Not Another Wedding. Jennifer McKenzie
She’d have to find a way not to include Emmy. Of course, her whole plan would fall apart if she couldn’t shake Beck. Her hackles rose again and she forced herself to breathe out slowly. No, she’d sliced Beck out of her life more than a decade ago. Simply seeing him here looking all sexy and hungry wasn’t enough to take her back to those days.
She checked her reflection in the mirror, made herself smile, adjusted her dress and unlocked the door. Her smile fell away instantaneously.
“Seriously?” She couldn’t believe Beck still stood there. Surely the man had something to do besides wait for her? “What do you want?” she asked again.
“Anything you like.” His gaze lowered. Rude man, looking at her faux boobs.
She realized she was letting him and started to move. She would not spend the little time she had hanging around a dim hallway with Beck. She had a friend to save.
He walked with her. “I should have called you. You’re right.”
She sent him her best withering stare and sniffed loudly. She didn’t want his explanations. She wanted him to leave her alone.
“I’m sorry. I was young and stupid.”
“You were an idiot.”
“That, too.” He smiled and she felt it all the way to her toes.
She frowned. A bone-melting smile and an apology a decade overdue weren’t enough to earn her forgiveness. No, that would take some begging. “Fine, you’ve apologized. Now go find someone else to annoy.”
“Poppy.” He caught her hand and the sizzle went from her toes through her entire body. Not good. Not good at all. “How can I make it up to you?”
She opened her mouth to tell him he couldn’t. She had things to do this week. Important, lifesaving things, and she didn’t need Beck all up in her space making her forget why she was here. Bad enough she’d given him her virginity. “There’s nothing to make up, Beck.”
They weren’t walking anymore. They’d stopped just shy of exiting the hallway. No one was around. No one could see them. He backed her into the wall, not letting go of her hand. “There must be something I can do.”
The sizzle turned into a flame. Poppy tried to recall the last time her emotions and body had betrayed her like this. Not with Evan. Their relationship had been comfortable, like an old married couple. Not with her university boyfriend, Jason, either. No, there was only one time. One man. Beck. She closed her eyes.
“Tell me.” His breath whispered across her neck, tickling the sensitive spot just below her ear. She loved that spot.
She swallowed, angled her head away from the delicious tickling and opened her eyes. “You want to make it up to me? Okay. You can get me some alone time with Jamie.”
His brow furrowed. He didn’t like that. Not one little bit. Poppy smiled. Good. It would build his character. “What do you want with Jamie?”
“I need to talk to him.”
“About?” He leaned closer so their bodies almost touched.
Poppy reminded herself she’d gone more than ten years without touching Beck. And she’d been perfectly happy. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“It is if you want my help.” He had her there, and she didn’t like it. “Is that why you were stalking my cousin to the bathroom?”
“I was not stalking him.” Beck was the stalker. She was merely a concerned friend.
“Looked like you were stalking him.” He eyed her thoughtfully. Poppy reminded her overheated brain she did not find him appealing. Not one little bit. “Or do you often follow men to the washroom?”
“Okay, no. That’s gross, and why do you care what I want to talk to him about? Or have you and he suddenly become best buds?” Jamie didn’t talk about it much, but she knew he and Beck weren’t close as adults. According to Jamie, Beck had distanced himself from the rest of the family after his parents divorced.
“I care.”
Poppy looked into his eyes, those dark eyes that hid all his secrets, and lifted her chin. “I don’t believe you.”
“Let me convince you.”
She had an idea his convincing would lead to making out somewhere and divesting her of all her undergarments. Been there, done that. “Get me some alone time with Jamie. Private. Just the two of us.”
“And what do I get out of it?” He’d shifted and his words tickled her ear again.
“The pride of knowing you did the right thing.”
He laughed again. “Nice try, Red.”
“My hair is not red as you well know.” And if he thought otherwise, he obviously needed glasses. “Fine, if you won’t help me out of the goodness of your heart or because you care about your cousin, then what do you want?”
“Brunch.”
She blinked. “You want me to feed you?” She didn’t do a lot of cooking, but she was confident she could throw together a breakfast. Especially if it got her what she wanted. “Done,” she said quickly before he added a rider to the demand, like she had to serve him wearing a French maid’s outfit. Or nothing at all.
“No, I want you to have brunch with me on Sunday. With the whole family.” He placed a hand on the wall, preventing her from going anywhere.
“Why?” What game was he playing? And why was she considering joining in?
“You want to talk to Jamie, don’t you? It’s a family brunch. He’ll be there.”
She faltered, confused. “What does brunch have to do with any of this?”
He leaned down as though imparting a secret. He smelled like soap and leather. She tried not to inhale. “My mother has this insane idea of setting me up with Emmy’s sister, Grace. You’d be running interference.”
“At the brunch.”
“Yes.” He brushed the hair off her neck.
She should push him away, should give him a lecture about personal space and appropriate behavior when reuniting with an ex, but instead she enjoyed the moment. Shameful, but true.
Maybe there was something to the claims constantly championed by Wynn and Cami that she needed to get back into the dating scene. Surely, she wouldn’t be having this reaction had she not been single for the past ten months.
“So you can act as a buffer—” she loved his voice, always had “—and I’ll make sure you get a chance to speak with Jamie.”
“Wait.” Poppy swam through the fog corrupting her thought process. “If Emmy’s sister is going to be at the brunch, won’t Emmy be around too?”
“The whole family,” Beck confirmed.
“And how exactly do you propose to get me a private conversation with Jamie?”
“I’ll find a way.” He played with the ends of her hair and Poppy had to grit her teeth to prevent the sweet shudder from overwhelming her. “Think of it as a business proposition.”
“A business proposition.” She stared at him.
“One that’s advantageous for both of us.”
“Advantageous for you, maybe. I come to this family brunch and you what? ‘Find a way’ to give Jamie and me a few minutes together? What’s going to keep you to holding up your end of the bargain?”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Why should I?” What had he ever done to earn her trust? Nothing, that’s what. A big fat nothing. “No, Beck. I think I’ll take my chances and