Page 72 of This Time I'm Keeping You
“I really have to do some writing today, Nick.Can I sit in the car with it locked?Or even in there?”She pointed to the coffee shop that Cassie said had great chocolate chip cookies.
He cupped her face and gave her a hard kiss.Then, taking her hand, he towed her across the street and into the building.Once there, he walked inside and looked around.It was small, and most of the tables were full.Luckily, someone was just leaving the one in the window.
“If I sit here, I can see everyone coming and going,” Poppy said.
Nick checked the view by sitting where she would.“See that building right there?”He jabbed a long finger in the direction of a small portable office at the building site.“I’ll stand in the window.Wave if you need me.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.After all, there will be coffee and chocolate chip cookies.”She smirked at him.“And I’ll eat at least two before you return.”
“You have a smart mouth.Now be a good girl and don’t move.I mean it, Poppy.”
“I promise,” she said solemnly.
“Any trouble or phone calls, you come and get me.No chances, okay?”
“Okay, and I promise to do everything you said, but as Denton is in custody and Malcolm Davy is at his house miles away, I’m safe, Nick.”
He studied her and then said, “You’re important to me, Poppy.You understand that, right?”
She nodded, her heart thudding hard.
“I know this has been an odd way to start a relationship, but this is that for me now, baby.”He kissed her again.“I need you to stay safe.”
“’Kay,” she whispered.“And same.”
“Same?”He raised a brow.“You’re meant to be the wordsmith out of the two of us.”
“I’m a little off-balance right now, and what you said was perfect.”
His smile was a thing of beauty, as was his dimple.“Behave” was Nick’s parting word before he walked away in that slow, easy stride he had.Just watching him made her sigh.
Mine,she thought with a smile of pure feminine delight.
“We’re in this together,” he’d said, and it was time she understood that.Understood if she left, he’d find her now because he cared.Maybe it really was time to stop running and start fighting.Not just think it but do it.
Denton was in custody, and they were watching Davy.Is this nightmare nearly over?
Poppy ordered coffee and four chocolate chip cookies to go for Nick.He could have three.She was eating one now because Cassie was right.They looked amazing.
Poppy sat, drank her coffee, and worked.The words were flowing, which surprised her considering the turmoil in her life.But then Nick had just said she was important to him, and she was allowing herself to have hope from this moment on.
“Is there a Poppy Sylvester in here?”the barista asked.He was holding out a portable phone.“I have a call for you.”
“Me.”Poppy rolled her eyes.She just bet it was Nick, making sure she was behaving.Although she’d be telling him that putting a call to the coffee shop, not her cell phone, a five-minute walk from where he stood was crazy.“Sorry about this,” she said, taking the phone.
“All good,” the guy said.
“Hello, Nick.”
“Not Nick, but if you want him to stay safe, Poppy, you need to listen to me.”
“Malcolm?”Shock had her gripping the phone hard enough so the edges bit into her palm.
“Walk to the window.”
Heart pounding, she did as he asked.
“Do you see a white van parked outside the coffee shop?”
