Page 35 of This Time I'm Keeping You
Taking clothes out of her bag, she went to the en suite.After a hot shower, she changed into jeans and a cardigan, which Poppy struggled to get into one-handed.She ignored her tangled hair again because she found it too hard to wrestle with.Putting on her sling, she headed back downstairs.
Checking out more of the house on the way, Poppy reached the kitchen and found Nick talking to her cat.Hercules was sitting on the floor watching him cook.
“The thing is, bud, you’ve already eaten, and to my way of thinking, your waistline is a little thick, and I’m not your human, so I don’t have to feed you constantly.”
“Harsh but true,” Poppy said.
He turned with a smile on his face that made her heart flutter.
“He looks at me, and I cave and give him a treat.It’s just him and me?—”
“So you spoil him,” Nick finished for her.
“Something like that,” she mumbled.
“I had a dog who died of old age last month, and he could get me to feed him any time of the day.”
“I’m sorry.It must have been hard losing him.”Poppy saw the sadness in his eyes.
“Yeah, it was tough.Barney grew up with me.I miss him.”He turned back to the stove.The smells coming from whatever he was cooking had her mouth watering.
“Are you going to get another dog?”
“Not yet.I’m not ready.”The words told her he was still hurting.
“I’m really sorry you lost your companion, Nick.”Poppy touched his shoulder.She felt it rise and fall, and then he turned to face her again.
“We nearly lost Mom a few years ago to cancer, and he was always there when I came home from the hospital.He’d sit with me on the front step, and I’d feel his warm little body leaning on me, and it was like I wasn’t alone with my worry.”
She sniffed loudly and then cleared her throat.
“I can make Thomas cry easily too,” he said, smiling.
“Hercules is the only constant in my life through all the crap,” Poppy said, wiping a tear from under her eye.
“I still wake and reach for Barney,” Nick said, settling his hands on her waist.
“I bet.”She tried to back away, but he pulled her in close.“Nick, you need to let me go.”
“I’m sad.Surely, that deserves some comfort?”
Before she could argue, he was kissing her again.Soft kisses while his big arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer.Poppy felt her pulse spike and that liquid heat flood her body.She wanted this man, and that was a terrifying thought.
“Nick,” Poppy whispered, “this is not a good idea.”
“Why?”He nipped at her lower lip.“Feels like a really good idea to me.”
“We hated each other a few days ago.”
“Correction, you hated me because I was a brainless idiot.Now I’m not, so you like me.There is no reason at all for us not to get naked.”
She snorted, and then he was kissing her again, and Poppy was kissing him back in seconds.The man made her knees go weak, and she didn’t remember anyone doing that before.
Nick didn’t let her go until he was ready, and then he eased her back, just enough to look into her eyes.
“Are you in a relationship?”
She shook her head.
