32. Poppy
Poppy
I didn’t ask Hayden to take me home last night. Instead, as I open my eyes, I’m greeted by dark blue walls. The color of the sea at dusk. I roll over in the luxuriously soft sheets and take in the sleeping man beside me.
He looks utterly serene, stretched out on his back with the sheets lazily crumpled down across his waist. He’s so handsome it actually sends a pang to my heart. And after the night we had in this bed, it’s clear my heart has claimed him. There’s no doubt what that pang means anymore.
“Come here,” he mumbles, his voice scratchy from sleep. An arm shoots out, wrapping around me and tugging me against him. With my head on his chest and leg hooked over his, I fit. I never imagined fitting with Hayden Thompson, yet it’s undeniably perfect.
I’m busy kissing along his collarbone when he speaks again. “Stay with me.”
“What?” I hesitate, various meanings for those words rattling around in my head.
Hayden runs his fingers through my hair and smiles. He’s watching me overthink this. He’s made it clear that he can recognize when that happens.
With a kiss to the top of my head, he clarifies. “I know you don’t open the bakery today. So, stay with me. I’ll make you breakfast, and you can have your coffee as sweet as your heart desires. We can go down to the beach and not worry about a thing all day.”
“What’s for breakfast?” I ask, pretending to think about the offer.
“Actually, I learned how to make these strawberry croissant things and never got to show off my skills.”
A giggle escapes me as Hayden rolls us. Above me, he grins, and it’s one of those smiles that reaches his eyes and sends butterflies through my chest.
“Let’s see how good of a student you’ve been.”
“Poppy, sit your ass down.”
“If you would just?—”
“No.” He points a whisk at me, batter dripping on the kitchen island between us. “I am doing this for you, it’s a gesture .”
I snap my mouth shut and nod. I’m not used to being the one sitting on the bar stool watching. But I have to admit, he looks good baking for me.
“I thought I heard voices,” Beckett says happily, his eyes darting between us. He takes in Hayden’s T-shirt that I threw on over my swimsuit and grins ear to ear. “Good morning, Poppy.”
“Morning, Beckett,” I reply, pulling out the stool beside me. “Want breakfast?”
“Is it going to be safe to eat?”
“Hey—” Hayden turns from the oven and thumps the baking sheet in his hands down on the counter.
“Don’t worry.” I turn to Beckett, ignoring his interjection. “I’ve been watching him.”
“Be honest, you’ve never been able to take your eyes off of me.”
“This is worse than you two fighting all the time,” Beck mutters, rising from the stool once again and crossing over to the coffee pot. “I’ll be back when the food is ready.”
He pours a cup and disappears from the room with a shake of his head. Turning back, I see Hayden sliding the pastries onto a cooling rack. He’s careful, precisely moving through all the steps just as I showed him. Maybe Hayden has been paying closer attention to me than I’ve ever realized.
Sitting back, I don’t interject again. I watch him pull the custard from the fridge and fill the croissants.
Of course, he goes heavy on the filling.
But as I sip my coffee and watch the handsome man before me work, for once I don’t mind in the slightest that there is something deviating from my plan.
He layers the completed treats into a container, leaving some for Beckett on the counter, and motions over his shoulder. “Eat these on the beach?”
“Yes, please.” I jump up from the stool and move around the island to meet him.
Hayden grabs my hand and together, we make our way outside and across the yard.
It’s one of those mornings that have a bite in the air, but you can already feel the sun starting to warm the day.
A gentle breeze catches my hair, and I use my free hand to brush it aside as we head down the stone stairs to the beach.
Beside the bottom step, there is a storage chest. Releasing my hand, Hayden opens it and withdraws what looks to be like a blanket-sized beach towel. He makes quick work spreading it across the sand and as we settle in, he offers me the container of pastries.
“Alright, baby. Let me have it,” Hayden murmurs when I select a croissant from the top. I can’t hide the delighted sigh that escapes me with my first bite. He did well. Really well.
Reaching forward, he wipes a bit of powdered sugar from the corner of my lip and smiles. “Good?”
“Good,” I concede, holding it out for him to try.
“Damn. I could definitely work for you at the bakery,” he mumbles through his bite of croissant. His one bite manages to be more than half the treat, and I finish the rest quickly.
“I thought we weren’t going to worry about anything all day,” I point out through the mouth full of strawberries and heaven.
Hayden wraps his arms around my middle and kisses me softly. “You can’t fault me for wanting more time with you,” he murmurs. “That doesn’t count as talking about our worries.”
“Mmm, well if it doesn’t count,” I smile against his lips. “But if you work at the bakery, I won’t get to see you looking sexy in that fireman’s uniform.”
“Oh, so you do like that? I seem to recall you saying I looked like a frat boy in a Halloween costume—and you made sure to tell me that wasn’t a compliment.”
“I said that?” I reply innocently.
Hayden pulls his T-shirt off, his bare chest gleaming in the sun like the God of the Sea, and grins at me. “You certainly did. At a town meeting a few months ago.”
“Okay, so that was a lie.”
“You don’t say.” He leans back on his elbow and trails his knuckles down my jaw. “And the truth is, you find me sexy as hell in uniform.”
“You’re embellishing my words, but I am a fan… other than when you threw me over your shoulder and carried me out of the bakery,” I mutter, also taking my T-shirt off from over my bikini and leaning back on the towel.
“You didn’t like my hands on you?” His voice is husky as his grip slides up either side of my waist. “Because I had a hard time putting you down and walking away that day.”
“Was it really necessary for us to leave the bakery that day?”
“It wasn’t not necessary,” he replies evasively.
“Hayden!”
“Ready for a swim?” he asks, jumping up and reaching a hand toward me.
“No, I’m not going out there until you answer?—”
Same as the situation we’re discussing, he bends down and scoops me up, throwing me over his shoulder.
His fingers curl around my bare, inner thigh, sending shock waves of desire straight to my core.
A memory of Hayden gripping me in the same location in bed last night flashes through my mind, and it’s only when I hear the sound of him crashing through the break that my attention comes back to the present.
“Hayden!” I cry again as he dives into the waves, taking me right along with him.
Bobbing up on a wave, I sputter, my mouth salty from the surprise.
And when I wipe my eyes, he is wading towards me, a playful look dancing across his face.
With the corner of his lip tipped up in a grin, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me flush against him.
I no longer sway from the force of the wave, anchored in place by his strong presence.
“It is procedure to clear the neighboring buildings. So yes, it was necessary. But honestly? I was terrified by the idea of something happening to you. I acted rashly, carrying you out was more than the situation warranted.”
He curls his fingers into my sides, holding me tighter, as if worried that I might flee with his admission. My heart aches that he could still worry about such things, that he doesn’t realize I want to be here with him.
“I’m glad you did,” I admit, looping one arm around his neck and lifting the other to take his face in my hand. “It’s the reason we are here right now.”
“Poppy, about last night,” he starts gently. “I never could have dreamed…”
“This sounds like you’re about to let me down easy,” I murmur.
“Just the opposite. I’ve told you before, I’m not going anywhere.” The context is different this time, but his words are just as resolute. As if he decided this long before last night.
And when he asks, “Do you trust me?” I nod immediately, my heart taking the lead before my mind can overthink it. I do, I trust him. Somehow, he worked his way straight into my stubborn heart.