Page 11 of This Time I'm Keeping You
“Is that for me?”She pointed to the coffee.
“It is.I brought you some food and a magazine.”
“Really?”
“Why does my generosity surprise you so much?”Her response pissed him off.
“You weren’t generous in college.In fact, you were a self-satisfied, loathsome jerk.”
“I always thought I admired your honesty.”
“I was never honest back then,” she said.
He thought seriously about not giving her the coffee, but then she was only telling the truth, and he likely deserved it.Even if her criticism was years too late.
“Sugar?”He held up the coffee.
“Three.”
“Three sugars?Who has that many these days?”Nick popped the lid and dumped in three packets.Luckily, he’d brought spares.
“Today, me.”She took it from him and drank.Her sigh came from the soles of her feet.
Nick wondered about the sounds she’d make while she was under him.Where the hell had that come from?It’s not like he’d ever find out.
Poppy took another mouthful of coffee.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be snippy.”
“I don’t think I’ve heard that word since you used it constantly in college.”
“You should head away now.I’m sure I’ve taken up more than enough of your time, and thanks again, Nick.”
Why did he not want to leave her alone?Yes, they’d once been friends, but now they were strangers.
“And what do you plan to do about your handbag, credit cards, and cell phone?”
“I forgot about them.”
Taking out his phone, he handed it to her.“At least one of us is thinking clearly.Seems that’s changed since college.”
“I have a concussion.What was your excuse?”
“Girls and hormones were clouding my thought processes then,” Nick said.
“How about now?”
“No, now I’m pretty much perfect.”
She flipped him her middle finger, but as it was the hand sticking out of her sling, it didn’t go so well.
“Poppy, if I say sorry again, years too late, will you forgive me for being an asshole in college?”
Chapter5
Poppy looked down at the cell phone in her hand and then held it out to him.She wasn’t sure he even knew what he was apologizing for, but she didn’t have the energy to get into what happened in college now.
“I accept your apology.Now just go home, Nick.I can sort everything out tomorrow.I don’t want to hold you up any?—”
“Shut up and make the calls.”
