Page 25

“I have a proposition for you.”

I glance at him. “What kind of proposition?”

“Let me pay off the mortgage on the house. The one you took out to pay for your last three years at uni.”

“No way. And how do you even know about that? Have you been spying on me?”

Bennett’s eyebrows pinch together. “No. Nanna told me.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“She did. She told me a lot of things.”

“Such as?”

“She told me about your mother.”

My stomach twists. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“All of it.”

“Such as?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

He exhales a slow breath. “The CliffsNotes version? She met a boy when she was sixteen who led her astray. She dropped out of school, grew dreadlocks, started smoking weed, and fell pregnant with you. After you were born, she left you with your grandparents and went to live in some hippie commune in the Blue Mountains.”

My mouth falls open with every word. “Why would she tell you all that?”

“Because, Poppy, she thought I was your boyfriend.” He pauses before adding, “She wanted me to understand where you came from. She wanted me to know why you’re so fiercely independent. And possibly why you don’t have a lot of spare time for your boyfriend.”

“I don’t have time for my boyfriend because he’s non-existent.”

“She didn’t know that, though, did she?”

I blow out a frustrated breath. “I can’t believe she told you all that. How close did you two actually become?”

“I wouldn’t say we were besties,” he answers with a chuckle, and I hate that I notice how ridiculously sexy his laugh is, “but we spent enough time together. She was easy to talk to.”

“She was,” I agree.

When tears sting the backs of my eyes, I turn my face towards the passenger-side window again before he has a chance to see them.

Chapter 9

Bennett

“You didn’t have to bring me somewhere so fancy,” Poppy says when I pull out her chair. “I would’ve been happy with a sandwich or a burger.”

I lift one shoulder as I move around to take the seat opposite her. I would’ve been fine with a sandwich as well, but for some strange reason, I find myself wanting to give her nice things.

“Technically, we’ve been dating for a while,” I reply. “And we’ve never actually been on a date.”

Her mouth falls open, and I have to bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling.

“You do understand what the word fake means, right?”

I pick up the linen napkin and drape it over my lap. “Your grandmother thought it was real.”

“My grandmother thought I was dating Riley the plumber, not Bennett the hotshot lawyer.”