“This isn’t about control,” Poppy snarled, offended that he would even consider that a possibility. She was the least controlling person she knew. “And this isn’t about you spending time with your friends. If you want to hang out with the guys, go ahead, be my guest. I won’t stop you. I do have a problem with you lying to me, though.”
To his credit, Felix didn’t try to deny it. Holding her gaze steady, he took her hand and laced their fingers together. “I’m sorry I lied to you. Trust me when I say that it won’t happen again.”
He was so earnest
that Poppy struggled to understand what he was promising exactly. Was he trying to tell her that whatever he was doing yesterday was a one-time deal and she didn’t need to worry about it happening again, or was he only referring to the part about playing golf? Honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Sometimes ignorance really was bliss.
Her voice came out smaller than she expected. “Promise?”
Bringing his hand to her face, Felix smoothed her hair back behind her ear, holding eye contact. “Cross my heart. I love you, kitten.”
Her chest tightened and Poppy knew that any second, she would start crying. She didn’t want him to see her cry, but she didn’t know if she could hold it back. There was no way of knowing if he was telling her the truth, but she knew that she couldn’t bear to hear it, even if he tried. This was the only truth she was willing to accept, the only one that would keep her heart from being shattered. So, she closed her eyes and absorbed his words, holding onto them with a tight fist.
Leaning into him,
Poppy wrapped her arms around Felix’s neck and held him tight. “I love you, too.”
5
The country club was becoming a second home—or a third, as it were. Felix had been spending a lot of his downtime hitting balls across rolling green law
ns the last few weeks—ever since his talk with Poppy. He promised not to lie to her again, and he always kept his promises. If he said he was going to be late coming home because he wanted to spend a little time with the guys, then that was exactly what he was doing. It made it more difficult to do what he needed to do, but not impossible.
Now that he was on his best behavior, Felix had been forced to find alternatives. He had to hide in plain sight. That meant leaving a little earlier, driving a little faster, cutting to the chase, and most importantly, keeping his mouth closed.
He’d learned from his last encounter with Jon that even a hint at what he was doing could cause his plans to backfire. He couldn’t afford to undergo another one of Jon’s talks, or for Jon to run back to his fiancée and tell her his suspicions over pillow talk. Tate had the biggest yap out of all of them, so it was crucial that he maintain the façade. Just blend in, have a little fun and everything would work out.
“So, how’re things at home with that spitfire you call a girlfriend? Has she come to her senses and kicked your sorry ass to the curb yet?”
Felix glared at Tate. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did he know something? His glare swept to Jon, who held up his hands in surrender. If he didn’t know anything, then Tate must be spouting off again. “Sorry to disappoint, Tate, but Poppy is more than satisfied with my sorry ass. Can you say the same for Piper?”
Tate shook his head. “Hell yeah. Piper isn’t going anywhere, if you know what I’m saying.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Nope, he couldn’t say that he did, but Felix laughed anyway. Tate was possibly the most arrogant man he had ever met, but he wasn’t hard to get along with either.
“Have you two worked out the housing situation yet?”
Bent at the waist, Felix lined up his club, cranked his arm back, and drove it into the ball. They watched it sail down the green then picked up their clubs and started walking. “Nope.” Was that bitterness he heard in his voice? “Poppy doesn’t want to give up the house, and I’m not ready to let go of my condo.”
“Is there a reason you two can’t come to an agreement, besides being stubborn asses?” Jon gave him a lopsided grin.
Felix shrugged, mentally drained from months of having this exact same discussion with Poppy. “She has Bo, and Bo needs a yard so he can run around and be a dog. She doesn’t want to take that away from him, which I understand. But at the same time, he can just as easily walk around the city as the country. That’s what leashes were made for.”
“And you? What’s your excuse?”
“I just want to be closer to work. The hour commute every Friday and Monday is murder. Poppy insists on staying at the house on the weekends,” he explained. “Plus, I spent a lot of damn money on that condo.”
Th
ey set up shop on the eighth hole. Jon went first, his form perfect as he tapped the ball and sent it rolling gracefully into the hole, making the rest of them look like the amateurs they were. He came to stand beside Felix as Travis stepped up to take his turn. “Do you want my honest opinion?”
“Shoot.”
