by Miranda King
She skips a beat before she sings again, and then sways her hips from side to side, rolling over the hardness of him. He interrupts the rhythm to rock against her. She whimpers again and rests her forehead against his forehead. Both of them panting.
The director might’ve said cut.
Poppy might’ve ordered everyone out of the garden.
The music might’ve stopped.
But they continue to tug and pull on each other’s clothes, only now with more fervor since they are alone. She yanks his jacket to the ground and rips off his shirt, massaging her hands across his bare chest. His body burns alive to have her.
Just one more time.
Before he walks away for good this time.
And leaving her… Without the word she needs. Without the love he craves to give her. Without the future she deserves.
“Oh God, I can’t do this to you.” His words are raw. “Nothing’s changed from this morning.” He tries to calm his breathing, to get his blood to slow, to make his brain think. “I said I care about you, and I do. But everything you told me this morning you want, I still can’t give it to you.”
“I know you love me. I know you thought about a future with me, at the very least.” She searches his face. “If you let me go, are you prepared to stand by and watch me be with someone else?”
His heart pounds wildly against his rib cage, demanding he at least tells her that Dante is the reason keeping them apart.
But how can he, when he’d be breaking his promise to Dante by just even telling her that? He closes his eyes for a long moment. He’s already tested the boundaries of his promise to Dante. But there is no way to bend his wish for Logan not to tell Eden about the promise. She would only resent her brother for causing her this heartache. It’s best Dante remain a hero to her, not a heartbreaker.
“Do what you have to do, Eden.”
And she walks away, leaving him half-naked, hard—and heartbroken.
An hour later, she’s on the back of a motorcycle with Bo filming a scene near the bubbling fountain in the middle of the circular drive.
Poppy and Logan stand with the rest of the crew behind the cameras. It’s late afternoon, but the sun still gleams on the motorcycle’s chrome—in a way that’s very familiar to him.
“Is that my motorcycle, Poppy?” He looks down at her, not pleased at all. “You didn’t ask me if you could use it.”
“I had a replica of it on the display table for the shoot sequence. Didn’t you see it this morning?”
“That’s how you asked me?”
She flutters her hand. “It’s only your Valkyrie. Not the Ducati.”
He crosses his arms. “That’s right. My Valkyrie. So why is Bo on it, instead of me?”
She shrugs.
Bo stretches his arms to the elongated handlebars and fakes an engine rev to Logan’s parked motorcycle. From behind him, Eden runs her hands along his thighs clad in tight jeans. Then she trails her fingers across his even tighter white T-shirt, focusing on his biceps and the six-pack abs rippling under his shirt. His too damned tight shirt.
She’s feeling him up all while singing.
But here he is, and oh so hot,
giving me everything that you’re not.
After that shot, Jean-Paul shouts to them, “Eden, hike your leg up over Bo’s thigh.”
She hooks her leg over his thigh and her semi-sheer pleated miniskirt cascades, exposing almost her entire upper thigh. She has on fishnet stockings, but still.
Jean-Paul calls out to Eden, “Now put your hand behind you and arch your back. Then tilt your head back, and take your free hand and run your fingers through your hair.”
When Eden does this, the black leather jacket she is wearing spreads, displaying her barely-covering-her-breasts black bra.
Jean-Paul instructs her, “Shake your head back and forth a little.”
She does and her breasts jiggle. What the hell? Did Jean-Paul direct porno movies before this?
Logan crosses his arms. If Eden were his, there is no way she would be doing this shoot.
Poppy looks over at him. “She supposed to be wearing a mesh top, but opted to take it off. I think it was a good call, don’t you?”
“Are you being serious, Poppy?”
“I am. We got a sponsor who offered a quarter-million dollars for a shot of her only wearing the bra and not the top.”
“Just who is that sponsor?”
“Bo.” She briefly lifts her shoulders like it’s no big deal. “He wants to use the still frame for his website and promo pictures.”
“I’ll give you a half-million not to let him.”
“Done.”
“And make sure that last shot doesn’t get into the video either,” he says.
Poppy tilts her head to him and lifts a corner of her mouth. “Another half-million for that?”
“Done.” He smiles at his sister. “Do they teach you how to extort people at school?”
“Only for good causes.”
He laughs.
Her lips wobble and her eyes shine.
“What’s wrong, Poppy?” He puts his hands on her shoulders.
She rubs her eyes a moment, then smiles up at him. “This is the first time you’ve laughed since you’ve been out of the hospital.” She hugs her arms around his waist. “I feel like I’m finally getting my brother back.”
He reaches his hands around her back and pulls her closer. “Oh, Poppy, I never left you. I’m still here.”
“No, you haven’t been.” She rubs her cheek against his shoulder. “But I think whatever’s going on between you and Eden is bringing you back to me. And I’m grateful for it.”
He releases her from the hug. “Poppy,” he says gently.
“Eden and I are not getting back togeth—”
“—Okay, people, five-minute break.” Jean-Paul claps his hands. “Next shot is the drone camera following Bo riding his motorcycle with Eden across the bridge over the lake, like a gentleman of the manor showing his lady his property.” Jean-Paul directs everyone with his fingers to the man-made lake at their right and the picturesque bridge about a quarter mile away.
