by CP Smith
Poppy turned her head and looked at the small lake bordering the property. “Follow me,” she bit out.
We climbed over the gate, rather than risk the pigs escaping, and made our way toward the lake. Troy and Brantley walked out of the stables as we passed by, and stopped dead in their tracks. They scanned us from head to toe, both wearing incredulous looks.
“We only left you alone for five minutes,” Troy said, shocked.
“You mean Bo didn’t tell you I’m capable of causin’ a world war in less than a minute?” I snapped, flinging mud from my hands at the two men. “We’re headed to the lake to delouse, unless that’s also against Bo’s rules?”
Both men were smart enough to keep their mouths shut.
When we reached the small lake, I kicked off my boots and dove in. My shirt was already ruined from the raspberry bush, but my jeans might be salvaged if I washed them a hundred times.
“I’m pretty sure I got some in my mouth,” Poppy whined. “If I die from pig poo poisonin’, I’m gonna come back and haunt you.”
Thankfully, the water was cool, which improved my mood by a half-degree, but I had no doubt a scalding shower was required to fully rid us both of the horrors we’d just endured.
“This is all Bo’s fault,” I groused. “I’m not sure how it is, but after a shower and a good slug of green magic fairy potion, I’ll figure out how.”
“Do we have any?” Poppy asked. “I’m open to forgettin’ the last twenty minutes.”
“I picked some up on the way home from Cali’s,” I grinned. “I was in need of forgettin’ a certain gray-eyed cop.”
“Speakin’ of Bo . . .” Poppy said, as she tried to scrub her face clean. “Explain to me why you have reservations? Because yesterday, he made your heart race, your legs weak, and your breath leave your lungs.”
I leaned back into the water and began to float, moving my arms and legs slowly to keep from sinking, and then asked Poppy a question rather than answering hers.
“If you met a man who reminded you of your father, would that keep you from datin’ him?”
Poppy submerged for a moment, then broke the surface sputtering. “My father abandoned me when I was a baby,” she answered, wiping water from her eyes. “If I met a man who would walk out on his kid, I’d run as fast as I could in the opposite direction.”
“So you’re sayin’ if a man reminded you of your father, he would never make the cut?”
“I just said that,” she mumbled before dunking her head and shaking her hair from side to side to rid it of mud.
I stopped treading water and let my body sink to the bottom like a rock, symbolic of my dashed dreams that I could have something special with Bo. I couldn’t risk my heart. I was certain he would eventually get tired of the comparison and move on, just like my father had.
I could hold my breath for well over a minute without needing air, but I must have stayed under the water longer than Poppy was comfortable with, because she grabbed my arms and pulled me to the surface.
“Are you Aquawoman or somethin’?” Poppy chuckled.
“Somethin’ like that,” I gasped, filling my lungs with air.
“You’re also the Queen of Avoidance,” she stated pointedly. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you avoided answerin’ my question about Bo.”
I groaned and started swimming toward the bank.
“Jeez, Sienna. How bad could it be?” Poppy called out as I crawled up the rocky bank. My jeans were waterlogged, making it hard to walk, so I peeled them off and began to wring them out.
“You’ve got an audience,” Poppy called out, pointing over my shoulder.
I turned and found Troy and Brantley standing at the edge of the meadow leading to the lake. They were watching us like the secret service stood guard over the president.
Guess they took Bo’s threat seriously.
“They’re far enough away, and my shirt hangs over my panties. I’ll put my jeans back on after I wring the water out.”
Poppy pulled herself out of the water, dropped to her back, raising her hand to block the sun from her eyes before pressing me for more information.
“Spill,” she said. “What’s the problem with Bo?”
The problem with Bo? He’s everything I want in a man, and I’m afraid I can’t have him.
“I remind him of his mother.”
Poppy turned on her side and rested her head in her hand. “I’m sensing this is a bad thing?”
“It isn’t unless you throw in the fact that she walked out on him when he was ten because she was addicted to drugs and then overdosed and died.”
Poppy blinked.
“Oh, my God. His mother died from a drug overdose?”
