Page 49 of Ocotillo Kisses
“I’d like to change before I go home, if that’s okay,” he said. “Don’t want to sit in the truck with wet trunks.”
“Sure, of course,” she said, motioning down the hall. “You can use my room. You know where it is.” All her enthusiasm from the evening faded. She had waited to be alone with him, and now she was and...
He wasn’t the fling-with-an-old-flame type. He was Captain-freaking-America, do the right thing, fall in love with the local schoolteacher, have a life. Have a family.
Why was she trying to convince herself otherwise?
He walked out the back door to gather his clothes, and she followed, her sorrow weighing her down. She had made this choice long ago. This could have been their life, but no. She had let him go, and she had no right to feel upset about it.
He straightened and smiled at her. “Tired?”
“No.” Just letting her thoughts drift to the past, which she had promised herself she would not do.
“Good.” He walked to her, letting his bag fall to one of the lounge chairs. He slipped his hand around her waist, and pulled her close. “Because I’ve been waiting to do this all night.”
She shouldn’t, she thought as she slid her hands up his bare, still damp arms to slide through his wet hair. She shouldn’t, she thought as she leaned into his warm, bare chest, her own bare skin clinging to his, her whole body coming alive when the rough skin of his hand brushed against the small of her back before pressing her against him.
She parted her lips beneath his with a moan, as he took the kiss deeper, his thumb rubbing against her spine, sparking desire through her. Her own fingers worked their way from the short hair at the back of his neck, down his strong neck to caress his back, as far as she could reach, and he somehow was able to draw her closer. The rough hair of his legs brushed against her bare thighs, and for a moment she wanted nothing more than to lift herself into his arms, wrap her legs around his waist.
“Oh! I’m sorry!”
The cry of dismay penetrated Britt’s brain, and she broke the kiss, twisting around to see Poppy had come around the side of the house. Britt blinked in surprise, pulling free from Con to face the other woman.
“I—forgot my camera. I’d meant to take pictures but I—” Blushing furiously, eyes downcast, Poppy gestured toward the case on a table next to one of the lounges. “I’m so sorry. I should have—should have just called you to watch it for me until I could get back here.” She hurried past them to gather the case, looping it over her neck and shoulder. “I’ll—get out of your way.”
She all but ran through the gate, not looking back.
“You should go after her,” Britt said to Con, pushing his arm in the direction of the path.
Con hesitated, looking in the direction Poppy had gone. “She’s not going to hear me right now.”
“You should go talk to her,” Britt said again, pulling free. “She’s your friend and you owe her that.”
––––––––
CONpadded across the flagstone walk to the gate, winced as his bare feet hit the gravel of the walk on the side of the house, the asphalt of the driveway as he rushed to get to Poppy before she got into her car. He barely caught the door when she swung it open.
Javi had already driven off, so just the two of them remained in Britt’s driveway.
“Poppy, look at me.”
“What are you doing?” When she looked up at him, her eyes were bright with tears in the lights of the driveway. “She left you at the worst time of your life. She abandoned you and left you to go through everything alone. And now all she has to do is crook her finger and you come running? What is wrong with you? I’m right here, Con.” She slapped a palm against her chest. “I’m right here and I have always been right here and you don’t even see me.”
“I see you, Poppy,” he said with a sigh, his hand still on the top of her door. “I see you, and you’re a good friend but—”
She whipped her hand up to hold out. “Don’t. Don’t ‘only friends’ me. I don’t want to hear that.”
“Maybe not, but I’m sorry, Poppy. I just don’t feel any other way. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know that until now. I never meant to hurt you.” That was the truth, as much as he hated saying it. “I was a coward, I guess, because I knew the way your thoughts were going and I just let them, to see, you know?”
“You danced with me at your parents’ party, and you let me think...”
“I’m sorry, Poppy,” he said again, because he didn’t know what else to say.
“And she comes back and you throw yourself at her feet, after the way she treated you.”
“She’s changed.”
Poppy’s throat tightened as she fought tears. “She’s not going to stay, you know. She’s made that perfectly clear. And has she even apologized to you for leaving the way she did?”
