Gray work socks.
Tanned hairy legs.
Tanned hairy male legs.
“We need to talk.” Boone’s voice washed over her like cold water over a fire. Her stomach rolled, and she didn’t know if it was because of the anger that burned inside her or the excitement that accompanied it.
Imagine that. Excitement at the sight of those dirty, scuffed-up boots.
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
God, she was such a liar.
“You don’t need to talk. You need to listen.”
“Sir,” Molly’s masseuse interrupted again. “You need to leave.”
“I’ll leave when I’ve said what it is I came here to say and not before. Got it?”
“Well, I’m going to summon security.”
“Knock yourself out. It will take an army to move me away from her.”
Someone coughed.
Poppy held her breath.
“I’m not playing ball in New Orleans this fall. It was never happening. They could have offered me the fucking moon and I still would have said no. For a lot of reasons. And I think it’s time you heard them all.
“I don’t love football enough to give the game what it needs. To give my teammates what they deserve. I took the football ride all the way because my dad hated the game. He was a hockey man, and to him, football was nothing more than a bunch of testosterone-fueled apes pounding each other to the ground in order to get a ball across that white line. The sad thing is, I loved hockey as much as he did, and I could have done something with it, but no way was I giving him the satisfaction. You see, my old man was a straight-up bastard who liked to hit my mother when he wasn’t verbally tearing strips off her. He didn’t like me all that much when I was small, until he saw what I could do with a puck, and then he only liked me for what he thought I could accomplish. He was a mean drunk, a shitty father, and that last night when he found out I’d turned down a hockey scholarship from Bowling Green, he broke my mother’s jaw. When I tried to protect her, he nearly put me in the hospital. I left without saying a word to you because I was confused as hell. I was raw and angry and if I stayed, he would have killed me or I would have killed him. And my mom would have gotten caught in the crosshairs.”
He expelled a long breath, and she tried her damnedest to keep from sniffling, but it was no use.
“I’m sorry for that. I wasn’t man enough to deal with all that emotion. But, Poppy, you gotta know that you were the only good thing I had that summer. And call it serendipity or whatever you want, but we found each other again, and damned if I’m going to let my ex-wife’s poison tongue take you away from me. And she is my ex. I had her sign the papers last week before she left. Cost me a fucking fortune, but it was worth every dime. She gave up custody of Benji, and he and I can live our lives. We can be happy. But that’s not going to happen unless you’re in it with us. You see, I finally realized I deserve to be happy. I deserve to live the life I want with the woman I want at my side. Whatever that life’s going to be. I want it. With you.”
Oh. God.
Heart in her throat, Poppy gripped the edges of the table. The young man who’d been working on her rushed around and held up the towel so she could kneel on the table without her bits showing.
Boone stood in front of her. She could have spent minutes taking in every beautiful inch of his body, which, without a shirt, was impressive. But the look in his eyes took her breath away, and she found she couldn’t speak.
“I want you, Poppy. All of you. Tell me what I need to do to make that happen.”
She had to take a moment, and ignored her friends—Molly, who watched with tear-filled eyes, Blue, who sniffled like she had a cold, and Regan, who was watching with a small smile on her face.
“You could start by kissing me,” she said slowly.
She barely got the words out before he grabbed her to his chest and his mouth covered hers whole. Boone kissed her like they were alone with no one watching, like the only two souls that existed belonged to them.
When he finally broke away, she was barely coherent. “We have so much to talk about. I’m sorry for the way I acted. Ashamed, really. I just… Amber got in my head, and all that stuff from the past hung on my shoulders like one hundred pound weights.”
“I know. And we will. We have the rest of our lives. I love you, Poppy. I think I’ve loved you since I was eighteen. I was just too young and dumb to realize it. But I’m a better man now, and I’ll do better. I promise.”
“Oh. My. Gawd.” Poppy’s masseuse frantically waved his hands in front of his face. “That’s such an Instagram moment. Damn, girl, are you going to answer him or what?”
Overwhelmed, she stared wordlessly up at Boone. Had she missed a question? Everything went out the window the moment she heard the word love.
That wicked grin she’d missed so much touched the corner of his mouth. “I want you to pay attention. Can you do that?” Boone spoke gently and slowly.
She nodded.
“I love you. And I want to make a life with you. I want to marry you, Poppy Fairbanks. That’s the question that needs answering.”
She had to work at the knot in her throat, and when it finally gave way, her voice was hoarse and barely discernable.
“Yes,” she answered simply. She didn’t get a chance to say another word on account of the fact that Boone’s mouth was on hers again. He kissed her until her head spun. Until her heart nearly beat out of her chest and she shook from the intensity of it.
He kissed her until she was drowning.
And then he scooped her into his arms, and, without a word to anyone, Boone Avery took her home.
Epilogue
Two months later…
October in Crystal Lake was like heaven on earth. The state was in transition as summer came to a close and fall fell into place. The forests were alive with all the colors of the season, with every shade of orange, yellow, and gold painting the horizon as far as you could see. Various towns had their fairs or festivals to celebrate the end of harvest. There’d been an apple butter festival two counties over the weekend before, and this coming weekend, Crystal Lake was celebrating their tenth annual Pumpkinfest.
Poppy had never felt so alive or happy. Sometimes, when no one was looking, she actually pinched herself to make sure it was real. It would hurt. She would grimace. And then Benji would hop onto her lap and ask her to read to him, while Boone watched from the kitchen or from beside her.
It was real. All of it. And now she was officially moving on to the next part of her life.
She stood back from the edge of her driveway and looked at the For Sale sign on her front yard with a feeling of trepidation, but also hope and excitement. Just off work, she’d swung by this way for a look before heading out to the lake. She’d moved in with Boone over a month ago, but only just listed her house. And maybe she’d dragged her heels because it was hard. This place was her first real adult purchase. It meant a lot to her. But it was a chapter that had ended, and she was finally ready to move on.
She looked down at the sparkling ring on her finger and smiled, turning her hand so the large solitaire could catch the sun.
“That’s beautiful.”