Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
I’ve never been more fucking bored in my life.
Sitting in a rented house with three soldiers, because in my occupation, it’s fucking stupid to travel anywhere alone and I sure as fuck wasn’t bringing any of my cousins out to Texas.
The last thing I need is word getting back to those fuckers about what I’m doing here.
I’ve been watching the clock all afternoon, waiting and cursing myself for not telling Poppy I’d pick her up earlier. When the time finally comes, I have one of the soldiers drive me, the other two following in a matching rented SUV.
Poppy lives in a cottage in the middle of fucking nowhere on what I’m assuming by the sign we drove under is her family’s ranch. I pull up to the house. I found it earlier on Google maps.
“No need for you to get out, Jules,” I tell my driver. “I doubt any fuckers will be jumping down from the trees around here.”
“Probably not,” he says.
I lift my hand to knock on the door. Before my knuckles make contact, it swings open and I’m greeted by a very pissed-off looking Poppy. “Just so you know, I’m not a whore.” She slams five hundred-dollar bills into my chest.
“What the fuck?”
“You left that today.”
“Because you gave me a treatment. I was paying for the treatment, not your pussy, Poppy. I don’t pay for sex,” I tell her.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” I step forward, forcing her to take a step backwards. When I’m far enough inside the cottage, I close the door. “I’m from Vegas. You think I need to fly all the way out to Texas if I wanted a whore?”
“Probably not.” She shakes her head.
I want to shove her up against the wall and devour her. But I’m here to take her to dinner… first. The devouring part is happening after.
“You ready to go?” I look down at her. She’s dressed in a pink-and-white striped pajama set.
“Ah, no. I don’t think we should go out,” she says.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a small town, and everyone here knows me. And you, well, you don’t fit in.”
“Poppy, go get dressed. We’re going to dinner.”
She squints her eyes at me. “You know, I might have liked it when you ordered me around in the bedroom but in real life, that’s not happening.”
“Poppy, can you go get dressed so I can take you to dinner, please?” I ask.
“That’s better.” She smiles. “But I’m warning you, you’re going to be the topic of gossip around these parts for the next ten years.”
I don’t give a fuck who talks about me. “Good, let them all know I’m with you. Any man would be fucking proud as fuck to be seen with you, Poppy.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Give me five minutes. You can wait in the lounge.” She points to the blue-and-white checked sofa.
“Sure,” I agree, having no intention of waiting in the lounge. I watch her turn and make her way down the hall. I follow along after her.
“What are you doing?” Poppy asks when I walk into her bedroom and get comfortable on her bed.
“Making sure you don’t jump out that window and try to run.”
“I have a shotgun by my front door, one in my kitchen, and one right here.” She points to a rifle leaning up against a wooden chest of drawers. “If I didn’t want to go to dinner with you, I don’t need to run, Sammie.”
“Why the fuck do you have so many guns?” I ask, not moving from her bed.
“It’s Texas,” she says with a wide smile. “Why do you walk around carrying under that fancy jacket of yours?”
“Occupational requirement,” I tell her.
“You’re a security guy, right? For the casino?”
“Not exactly.” I chuckle. “Stop stalling. Get dressed.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re an asshole?” She opens a large wardrobe and yanks at the clothes hanging there before pulling something down.
“No one that has a tongue to say it to me twice.” I laugh again. I don’t remember ever being around someone I could be so carefree with. I don’t laugh this much.
“Well, you haven’t seen how good I am with my tongue yet, so you’re going to have to wait on the cutting it out part.” She throws a dress on top of the comforter, and then proceeds to pull her pajama top over her head before she slides the shorts down her legs.
My eyes hungrily eat up every inch of skin she’s showing, while she’s wearing nothing but a pale-pink silk panties and bra set. “You always dress like that for a night in?” I ask her.
“Nope, but I knew you were going to show up. I figured I’d lose all sense and agree to actually go to dinner with you. It’s the whole…” She waves a hand at me. “…hot guy effect.”
“Hot guy effect?” I parrot.
“Yeah, makes girls’ panties wet and their brains go to mush. Causing us to make very questionable life decisions.”
I watch as she slides a blue-and-pink dress over her head. Sits on the edge of the bed and puts on a pair of white socks. When she stands, she slides her feet into a pair of blue-and-brown cowgirl boots.
“Nice boots.” My lips tilt upwards. “They’re going to look fucking great wrapped around my waist later.”
“Maybe,” she says. “This is how one should look for going out to dinner in this town. That three-piece suit, as good as it looks, is a bit… much.”
“I don’t dress to impress other people.”
“Yes, you do. No one who dresses like that does it for comfort, Sammie.”
“It’s an occupational requirement,” I repeat.
“Right, what was that occupation again?” Poppy pulls her hair down from the messy bun it was in. Long blonde waves fall over her shoulders.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I tell her.
“Thank you. So, are we doing this dinner thing?”
“Let’s go.” Standing from her bed, I take hold of her hand and lead her out of the house. “You really do look fucking good.”
“So do you, even if it’s not at all suitable.” She smiles up at me, and I swear something weird happens in my chest.
Jules steps out of the car and opens the back door. “Thanks.”
I let Poppy slide in first before getting in behind her. “I came up with two options when I Googled this town. The Valley Barn or Old Kestral Pub?” I ask her.
“The Valley Barn. It’s Tuesday night so hopefully it’ll be quiet,” she says, looking a little nervous all of a sudden.
“You okay?”
“You always travel with a driver? And who is in that other car?” She peers over a shoulder at the SUV tailing us.
“Security,” I tell her.
“You need security because…?”
“Occupational requirement.” I grin.
“You have a lot of these occupational requirements. What exactly do you do, Sammie?”
“A lot. My family owns several casinos on The Strip. I oversee a few different aspects of the family business.”
“You own the casino? The one we were at?”
I nod.
“So, you’re the one who’s stupid enough to spend two-hundred thousand dollars on a bar top?”
“Nope, that would be my father.”
“Right.” She rolls her eyes. “You know, it’s weird. This. You being here. You were supposed to be what happened in Vegas.”
“Want me to fly you back to Vegas?”
“I’m actually afraid you would,” she says.
“I could have the jet ready within the hour,” I tell her.
“Nope, let’s do this dinner thing. You’ll realize that whatever it is you’re looking for isn’t here and then you can go home.”
“I’ve already found what I’m looking for, Poppy.” I pick up her hand. “This dinner thing is because I’m fucking hungry and I want to feed you.”
When Jules pulls into the parking lot of The Valley Barn, Poppy lets out a loud breath. “Fuck.”
“What?” I ask, scanning the parking lot.
“We should go somewhere else,” she tells me.
“Why?”
“That’s my cousin’s truck.” Poppy points to a large pickup.
“And?”
She appears to consider her options for a second. “You know what? It’s fine. You got security, right?”
“They’ll be around,” I tell her.
“You might want to keep ?em close.” She smiles and then leans in and presses her lips to mine. “Just in case you don’t get to kiss me at the end of this date.”
“I plan on doing a lot more than kissing you at the end of this date, Poppy.”
“Sure, it’s good to have goals.”
When Jules opens the door, I get out and then extend a hand to Poppy.
She ignores it, slides down from the SUV, and steps around me. “Table for two or three?” she asks.
“Two,” I reply, following her into the bar. My hand lands on her lower back.
“You probably shouldn’t touch me,” Poppy whispers under her breath as we walk inside.