She had lost her mind. Literally. Lost. Her. Mind. It was somewhere back in the lake, snagged on one of the tree branches that had been witness to her moment of insanity.
Oh my God oh my God oh my God.
A mantra stuck on repeat, it exploded in her mind, making her wince and hang her head. She’d caved to Boone’s charms in record time. Seriously, the fastest surrender in the history of surrendering. And she hadn’t just caved and settled for a hot and heavy make-out session. She’d had sex with Boone. In the lake!
And it had been the best sex of her life.
She groaned. God, if anyone had wandered by or dove off the dock for a swim, they would have seen them.
Her. Poppy Fairbanks. Screwing Boone Avery in the lake like she was a horny teenager with no impulse control.
Cheeks stinging, she splashed cold water on them to cool herself down, but it was no use. She couldn’t forget the touch and feel of him. The way the veins in his neck bulged as he held her and sank deep inside her body. Or how his eyes darkened, and his hands were big enough to cup her ass and hold her steady while he slid in and out. While he filled her so completely, it brought tears to her eyes because it had been so long since she’d felt anything close to what had just happened. Just the thought of it made the ache between her legs pulse and throb.
Again.
“What have you done?” she whispered, avoiding her reflection because she couldn’t take the guilt and fear.
Just then, the bathroom door swung open, and she barely had time to recover and stand aside as Link let himself in, then locked it behind him. Confused and ashamed, she could only watch him in silence.
“We need to talk.” He was dead serious. Poppy’s heart fell. She cursed silently because she’d told him all the sad details of her history with Boone a few weeks ago, over four bottles of wine and a Love Actually/The Notebook moviefest.
“I don’t know if I can, though,” she replied dully. “Not right now.”
“You don’t understand, Poppy. I need to talk about this, and you’re the only one who knows about her. Even then, you don’t know the details. Hell, I didn’t know the details until earlier. I can’t…” He ran his hands through his hair, mouth set tight, eyes narrowed and dark. “Wait. What are you talking about?”
She glanced up sharply. “This isn’t about Boone?”
His eyes narrowed even more. “No. You want to talk about Boone?”
“I just told you I don’t want to discuss it.”
He watched her for a few moments and then slowly nodded. “Oh, we’re going to talk about him, mate. I saw him follow you to the boathouse. But right now, it’s my turn, and I’m pretty sure my problem is way bigger than yours.”
“I doubt that,” she muttered.
Link leaned against the sink and blew out a long breath that puffed up his cheeks. “I’ll go first, and then you can have at her. Then we can discuss whose problem is biggest.” Link shoved his hands into the pockets of his jean shorts. He was shirtless, like all the men, and in the muted light, his tattoos lent a dangerous air. He was agitated. Poppy was more than happy to focus on him and not herself.
“Remember when I told you a while back that I’d met someone on that dating app thing you and Molly insisted I try?”
She nodded. “You said you met a woman in the city, but that it didn’t work out.”
“I lied.”
“You lied.” She frowned. “About meeting the woman or about it not working out?”
“She’s incredible, this lady. I’ve never met anyone like her, and I’ve been seeing her off and on for a couple of months now. She said her name was Elena and that she was from the city, but she lied about her name and about where she’s from, though I suppose I wasn’t forthcoming either. It was nice to be with someone who had no idea who I am.”
“Is that who you were with last night?” She watched him intently. Something was up. Link looked almost as confused and upset as she was.
“I wasn’t with anyone last night.” He swore. “I haven’t been with another woman other than her. And I had no idea she lived in this town until after the parade. I knew nothing about her, really, until today.”
“So she’s here? At this party?”
“She was. I tried to talk to her, but she didn’t want anything to do with me. In fact, she told me to forget about her. Said that the two of us would never work out and that she’d only been looking for a bit of fun.” He looked indignant and pissed. “She was using me for sex.”
“Men do it all the time,” Poppy retorted, wondering if Boone had used her or if it was the other way around.
“She’s a hell of a lot more than that, and fuck if I know what to do about it.”
“Who is it?” Curiosity got the best of Poppy, and she couldn’t help but ask. “Do I know her?”
“Damn right you do, mate. It’s your lover boy’s mother. Elise Avery.”
Poppy’s mouth fell open in shock. “You and Elise? But she’s…she’s…”
“Don’t bother with the age thing, because I don’t care.”
Poppy frowned. “That’s not what I was going to say. Elise, her…her husband died just a few months ago. I guess I’m surprised is all.”
Link swore and glanced away. “I want her,” he said roughly. “More than I’ve ever wanted anyone, and fuck if I know how to deal with this kind of rejection. She didn’t even want to talk about it.” His voice grew heated. “What am I going to do?”
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
“Well, now that I bloody well know who she is and where she lives, I want to do whatever I can to make her realize she’s wrong.” He sighed. “Without venturing into creepy stalker territory.”
“Then why are you asking me when it seems like you’ve made up your mind?”
“I guess I just needed an ear. Her reaction threw me for a loop. Women don’t generally toss me off like that.” He paused. “Am I crazy to feel this strongly about a woman I hardly know?”
“No,” she responded gently. “The heart doesn’t care about that stuff.”
“Right,” he said slowly. “I’ll give her some space, but damned if I’m going to let her wait for long. What about you?”
“What about me?” Uncomfortable that the focus was back on her, she picked at an invisible piece of lint and shrugged.
“What the hell were you and lover boy doing out behind the boathouse? And don’t say nothing, because I’m looking in the mirror and I can see the imprint of his hand on yer arse.”
Shit. Poppy adjusted her bathing suit bottoms and slumped forward in defeat. After a moment, she whispered, “We had sex.”
“What was that, mate?”
Poppy looked straight into Link’s eyes and wailed, “Boone and I… We…”
“You shagged him back there?” A grin broke open on Link’s face. Poppy didn’t much care for it.
“We were in the water…behind some trees and…” She closed her eyes and took a moment.
“And?”