by Maisey Yates
It was more than he’d imagined getting out of a relationship.
So he could handle moments of spikiness in the name of all they had going for them.
They drove through the main street of town in silence, and Isaiah took stock of how the place looked, altered for Christmas. All the little shops adorned with strings of white lights and evergreen boughs.
It made him wonder about Poppy’s life growing up. About the Christmases she might have had.
“Did you celebrate Christmas when you were a child?” he asked.
“What?”
“The Christmas decorations made me wonder. We did. Just...very normal Christmases. Like movies. A tree, family. Gifts and a dry turkey.”
She laughed. “I have a hard time believing your mother ever made a dry turkey.”
“My grandma made dry turkey,” he said. “She died when I was in high school. But before then...”
“It sounds lovely,” Poppy said. “Down to the dry turkey. I had some very nice Christmases. But there was never a routine. I also had years where there was no celebration. I don’t have...very strong feelings about Christmas, actually. I don’t have years of tradition to make into something special.”
When they pulled into the office just outside of town, he parked, and Poppy wasted no time in getting out of the car and striding toward the building. Like she was trying to outrun appearing with him.
He shook his head and got out of the car, following behind her. Not rushing.
If she wanted to play a game, she was welcome to it. But she was the one who was bothered. Not him.
He walked into the craftsman-style building behind her, and directly into the front seating area, where his sister, Faith, was curled on a chair with her feet underneath her and a cup of coffee beside her.
Joshua was sitting in a chair across from her, his legs propped up on the coffee table.
“Are you having car trouble?” Faith directed that question at Poppy.
Poppy looked from Isaiah to Joshua and then to Faith. And he could sense when she’d made a decision. Her shoulders squared, her whole body became as stiff as a board, as if she were bracing herself.
She took a deep breath.
“No,” she said. “I drove over with your brother because I had sex with him last night.”
Then she swept out of the room and stomped down the hall toward her office. He heard the door slam decisively behind her.
Two heads swiveled toward him, wide eyes on his face.
“What?” his sister asked.
“I don’t think she could have made it any clearer,” he said, walking over to the coffeepot and pouring himself a cup.
“You had sex with Poppy,” Joshua confirmed.
“Yes,” Isaiah responded, not bothering to look at his brother.
“You... You. And Poppy.”
“Yes,” he said again.
“Why do I know this?” Faith asked, covering her ears.
“I didn’t know she was going to make a pronouncement,” Isaiah said. He felt a smile tug at his lips. “Though, she was kind of mad at me. So. I feel like this is her way of getting back at me for saying the change in our relationship was simple.”
Faith’s eyes bugged out. “You told her that it was simple. The whole thing. The two of you...friends... Poppy, an employee of the past ten years... Sleeping together.” Faith was sputtering.
“It was good sex, Faith,” he commented.
Faith’s look contorted into one of abject horror, and she withdrew into her chair.
“There’s more,” Isaiah said. “I’m getting married to her.”
“You are...marrying Poppy?” Now Faith was just getting shrill.
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to marry someone just because you have sex with them,” Joshua pointed out.
“I’m aware of that, but you know I want to get married. And considering she and I have chemistry, I figured we might as well get married.”
“But... Poppy?” Joshua asked.
“Why not Poppy?”
“Are you in love with her?” Faith asked.
“I care about her more than I care about almost anyone.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Faith said.
“Did no one respond to your ad?” Joshua was clearly happy to skip over questions about feelings.
Isaiah nodded. “Several women did. Poppy interviewed six of them yesterday.”
Joshua looked like he wanted to say something that he bit back. “And you didn’t like any of them?”
“I didn’t meet any of them.”
“So,” Faith said slowly, “yesterday you had her interviewing women to marry you. And then last night you...hooked up with her.”
“You’re skipping a step. Yesterday afternoon she accused me of looking for a wife who was basically an assistant. For my life. And that was when I realized... She’s actually the one I’m looking for.”
“That is... The least romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” Faith said.
“Romance is not a requirement for me.”
“What about Poppy?”
He lifted a shoulder. “She could have said no.”
“Could she have?” Faith asked. “I mean, no offense, Isaiah, but it’s difficult to say no to you when you get something in your head.”
“You don’t want to hear this,” Isaiah said, “but particularly after last night, I can say confidently that Poppy and I suit each other just fine.”
“You’re right,” Faith said, “I don’t want to hear it.” She stood up, grabbing her coffee and heading back toward her office.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Joshua said slowly.
Isaiah looked over at his brother. “What about any of this doesn’t look like I know what I’m doing?”
“Getting engaged to Poppy?” Joshua asked.
