One touch is all it took with her. From the start, she'd been undeniable. He wanted her. He wanted to be the man for her.
But just like he'd teased her what seemed like a hundred years ago, you didn't always get what you want. Cooper should have learned his lesson a long time ago, but he guessed it was just history repeating.
Regretfully, he pulled away. "Sorry," he said, meaning it with every bone in his body. "I really have to go."
Poppy stepped back. "OK, I won't keep you," she said with a smile. "But if you change your mind about tonight . . . call. I'll sneak away, it'll be just like breaking curfew."
She winked and headed up the porch steps, and Cooper let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He wouldn't be calling her, not tonight. Not until he figured out how to deal with this mess, and all the foolish hopes he had spinning in his chest when his head knew full well that only disappointment lay ahead.
He turned and strode back to the construction site. His guys were still working, and he should be unloading supplies from the truck, but first, he went looking for a sledgehammer.
He needed to break something, right now.
20
Poppy spent the rest of the week writing hard, trying to get as much of the book under her belt as possible before the Spring Fling Literary Festival. But as busy as she was, she couldn't ignore one obvious fact: Cooper was pulling away.
Oh, he wasn't being obvious about it. He sent cute texts in response to her messages and gave her brief kisses as he stopped by en route to someplace else, and even called apologetically to cancel their plans at the last minute, promising it was just a rain-check until things calmed down with work, but Poppy knew the truth. You judged a man by his actions, not his words, and Cooper's actions couldn't have been clearer. Aunt June had been right, this was the honeymoon period, and they were supposed to be stealing every moment possible together, but instead, Poppy found herself sitting up nights watching Miss Fisher's Mysteries on Netflix with her aunt, trying to ignore the fact she wasn't making passionate love to Cooper in his bed instead.
"Typical men," Aunt June sighed, when she noticed Cooper wasn't coming around every morning for coffee and a kiss. "Getting skittish at the first sign of commitment."
But Poppy hadn't mentioned commitment, and Cooper didn't seem the type of man to just let her down with a bump.
"I don't know . . ." She toyed with her mug. She didn't understand it. She had just been thinking that they could have a future together, but it was like he'd flipped a switch, and everything they'd shared suddenly evaporated into thin air. "He's been acting strangely ever since we went for lunch in Provincetown last week. No." She paused, thinking back. "Lunch was great, it was after . . ."
She remembered him coming to pick her up at the library, acting so harsh and rude when she was talking to-
"Laura," Poppy exhaled. How could she have missed it? And sure enough, June looked over.
"Laura Perkins? Well, that would explain it."
"Did they date?" Poppy winced, hoping it was a long-gone platonic ex, from a relationship that ended perfectly nicely, with zero acrimony or heartbreak on either side. But somehow, judging by how quickly he'd bolted, she doubted it.
June nodded. "Nice girl. They were pretty serious for a while back there, but it wasn't exactly smooth sailing. I don't know what happened in the end, but Cooper seemed real broken up about it."
And clearly, he still was.
Poppy tried to ignore the painful flicker of insecurity coming to life in her chest. Everyone had a past, and hers had shown up on her doorstep just the other week. Maybe Cooper just needed to process some things, or perhaps she was reading too much into it, and he really was just busy.
Or maybe he was still in love with Laura, and the past month had been just a fun distraction for him, and not the start of something real.
She found herself reaching for her phone again, and dialing this time.
"Hey," she said, when he answered. "How's it going over there? The house is looking great."
"Liar," Cooper chuckled, and the sound of his laughter warmed her from the inside out. "It's still a mess, but, it's getting there. I'm sorry I've been so busy," he added, "it's been one thing after another. I haven't had a moment to slip away."
The sincere apology in his voice made her pause. Had she been over-thinking this? He was busy. It happened. It didn't have to mean anything.
"That's OK," she lied. "Will you be free this weekend? It's the literary festival, and I have a couple of events. I'd love for you to be there."