Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
June was here. In the house. And Poppy was pinned, half-naked up against the wall about ten seconds away from an epic orgasm.
Oh god!
She pulled away from Cooper and scrambled to dress herself, but her shirt was nowhere to be seen. “June!” she cried, covering her bare chest with her hands. “I didn’t know you were coming back so soon!”
“Clearly.” Her aunt was grinning in the doorway, swathed in a bright purple pashmina. “I see you’ve been making friends with the neighbors. Cooper,” she nodded, her eyes sparkling with mirth.
“June.” Cooper’s voice was strangled. He quickly set Poppy down and refastened his belt, retrieving the shirt Poppy had been wearing. She grabbed it out of his hands and pulled it over her head.
“How was the cruise?” Poppy babbled. “Was it fun? I never wanted to try one, you’re just trapped out there for days, hostage to food poisoning and buffet tables, but I saw your photos and it looked like a great time.”
June arched an eyebrow. “Not as much fun as you’ve been having,” she said. “Coffee’s on, is it? Cooper. You’ll stay for a cup.”
It didn’t sound like a question.
June bustled off to the kitchen. Poppy turned and buried her face against Cooper’s chest.
“I can’t believe we just got busted like a couple of school kids!” she cried. “She’s nice enough to have me stay, and I turn her home into a brothel!”
“You were going to charge?” Cooper grinned. He plucked her bra off the door handle and handed it to her. How the hell did it get there?
“You know what I mean!” Poppy exclaimed. “I was . . . You were . . .”
“Still pretty modest, by my standards.” Cooper drew her closer, his lips brushing against her ear. “If she’d arrived another couple of seconds later, well, then we’d have something to talk about.”
She felt a jolt of desire, which was the last thing she needed right now. “This isn’t funny!” Poppy smacked him lightly. He was grinning like it was one big joke, but this was her aunt they were talking about. She was Poppy’s family, and now she’d seen her—
Poppy whimpered again.
“Shh, breathe,” Cooper said, taking hold of her shoulders. He gave her a comforting squeeze. “She doesn’t mind. Hell, she was paying more attention to my bare ass than whatever you were showing.”
“He’s right.” June popped her head around the corner and winked. “Coop, would you be a doll and take that fine ass of yours to carry my bags?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Cooper laughed and headed out the door. Poppy braced herself and headed for the kitchen.
Something about getting caught like this made her feel like she was sixteen again, sneaking around with her high-school boyfriend. But luckily, June didn’t seem about to ground her and take away her driving privileges. “I’m sorry,” Poppy said, cringing with embarrassment.
“What for?” June snorted. “It’s about time you got a little sparkle in your eye.
Come give me a hug—and then tell me everything.
” She swept Poppy back into the kitchen.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” she added, depositing a still-shell-shocked Poppy in a chair.
“I thought I’d come back early and surprise you. ”
“You sure did that.” For all the bad timing, she was happy to see her aunt again. June looked tanned and relaxed after her vacation, with her shoulder-length hair tinted auburn and her trim figure dressed in her usual bright, clashing prints.
Cooper arrived back. “I put your bags up in your room,” he said.
“Thanks, honey.” June beamed. “Now, you come sit down and tell me all the gossip I’ve been missing out on. Present company excluded, of course.”
Cooper cleared his throat. “Actually, I should be getting to work.” He was already edging out of the room. Poppy didn’t blame him, with the way June was checking him out. He shot Poppy an apologetic look. “I’ll call you later, OK?”
“Are you forgetting something?” June called, just as he was about to turn and go. He looked at them blankly. “A goodbye kiss for your girl,” she said.
Cooper quickly kissed Poppy on the lips. “Good luck,” he whispered, before beating a hasty retreat.
“Hmm, I can’t say I like his quick escape.” June frowned as the door slammed shut behind him. “A gentleman doesn’t just run after being caught in a compromising position.”
“June!” Poppy protested. “It’s not Victorian times.”
“Just as well,” June said mischievously. “He’d be down on one knee after ruining your virtue like that.”
“Remind me not to send you any more of those regency romances from my publisher,” Poppy grinned.
The first rush of humiliation was fading now.
As long as she didn’t think about it. She got up and gave June a big hug.
“Welcome home! I missed you. Even if I could have used a heads-up before you came back.”
“In my defense, I didn’t think you needed the warning.” June gave her a look. “Didn’t you say you were looking for peace and quiet to work on your book? ‘No drama,’ ” she mimicked.