“You like Poppy,” Isaiah pointed out.
“I do,” Joshua said. “That’s my concern. She’s not like you. Your feelings are on a pretty deep freeze, Isaiah. I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”
“I don’t know that I agree with you,” he said.
“What’s your stance on falling in love?”
“I’ve done it, and I’m not interested in doing it again.”
“Has Poppy ever been in love before?” Joshua pressed.
Isaiah absolutely knew the answer to this question, not that it was any of his brother’s business how he knew it. “No.”
“Maybe she wants to be. And I imagine she wants her husband to love her.”
“Poppy wants to be able to trust someone. She knows she can trust me. I know I can trust her. You can’t get much better than that.”
“I know you’re anti-love... But what Danielle and I have...”
“What you and Danielle have is statistically improbable. There’s no way you should have been able to place an ad in the paper for someone who is the antithesis of everything you should need in your life and fall madly in love with her. Additionally, I don’t want that. I want stability.”
“And my life looks terribly unstable to you?” Joshua asked.
“No. It doesn’t. You forget, I was in a relationship for five years with a woman who turned out to be nothing like what I thought she was.”
“You’re still hung up on Rosalind?”
Isaiah shook his head. “Not at all. But I learned from my mistakes, Joshua. And the lesson there is that you can’t actually trust those kinds of feelings. They blind you to reality.”
“So you think I’m blind to reality?”
“And I hope it never bites your ass.”
“What about Mom and Dad?”
“It’s different,” he said.
“How?”
“It’s different for you too,” Is
aiah said. “I don’t read people like you do. You know how to charm people. You know how to sense what they’re feeling. How to turn the emotional tide of a room. I don’t know how to do that. I have to trust my head because my heart doesn’t give me a whole lot. What works for you isn’t going to work for me.”
“Just don’t hurt her.”
“I won’t.”
But then, Isaiah suddenly wasn’t so sure. She was already hurt. Or at least, annoyed with him. And he wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do about it.
He walked back toward Poppy’s office and opened the door without knocking. She was sitting in her chair at her desk, not looking at anything in particular, and most definitely fuming.
“That was an unexpected little stunt,” he said.
“You’re not in charge of this,” she pointed out. “If we are going to get married, it’s a partnership. You don’t get to manipulate me. You’re not my boss in our marriage.”
His lips twitched. “I could be your boss in the bedroom.”
The color in her cheeks darkened. “I will allow that. However, in real life...”
“I get it.”
He walked toward her and lowered himself to his knees in front of her, taking her chin in his hand. “I promise, I’m not trying to be a dick.”
“Really?” He felt her tremble slightly beneath his touch.
He frowned. “I never try to be. I just am sometimes.”
“Right.”
“Joshua and Faith know. I mean, they already knew about the ad, and there was no way I was getting it by them that this wasn’t related to that in some way.”
“What did they say?”
“Joshua wants to make sure I don’t hurt you.”
She huffed a laugh. “Well. I’m team Joshua on that one.”
“When do you want to tell my parents?” he asked. “We have our monthly dinner in three weeks.”
“Let’s...wait until then,” she said.
“You want to wait that long?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m not...ready.”
He would give her that. He knew that sometimes Poppy found interactions with family difficult. He’d always attributed that to her upbringing. “I understand. In the meantime, I want you to move your things into my house.”
“But what about my house?” she asked.
“Obviously, you’re coming to live on my ranch.”
“No sex until we get married.” The words came out fast and desperate.
He frowned. “We’ve already had sex. Several times.”
“And that was...good. To establish our connection. It’s established. And I want to wait now.”
“Okay,” he said.
She blinked. “Good.”
He didn’t think she’d hold to that. But Poppy was obviously trying to gain a sense of power here, and he was happy to give it to her.
Of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to seduce her.
Seven
Poppy didn’t have time to think much about her decision over the next few days. Isaiah had a moving company take all of her things to his house, and before she knew it, she was settling into a routine that was different from anything she had ever imagined she’d be part of.
They went to work together. They spent all day on the job, being very much the same Poppy and Isaiah they’d always been. But then they went home together.
And sexual tension seemed to light their every interaction on fire. She swore she could feel his body heat from across the room.
He had given her a room, her own space. But she could tell he was confused by her abstinence edict.
Even she was wondering why she was torturing herself.
Being with him physically was wonderful. But she felt completely overwhelmed by him.
She’d spent ten years secretly pining for him. Then in one moment, he’d decided he wanted something different, something more, and they’d been on their way to it. Isaiah had snapped his fingers and changed her world, and she didn’t recognize even one part of it anymore.
