Chapter Nine #2
Poppy’s hurt and anger diminished at his honesty and a part of her now was glad she had been there for him in the moment. That he had allowed her to feel that emotion even if it had been directed at himself.
‘I’m responsible for bringing myself onto their radar too. I can handle it, Caius. What was the polo match they mentioned?’
‘It’s an annual match for charity. I usually play with the European team against the South Americans.’
‘And you’re not?’
‘I hadn’t even thought of it. It’s the week after next.’
‘I’ve never been to a polo match.’
Caius raised a brow. ‘I can let them know I’m available to play if you want to go?’
Poppy smiled at Caius, glad to see that he’d visibly relaxed since the barrage outside. ‘That sounds like fun.’
Caius watched Poppy deep in conversation with a diplomat’s wife. She was fascinating to observe. She invested her whole self in whoever she was talking to. Not looking over people’s shoulders like so many in this kind of situation, looking for the next more important person to appear.
And, as a result of her genuine interest and attention, people walked away from her smiling, glowing.
She was also very easy to look at in that dress that seemed to defy gravity, showcasing her generous breasts and acres of pale skin.
Her red hair stood out in the crowd and Caius liked that he could find her easily.
She’d gone to the bathroom earlier and he’d found himself unable to focus properly until he’d seen that distinctive red head reappearing on the other side of the room.
When she’d appeared to be getting stopped by every single person en route back to where he’d been, he’d simply cut a swathe through the crowd to get to her.
She’d met his eye just before he’d reached her and sent a silent message of get me out of here, please, and Caius had duly obliged, taking her hand and telling her rapt audience apologetically that he had to introduce her to someone.
He had to admit he was still a little off-centre after the interaction with the paparazzi, and then with Poppy. That kiss had been born out of frustration, yes, but there had also been a lot more going on. He’d felt a need to counteract that snide remark insinuating that he couldn’t change.
Insinuating that maybe Poppy wasn’t enough. Caius had felt anger rise, and suddenly he’d been kissing her, an instinctive reaction.
But now he could see that he would never have turned to another woman and had that response. He would have smiled and employed the charm that had become his stock-in-trade response.
But he couldn’t do that around Poppy because he could no more be superficial with her than he could keep pretending that she hadn’t got to him deeper than anyone else. Like the way she was all the way embedded deeper in his life than anyone else ever had been.
And it wasn’t just because of the pregnancy. She wouldn’t be pregnant if their connection hadn’t been so deep and visceral the first night they’d met.
They’d connected emotionally. No. The rejection of that assertion was immediate. They were having a baby. They were married. He wanted her. He felt protective of her, naturally. That was all.
The vast space was emptying out. Caius was surprised. He was used to coming to events like this, tolerating it for as long as possible, which wasn’t usually very long, and then seeking out the next event to try and keep his interest alive.
But that no longer appealed. What did appeal was the thought of getting back to the apartment with Poppy and forgetting about that disturbing interlude with the paparazzi and ridiculous thoughts of how he couldn’t recall what it felt like to be in a situation like this with anyone else and undoing that dress so that he could fill his hands with her—
‘Can we go dancing?’
Caius blinked and focused on Poppy, who was looking up at him. She said, ‘Celeste said there’s a new place opening tonight.’
‘Celeste?’
‘The French ambassador’s assistant.’
The thought of going to a nightclub opening filled Caius with a sense of ennui. He opened his mouth to say no but then thought of something. ‘Are you suggesting this because you think it’s what I want?’
‘I haven’t been out dancing since I was in university and those places were dives. I’ve never been to a proper club.’
‘You’re pregnant!’ Caius was aware he sounded like someone twice his age. An indignant father.
Poppy rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not handicapped, Caius. The baby will probably love the music.’
She looked so young in that moment, face open and excited, eyes shining. Caius felt jaded. Like the buzz kill. And yet her infectious enthusiasm lit something inside. A need to indulge. Feeling sure she’d hate it once they got there, he shrugged and said, ‘OK, fine, let’s go.’
But Poppy didn’t hate it. She loved it. Even with a sparkling water instead of sparkling wine.
Even wearing an evening gown when everyone else was more appropriately attired.
She loved the glamour of it, the dance floor with its retro lit-up squares and the disco balls.
