But Steve had come back, her heart whispered. They hadn’t talked since that day on the curb, but they had passed a few texts. It was going to take a long while for her to forgive him and be able to trust him. But they were taking it one baby step at a time.
“This isn’t happening.” She turned to leave.
“Don’t go,” Decker said with so much desperation in his voice that she turned back around. “I needed to call a board meeting, and this was the only way I knew how to get you here. Just hear me out.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds,” she said, looking at her watch and remembering when they’d had this same conversation just a little over a month ago.
He stood and came over to her. “I’ve got a proposal for you.”
She looked down the hallway and saw her aunt and Kiki holding hands excitedly.
“Seriously?” she said to the two busybodies.
“You promised you’d listen,” Kiki said.
“Yeah, you promised you’d hear him out!” Opal added.
“I promised I’d hear Jack out!” Poppy looked back at the office and realized that Jack wasn’t even there. There were no producers or showrunners, it was just Decker looking like a lifeline. She wanted to grab on to it and hold on tightly, but her heart wouldn’t let her.
“Two things,” he said, coming around the desk toward her. “First of all, I love you. Second, I am so fucking sorry I walked away.”
“You didn’t just walk away, you crushed me. When you talked about doing things for the people you love, I wanted to be included. I had hoped—wished—that I was included in that group. But clearly, I wasn’t.”
“When I was talking about the people I loved, you were included. In fact, I realized last night that you’re more than the love of my life, you feel like the family I lost when my dad passed and my world shattered.” He took her hands in his and she fought the feelings of love rising to the surface. “I’ve been so lost at sea, and then that night in the bar happened and it was like my compass pointed straight at you.”
“Then why didn’t you stay long enough to talk things out? You know my past, know how many times I’ve lost out at love because of a misunderstanding, yet you put me through that again.”
“I know and I am so fucking sorry,” he said, and she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I should have stayed, and if I couldgo back I would have taken you aside and worked things out. I just didn’t want to do it in front of the world. They’ve been privy to enough of my life, I wanted to keep you to myself. So when I heard it was a ruse I felt like I’d been duped again.”
“My aunt is the one who put our relationship in front of the world. Not me.”
“I know that, but my ego didn’t.” He rested his hands on her hips and tugged her closer. “I can never regret anything about the past two months because look, it brought you into my life. I don’t want to lose you.”
Poppy didn’t want to lose him either. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him by her side.
“What about Vegas?”
“That was the third reason I asked Jack to call you and set up this meeting.”
“You said two reasons. I don’t know if your thirty seconds allows for one more.” He cracked the smallest of smiles, and her heart lit up. “I want to do a show with you.”
This time her heart did a somersault. “What about your brother?”
“Brian and I are working on the concept of compromise. He and Miles are going to do the building part of the show and I’ll come in for the final reveal. That puts me in Vegas for just about a week of filming once a month.”
“That’s great that you worked things out, but I don’t want to be another compromise.”
“Angel, you could never be a compromise. You are my everything. If I’m going to do this, I want to do it with you. I want to spend the rest of my life traveling around the country, renovating houses, telling the story of the people who lived there and the history of the walls, and I want to do it with you by my side. That’s if you’ll have me.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t just want to be your teammate in business, I want tobe your teammate in life. And if you give me a second chance, I promise to spend every day earning back your trust and showing you how much I love you.”
Decker whistled and Taters came loping in. He had a big purple bow around his neck. He sat at her feet. “I knew I’d fall for you that first day on the set, if I let myself be open to it. I just went ass-backward about doing it. Move in with me.”
And that’s when it happened. Decker undid the bow and came up holding a house key.
“What’s that?”
