“He said he has another table reserved for you.”
So this guy obviously knew I was in the picture as a bodyguard, but didn’t know who I wasexactly.
I nodded robotically because it was all I could do without raging out in the kitchen. But this was what she deserved and what I convinced myself I could never give her. This was for the best.
“Dress code and time?” I was back to my bodyguard persona, and it was evident in my voice.Ivan the manwould have to take a backseat again.
“Business casual and seven sharp.”
***
A good bodyguard would have looked into the guy Poppy was going on a date with. This bodyguard couldn’t do it. I couldn’t know who he was. I couldn’t know his intentions. The moment I did, I knew I would sabotage it all. It wasn’t my place. The brothers told me she would be going on dates, and I was sure they vetted whoever she went out with. They didn’t tell me I needed to do background checks or secure perimeters. I was just here to protect her and keep her from getting kidnapped, and at the moment, the job was shadowing her.
In truth, I was an overpaid glorified babysitter… Just like Don.
For the fifth time, I checked my watch, making sure we wouldn’t be late. Poppy still hadn’t come out of her bedroom, and I wondered if this was a normal time frame for a woman to get ready.
Was it taking her this long because she was excited? Was she nervous? Did she actually like this guy? When she thought of him, did it make her chest clench the way mine did when I thought of her?
Something was up— I could feel it in my gut. I didn’t know what, but I was determined to figure it out.
When her door finally clicked open, I wanted to kick Don’s legs out from under him because his head snapped up at the same time mine did. He was here to watch Jane while we were out. Jane wasn’t overly thrilled, but I didn’t care. Nothing would happen to Poppy’s family.
Poppy’s hair—dark, glossy—was pinned back on either side of her face; a few loose strands were free, softening her cheekbones. The light hit the pale pink on her lids and made her eyes glow. But none of that is what made me want to march across the space and push her back into her room.
Business casual, my fucking ass.
Her dress was a little pink number that made me wonder if this was a date or if she was trying to hop into bed with the man.
Slowly, I took a deep breath to try to calm my erratic heart, but then my eyes landed on her heels, and I knew there was no calming me down.
She was balancing on the balls of those heels now, testing them like a tightrope walker. She smiled at Don—innocent, trusting—and for a godless instant I felt like the enemy of my own blood. I wanted to tell her to change into flats. I wanted to drag her back into the room and pin her into skirts and sweaters.
Instead, I straightened my sports coat and cleared my throat. “You look beautiful.” It sounded like a lie.
It was a lie.
She wasn’t just beautiful, she was radiant. She was breathtaking, otherworldly— and everything I could never have.
A smile stretched across her face, and she beamed at me.
Fucking beamed,and I swore time stopped.
Chapter Twenty-One
Poppy
Our driver droppedus off at the restaurant individually. Ivan was first out of the blacked-out SUV, and then we circled the block before he let me out.
I’d never been so nervous before, and never nervous like this. This was like walking into a trap. I hadn’t wanted to wear this dress. I hadn’t wanted to go to this restaurant, and I most certainly hated the heels, but my brothers insisted on both. They’d been sent up with the housekeeper earlier in the week. I hated it. It didn’t feel like me. But there was no telling my brothers no.
The hostess led me through a bunch of couples, when out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Ivan. He was sitting at a table with a woman I’d never seen before. I stumbled slightly in surprise, and as the hostess helped steady me, she leaned in close to whisper.
“You okay? I don’t know how you’re walking in thosethings on your way to Donovan Madden’s table. I would be shaking like a leaf all the way there.”
Donovan was a public figure. His parents owned most of the docks in the city and others. My eyes had glossed over after reading the first Google search on him. There was so much information to comb through, but I didn’t care about any of it. Maybe he was different in person. Maybe he was kind and thoughtful. I wanted to see all of that. I didn’t want to gain opinions because of an internet search. So I closed out the browser before I could even see a picture of him.
When we stopped at a table, my eyes tracked from the polished floor and up to the man I was going to be marrying. The hostess was right, I should have been shaking and trembling but instead, it was the sight of Ivan that choked me up when I noticed him sitting there with another woman.
