“Okay, calm down. He’s notthe one. I don’t have a one,” I tell my friend.
“There’s a reason Jaxson hasn’t shot his ass. He knows too. That man in there is yours.” Poppy nods confidently.
“Please do not put that out into the universe,” I groan. “Alice, I love you, but that’s never happening for me.”
“We’ll see,” she sing-songs as Sammie makes his way back out to the kitchen.
I hold up the mug of coffee to him, and he takes it. “Thank you.”
“Sammie, right? I’m Alice. We didn’t really get introduced properly. Anyway, I’m getting married this weekend. Saturday. Poppy’s my maid of honor. You should come as her plus-one.”
I spit out the coffee I was just sipping. “Alice, the wedding is catered, table settings done. You can’t just add guests,” I tell her with wide eyes.
“It’s my wedding. I can do whatever I want. Anyway, I gotta go. Hope I see you there, Sammie.” Alice kisses my cheek and then disappears out my back door.
Sammie stares at me. “You can just tell me you don’t want me at your friend’s wedding,” he says.
“Don’t you have to go back to Vegas?” I ask him.
“I do. I’m heading to the jet now.”
“You have your own jet?” My eyebrows raise.
“Family jet,” he says.
“Right, well, thanks for last night. You really did not need to come and find me but I had fun.” This is why I don’t like morning afters. I never know what to say.
“So did I.” Sammie rounds the counter that’s separating us. He sets his mug down, wraps his hand around the back of my head, and then his lips descend onto mine. By the time he pulls away, I’m breathless. “What time is dinner on Thursday?”
“Huh?”
“Dinner with your cousin. What time is it?”
“You aren’t coming to family dinner, Sammie.”
“It would be rude to ignore his invitation,” Sammie says. “I’ll see you Thursday.” He leans in and kisses me again. “Oh, I put my number in your phone. Call me if you need anything before then.”
“What on earth could I possibly need? And seriously, you do not need to fly all the way back here,” I repeat. I’m starting to think maybe Alice’s initial assessment of this guy was right after all. He is freaking insane.
“Call me tonight and I’ll show you exactly what I can give you over the phone, Poppy,” he says and then walks out. Leaving me standing in my kitchen, gripping my to-go cup and wondering what the hell just happened.
My boots stomp on the hard, wooden floorboards of my cousins’ house. “Jaxson, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to shove a cattle prod right up your ass. Where are you?” I scream out as I go from room to room, looking for him.
“Whoa, what happened?” Jaxson’s brother appears in front of me. “You look like a caged wild animal, Poppy,” Joel says, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Where is he?”
“Jaxson? What’d he do?”
“I caught her on a date with some suit last night,” Jaxson says, coming to a stop next to his brother.
“What the hell was that about? You were supposed to scare him away, chase him out of town, not invite him to fucking family dinner!” I scream at my cousin.
“Wait… You’ve been trying to get me to be nice to your dates since you were fifteen. And now that I am, you want me to chase him out of town?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Why? Did he do something to you?”