“Yeah. Can you fathom losin’ your mother so young?” I said, imagining a little Bo crying for his mother. I felt my bottom lip begin to tremble, so I turned hoping Poppy wouldn’t notice. “And to lose her to a drug addiction makes it even worse.”
Poppy didn’t answer, so I took a deep breath to calm my emotions and turned back to her. She was staring at the ground, her forehead drawn in a taut line.
“What’s wrong?”
“You said Bo was a jerk because you reminded him of his mother,” she snapped. “How could he think you would ever leave your son?” she cried out, incensed on my behalf.
I sighed, then dropped to my knees and sat down next to her. “He didn’t mean that. He said somethin’ about her being headstrong like I am. I got the impression I reminded him of her in spirit, but that was all.”
She nodded. “So I take it the obstacle you’re concerned about is the comparison?”
I slowly nodded, then reached out and grabbed a wildflower that was growing near the shore, mumbling, “That . . . and somethin’ else.”
“What?”
I turned and looked at Poppy, but said nothing at first. I’d been lying to her for the past two years. Lying about my experience with men. I was still a virgin, and she didn’t know. I don’t know why I was embarrassed to admit I’d saved myself for Chase, other than the obvious—I’d been stupid. Stupid to put all my hopes and dreams in the hands of that douche canoe. But now I was faced with a decision. I had to tell her the truth, so she could help me decide.
Stalling for time, I began pulling the petals off a daisy-shaped flower, silently chanting; he loves me, he loves me not.
I ran out of petals on he loves me not.
“Sienna?”
I rolled my head, trying to find the courage to admit how big a fool I’d been.
“I was a virgin when I went off to college,” I began. Confusion clouded her eyes, so I rushed through my explanation. “I had a romantic dream about saving myself for my husband, and then I met Chase. So . . .”
If it was possible, I swear her expression became more confused.
“Poppy, I’ve spent the last five years either obsessed with him or ruing the day I met him. Don’t you get it? I’m still a virgin.”
Her eyes grew wider, and she stared back at me for a moment before her face softened.
“I’m not afraid of having sex. Believe me; sometimes it’s all I think about.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Lord, she’s gonna think I’m stupid.
“You promise not to laugh?”
Poppy sat up and crossed her heart. “Tell me.”
“When I started reading historical romance in high school, one of the things I loved about them was how a woman’s virginity was a gift to her husband. It meant that she belonged to him, and no one else. When Chase got engaged, I told myself to just sleep with a random guy and get it over with, but the one time I tried, I couldn’t do it. I realized I still wanted to wait until I found the guy I would spend the rest of my life with, and that hasn’t changed.”
“And you’re unsure about Bo, so you don’t want to sleep with him?”
“How can I not be? You said yourself that you’d run in the opposite direction if you met a man who reminded you
of your father. If I took a chance on him, and he changed his mind, I’d not only lose my heart, but a gift I can never get back.”
Poppy stood up and started pacing in circles. “I need to think about this,” she mumbled.
She worried at her lip as she concentrated on my situation. After a few minutes, I got dizzy watching her pace, so I stretched out on the soft grass and focused on the gossamer clouds moving slowly across the sky.
“What does your heart tell you about Bo?” Poppy asked, kicking my shoulder to gain my attention.
I squinted up at her. “My heart wants me to rip off his clothes and vow my undying love. It also says that if his mother wasn’t an issue, I’d have to give up my Wallflower membership because I’d no longer need it. But how do I risk my heart when so much is on the line?”
She rolled her eyes. “Sienna, we’ve already been through this with Cali. You even pointed out to her that you can’t hide from heartache. Guarding your heart is not an excuse not to explore things with Bo, and you know it.”
Lord, I hate when my own words come back to bite me in the ass.
“However, losing your virginity to Bo is a big deal. You can’t give it away unless he’s the right man.”
“So what do I do?”
“You don’t have a choice. You have to tell Bo that you can’t have sex with him until you’re sure he won’t turn tail and run.”
“I’d rather join a nunnery.”
“You already live in a self-imposed nunnery,” she returned. “And they’d throw you out when they saw your Helena Hunting collection.”
