Poppy found Mr. Carrington and Bennett in the office. They were seated on each side of the fireplace, enjoying a pre-dinner drink. The door was open. Standing in the doorway, Poppy called out, "Mr. Carrington, Gran asked that I let you know that dinner is ready when you are."
At the sound of her voice, Bennett's head snapped up. He drank her in as if he were a man dying of thirst. He ate her alive with his eyes. Poppy could feel it from where she stood. Poppy returned the look as she feasted on the sight of him. All the bent-up passion and desire building since December flooded out in silent energy between the two. If Bennett's dad was aware of the passionate charge in the air, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he stood and began making his way to the dining room. Bennett joined him. Poppy followed behind, taking slow, deep breaths.
Over the next hour, Poppy served dinner. She and Bennett did their best not to look at each other but whenever they did, bothfelt the electric charge zing through the room. Once dinner was over, Bennett and his dad returned to his office. This time, Mr. Carrington shut the door.
Poppy spent the next hour clearing the table and washing up. She finished putting away the last clean dishes when Bennett entered the kitchen.
"Whoa, what are you doing here?"
"I was just finishing putting away the dishes."
"I did not know you were doing so much for us. Other than the sheets." Bennett felt like a fool mentioning the sheets. Those damn sheets. He would never get in his bed again without thinking about her hands being all over them. He could almost swear he could smell her on his pillow at night. Thoughts of her had been driving him crazy ever since he saw her standing in the middle of that warehouse with her beautiful black dress ripped and hanging down.
Poppy was talking, and Bennett realized she had been doing so for a while. He was so caught up in thinking about that night, he did not hear a word she said. Shaking his head to clear it, he said, "I am sorry. What are you saying?”
Poppy laughed nervously, "It is not important. I explained that I don't usually serve or wash up, but I wanted to give Gran a break. She works so hard." Poppy felt that stab of guilt again.
"That's really nice of you. I don't know what we would do without her. Dad would be lost without her."
They stood staring at each other for a long moment. The tension was palpable.
Wanting to break the uncomfortable silence filling the room, Poppy asked, "So, was there something you needed when you came here?"
"Yes, I wanted to fix some popcorn and a soda. I am about to watch a movie." Knowing it was a terrible idea but unable to stophis mouth from issuing the invitation, Bennett asked, "You wouldn't want to join me, would you? On my way into town, I picked up some new releases at the video store." He rattled off the titles, but Poppy could have cared less. He could have said he had a DVD of paint drying, and she would have said she wanted to watch it.
“Sure, I would love to. Let me run upstairs and change, and I will be right back. Where should I meet you?"
He gave her a weird look and said, "The DVD player is in my room. Is that a problem? I promise to be a complete gentleman."
Poppy shook her head and said, "No, that is not a problem." She added, "See you in a minute."
"Great," replied Bennett, "I will get the popcorn ready. Diet okay?”
"Sure," replied Poppy as she headed out the back door and raced to change. She’d drink arsenic if it meant she could spend time with him.
When Poppy knocked on Bennett's sliding door ten minutes later, he had changed into a T-shirt and jogging shorts. Poppy had put on a T-shirt and a pair of knit pants.
"Hope you don't mind sitting on the bed; it is the only seating I have," said Bennett.
"No problem," replied Poppy.
Both of them started out sitting at the edge of the bed, but their interest in the movie soon waned when their interest switched to little touches and shared looks.
After playing this game for ten minutes, Poppy said, "Oh, screw it," and reached out and took Benentt’s face in her hands and kissed him for all she was worth.
Unlike the kiss they shared at Christmas, this one did not start soft or gentle. It began wild, and with each second, it grew wilder and hotter. One minute, they were at the foot of the bed, sharingpopcorn and pretending to watch the movie, and the next, they were lying across Bennett's bed, kissing each other with abandon.
Bennett and Poppy spent the next hour exploring each other's bodies. As their tongues fought a duel for control, they could not stop touching, squeezing, and giving over to the desires that had been haunting both of them for the last three months.
To Bennett's credit, he did everything he could to stay away from her. She was obviously his kryptonite. He had distanced himself from her. He had stayed away. He even tried to move on with other girls. But not one of them did what this redheaded vixen did for him.
Several times, he tried to slow them down. He would attempt to pull back or end the kissing, and each time, Poppy would lean into him, touching him more intimately, kissing him more deeply. He was lost to deny her. The whole time, the voice in his head kept saying, "Stop. You have gone too far."
Bennett was unable to heed his own advice. Poppy was driving this lust train, and he was just along for the ride. He knew he should call a halt to it all. And he would, just a few minutes more, he thought. She fit him so perfectly with her tiny little body.
Bennett needed to find the strength to pull back. Ultimately, the only thing that saved him from making a huge mistake was a loud knock on his sliding door.
"Bennett, dude, are you in there? Open up. I’ve got to talk to you."