“I guess fate had other plans.” Poppy couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “My first morning, a terrible noise made me go storming over next door, and, well, there was Cooper.”
“He is delicious, isn’t he?” June winked. “If I were twenty years younger. And that ass . . .” she sighed in appreciation.
“Hey!” Poppy protested. “No objectifying my boyfriend.”
“Is that what he is, then?”
Poppy paused. “I don’t know,” she admitted, those thoughts from earlier in the evening resurfacing again. “It’s all still pretty new. We only got together a few days ago.”
June gasped. “No! And here I am interrupting! I’m surprised you even came up for air. When I met my third husband, we ran away to a little motel outside Jacksonville and didn’t get out of bed for a week.”
Poppy laughed. June had an illustrious romantic history, to say the least. “It’s fine,” she reassured her. “We’ll make up for lost time at his place, don’t worry.”
June grinned at her. “Oh, it’s good to see you like this. I knew that Owen wasn’t right for you, there was no oomph to the two of you. All head, no heart.”
“Owen wasn’t a bad guy,” Poppy defended him. “But, you’re right. It feels different with Cooper. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way,” she admitted.
June nodded approvingly. “Well, you know I’d love to see more of you. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you,” Poppy said. “I don’t know what my plans are yet, there’s still plenty of writing left for me to do.”
“Is Cooper helping with the research?” June cackled.
Poppy blushed. “Maybe.”
“I look forward to reading all about it.”
Poppy caught up with June’s cruise adventures, then took a shower and settled in to write. Before long, the construction noise started up and a loud sawing noise was filtering through the windows. Once, it would have driven her to distraction, but this time, she heard the noise and smiled.
Cooper was working hard.
She forced herself to stay at her computer, even as she itched to see him again.
It was a good thing he was on a schedule at the site, otherwise her own writing calendar would be out the window.
Still, it was hard to focus with memories of their night together playing vividly in her mind. Every kiss. Every touch.
Every slow, deep thrust.
She shivered. It was hard to believe anything could top that first night, but somehow, it just kept getting better. Or rather, Cooper did. He wasn’t just good with his hands. No, that man was good everywhere.
Poppy dragged her attention back to work, typing quietly in the study while June bustled around, getting settled back in, and the sound of construction continued steadily outside the windows. By noon, she had ten pages under her belt, and was ready for a break.
Aunt June was on the phone, broadcasting her return to everyone in town, so she took her third cup of coffee from the pot and strolled out to the back porch.
It was getting warmer now, the season shifting over to spring, and the fruit trees in the garden were budding with new blossoms. Poppy breathed in a lungful of the crisp sea air, and tried not to think about the life waiting for her back home.
Her little apartment had always been a refuge to cloister herself away and write, but now it somehow seemed small compared to this expanse of blue ocean in front of her, memories of the city streets dense and noisy as she looked out at the woods and gently curving bay and wide, windswept shore.
“Tell me there’s still a pot brewing, and I’ll give you everything I own.”
Poppy turned. Cooper was strolling over from the neighboring yard. Was it just her, or did his eyes seem extra-blue in the midday sun?
“Here, take this one.” She offered him her mug. “I would have sent you off with a Thermos, but you ran out of here so fast . . .”
Cooper chuckled. “Sorry about that. I, uh, wasn’t expecting your aunt.”
“Nobody does. She’s like the Spanish inquisition,” Poppy quipped.
Cooper took the mug, and a kiss too, his stubble scratching lightly against her skin. “Angel.” He took a seat on the back steps beside her, and gulped it down. “So how was your interrogation?”
“June, you mean?” Poppy said. “Not too bad. Once I got over the abject humiliation of getting caught with my pants down, I mean.”
“I seem to recall your pants weren’t the ones that were down,” Cooper corrected her with a wry smile.
“Ah, yes,” June’s voice came from the porch. “I recall that too. Vividly.”
Poppy groaned, turning. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t if I were you,” June said. “Oh, relax. Cooper’s man enough to take some jokes from an old dame like me.”
“You’re not a day over thirty-five,” Cooper said with a broad grin.
“See, he’s a keeper.” June chuckled. “Do you want to join us for lunch, hon? It looks like you’re working up an appetite.”
Poppy shook her head. There was really no stopping her.
“I’ll pass today, thanks June,” Cooper said. “Another time.”