Page 32 of This Time I'm Keeping You
The thoughts he had for this woman were nothing like what he felt for his sisters.The loose shirt she wore today had him wanting to slip his fingers beneath that hem and stroking the soft skin of her stomach.
“I am not staying with you, end of story.”She lifted her chin, like that made her look tough.To Nick, she looked small and vulnerable, and she was not staying in a hotel alone and unprotected.
“I’m looking out for you,” he said calmly, “because from where I’m standing, there’s no one else close by who can do that.”
She exhaled slowly.
“You’ve done a lot for me, Nick, and I’m grateful, really, but I’m not your problem.”
“Nice speech, but you’re still coming home with me.So shut up and pack the furball.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
“No,” Poppy said, turning and walking to the kitchen, where he guessed she thought she’d get support from the others, who had disappeared when they started arguing.
He followed.Nick would carry her out of here if he had to, but she was coming home with him where he could keep her safe.
“I’ve organized for patrol cars to drive by here tonight, Poppy, and we’ll get it all photographed and fingerprinted.Then Nick has a cleaning company he uses that can get through on Thursday,” Billy said.
“Thanks, you guys have been amazing,” Poppy said.“I won’t argue about the cleaning company because I need one, but I can take the rest from here.”
“We Athertons can be pushy sometimes, but it’s well meaning,” Em said.
“Poppy thinks she can go to a hotel.I told her she’s coming home with me,” Nick said from behind her.“Tell her it’s the right thing to do, Billy.”
“Is there anyone else you can stay with, Poppy?”his cousin asked her.
Nick moved so he could see her face.Watched as she debated and worked out how to tell them she had someone when she didn’t.
“I could call Aunt Jenny.She’d come.”
“And what about tonight?She won’t get here until tomorrow,” Nick said.
“My assistant lives in Manhattan.She would come?—”
“And also not arrive until tomorrow,” Nick added, making her frown.Did she really only have one friend and a single relative in her life?“Let’s go,” he said.
“I want to go to a hotel.”
“Okay, sure.You win,” Nick said, pushing her gently out the kitchen door.“What do you carry your cat in?”
“Really?You’re giving in?”She narrowed her eyes, studying him.
“I said so, didn’t I?”
She didn’t look convinced.Wise girl.
Fifteen minutes later, they’d coaxed her cat into the carrying case.Nick carried it, and Sam took Poppy’s and her cat’s bags of supplies out the door.Billy was now talking to her neighbors.
“Where is the nearest hotel?”Poppy asked.“I could drive there if it’s not far.”
“You’re not meant to drive after what you went through,” Em said.“So let Nick drop you.”
He intercepted matching stares from his brother and sister, which Nick interpreted to meando not let her stay alone in a hotel.His siblings then left after another round of hugging Poppy.Nick could see she wasn’t exactly comfortable with the contact but put up with it.
He loaded her things in the back of his pickup with the now-pissed-off cat and got into the driver’s seat.