The private booths and the funky mix of house and pop music.
She was swaying to the beat, looking at the crowd, drinking it all in. She could feel the baby kicking and turned to Caius where he was sitting in the booth looking at her. She came over to him, hands on her belly, and said over the pounding base, ‘The baby is dancing too!’
He pulled her down onto his lap and put his hands on her belly, Poppy moved them to where she’d felt the kicks and the baby kicked again under Caius’s hand. She saw his eyes widen and cheeks flush. She felt a surge of emotion and had to blink it back.
The moment felt incredibly intimate even though Poppy knew the backdrop was the antithesis of intimate. It was public. Loud. Frantic. She caught Caius’s hand and stood up. ‘Dance with me?’
But Caius shook his head. ‘I don’t dance in places like this, Poppy.’
She let his hand go and stuck her tongue out, before saying, ‘I don’t care if it’s not cool, I’m dancing.’
Before Caius could stop her, she’d gone beyond the VIP cordon and down the stairs and onto the dance floor.
He stood up and went to the rail, putting his hands on it, searching for Poppy’s distinctive hair in the crowd and then he found her, in the middle, holding her dress up with one hand, and moving to the beat in a way that was both endearingly offbeat and seriously sexy.
She couldn’t dance. That much was obvious. But she didn’t care and wasn’t attracting sniggers, quite the opposite. She was attracting attention. Mostly from men, eyeing up her curves. Poppy was oblivious, dancing in her own little world, smiling to herself. She seemed younger, carefree.
Something surged within Caius. He only realised it was jealousy when he was halfway across the dance floor to insert himself between her and a growing rapt audience.
She looked up at him and smiled and he couldn’t help smiling back because his hands were full of her and the jealous beast inside him could breathe again. They moved together and Caius forgot about everyone else as they moved to a different beat.
She suddenly reached up and pressed a kiss to his mouth, hard, and then pulled back. Caius asked, ‘What was that for?’
Poppy looked pleased with herself. ‘Earlier. A kiss for a kiss. Now we’re quits.’
But they weren’t quits at all, because Caius suddenly realised he’d wanted to distract himself from thinking about earlier revelations by losing himself in Poppy but he was here, enjoying himself far too much, when these places had never really held much of an appeal for him, after his teenage years.
Another unwelcome revelation.
And then Poppy yawned and Caius couldn’t help but laugh. She was looking at him, indignant. ‘What’s so funny?’
He shook his head. He wasn’t about to tell her that she was the first woman who’d yawned in his presence and yet he still wanted her.
‘I think you’ve overestimated your energy levels.’
She looked a bit sheepish. ‘Maybe.’ She looked around wistfully. ‘But I’d like to come back.’
Caius curbed the urge to assure her he’d bring her clubbing again, even though the thought of someone else in a place like this with her was momentarily rage-inducing.
He forced himself to say civilly, ‘I’m sure you’ll be back, but can we go for now?’
‘OK.’
Caius took Poppy’s hand and told himself the sooner they got back to the apartment and focused on the job of helping this chemistry to burn out, the sooner he could get back to a world where revelations were few and far between and had nothing to do with this woman and her effect on him, and his life.
Back at the apartment, Caius helped Poppy take off the heavy necklace and then pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, feeling her delicate shiver. She said, ‘I had a really nice time this evening, Caius. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it so much.’
Caius stilled for a moment, because he could agree with her and say he’d enjoyed it too and that that had been unexpected for him, but Caius didn’t want to talk because talking would make him think of how it had felt to need to find her distinctive red hair if she wasn’t by his side, or how much he’d liked just observing her and her effect on people.
So he just said, ‘That’s good, I’m glad,’ and then he found her zip and pulled it down.
She turned around to face him but she held the dress up. She looked at him and said, ‘I think we were good together this evening.’
Caius tensed. ‘We were.’
‘Do you think you can see a future for us together…once this desire burns out? For the sake of our daughter primarily…but also because maybe we can build on something?’
Caius felt exposed. ‘Did I give you the impression that I wanted more?’ He’d always been so careful but with Poppy, since that first night, his usual levels of control had gone out of the window.
She bit her lip. ‘You know what? Forget I said anything.’