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“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. It’s just procedure, nothing to worry about,” I inform him.
I hold his concerned stare for several seconds, telling him with my eyes I’m speaking the truth. He finally nods, accepting my answer.
“How about we meet after work on Wednesday and iron out the details of your partnership?”
“Shit, man, I can’t.” He walks back to his desk and does something on the computer before shutting it down. Once he’s finished, he grabs his phone off the desk and his suit jacket off the back of his chair, slips it on, and comes back to follow me out the door. “I’m meeting Poppy after work for drinks.”
Hearing her name and what Eric’s said about them having drinks together has me stopping to turn and face him.
“Poppy? As in, my personal assistant, Poppy?”
The grin on Eric’s face when he turns to me after closing his office door has my hackles rising. He’s been a close friend for years, but I want nothing more than to beat his fucking face in right now.
“Yep, that Poppy. I’ve been wanting to ask her out for a while, but figured she’d turn me down.”
He pockets his phone and walks past me toward the elevator. My dagger-like eyes follow him before my feet actually do. I stand beside him with my hands balled into fists as we wait for the elevator.
“I didn’t realize you were interested in her,” I remark, keeping my voice neutral. The last thing I want to do is make him suspicious. No one knows about my obsession with Poppy, and I plan to keep it that way until I’m ready to reveal myself to her.
“Oh, I’m very interested in her,” Eric replies.
The elevator opens and we both step inside. I try to refrain from smashing his face against the mirrored wall.
I can’t outright tell him to back off Poppy without giving myself away, so I have to be careful with how I respond.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to start an office romance? Do you remember what happened the last time you tried that?”
“Damn straight I do. The damn bitch accused me of sexual harassment.” The look of disgust that passes over Eric’s face is unmistakable.
Fuck! I knew I should have changed the policy of office romances after the last time. That shit’s biting me in the ass now.
“But this time is different,” Eric continues. The look of disgust is now replaced with longing. I grind my molars together. “Poppy is different. I feel good about this, Ash.”
I swear, the more he talks, the more damage I want to do. And I don’t feel a damn bit of remorse as I picture myself ramming my knee into his balls to make sure they never go anywhere near Poppy. I love Eric like a brother, and I’d do damn near anything for the man, except give Poppy over to him. That shit is not happening. I’ll make sure of it.
I keep quiet the rest of the ride down to the parking garage. If Eric notices, he doesn’t say anything. The lights on my car flash when I use my key fob to unlock my door. Still fuming, I bid Eric good-bye and slide into my car. It doesn’t take long to get to my appointment, and takes even less time to finish. Just as I told Eric, it was standard procedure.
It’s fifteen till seven when I pull up to my condo. Even though I just saw Poppy a couple hours ago, the need to see her again after what Eric told me today is too much to resist. Even so, I have to wait a couple hours for the sun to go down to disguise my peeping ways by the cover of darkness.
I make myself something to eat, grab a shower, and answer a few emails I wasn’t able to get to earlier as I wait for the sun to dip beneath the horizon. As I’m sitting at my computer, I pull up the video feed for Poppy’s house. After searching several rooms, I spot her sitting on her back porch with a glass of wine and a book, her feet propped up on the matching ottoman. Disappointment hits when I see she’s already taken a shower. Her wet hair is pulled high on top of her head, and she’s wearing a light pink camisole and cute little shorts with strawberries on them. The angle of the camera isn’t the best, but still good enough to give me a decent view of her.
I open up our text thread.
Me: Good evening, Poppy.
The silence between us has gone on long enough, and I can’t stand it anymore. I need to feel connected to her somehow.
I watch her body stiffen. Her book closes and falls between her legs as she leans forward to snatch up her phone from the table beside her. After reading my message, her fingers fly across the screen as she types out her reply.
Poppy: I’m mad at you. You’ve been avoiding me since yesterday.
I smile. I’ve obviously been on her mind the last couple days.
Me: Maybe I was just working and didn’t have time to chat.
I set my phone to the side and zero in on my computer screen. I can see the huff she gives, and I’m pretty sure she rolls her eyes after reading my response. A couple seconds later, my phone chimes.