“I think you’re the problem here. Poppy sounds like she has a legitimate reason to want to keep her house. Dogs need space to roam around, and from what I understand, that dog is the equivalent of a child to her. Not to mention, it’s a house. That’s an investment you won’t get back. So the real question here is why are you really holding on so tight to the condo? You and I both know that money is never a factor in our decisions.”
Jon was right. Money had never been an issue. Felix didn’t weigh his decisions based on it, and he didn’t strive to acquire it. He was satisfied with what he had. It just happened that his hard work paid off and provided a lot of it.
So why was he holding on so tight?
Turns out, he didn’t have a good answer for that. He shrugged. “I’m starving. You guys hungry?”
Leaning against his club, Tate examined Travis. “I heard Mr. Priss over there was watching his figure, but I could eat.”
Straightening,
Travis shot Tate an annoyed look. “You’re just jealous because you don’t look this good.” His arms extended out to display his trim and fit form.
Tate
shrugged and looked away. “Whatever, man. I bet there’s a potbelly and chesticles under all that cotton.”
Travis
jogged to catch up with him as Tate started walking back toward the country club. “Does this look like chesticles?” he called as he lifted his shirt and flashed his abs. A group of young women nearby began to giggle hysterically. Jon and Felix shook their heads and began to follow behind them, keeping a safe distance so no one would associate them with the two crazies up ahead.
While Tate and
Travis compared tit size, Jon offered Felix words of advice that he had to admit were pretty sound. Felix took note of all of them and promised to give them consideration. They ate lunch and kept the conversation light, which wasn’t a problem since Travis and Tate spent most of the hour debating who had the sexier bod. In the end, Travis won due to his current bachelor status. Apparently, happily married men lost their sexual prowess claims upon speaking their vows.
Directly after lunch, Felix gulped down the last of his drink and excused himself. He needed to get going if he was going to make it. Gianna agreed to meet him and he had less than twenty minutes to make a drive that would normally take him thirty.
He’d kept her waiting last time and didn’t intend to make a habit out of it.
Thanks to his lead foot, Felix made it just in time. Swinging into a parking spot just outside the restaurant they’d agreed to meet at, Felix jumped out of the car. At the door, he gave the hostess his name and she pointed him in the direction of the table. He spotted Gianna’s golden mane immediately and felt the tension roll from his shoulders as he threaded his way through the dining area.
She must have felt him coming. Lifting her head from whatever she was doing with her phone, her face lit up. Setting the phone aside, she rose to greet him. Her tall, slim frame was perfect in the tight-fitting black-on-black ensemble. Felix couldn’t help admiring her. She was a beautiful woman—classy in a way that screamed money, but subdued enough by the understated make-up and lack of jewelry to make her approachable.
“Felix,” she said softly
, her pale pink lips curving to reveal perfectly straight, bleached white teeth. Wrapping her thin arms around his shoulders, she gave him a brief hug. “You made it, and on time.”
There was a teasing note in her voice
that made Felix chuckle. “I may have broken a few laws to get here, too. Have you ordered yet?”
“No, I was waiting for you.”
He scooted her chair in for her and took the seat across from her. The waiter appeared a moment later and they put in their drink orders. “So, how have you been?” Gianna asked him as she snapped open a cloth napkin and draped it over her lap.
Felix met her pale blue gaze dead on. “Pretty good, and you?”
“As well as ever, but I have to ask. You seem distracted. Is everything all right?”
Balling his hands under the table, Felix looked away. Gianna had always been able to read him like an open book. It was a quality he wouldn’t mind her losing. “I’m a little stressed,” he
admitted. “All this going behind Poppy’s back is starting to become a problem. A couple weeks ago she confronted me about lying about where I’d been all day.”
Gianna’s eyes rounded with concern. “Did you tell her about us?”
Felix shook his head. “No, of course not.”
Because that would be a disaster
.
She visibly relaxed. Taking a sip of her mimosa, Gianna regarded him thoughtfully. “Maybe it would be best if you told her what was going on. Keeping secrets has a way of making a bad situation worse.”
