“It’s no problem,” said Sylvie, before she blinked, looking a little vague. Her gaze slid away from Max, wandering for a moment before it fixed upon Poppy. “Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, the macarons. I hope you enjoy them, ma’am.”
Sylvie left the table before Poppy could get her brain in gear enough to respond.
Poppy turned to face Max, who looked mildly guilty. Why, Poppy wasn’t sure.
“… Well,” Poppy said awkwardly, looking at the little box in her hands. “I guess these are for both of us.”
“I guess so,” said Max. “But you can have them. I don’t mind.”
“No, I want to share them,” Poppy said. “She definitely intended them for both of us, before… before whatever that was. I can leave half of them in the B&B kitchen for you, if you like?”
Max definitely had an odd expression on his face – one that Poppy couldn’t quite pin down.
“If you insist,” he said eventually.
“I do.” Her voice was firm.
They sat in silence for another long moment, before Poppy cleared her throat, feeling a sudden decisiveness taking control of her.
“Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?” she asked.
Max looked a little surprised, but then he shook his head. “No.”
“Neither do I.” She took a breath, steeling herself. “Would you like to spend the afternoon with me? No pressure,” she added quickly.
Max tilted his head, as if he was trying to work out her motivations… although all it did was make his hair hang aroundhis eyes in a way that made him look kind of mysterious. Poppy did her best to hide her swoon.
As if coming to some sort of decision, he nodded. “I would,” he said eventually. “As long as that’s what you want to do.”
Poppy’s heart fluttered, and it was all she could do not to laugh giddily. “I would like nothing more,” she said honestly, and it was with a feeling of relief that she saw the hint of a smile pulling up the corners of Max’s mouth.
She tucked the macarons into her purse, and her fingers brushed the box containing the pen.
Soon,she promised herself.When the time is right.
“So,” she said, withdrawing her hand from her purse. “Where should we go?”
Chapter 8
Max walked down the sidewalk alongside Poppy, trying to find an appropriate balance between making conversation and keeping his mouth shut, lest he say something stupid.
Luckily for him, Poppy seemed content to keep the majority of the flow of conversation going, allowing him to just make a comment here and there. There wasn’t a whole lot to talk about, anyway, now that they’d covered how picturesque Girdwood Springs was and the coldness of the weather; he was happy just wandering around quietly in her company, silently marveling at the fact that she wanted to spend the day with him.
He didn’t have a huge amount of experience with relationships, after all. Not that it was his first date or anything – assuming that this qualified as a date – but he’d always been a bit of a loner.
And it was kind of shocking that she wanted to spend time with him after his little performance at the bakery when the topic of Aubrey Z. had come up. That hadnotbeen his finest moment, and he knew that he would have to come clean about it if he wanted to spend more time with her.
Why did I try to tell her Aubrey Z. was some kind of snooty guy with a cravat? What was I thinking? Was I thinking at all?!
Poppy ran over to look into a shop window, exclaiming at the mohair scarves on display, and Max found himself enthralled all over again by her obvious happiness.
Would this be an appropriate time to tell her that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen? Probably not. There was such a thing as moving too fast, after all, and he didn’t want to creep her out.
She really was gorgeous, though, with her radiant smile and pink-tinged cheeks, and she seemed to understand that he wasn’t a big talker. Her own tastes seemed to run fairly simple as well – just walking down the street on a snowy day and doing some window shopping was apparently enough to make her happy.
Still, they seemed to be getting to the end of the main drag, the shops petering out and being replaced by cottages and snow-filled yards. If they kept following the road, they’d end up walking back down the mountain.
Stopping in her tracks, Poppy turned to face him.
