“Sure, I’ll be there in a second.” He tightened up the knot, checked to make sure the structure would stand, and grabbed his tool kit, following Sarah into the hall.
“The ladder is really tall, and I just can’t seem to reach it,” Sarah said.
“No problem.” It was a large banner that just needed pinning up. Leaving his tool kit on the floor, he made his way up to pin the banner back into place.
Once that was done, he smiled at her. “That should be all.” When he made to leave, she caught his arm.
“Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to have a good time.”
He glanced down at her hand on his arm and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sarah. That’s not going to happen.” He moved out of her reach and went toward the door.
“Is that because you’re fucking that whore? You know she’ll spread her legs for anyone, probably already has.”
Shawn paused and looked back at Sarah. The niceness was gone, and in its place was a spitefulness that didn’t appeal to him in the slightest.
He shook his head. “You and I both know she’s nothing like that. Never has been, never will be.” He was going to say something mean but decided against it.
Leaving the school hall, he found Poppy leaning against the far wall, a smirk on her face.
“What’s gotten into you?” he asked.
“Wow, she lured you in there, and then you shot her down.”
“You heard that?”
“Kind of hard not to. I was in the doorway.”
He put his tool kit down and shook his head. “I’m not into that kind of badness.”
Poppy placed a hand on his chest. “I’m not a whore.”
“I know you’re not. Crazy, but not a whore.” He covered her hand with his, and then reached out to move a curl away from her lips.
There was no way for him to resist touching her lips. Damn it, he wanted to kiss those fuckable lips, but there was no way for him to do that, not yet.
She opened her lips, and he couldn’t resist pressing his thumb inside. Her blue eyes were on him, and she sucked his thumb into her mouth. It was one of the single most erotic things he’d seen, and his thoughts instantly jumped to sex.
Sweaty, dirty sex.
He removed his thumb and ran it across her lip again.
“It’s going to take more than cruel words from Sarah to believe them, Shawn. It always amazes me. The women like to judge your parents and you guys, but they all want you. Some women want you all, and others just want one of you. It’s crazy.”
She went onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.
In the next second she was gone, and he was struggling to contain his own arousal. He wanted to take her back home and fuck her.
Shawn’s heart was racing, and he grabbed his tool kit, heading back toward the truck. He put his kit into the passenger seat and then paused.
Glancing back at the fair, he saw Poppy was taking some things to the trash area. He wasn’t going to let this moment go.
Locking up his truck, he walked back toward her.
She smiled as soon as she saw him coming.
Shawn didn’t stop though. When he was right in front of her, he sank his fingers into her hair, tilted her head back, and slammed his lips down on hers.
He wanted those lips, and he’d been wanting her for a long time.
When he plunged his tongue into her mouth, she gripped his shoulders, but she didn’t push him away. She held onto him as he deepened the kiss.
He pulled away, and saw her eyes were closed.
“I just thought you’d like to know that.” He pressed her nose and turned, walking away.
Chapter Six
Poppy covered her swollen lips, and couldn’t believe that Shawn had just kissed her, and yet he had. The kiss had been … amazing. She’d never been kissed before, and she wanted him again.
Licking her lips, she finished throwing the trash bags away, and couldn’t stop smiling as she made her way back to finish cleaning up the debris that had already accumulated from the set-up.
She found Parker nailing down some fabric on one of the tables.
Using some of the pitchforks designed for mess, she placed them in the large trash bag near where he was working.
Glancing over at him, she smiled.
“What’s up, princess?” he asked.
“Shawn just kissed me.”
This made him stand up and stare at her. “Excuse me?”
“Shawn. He just kissed me before leaving.”
“He did, did he?” Parker put his nail gun down, and looked at her. “Did he say anything?”
“No. There were no words.” She’d heard Sarah bad-mouthing her, but that was nothing new. Sarah had never liked her, and she didn’t mind that.
Everyone had known the other woman had a big crush on Shawn.