Love Me Forever - Juliana Stone Page 0,14

in a mood.”

Distracted, Poppy glanced behind her—she was mid-step and heading for Molly’s float. It was Blue.

“I’m just tired is all.” Poppy sighed. “Too much wine or something.”

“Or something,” Blue murmured. She held out a large envelope. “I forgot to drop these off, and I’m running late. Can you give this to Molly? It’s a bunch of coupons for the dance studio. I’d told her to hand them out to all her prospective adoptees.”

Poppy grabbed the envelope.

“Boone will be out at the lake,” Blue said quietly. “I didn’t know if you knew that or not.”

“I figured as much.” It might or might not be the reason she’d been doing crunches every morning for the last two weeks. Or why she’d chosen a bikini that showed off most of her butt and a lot of her chest.

“I didn’t know for sure until last night when Cam mentioned it.” Blue’s expression was pained. “I mean, I’ve never said anything to him about you and Boone, and he doesn’t seem to know or remember.”

“No one knew about us,” Poppy said softly, looking away, hating the tightness that crawled across her chest. “It’s like I was this secret of his.” She sighed again and squared her shoulders as she thought of him cutting Emily’s grass. “Maybe he’ll be too busy and won’t show.”

“What?” Blue looked confused.

“Never mind.” She plastered her best fake smile to her face and took a step back. “Don’t worry about me. Really. I mean, it’s a small town, so we’re gonna run into each other, and, you know, it’s ancient history and it’s kind of silly that I even spilled all that stuff to you.”

“Feelings are never silly.”

“Says the woman who keeps most folks at arm’s length.”

Blue moved in and gave Poppy a quick hug. “That’s because I’m selective is all. I know a good heart when I see one.” She turned with a smile. “See you at my place later, and don’t forget your cucumber salad. Tawny’s been asking for it. I swear we’ll need to hide the bowl, or she’ll eat the whole thing.”

“I’ll swing by and grab it.”

Poppy watched until Blue disappeared in the crowd of floats and people, then turned to make her way over to Molly’s float, which was built on the back of Nate’s shiny black truck. It was decorated with pink and blue ribbons and bows, a big blow-up bulldog, and a sign on each side that advertised the adoption event starting in a few days. She and Molly were going to hand out flyers that featured several dogs and cats and even one horse, while Mabel’s job was to look cute, but with the heat, she’d be emoting all that cuteness from inside the cool air-conditioned truck alongside Nate.

“Who’s got the twins?” Poppy asked as she paused beside Molly.

“Both sets of grandparents.” Molly Jacobs grinned. “My entire day and night are baby-free, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to get Nate alone later.” She made a face. “It’s so hard with the twinners. God knows I love them more than anything in the world, but geez Louise, they have sex radar like no tomorrow.”

“Sex radar?” Poppy giggled, feeling lighter for the first time.

“Sex. Radar. Honestly, we could probably weaponize it and sell it on the black market. It’s uncanny. The other night, Nate and I were…we tried to…” She looked around and whispered, “Have sex. Nothing fancy, just straight-up hot dirty fast sex. There wasn’t even any kissing. Just when I was almost there, like so close.” She threw her hands up dramatically. “One of the twins started to wail, and within seconds, the other was screeching, and the monitor is right by Nate’s ear. I gotta tell you, there is nothing that will mess with a man’s erection faster than a screaming child.” Her eyes widened. “And when it’s doubled? Two screaming babies? He panicked. His sex machine failed. He knocked me over, fell out of bed, and sprained his wrist.”

Poppy tried not to laugh and held her hand over her mouth as she struggled to keep a straight face.

Molly shook her head. “I need tonight. I need him to finish what he started, you know?”

“Right. You do. I get it.” Poppy nodded, because even though she wasn’t a wife or mother, she knew what a good long dry spell felt like. Seriously. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex with anything other than the little device tucked away in the nightstand beside her bed.

Somewhere among