No, none of this belongs to Bo. It’s all Logan’s.
His property. His motorcycle. His Eden.
Or is Eden now Bo’s?
Bo struts over to the worktable by Poppy and Logan. He grabs a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of water.
Logan taps Bo’s arm and points to his motorcycle. “Hey, sure you know how to ride one of those? I’m concerned about Eden.”
Bo laughs. “Don’t worry.” He slips on his sunglasses like he’s Tom Cruise in the Top Gun movie. “I’ve got this.”
And all Logan can do is stand there, watching, when Bo rides off with Eden.
Poppy never leaves his side, leaning into him. He puts an arm around her shoulder.
“If they were riding a horse and it was a little later in the day, then Bo would be literally riding off into the sunset with her.” Poppy sighs. “This isn’t how I imagined the day would go.”
She pulls away and stands in front of him. “Eden told me you said you couldn’t make a commitment to her. She thinks there must be someone else. Is there?” Her voice sounds like somehow Logan betrayed her. “Because I thought you would’ve told me if you’re interested in someone else. You used to always share things like that with me.”
“There’s no one else. I would’ve told you. I would’ve told her.” Logan scrunches his eyebrows together. “Why would she even think there’s someone else?”
“You keep saying you just want to be friends and that you can’t tell her you love her.” She presses her lips together and crosses her arms. “That kind of does sound like a guy who can’t make a commitment because he’s dating two women at one time.”
If only the problem involved two women. Then he could choose Eden. Problem solved. But reality is much more complicated.
“Hmm, you’re awfully quiet.” Poppy lays her finger on her
chin. “There must be another woman you’re afraid to tell us about. Who is she? Even Dante told Eden something about it.”
“There’s definitely no other woman. Why would Dante have told Eden I had another girl?” Logan can’t wrap his head around that. Did Dante deliberately lie to Eden to ruin his relationship with her? But that didn’t sound like Dante. “Do you know what he might have told her?”
Poppy pulls her cell phone from her pocket. “Yeah, actually, Eden and I’ve been texting today while I was gone. You told her this morning about not being able to make a commitment, and she asked me if I knew whether you were interested in another woman.”
She’s scrolling through her phone. “In one of her texts, Eden remembers very specifically what her brother said because those were the last words he ever spoke to her.” Poppy hands her phone to him. “Take a look.”
Logan reads the text from Eden to Poppy:
Today I can’t get Dante’s last words to me out of my head. Logan told me this morning that he can’t make a commitment to me. Does he have someone else? Someone even who my brother knew? Here’s what Dante said in the hallway to me right before he died:
“If something happens to me, tell Logan that he’s the Han Solo and he can have the girl with my blessing.”
What does that mean?
Dante said this right after he had Logan make that promise. Right after they both had that eerie chill about the woman in the white dress that Dante saw out the window. Right before he died…
Dante took back the promise.
His last words to Eden were a message for Logan: If something happens to me, you can marry Eden with my blessing.
And Logan had so easily dismissed those words when Eden told him. But of course, he hadn’t known Dante’s exact words. And back then, he and Dante had just been kicking around a joke in front of the General about who was more like Chewbacca or Han Solo.
And all this time, it wasn’t a joke. It was a blessing.
Poppy looks up at him. “Eden and I don’t understand the Han Solo connection. Do you get it?”
Does he get it? Does the sun rise every morning for a new day?
He kisses Poppy on the forehead. “Oh, I get it.” He squeezes her in a tight hug. “I have to go.” He turns to go back to the house for his car keys. Nothing prevents him now from asking Eden to marry him, and champagne bubbles dance through his veins. But first, he needs a ring…
“Wait,” Poppy says. “What do you think Dante’s words meant?”
He circles back around and smiles at Poppy. “It means, I’m finally going to make Eden your sister.”
Poppy jumps up and down. “I wished for one, and now I might even get two sisters today.”
“Two?”
“Emma. Adam proposed, but he’s still waiting for her answer. I don’t know what’s holding her up.”
“Can I help somehow?” He asks.
Poppy shakes her head. “You just focus on Eden.”
He nods. “I have to go to the palace vault. Don’t let Eden leave until I get back.” He lifts a corner of his mouth. “And try not to let it slip that I’m going to propose. Don’t think I didn’t notice you ratting me out earlier on the patio.”
“I was helping you—not ratting on you.” She crosses her arms. “I merely helped facilitate an exchange of information that Eden was lacking.”
“I stand corrected then. You were gossiping.” He winks.
She huffs. “Princesses do not gossip.”
“Maybe princesses don’t, but my sister sure does.” He gives her a quick peck on the cheek.
That kiss pulls a smile from her. “Hurry back. We’ll be filming up in the blue room.”
“There’s actually a different color in the house other than pink?” He laughs. “But I thank you for it. I know it’s Eden favorite color.”
“She likes blue, too. I think you should choose a sapphire ring from the vault. It’ll show off her eyes. Plus, it’ll go with the blue Power Puff nightie I have her wearing for the bedroom scene with Bo.”
