to Charley and Turner didn’t mind that so much. “Why do you care about her getting laid anyway? She your new project?”
“No,” Charley said, slumping into her seat.
“Then what? She swooning over an ex or something? ‘Cause that’s the last thing I need, another woman with baggage.”
Did that imply she had baggage? Poppy might be sort of on the run and estranged from her family but… was that baggage?
Charley sighed. “Will you ask Ritchie to sleep with her?”
“Maybe, if you tell me why you care.”
“If I tell you, then you won’t do it,” Charley said.
“Then I won’t do it.”
“Turner!” Charley whined. “What’s it to you? Ritchie won’t care.”
“Then call him yourself,” Turner said.
Poppy shifted to sit straighter. “You know, if David finds out you interfered, he might not be happy.”
Her friend seemed to ponder that while Turner exhaled. “That’s what this is about? Leicester’s into her?”
Charley tossed a glare to the backseat while replying to her brother. “What do you care?”
“How many times I gotta tell you, Shrimp? If a guy is into you, he won’t play these games, all he’ll be interested in is you.”
“I really like this guy,” Charley said on a semi huff. “You don’t understand. I know you don’t like him, but I really do.”
“I’ve never been wrong about the guys you and Faye bring around. I have never been wrong.”
“Kev lasted almost a decade.”
“I still wasn’t wrong about him,” Turner said. “Just took him a while to show the rest of you his true colors.”
“Well, I guess not everyone can be as perfect as you.”
“If Leicester was into you, if he actually cared about you, he wouldn’t put you through this crap,” Turner said, glancing at his sister, registering her sorrow. He reached over to take her hand. “You’re beautiful, Shrimp, and you’re strong. You’ll find a guy who deserves you someday. Don’t be in such a hurry. Enjoy being young and single while you can, ‘cause all things considered, the way Maddoxes love, once you find the real thing, there will be no getting out of it.”
The beautiful sentiment of that wasn’t lost on Poppy. She was still considering it when Turner pulled into the parking lot using Charley’s employee ID. As soon as the truck was parked, Charley leaped out and ran across to speak to Mindy who was getting out her own car a few spots away.
“Remember you’re a free agent,” Poppy teased, unfastening her seatbelt. “So if you like the look of those boobs—”
“You figured Leicester out in a second,” he said, not giving her teasing the time of day. “You knew what type of guy he was straight away. How come Charley misses it?”
“When it comes to men…” Poppy skootched to the edge of the seat. “Women tend to see what they want to see… in men they like anyway. She probably had a crush on him when he was hanging around Faye and now she has a chance to be with him.”
“She doesn’t have a chance. He’s an asshole and he’s screwing with her. I should wait right here until he—”
“There are cameras all over this parking lot. This is not a good place to teach anyone a lesson.”
His exhale was more than angry, he was frustrated and hurting for his sister. Poppy ran her hand down his arm until their fingers tangled by the center console, where they wouldn’t be visible from outside. Charley was still with Mindy, chatting away.
“She doesn’t get it, you know. So much about the real world. She’s been sheltered at home, it’s my fault… She puts herself out there.”
“I love how you love your sisters,” Poppy said, tipping her head to let it rest on his shoulder for just a heartbeat. “She’ll be okay. All of them will. As long as they have you around to pick up the pieces, nothing will ever break them.” They were lucky. His sisters were shielded by his protection, while Poppy had been destroyed without it. “I should get to work.”
Letting him go, she pushed along the backseat toward the door.
“Candy-Cane?” he asked just as her fingers touched the handle. Their eyes met. “Thank you… for looking out for her.”
She smiled. “I don’t do half as much as you. I wish you could see how much they appreciate everything you do. They are grateful, even if they don’t always show it.”
His gaze dropped to her chest. “Want to bring those over later?”
A laugh joined her head shake. “Maybe you liked what you saw of Mindy after all.”