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 cruising 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 morning 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."
"Count on it." The phone rang. "Ooh, that'll be Larry," June said, and disappeared back into the house. Cooper caught Poppy's gaze.