from her face before helping her onto her feet.
Poppy had just stepped away from him when the bedroom door flew open.
“Come on, we have to go,” Charley said, noticing her brother. “Oh, Turn, give us a ride, huh?”
“Are you kidding me?” he asked, putting a hand on Poppy’s lower back to guide her out of the room. “It’s a few blocks.” As he closed the bedroom door, he switched to her. “Where’s your purse, Popkat?”
“It’s on the…”
Poppy went to retrieve her purse from next to the stack of tools that had once lived in Charley’s room.
“We’re not lazy, we’re late,” Charley said, putting on her shoes and jacket.
“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” he asked, opening the front door and raising an arm toward Poppy as she dashed across to catch up with them, snagging her jacket on the way out.
Charley led the way to the stairs while Poppy locked up. “I was ready. It’s not my fault Poppy has a problem with your craftsmanship.”
So that was why Charley thought they’d been alone in the bedroom? Turner stopped to wait for her at the top of the stairs and they shared a smile. Charley was already on the next flight. Her friend might be a handful at times, but they couldn’t deny Charley’s busy mind was their friend.
After just a few comments, Casey had almost figured out Poppy’s secret. In contrast, Charley talked about Turner and her family all the time. Poppy had lost track of how many conversations they’d had about the Maddoxes. Her friend had warned her away from David, but Turner? His name never came into any equation related to love or sex. Not for Charley. For Poppy, he was in every