“What did you think of her? Pretty great, right? She told me about your unfortunate encounter this morning.”
I shoot my brother a sidelong glance. Holland is grinning like it’s the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard. Some guys might get up in arms at the thought of another man seeing their girlfriend in nothing but a towel. Not Holland. He’s too used to being the golden boy for something like this to faze him. His head is so high above everyone else’s—mine included—that he doesn’t realize that if I were the type of man to lust after my brother’s girlfriend, I could totally be disrespecting her right now.
Good thing for him—and for her—I’m not that type of guy.
“She seems fine,” I offer, which is true. I don’t have much to go on, but I admit to being impressed by Poppy’s poise. She was flustered at being caught outside in her bath towel, but she didn’t make a fuss. She didn’t apologize, except for waking me up. She just desperately wanted to get inside. I’m glad I could help her with that.
“She’s more than fine. Poppy is literally the best. Like, the coolest woman I’ve ever met.”
I grunt again, and Holland takes that as his cue to continue.
“I mean, can you believe my luck? There she was, like a fountain of water, and I, a man crossing an arid dessert—”
“Finishing a training session at your posh gym?”
Holland continues, not bothering to answer my clarifying question. “I think it was love at first sight, and everything fell into place from there.” He sits back in his seat with a happy, carefree grin on his face.
I fight an eye roll. I love my little brother. I do. He’s a hard worker, which is a good thing because if he got everything he has coming to him and didn’t work for it, he would be wholly insufferable. As it stands, he’s about fifty percent insufferable.
Sixty percent.
Seventy-five percent.
And a half.
“So you think it’s going to work out between you two?” I’m trying to keep my voice light—as light as my bass-like timbre can sound, at least.
The thing is, I have my doubts. In fact, I’m fairly sure this relationship is doomed to fail. Nothing against Poppy.
Well, maybe I’m throwing a little shade her way for getting swallowed up in the glitz and glam that is Holland Bradley, enough to move herself and her sister to a different part of the country. But I’m sure she’s perfectly fine as a person.
I know my brother, though. There’s no way he’s ready to settle into a serious relationship.
“We’re going to try to make the best of it, that’s for sure.” Holland shifts in his seat so he’s looking at me. I feel his gaze on the side of my face as I drive along the Cashmere County coast, heading toward the airport. “I’m going to need your help.”
“My help?”
“With Poppy.”
“With Poppy?”
“What are you, a parrot?”
I frown. “What do you need from me? I’m already putting her up in my place. My in-need-of-some-serious-TLC place.”
What Holland doesn’t realize is that with Poppy and her sister living next door, I’m going to be more pinched for time to fix up that half of the duplex. My spare time is minimal as it is, and now, instead of being able to pop over there and work on a project whenever my schedule allows, I’m going to have to clear it with them. It’s going to make getting the apartment up to par that much more challenging.
“I’ve already told you not to worry about that. Poppy is used to making do with less-than-ideal living situations.” Holland waves me off, and I’m suddenly wondering what other places Poppy has lived. Maybe getting locked outside in her towel by a sticky door is a blip for her. No biggie.
“She’ll try to help you with some of the renovations,” Holland continues. “That’s how she is. She’s such a helper. She makes everything better.” He leans back in his seat with a sigh, and I can almost see the hearts floating out from his eyes.
“You really like her?”
“She’s easy to like.”
I make a humming sound. “What did you need from me?”
“I need you to be her friend.”
