“What’d the pillow ever do to you?” Toben leaned in the doorframe, fully dressed and scowling.
Poppy jumped...swallowing down her startled cry. “What the hell...” She pressed a hand to her chest, her heart thumping like mad.
He pushed off the doorframe and crossed the room until he was standing so close—but not touching her. And dammit, she wanted his arms around her. Even now, knowing she was a fool. Instead his hands stayed firmly planted on his hips, his face lined with irritation. Like he had a right to be irritated.
His words were low. “What the hell was that all about, Poppy? What happened?”
She swallowed. “I...need space.”
His posture eased but he still didn’t reach for her. “Why?”
Was he nervous? “Why? Because we’re not used to all this. I...I’m not used to sharing him, Toben. It’s just been us for so long.” She glanced at him, too nervous to hold his gaze. She didn’t want to lose her anger, to get sucked into those baby blues or the hope they stirred in her. “Now all these people have a claim on him. And I’m just—”
His hands clasped her arms. “You’re everything to him.”
She shrugged out of his hold, his touch too tempting.
He frowned, a deep furrow forming between his brows. “There’s no reason to feel threatened, Poppy. There’s room for them in this family, too.”
“They don’t threaten me,” she whispered, then cleared her throat. She met his gaze, watching as his expression hardened.
“I do?” he asked, crossing his arms. “All I want is—”
“I know what you want,” she cut him off. “What you say you want. And maybe, right now, you do want it—us, I mean. But dammit, Toben...” She shook her head. “You left me. You were unreachable, gone, disappeared, a ghost, when I needed you. You knew me. You let me think I was special...” She broke off. Baring her soul wasn’t something she did. All the words she’d ever wanted to say to him seemed to get tangled and twisted and incoherent. “Why is now any different? With me? I understand you want Rowdy in your life. But me?” She shook her head. “I’m the same person you left sleeping in that hotel room years ago. The same woman. I might have let my loneliness blindside me a little but... You didn’t want me then. I’d be a fool to think you want me now. And I’m not a fool.”
He shook his head. “Poppy, you think this is all about getting you into bed?” His voice had turned gruff.
“No.” She hugged herself tight. “I think it was about you needing to feel close to Rowdy—maybe even to me since I know him best. But that’s all. And pretending there’s something else going on is dangerous.”
His jaw flexed. “Because?”
She swallowed. “You’re you and I’m me.”
His eyes narrowed. “Meaning what?”
“You leave. I can’t. You leave me, you leave Rowdy. Whatever happens, I won’t let
Rowdy get—”
“Hurt,” he finished. His face was hard. “So this, us, doesn’t matter?”
“There’s no us, Toben. This was...sex. You’ve slept with enough women to know that. We have a son, period.”
He touched her cheek, smoothing her damp hair from her shoulder. “You think that’s all there is between us?”
She nodded, refusing to step back, to flinch away from him.
There was sadness on his face, in his beautiful blue eyes. “You said you were scared earlier. I never thought you were scared of me.”
He had no right to look at her like that, no right to make her heart hurt.
“You’re trying to shut me out.”
“No, I’m trying to move on.” She stepped around him. “We had unfinished business. Now we don’t.”
“There’s no moving on from this, Poppy. Not for me, anyway.” His tone was soft and oh so tempting. “You won’t believe me, but I know everything I want is here.”
She was unable to face him now. She wasn’t that strong. “This doesn’t need to be difficult, Toben. No one’s going to be heartbroken here. Except, maybe, our son.”