Crank and I were left alone.
CHAPTER 8
CRANK
Usually,the officers were the only ones who rated a bedroom at the clubhouse, but since I’d been working so closely with Atlas, I’d been given a small room barely bigger than a closet on the top floor. That’s where I took Poppy. There was no way I’d let her go back to her place, not after what she’d been through and especially not with the Savage Bones still out there thinking they’d gotten away with what they’d done to her.
“It’s not much, but you’ll be safe here for as long as you want to stay.” I pushed the door open and stepped back so she could enter first.
“Do I get to meet your cat?” She glanced back at me, her eyes sparkling. Even though she was about to catch me in a bald-faced lie, it made me smile to hear the teasing tone in her voice.
“About the cat…” I started.
“You don’t have one, do you?”
I dropped my chin. “Well, I didn’t have one until yesterday, but I got one for you.”
“For me?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was a liar.” Damn, that sounded so fucking stupid.
Poppy spun around to face me. “Where is it?”
“She’s kind of a hellion, so I put her down in Atlas’s office for the night.” Hellion didn’t begin to describe the feral cat I’d picked up from a no-kill shelter. With time and a little love, I hoped she’d learn she could trust me. Kind of like Poppy.
“I can’t believe you got a cat for me. Why would you do that?”
The feelings I had for her swelled through my chest. I couldn’t hold them back anymore. “Haven’t you figured it out by now? I’d do anything for you, Poppy.”
She looked up at me, her brows knitting together. “Why?”
That one word hung between us. I’d come too far to turn back. I lifted my hand and grazed her cheek with my fingertips. “I fell for you the first moment I saw you. It was at the Merc, and you were struggling to bring some boxes in from the back.”
“I remember. You came over and asked if I needed help.” She nestled her cheek into my palm. Fireworks exploded up my arm.
“You told me you could do it yourself.” I smiled at the memory. She’d been full of fire and sass, even back then.
“But you didn’t listen.”
I shook my head, not wanting to say anything that would ruin whatever magic was flowing between us. I’d dreamed about a moment like this for too damn long to rush it.
You’ve been looking out for me ever since, haven’t you?” Her head tilted back, and she stared into my eyes.
Feeling guilty at being called out, I nodded. “Yeah, I have. I knew you wouldn’t give me a chance while I was still in the MC, so I held back and kept an eye on you from the shadows. Once we eliminate the threat from the Savage Bones, I plan on breaking with the club so I can tell you how I feel about you.”
“How do you feel about me, Crank?”
“Hell, Poppy. I love you.”
The moment drew on forever. While she stared up at me, I lost myself in her eyes. I’d blown it… what kind of asshole comesonto a woman right after she survives an assault? Standing there, my heart fully exposed, I waited for her to shut me down.
Instead, she rose to her tiptoes and snaked her arms around my neck. Then she pressed her lips to mine, her touch so slight, so gentle, that I wondered if I was imagining it.
“Are you sure about this, angel?” I mumbled.
“I want to feel loved tonight.”
Knowing one night would never be enough, I wrapped my arms around her waist and took the kiss deeper. The desire I’d been tamping down for months roared through me, but I held back. She needed to be worshiped tonight, treated with care and a gentleness I wasn’t even sure I possessed.