“What the hell? She’s filming a bedroom scene with Bo? Wearing a nightie?” A muscle twitches in his jaw. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Relax. It’s a video for charity.”
“Are you sure Jean-Paul isn’t turning it into a porno?”
“You’re one to talk after that patio scene with Eden.” She crosses her arms. “You didn’t have… you know, um, adult activities right there on the patio after everyone left, did you?”
He crooks a finger for her to come closer and looks around at the people who could be listening to them.
She leans in extra close.
He whispers in her ear. “Wouldn’t you like to know, my little gossiper.” He pulls back and winks at her.
She swats him on the arm. “Now I know I officially have my brother back. You’re my little jokester.”
He does a double-take. “Poppy, it’s best you never call a man little.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Something a brother should not explain. But ask Eden. I’m sure she’ll mention that men prefer everything about them be referred to as big.”
“So men have big egos?”
He laughs. “Something like that.” Then he’s off.
Logan returns not with a sapphire ring, but a blue diamond. It’s rare and one-of-a-kind and beautiful, like the woman who’ll wear it.
He locates the blue room. It’s definitely blue. Down to the carpet. Every shade of blue is represented in this room, accented with silver and white. One side of the room is wall-to-wall windows with sliding doors that open to a balcony.
Poppy, the film crew—and a shirtless Bo—focus on Eden laying on her stomach atop a bed piled with pillows. He stands next to Poppy and is mesmerized watching Eden kick her long, shapely legs back and forth at the knees. She clicks her open-toed blue slippers, each with a large white bonbon, against her heels.
She flips through pages in a powder blue diary with a shiny silver lock on the flap. There’s a white bear with a blue collar tucked under one of her arms. She wears a frothy sheer powder blue nightie edged in white with thin spaghetti straps, and her chest area is covered in semi-sheer lace. Her luxurious long red hair is pulled away from her face with a blue ribbon and the setting sun accentuates her peaches-and-cream complexion.
She’s sexy and sweet at the same time. And soon to be all his.
The music reaches her cue and she sings, flipping through her diary a few more times, and then rolling around the bed.
So you don’t want to love me,
and friends is all we’ll ever be.
Now I have him here in my bed.
Guess I got you out of my head.
This is the part of the song that infers she has sex with another man. Logan overhears the director mouthing something to Bo about getting ready for his “bed scene.”
Bo in bed with Eden? Over Logan’s dead body.
“Do you have all the footage you need without Bo?” Logan whispers to Poppy.
“I guess.” She shrugs.
“Good. Because you’ll have to find Bo another acting gig. I don’t want him anywhere near a bed with my future wife.”
Bo saunters to the bed with Eden.
Logan blocks his path. “I’ve got this.”
The director yells, “Cut.” He and Poppy have some sort of a discussion, and Poppy wrangles everyone out of the room.
Logan personally escorts Bo to the door.
They engage in a stare down, until Poppy intercedes and says to Bo, “Relax. He’s going to do something that will make our Eden very happy.”
“Remember what I said. You better not hurt her.” Bo narrows his eyes. “I’ll be watching you.”
“And I’ll be watching you.” Logan puffs out his chest and takes a blade stance.
Poppy pushes Bo out the door and laughs. “You two will end up friends one day. Just you wait.” She tiptoes to reach up to Logan’s ear. “Now go make her my sist
er.” Then she kisses him on the cheek and closes the door behind her.
Eden sits up in the bed. “What’s going on? Why did everyone leave? Are they trying to give me more time to rehearse? I thought I nailed that scene.”
He takes Eden by the hand and she scoots off the bed. “You did. But I think by now, thanks to Poppy,” he chuckles, “they’ve all figured out that you’re destined for a bigger role.”
“What role is that?” She eyes him suspiciously.
“Here, come let me describe it for you.” He slides the glass door open for her to step onto the balcony first and then he follows.
She leans against the stone balcony balustrade and rests her hands there. He steps behind her, letting his chest touch her back. He braces his arms on the balustrade, cocooning her against him.
She tilts her head to look up at him. She furrows her brow. “Something’s changed about you, between us. Have you decided that you can’t let me go after all?”
He nuzzles his cheek against her soft hair. He wraps his arms around her stomach and gently rocks her from side to side against him. “Would you like it if I never let you go?”
“Mmmm… yes.” She angles her head, allowing him to kiss her exposed pulse point at the side of her neck.
He trails kisses along her throat and pulls her closer, intensifying the rhythm of his body rocking back and forth with hers. She moans. He attempts to slip his hands under the poufy layers of her nightie’s skirt, and his hands get tangled in the sheer material.
They both laugh. She looks back up at him, and reaches to trace the outline of his jaw with her finger, studying him with her eyes. “So what’s this new role you say I’m being offered?”
He points her to look below them, just off to the side towards the ballroom patio. She angles her head to do so, and he strokes his fingers through her hair and massages the nape of her neck. “What do you see?”
“I see fake snow.” She laughs.
“I see me pushing our daughter in the swing, but not twirling her around until she gets sick.” He chuckles. “I see our children playing out in the snow. Real snow.”
She whirls around in his arms and looks up to him, searching his face. “What does that mean?”