Not even the ceiling she saw every morning when she opened her eyes.
She had to figure out a way to have power in this relationship. She was the one who was in love, and that meant she was at a disadvantage already. He was the one who got to keep his house. He was the one with the family she would become a part of.
She had to do something to hold on to her sanity.
It was hard to resist him though. So terribly hard.
When she felt lonely and scared at night, worrying for the future in a bedroom that was just down the hall from his, she wished—like that first night—that he would do a little less respecting of her commandments. That he would at least try to tempt her away from her resolve. Because if he did, she was sure it would fail.
But he didn’t. So it was up to her to hang on to that edict.
No matter what.
Even when they had to behave like a normal couple for his parents’ sakes.
And she was dreading the dinner at his parents’ house tonight. With all of her soul.
Dreading having to tell a vague story about how they had suddenly realized their feelings for each other and were now making it official.
The fact that it was a farce hurt too badly.
But tonight they would actually discuss setting a wedding date.
A wedding date.
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and then looked up at the gorgeous, custom-made cabinets in Isaiah’s expansive kitchen. Maybe she should have a glass of wine before dinner. Or four. To calm her nerves.
She was already dressed and ready to go, but Isaiah had been out taking care of his horses, and she was still waiting for him to finish showering.
Part of her wished she could have simply joined him. But she’d made an edict and she should be able to stick to it.
She wondered if there was any point in preserving a sanity that was so frazzled as it was. Probably not.
Isaiah appeared a moment later, barefoot, in a pair of dark jeans with a button-up shirt. He was wearing his cowboy hat, looking sexy and disreputable, and exactly like the kind of guy who had been tailor-made for her from her deepest fantasies.
Or, maybe it was just that he was her fantasy.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box.
“No,” she said.
He held it up. “No?”
“I didn’t... I didn’t know you were going to...”
“You have to have a ring before we see my parents.”
“But then I’m going to walk in with a ring and they’re going to know.” As excuses went, it was a weak one. They were going to inform his parents of their engagement anyway.
They were engaged.
It was so strange. She didn’t feel engaged to him.
Maybe because you won’t sleep with him?
No. Because he doesn’t love me.
She had a snotty response at the ready for her internal critic. Because really.
“They won’t know you’re engaged to me. And even so, were not trying to make it a surprise. We’re just telling them in person.”
The ring inside the box was stunning. Ornately designed, rather than a simple solitaire.
“It’s vintage,” he said. “It was part of a museum collection, on display in Washington, DC. I saw it online and I contacted the owner.”
“You bought a vintage ring out of a museum.” It wasn’t a question so much as a recitation of what he’d just said.
“It was a privately owned collection.” As if that explained it. “What?” he asked, frowning after she hadn’t spoken for a few moments. “You don’t look happy.”
She didn’t know how to describe what she was feeling. It was the strangest little dream come true. So
mething she would never have even given a thought to. Ever. She never thought about what kind of engagement ring she might want. And if she had, she would have asked for something small, and from the mall. Not from...a museum collection.
“I know how much you like vintage. And I know you don’t like some of the issues surrounding the diamond trade.”
She had gone on a small tirade in the office after seeing the movie Blood Diamond a few years ago. Just once. It wasn’t like it was a cause she talked about regularly. “You...listened to that?”
“Yes,” he responded.
Sometimes she wondered if everybody misunderstood him, including her. If no one knew just how deeply he held on to each moment. To people. Remembering a detail like that wasn’t the mark of an unemotional man. It seemed...remarkably sentimental for him to remember such a small thing about her. Especially something that—at the time—wouldn’t have been relevant to him.
She saw Isaiah as such a stark guy. A man who didn’t engage in anything unnecessary. Or hold on to anything he didn’t need to hold on to.
But that was obviously just what he showed the world. What he showed her.
It wasn’t all of him.
It was so easy to think of him as cold, emotionless. He would be the first person to say a relationship could be a math equation for him, after all.
But remembering her feelings on diamonds wasn’t math. It was personal.
There was no other man on earth—no other person on earth—who understood her the way Isaiah Grayson did.
She hadn’t realized it until this moment. She’d made a lot of accusations about him being oblivious, but she was just as guilty.
And now...
She wanted to wear his ring. The ring he’d chosen for her with such thought and...well, extravagance. Because who had ever given her that kind of thought before? No one.
And certainly no one had ever been so extravagant for her.
Only him.
Only ever him.
He walked over to where she was sitting and took the ring out of the box, sliding it onto her finger. He didn’t get down on one knee. But then, that didn’t surprise her.
More to the point, it didn’t matter.
The ring itself didn’t even matter. It was the thought.
