She was head over heels; hook, line, and sinker; from-the-depths-of-her-soul in love. And he wasn’t sure what his next step was? Talk about a terrifying place to be.
“That isn’t what I wanted to hear,” she said.
“I know.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I thought about it, and what I want to do is mend things with my family and this Vegas project is the best way to do it. I don’t see any way around it. If I don’t take this job, it will just put a bigger wedge between us all.”
It hurt to swallow. “But what about what you want?”
“My dad made so many sacrifices for me; it taught me to make sacrifices for the people I love. And the one time I didn’t do that and chose myself over my family, look where I ended up. With a bum knee and nine years of hockey and a family who I don’t even know. I’m never going to make that mistake again.”
The blow to her heart was as painful as if someone had detonated a bomb in her chest cavity. And just when she thought the pain couldn’t get worse, the reverberations increased.
Last night, the way he’d touched her, kissed her, held herhad said everything she’d needed to know to give in and take that final fall. But maybe she’d been premature in her assumption. Or maybe she’d been making a mountain out of a mole hill. Hell, maybe she’d invented the entire thing in her mind.
“I think you should follow your heart, and if it’s telling you to follow your family to Vegas, then do what your heart says. Love will never steer you wrong.”
Even as she said the words her heart cracked open a little bit more, letting in the familiar ache of rejection.
DIARY ROOM:
Wasim: We have a bet going. I placed ten to one odds that they did the deed. It was all over their faces this morning. Plus, the sparks are hotter than a welding rod. I didn’t believe in love before, but after this I might ask Opal Hart to take on one more client.
Wait, Poppy isn’t going to see this, is she?
Producer: It’s called the Diary Room but there are cameras. What did you think would happen to the footage?
Wasim: I gotta go.
*Sound of door slamming*
26
“Ismell the chicken dance coming on,” Kiki said, sticking her hands under her armpits and waving them like they were wings. “Ba-na-na-nat. Ba-na-na-nat…” She began singing the chicken dance song.
“Very mature,” Poppy retorted.
It was Sunday, and they were lying by the pool. Poppy wanted one last swim before Stark House belonged to someone else. Only she wasn’t wearing a Speedo, she was wearing a sexy black bikini. She was also wearing her curves loud and proud.
What she wasn’t wearing was the ache in her chest that was growing by the second. Nope, that she held beneath her armor.
“I’m not the one leaving the guy I love, the guy who’s chasing his family to Vegas without you telling him how you feel,” Kiki said.
“And I’m not going to be the person who stands between him and what he wants.”
“You didn’t tell your aunt what you wanted and you’re losing this house, when you know damn well that she would have sold it to you. Or she would have sold it to you in pieces, if you’d been honest. You’re not going to tell a man you’re clearlyin love with to stay for you when you know that he would stay if you asked him. When are you ever going to put yourself first?”
Poppy hadn’t put herself first since her dad left. She’d been so scared her mom would leave too that she’d always been the perfect child. Not that it helped; besides Opal, she’d wound up alone.
“Here you’re asking him what he wants. When are you going to ask yourself what you want?”
“In these situations, it doesn’t matter what I want. These are people’s dreams we’re talking about, and who am I to stand in the way of someone’s dream? And not just someone, a whole family.”
Plus, she’d tried this before and it didn’t work. Not with her dad and not with her mom. What made her think this time would be different?
“I get that you went to your dad and asked him to be a part of your life, and he said no. Then your mom drank herself to death instead of being there for you. But Decker isn’t them. He isn’t some selfish prick. Your aunt has never treated you like your parents did. And your aunt has proven to you over and over again that she’s not like them,” Kiki said, and she was right.
If anything, her aunt had proved she was the opposite of Poppy’s parents.
And for that matter, so had Decker. He’d never made her feel second-best or like she’s third in line for his emotions. Like him, like her aunt, like Kiki—they’d put her first whenever they could.
