“Are you calling me with a solution?” I ask. That’s the thing about Brooke, she almost always has a solution, andright now that’s all I care about. Poppy is staring at me from the opposite end of the couch, worry lining her face.
“We need to move the wedding up. It needs to happen ASAP.”
My stomach churns, all the doubts and questions about this plan threatening to make me nauseous. I thought we’d have more time, and now I’m wishing we did. Poppy will get thrown to the wolves, never having dated before, and now jumping right into this marriage with no easing in.
I glance over at her, my gaze snagging on the sweatshirt she’s wearing. It has the Thistle + Thorne logo on the front, a coffee cup with tendrils of steam that turn into branches with tiny leaves. It reminds me of why she’s doing this, what she stands to lose.
“What’s that going to do?” I ask, because right now, I can’t see how a few weeks difference is going to change anything with Nuclear, and because if I present the idea to Poppy, I want to know what we’re agreeing to.
“Jason has already primed Chase and told him that Poppy is different. That we have intel that she means more to you,” Brooke explains. “But we need to prove it. Jason said Chase is only going to believe it once there’s a ring on her finger.”
“Won’t he see right through the plan?”
Chase is not a stupid guy. Not by a long shot. If this is what he’s said needs to happen to get on board… it’ll be obvious to him that we’re faking this. And that could be disastrous for Poppy.
“You’d be surprised how money can cloud a person’s perception. We’ll do what we can to make this convincing,but you better hope you’ve earned your keep enough that he doesn’t care to scrutinize you.”
“So, when do we do this?”
“As soon as possible,” Brooke says. “Before any major qualifiers. So that any publicity that comes with the events shows you as being off the market. A happily married man.”
I finish my call with Brooke, and I stare at Poppy, unsure how to broach the subject with her.
“Everything ok?” Poppy asks, cupping her hands around her mug and sipping her tea.
“What do you think about getting married next week?”
“Next week?” Her eyes widen and she leans forward to set her mug down on the coffee table. “I thought we had more time.”
So did I. Not that it matters, we were going to get married, anyway. But now my opportunities to give Poppy a memorable first kiss are a lot more limited.
“Not anymore, apparently. So, how about it?”
Our gazes lock in on each other across the couch, her chocolate brown irises reflecting the glow coming from the fireplace. The question I’m about to ask forms on my tongue and it causes a smile to tug at my lips.
“Will you be my wife next week, Poppy?”
I know there are high stakes for Poppy here too, that she has something to gain from this marriage and everything to lose. Still, there’s a part of my heart that lights up when she looks at me and says, “I’d be your wife tomorrow, Jett.”
Poppy gives me a soft smile that does something funny to me. Her words settle within me and expand to fill a hole I didn’t know was there. I inhale a sharp breath through my nose, her gaze pinning me.
Marriage has never been on my radar, but after today, I think Poppy is exactly the kind of girl I could be married to.
“Come on, it’s late.” My voice returning to its normal cadence, not the flirtatious lilt I used moments ago. “I’ll show you your room.”
“Okay,” she says softly and follows me quietly in her socked feet down the hall.
I stop short at the door to the guest bedroom, opening it for her. “This is you.”
She wanders inside and glances around, I keep my feet firmly planted on the threshold.
“It’s nice. I didn’t think you’d be the type to decorate.” She gestures towards a vase on the nightstand with dried flowers spraying out the top.
“My designer did it,” I admit.
Poppy opens her mouth in anahhshape.
“Do you need anything? There’s a toothbrush and extra toiletries in the ensuite. Help yourself to anything.”
