full, bursting with the knowledge that Boone had just shared something personal with her. And that made her feel special. And hopeful.
“You looking to get into the mile-high club?” he asked roughly, claiming a kiss so she couldn’t answer.
“We’re about to land, Mr. Avery.”
Reluctantly, Poppy slid off Boone while Ashley cleared the table, and they buckled up. A midnight-blue Mercedes was waiting for them when they walked off the plane, the driver, who introduced himself as Ed, smiled widely when he spied Boone and Poppy. At exactly eight o’clock, she was sitting in the front row, dead center, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, with Boone at her side. This was an incredible first date.
The show was amazing. She laughed and cried, and the entire time, Boone held her hand or caressed her thigh. He didn’t care who saw, and Poppy was on cloud nine. Afterward, when they made their way outside to wait for Ed, a crowd gathered, and he posed for photos and signed autographs until their driver pulled up.
“Do you miss that?” she asked, snuggling into him as they sped into the night, headed back to the airport.
“Signing autographs?” Boone’s warmth permeated her skin, and she felt the steady beat of his heart. His voice rumbled against her cheek, and his scent filled her up. “Not really, but I’m a fan too, so I get it. I made a fool of myself when I met Gretzky at the ESPN awards in Vegas a few years back.”
“Really?” She grinned up at him. He looked younger in the low lights, more like the boy she’d fallen in love with. The boy I’m still in love with. Heart racing at the thought, Poppy tried to forget it and half listened to some story about Boone running into his childhood idol. Gretzky had been looking for the bathroom and asked Boone where it was. Boone had been so excited to talk to him that he’d insisted on walking the great one over to it, gushing about his love of hockey and of Wayne Gretzky as he followed his idol inside. He didn’t stop talking or walking until he’d nearly followed Gretzky into a stall. Which would be when the embarrassment kicked in.
“I’m sure he thought I was an idiot.”
They reached the airstrip, where Ashley was waiting for them with warm blankets and more champagne. Poppy probably should have stayed away from the alcohol, but she kept thinking about the L-word, and that made her nervous. She thought about Blue and what she’d said, and at four thousand feet in the air, Poppy decided she wasn’t sleeping with Boone tonight. She needed some clarity before she continued down that road.
But as their airplane shot through the diamond-lit sky, headed to home, Boone began to kiss her. The cabin was dark, and Ashley was nowhere to be seen. His kisses started out slow and sensual, then grew increasingly hotter. Wilder. His hand was under her dress, massaging her nipples, then between her legs, rubbing her clit until she thought she would die, then inside, rotating just so, and she gasped, clutching him and burying her head in his neck as an orgasm ripped through her.
Gently, he pushed her aside and stared at her, saying nothing. His shirt was unbuttoned, and his eyes glittered dangerously.
“What?” she asked, trying to catch her breath as she gazed into a face she would never forget as long as she lived.
“Do you see what you do to me?” He took her hand and placed it over the hard bulge between his legs. “You drive me crazy. The things I’m going to do to you when we get back to your place…” Boone grinned wickedly. “They’re going to make the other night seem like a PG moment.”
That was when Poppy should have thanked him for the wonderful evening. She should have told him she was going home alone. That she would brush her teeth, maybe have a cup of cocoa on the porch, and fall into bed with Mabel across her feet, like most nights.
But Boone’s smile was like finding treasure, and the feeling that bloomed in her chest was big and strong and didn’t care about the other stuff. The unresolved stuff. The stuff that littered their past like pieces of paper blowing in the wind.
She didn’t want the night to end. She didn’t want to give him up yet. And if that meant he found his way into her bed, into her body, then so be it. She