Chapter 6 #2
"What's up, buttercup?" called Gran as she took a pan of cornbread out of the oven. Reaching over to kiss her granddaughter on the cheek, she looked Poppy's outfit up and down and said, "You are all dressed up for a Friday night."
"I thought I would come over and give you a hand. You work so hard. Since I am off next week and have the whole week to rest, I wanted to give you an early night. I will serve the food and clean up. After the plates are fixed, you can head up and take a nice long bath."
Gran gave her a stern look and said, "Who are you, and what have you done with my granddaughter?"
Poppy laughed and said, "So funny. I know I should help more. This is me trying to do that."
Poppy felt more than a bit of guilt at lying to her grandmother.
The truth was, if Bennett were not home, she would not have even thought to offer to help.
That realization bothered her deeply. Promising to be attentive and a better granddaughter beginning immediately, Poppy smiled broadly and said, "So what can I do to help? "
Pointing to the kitchen door, Gran said, "Go and let Mr. Carrington know that dinner is ready when he is." Poppy was only too happy to do that chore.
Poppy found Mr. Carrington and Bennett in the office. They were seated on each side of the fireplace, enjoying a pre-dinner drink. The door was open. Standing in the doorway, Poppy called out, "Mr. Carrington, Gran asked that I let you know that dinner is ready when you are."
At the sound of her voice, Bennett's head snapped up.
He drank her in as if he were a man dying of thirst. He ate her alive with his eyes.
Poppy could feel it from where she stood.
Poppy returned the look as she feasted on the sight of him.
All the bent-up passion and desire building since December flooded out in silent energy between the two.
If Bennett's dad was aware of the passionate charge in the air, he gave no indication of it.
Instead, he stood and began making his way to the dining room.
Bennett joined him. Poppy followed behind, taking slow, deep breaths.
Over the next hour, Poppy served dinner. She and Bennett did their best not to look at each other but whenever they did, both felt the electric charge zing through the room. Once dinner was over, Bennett and his dad returned to his office. This time, Mr. Carrington shut the door.
Poppy spent the next hour clearing the table and washing up. She finished putting away the last clean dishes when Bennett entered the kitchen.
"Whoa, what are you doing here?"
"I was just finishing putting away the dishes."
"I did not know you were doing so much for us.
Other than the sheets." Bennett felt like a fool mentioning the sheets.
Those damn sheets. He would never get in his bed again without thinking about her hands being all over them.
He could almost swear he could smell her on his pillow at night.
Thoughts of her had been driving him crazy ever since he saw her standing in the middle of that warehouse with her beautiful black dress ripped and hanging down.
Poppy was talking, and Bennett realized she had been doing so for a while. He was so caught up in thinking about that night, he did not hear a word she said. Shaking his head to clear it, he said, "I am sorry. What are you saying?”
Poppy laughed nervously, "It is not important. I explained that I don't usually serve or wash up, but I wanted to give Gran a break. She works so hard." Poppy felt that stab of guilt again.
"That's really nice of you. I don't know what we would do without her. Dad would be lost without her."
They stood staring at each other for a long moment. The tension was palpable.
Wanting to break the uncomfortable silence filling the room, Poppy asked, "So, was there something you needed when you came here?"
"Yes, I wanted to fix some popcorn and a soda.
I am about to watch a movie." Knowing it was a terrible idea but unable to stop his mouth from issuing the invitation, Bennett asked, "You wouldn't want to join me, would you?
On my way into town, I picked up some new releases at the video store.
" He rattled off the titles, but Poppy could have cared less.
He could have said he had a DVD of paint drying, and she would have said she wanted to watch it.
“Sure, I would love to. Let me run upstairs and change, and I will be right back. Where should I meet you?"
He gave her a weird look and said, "The DVD player is in my room. Is that a problem? I promise to be a complete gentleman."
Poppy shook her head and said, "No, that is not a problem." She added, "See you in a minute."
"Great," replied Bennett, "I will get the popcorn ready. Diet okay?”
"Sure," replied Poppy as she headed out the back door and raced to change. She’d drink arsenic if it meant she could spend time with him.
When Poppy knocked on Bennett's sliding door ten minutes later, he had changed into a T-shirt and jogging shorts. Poppy had put on a T-shirt and a pair of knit pants.
"Hope you don't mind sitting on the bed; it is the only seating I have," said Bennett.
"No problem," replied Poppy.
Both of them started out sitting at the edge of the bed, but their interest in the movie soon waned when their interest switched to little touches and shared looks.
After playing this game for ten minutes, Poppy said, "Oh, screw it," and reached out and took Benentt’s face in her hands and kissed him for all she was worth.
Unlike the kiss they shared at Christmas, this one did not start soft or gentle.
It began wild, and with each second, it grew wilder and hotter.
One minute, they were at the foot of the bed, sharing popcorn and pretending to watch the movie, and the next, they were lying across Bennett's bed, kissing each other with abandon.
Bennett and Poppy spent the next hour exploring each other's bodies. As their tongues fought a duel for control, they could not stop touching, squeezing, and giving over to the desires that had been haunting both of them for the last three months.
