Poppy
“Openup,youworthlesspiece of—”
A throat clears behind me.
I whirl around to find Mack leaning up against the barrier separating the two sides of the deck off the back of his duplex. He’s got his arms crossed. His expression is a mixture of wariness and hope.
“Hi,” I say.
“Having trouble?”
“Yes! This stupid door won’t open. Again. Didn’t you have it fixed? Why does it hate me?”
He takes a step in my direction, but then pulls up short, like he’s uncertain how I’d react to him coming any closer. “I don’t think anyone or anything could hate you, Poppy.”
Before I can say anything, he’s speaking again.
“I’m so sorry about the emails. It was stupid of me to go along with Holland in the first place. I should have told you about it, but I sort of got caught up in getting to know you myself, and I swear the emails paled in comparison to what I was learning about you on my own. Then, when everything happened with us, I guess I got my wires crossed and my brain short-circuited, and I spaced on mentioning it.”
I fight a smile. “Are you trying to appease me with an electrician joke?”
Mack opens his mouth and then closes it. In the glow of the string lights, I see his lips quirk. “Is it working?”
“Oh yeah. I can’t resist you when you talk electrician to me, you know that.”
He takes a slow step forward. “Do you really forgive me, Poppy? Truly? I’m so sorry.”
“Stop. I forgive you. Do I wish you would have been up front with me? Of course. I felt betrayed, and it was the worst because it was you, and I’ve come to trust you.”
“I know. I hate myself for it.”
I give my head a firm shake. “It’s over and done with. What’s important is that we’re honest with each other going forward.”
“Going forward?”
I bite my lip. “Dang it. This isn’t how any of this was supposed to go. I had grand plans.”
“Grand plans?” he echoes, continuing his progression across the deck.
“Yes! I was trying to drop my stuff off quick. Then, I was going to surprise you over at the Party in the Park. But I couldn’t get this darn door to open, and it got me all frazzled.”
He makes a humming noise and comes to a stop right in front of me.
I pull in a breath, and it’s all Mack—mint and leather. I close my eyes and savor it.
“Boo?”
“Mmhmm.” I lazily open my eyes, and when I meet Mack’s gaze, he’s looking at me with such tenderness I swear my bones liquefy.
I fall into him, and he catches me up in his arms, pressing me against his chest in the best hug of my life.
One of his hands is behind my head, coiled up in my hair. His other arm is clamped fully around my waist, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to live here now. I don’t want to move again. Ever.
My hands are greedy, and I work them out so I can run them up and down his muscled arms. I reach up and scrape my fingers into the hair along his nape as he drops his head and buries his nose into the skin along my neck column.
“You’re here,” he whispers, placing featherlight kisses on my jawline, my cheek, behind my ear, the corner of my mouth.
“I’m here.”
