No, a couple of bottles of Aussie Shiraz by the looks of it.’
Her stomach lurched with just the thought of it. She swallowed hard. ‘Vodka with colleagues in the pub before the wine on my own.’ Could it get any worse? He’d kissed her because she’d asked him to help her. Begged him. Not because he’d fancied her. Not because he’d wanted her. He’d kissed her out of pity.
She’d begged him?
‘I have to say you are an almost textbook drunk.’
‘Good to know.’ That’d be right. Usually Poppy did everything by the book, because not doing so caused too much harm and mayhem. And she never wanted to go there again.
‘But what is it about me, Popsicle?’ His use of her childhood nickname made her cringe, and he damn well knew it, making her pull the sheets more tightly round her cleavage as he spoke. ‘Is it something I do? Is it the way I smell? Every time we get a moment alone we end up with your head down, bum up. Gasping. Stage five implemented to perfection. You are a champion upchucker.’
No. Not again. ‘I was sick?’
‘Yes. Spectacularly.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ No wonder her stomach hurt.
‘Not pretty.’
‘So we didn’t, er, you know.’
He shrugged. ‘Hey, you know me, I never give away our secrets.’
She’d begged him not to before and he’d been true to his word. She threw him a glance—his grin widened and she wasn’t sure if he was referring to back then or last night. But he was clearly not going to enlighten her. Irritating.
Over the ensuing years that evening had hovered between them like an ominous dark cloud—would he ever confront her? Would he put her in a situation where she’d have to confess to everyone what she’d done and show who the real Poppy Spencer was?
So far he’d kept schtum on the whole thing—but then she’d never allowed herself to be in any kind of situation where she owed him anything more. And ever since then the all-new shiny reformed Poppy Spencer hadn’t put a foot wrong.
But still—he knew. And for that reason alone she kept him at a distance.
Fast forward to the second most mortifying moment of her life—if they’d actually done the deed surely she’d know? She’d feel different—her body would feel less nauseated and more … excited. Surely? No, they hadn’t had sex, she was pretty certain. Relief flooded through her. ‘So why are you in my bed now? Why am I in different clothes? Where are my pyjamas?’
His head shook. Disappointedly. ‘Don’t panic, I put a quick stop to the kiss and you’re still an almost-virgin.’
‘A what?’
‘Never mind. Just something you said last night. Amongst a whole lot of other stuff.’ His voice rose a couple of octaves. ‘“Please don’t leave me, there’s a mouse on the run. I’m scared. Too cold. Too hot. I need a drink. Headache. I’m going to be sick again. Please, don’t leave me, Isaac, I’m scared.” Eventually your demands exhausted me and I fell asleep right here. You are one hell of a snorer, by the way. I hope for your sake it was just because of the alcohol.’ He smiled his slow, lazy smile. ‘And now you’re wearing the only things I could lay my hands on in the dark at four-thirty this morning during the too-hot phase. Very, very nice, too.’
His eyebrows rose as his fingers plucked the blush-pink lacy straps of her cami. At his touch her body reacted in a very un-Poppy-like way—with a frenzied surge of what she could only describe as lust. And he knew it, too, judging by the glittering in his eyes. ‘Must have cost a fair bit.’
She slapped his hand away from her straps, not least because of the effect his skin was having on her skin. ‘They did, even with mate’s rates. And did you look … did you see …?’ She’d learnt to be forthright with her patients; why couldn’t she be forthright with him? She needed to know the extent of her absolute mortification. She took a deep breath, not wanting to hear the answer to her question. ‘Okay, so who undressed me? Did you help with that or did I manage it all by myself?’
‘Don’t worry, I closed my eyes.’ He leaned forward and whispered against her neck, making her shiver and shudder and hot and cold at the same time. ‘Most of the time.’
‘What? No!’
Then he winked. ‘All I can say is that someone’s going to be a very lucky man one day.’ But he clearly wasn’t referring to himself because with that he threw the sheet back, revealing a pair of extremely well-toned legs, thigh-hugging black boxers with the outlined shape of something she only allowed herself a moment’s glance at before she was totally and utterly lost for words … Wow … just wow. And a body that she could have sworn she saw advertising aftershave in a glossy yesterday. ‘Got to get to work, Popsicle. I’ll make sure I get a mousetrap on the way back. Thanks for a very entertaining evening.’
Then he was gone.
‘Damn. Damn. Damn.’ She leaned back against the pillows and breathed out a huge sigh, unsure of what to make of it all. Because, despite the Macarena in her stomach, she could have sworn she should be feeling a whole lot different from the way she felt right now. She should definitely not be feeling turned on. Her breasts should not be tingly, her heart should not be pounding, her lady bits should definitely not be wide awake and singing hallelujah at the mere hint of Isaac’s presence. Or at the thought of him seeing her naked. No. She should not be feeling like this at all. Especially when the startling, belittling, humiliating truth of it all was that, without any thought of consequences, she’d got drunk, accosted him and he’d kissed her back out of pity.
‘WE HAVE MICE. At least, we’ve seen one little critter upstairs. I thought I should let you know.’ Isaac paid for his coffee and nodded his thanks to Marco, the café owner. ‘I’ve got a couple of traps and we’ll sort it out our end. Just keep an eye out down here in case they migrate.’
‘Okay, cheers, mate, I’ll have a look, but we’re usually on top of zeez things. No mices here.’ Marco pushed Isaac’s coffee towards him and started to serve the next customer.
Isaac took his cup, negotiated the defunct fireman’s pole that connected their upstairs apartment with Ignite café, and found a seat, aiming to fortify his strength with a sharp caffeine buzz before he nipped back to the flat. The last thing he wanted was to bump into Poppy and relive the awkwardness of earlier. A coffee shot would help. Plus keep him awake for the long night’s work ahead.
He took a sip. Added an extra sugar for luck. Opened his smartphone and reviewed his notes. The only thing of any consequence he’d managed to achieve today was to check the availability of the bar for Friday, for Poppy. Then he’d sorted out a mousetrap, for Poppy. Spoken to the manager at Ignite café, for Poppy. And hidden in the café, from Poppy. The woman was invading his every living, breathing moment, not to mention his to-do list.
Which was very interesting. He never allowed any woman to ever invade anything at all. Work came first. Always. Work was predictable and straightforward. Work didn’t change the goalposts or come with an agenda that you