To Bennett's credit, he did everything he could to stay away from her. She was obviously his kryptonite. He had distanced himself from her. He had stayed away. He even tried to move on with other girls. But not one of them did what this redheaded vixen did for him.
Several times, he tried to slow them down. He would attempt to pull back or end the kissing, and each time, Poppy would lean into him, touching him more intimately, kissing him more deeply. He was lost to deny her. The whole time, the voice in his head kept saying, "Stop. You have gone too far."
Bennett was unable to heed his own advice. Poppy was driving this lust train, and he was just along for the ride. He knew he should call a halt to it all. And he would, just a few minutes more, he thought. She fit him so perfectly with her tiny little body.
Bennett needed to find the strength to pull back. Ultimately, the only thing that saved him from making a huge mistake was a loud knock on his sliding door.
"Bennett, dude, are you in there? Open up. I’ve got to talk to you."
Bennett and Poppy sprung apart as if they had been scalded.
It took a moment for each to realize what was happening.
Then Bennett rolled off the bed and whispered, "It's Tatum.
Get yourself together." He gestured to her clothes and hair, either missing or in great disarray.
Her ponytail holder had been lost a while back.
Her red hair was curling all over her head in wild abandon.
"Come on, buddy. I know you are in there. I can hear the movie," said Tatum, getting annoyed.
Frowning at the door, Bennett got himself sorted and then, after a minute, looked back to make sure Poppy was as presentable as possible.
All her clothes were back on and in the right place, but she looked like a woman doing exactly what she had been doing.
Tatum was not stupid. Bennett knew his friend would take one look, and the dirty little secret he had been hiding since Christmas would be out.
Bennett Carrington had fallen for a high school girl.
"You ready?" Bennett asked just before he opened the door. Poppy nodded. Pulling back the curtain and sliding open the door just enough for his head to slip out, Bennett said, "Hey, what's up?"
"I want to come in. That is what. Dude, do you have company? I am so sorry. I will come back later."
"No, it is just me. I just need a minute. Go around to the front. I will let you in there."
Tatum gave him a strange look. He always snuck into Bennett's room this way.
If Bennett asked him to go to the front, he was hiding something.
Not surprising. He had been acting weird since Christmas.
As far as Tatum knew, he had not hooked up with a single girl since then.
Tatum watched Bennett turn down super hot girls, saying he was not feeling it, and had outright rejected several sure-thing setups.
Tatum had worried his buddy had lost his mojo.
Now, he thought, maybe he just left it at home.
Nodding, Tatum said, "Sure thing, bro. See you in a minute. "
Bennett waited until he saw Tatum head around the side of the house to say, "I am so sorry about that."
"That’s okay; you didn't know your friend would show up."
"Yeah, well, I better go. I don't want him ringing the doorbell and waking up Dad. He is a bear when his sleep is disturbed.”
"Okay," said Poppy as she moved toward the door. "I am going." At the last second, she paused next to him and asked him, "When will I see you again?"
Running a hand through his hair, Bennett said, "I don't know. I am not sure this is a good idea. You and me. In fact, I know it is a really bad idea."
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Poppy said, "Sometimes bad ideas become good if they have enough time to grow." With that, she gave him a goodnight kiss he would not soon forget.
Breaking the kiss, Poppy headed to the door. Grabbing her hand, Bennett stopped her and said, "Okay, bad idea. I will think of something. Maybe we can go out on the lake tomorrow on the boat or something? Maybe grab some food at Jassen's?"
Smiling at him, Poppy said, "I would like that."
"Great, I am here all week. I have no plans. Be ready around 9:00. Does that sound like something you would like?”
"It sounds wonderful." Reaching over to give her a final peck, he added, "Now, go before all hell breaks loose."
Poppy quickly and quietly made her way back to her room. She did not know that Tatum had been watching from around the corner the entire time.
Interesting thought Tatum. His boy was in deeper trouble than he had ever imagined.
The Next Morning…
On Saturdays, Gran liked to hit all the local garage sales. She usually left the house around 6:00 and returned at noon. Poppy knew she would have a large window to get ready and to write her a note explaining her absence.
She got up at 7:00, took a shower, and spent a ridiculous amount of time doing her hair, given she would be out in the wind all day on a boat. She dressed in her cutest jeans, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt tied around her waist. She added the barest makeup and lip gloss and called it good.
She was up half the night coming up with an excuse for Gran strong enough to cover her being gone all day. Lying to Gran was getting easier by the day.
In the note, she said she was going to the library to get a jump on her research for her upcoming term paper. She hoped Gran would buy it. Gran knew she was stressing about doing two college classes and writing a term paper. Hopefully Gran would buy it.
With the note written and placed on the kitchen table where Gran could easily find it, Poppy threw some sunscreen and a hat into an oversized tote and headed down the backstairs.
Her excitement died a quiet death when she got to Bennett's door and saw a note addressed to her.
In it, he explained that his plans had changed.
He had to leave town for a few days. He was going to the Bahamas for spring break with Tatum, his sister, and her friend.
Poppy burned with anger and hurt when she read the note.
She had no idea what happened in the last twelve hours to cause Bennett to make a 180.
Poppy stood there holding the note, feeling like her world was crumbling.
A giant, gaping hole was now where her heart used to be.