He knew that, and still he knew that he wasn’t going to say a word. Soon, Gianna would be on a plane back to California and he wouldn’t have to look over his shoulder or walk on eggshells anymore. “I’m not telling Poppy anything. Not right now, at least.” He stared back at her, willing her to understand. “This needs to stay between you and me right now. I’ve went through a lot of effort to keep this—” he motioned his finger between the two of them “—quiet. There’s no point saying anything right now.”
“Felix, it’s going to come out eventually.”
“It will, yes, and I will deal with it then.” He sighed. With Poppy already suspicious, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this under wraps, but he was determined to try. She would thank him for it later. They both would.
Having already eaten a large lunch, Felix stuck to his drink while Gianna ordered herself a salad. She was one of those women. She watched her figure by eating like a rabbit. He couldn’t help noticing the difference between her and Poppy. They were both sophisticated, intelligent women, but Poppy was shorter, curvier, and
her fiery temper was something he could never imagine Gianna harboring under that cool, professional exterior.
Gianna ate half her salad before setting her silverware down and sliding the plate away. “So, your place or mine?”
Shifting in his chair, Felix experienced a note of discomfort. He’d already told Poppy earlier that he would be swinging by the condo to pick up some papers and would be home late. If she knew he was having a lunch date with this woman she would rip his balls off, shove them down his throat, and ask questions later. But she didn’t know, and he intended to keep it that way. And since he was all about keeping his promises, there was only one choice to be made. “Mine,” he said definitively. At least at the condo, he was on neutral ground. He could control the variables.
Flagging down the waiter, Felix paid for the meal and stood. Placing his hand at the small of her back, he guided Gianna out of the restaurant.
***
Felix was going to be surprised.
Poppy had awakened early today with one thought in her mind: to do something special for Felix. They had been spending so much time apart lately, their relationship was starting to suffer, and she wanted to try to fix it. He was distracted with work and the housing situation was always looming in the background causing tension between them. Maybe if she met him halfway, it would ease some of that.
Then he had unwittingly given her the perfect opportunity to make it happen. He was planning to stop by the condo on his way home, so why not meet him there? She gave herself a mental pat on the back for being so clever.
Felix was out with Jon, Tate, and Travis again. He had been spending a lot of time with them recently, and she was happy that he had found himself a group of friends like she had. It went a long way in maintaining balance and sanity in her life, so she prayed it did the same for him. Felix worked so hard to make everyone happy. He deserved to have something in his life that would make him happy, too.
Everyone should have that.
Golf though? She didn’t understand that one, but to each their own.
For her part, Poppy made her specialty: filet mignon with roasted baby potatoes and steamed green beans. With the food plated up and ready to serve, she went through the living room and bedroom, lighting the dozens upon dozens of candles she picked up at the craft store that afternoon.
She was going for a soft, seductive atmosphere. Not to mention, she looked damn good in candlelight.
After all the candles were lit, Poppy took a look around at
her handiwork. The condo glowed with warm, flickering lights. The tables and floors gleamed like water in the moonlight. The air smelled of spices with undertones of gardenia from the candles. She smiled to herself, deeming her efforts a success.
Glancing at the clock, she noted the time: just after five. Felix promised he would be home
by six, but that he had to swing by the condo to pick up some business papers first. She planned to be waiting for him. With an hour commute, he was cutting it close, but little did he know he wouldn’t be making that drive tonight.
Checking on Bo, she found him curled up on the
bed in the guest room, his head propped on one of the pillows. Since moving in, he’d claimed the room as his. His ears perked and he cracked one eye open to look at her. With a huff, he went back to sleep. Quietly, Poppy closed the door, leaving a small crack in case he wanted out later, then walked into the master bedroom to change.
She had picked out a sassy, sexy schoolgirl outfit for tonight. The woman at the lingerie store had assured her it was one of their top sellers, and she could see why. The red and black plaid skirt barely covered her, and the black boy shorts underneath more than exposed the bottom half of her cheeks. The top was black with cap sleeves and instead of buttons, it tied between her breasts. After dressing and making sure all her bits and pieces her plumped and perfect, Poppy studied
her figure in the floor length mirror mounted to the back of the door. Pigtails or leave her hair down?
She fussed with her hair for an inordinate amount of time, unable to decide which style to go with. That’s when she heard the keys in the lock. Rushing to grab her robe, Poppy slipped her arms inside the sleeves as she sped down the hall. It looked like she was leaving her hair down tonight.