“Her hockey players are hot,” I defended. “Five minutes with Randy Balls and a vibrator keeps me warm at night.”
“You’re a sad little hymen lover,” she sighed. “We need to determine if Bo is your Wyatt slash Iain.”
“But how do I do that?”
“He needs to prove to you that you can trust him.”
“Okay, but how do I do that?”
“By his actions, I suppose. He needs to prove to you that he will put you above all others. Even himself. Prove that he would, I don’t know, jump in front of a bullet for you if need be.”
A tingle ran up my spine. “Or jump from a ledge, risking bodily harm, to rescue me from a tree?”
A smile pulled across her mouth. “Or risk his job as a cop to threaten an asshole who was gonna get you drunk and have his way with you?”
I stood up, my heart pounding out a beat of hope. “He’s already proven himself, hasn’t he?”
The crunch of tires caught my attention, so I turned around. It was Bo. He’d returned in the Bullwinkle Jeep alone.
“He’s back,” I cried out. “What do I do?”
“What do you want to do?” Poppy asked.
“Rip off his clothes and vow my undying love,” I answered and began walking toward the Jeep.
“Sienna?” Poppy called out.
I turned and looked at her.
“You’re not wearin’ any pants.”
It had been two hours since Bo left Sienna. Two hours he figured she’d had to twist his admission about his mother into a reason to keep her distance. He would squash that idea the minute he saw her if she had. He wasn’t letting her walk away from him. Not after he’d kissed her and the storm clouds shadowing his bleak life had lifted, shining a ray of light on his gray existence. She was his sun on a dark night, and she belonged to him now, whether she understood it or not.
Bo made the final turn into the ranch and came to a stop outside the main house. Troy and the other man he’d left in charge of returning the Wallflowers to the ranch were standing at the edge of the meadow watching something. Bo peeled out of the Jeep and started to head inside the house when he caught a glimpse of blond hair the color of spun gold, in the distance. He squinted his eyes against the sun until Sienna came into focus, and his lungs froze. She was bent at the waist trying to pull her jeans up, and the soft blue color of her panties glistened in the sun like a bull’s eye for any man to see.
Bo’s eyes shot to the ranch hands, and his legs began moving in their direction. When he was five feet away, he barked out in a low growl, “Eyes off her ass.”
Both men went rigid in their boots, turned their backs on his woman, and walked away without a word. Bo tracked them with his eyes for a moment, then they shot back to Sienna who had managed to pull one leg up to her knee while she bounced around on one foot. He started moving again as a smile pulled across his mouth. She’d fallen in an attempt to right her clothes, landing in the water. She was now facing him with eyes the width of saucers because he’d pulled the T-shirt from his body as he walked toward her.
It was clear they’d been swimming in the lake, and right now the idea of cold water appealed to him. He would pull her in with him so she couldn’t run, and get down to the matter at hand. She was his. He was hers. But more importantly, she needed to keep her fucking pants on unless she was alone with him.
He stopped a few feet short of Sienna and unbuckled his belt. She said nothing as she watched him slide the zipper down and then kick off his boots. Before pulling his jeans off, he turned to Poppy, who was standing still as a statue with her mouth hanging open, and said, “I go commando.” Sienna gasped at his admission, and Poppy turned tail and headed for the house on quick feet.
Turning back to Sienna, he grinned. She’d thrown her hands over her eyes but was peeking out between two fingers.
“You’re gonna skinny-dip in broad daylight,” she squeaked out.
Bo dropped his jeans and stepped out of them, walked into the water, and picked her up, then kept walking until it was deep enough to submerge them both. As they broke the surface, he wrapped her legs around his waist, then covered her mouth with his. Despite the temperature of the water, he was instantly hard.
Her tongue danced with his, heating his blood as he ran his hands over her firm ass. Needing to feel her soft skin, he pushed one leg of her panties aside and kneaded the muscle as he deepened their kiss. Sienna responded to his touch instantly, melting into him further until no distance remained between them.
Ripping his mouth from hers, Bo buried his face in her neck and let her sun wrap around him like a warm blanket. “Never felt this before. Never felt this at peace,” he mumbled, tracing the lobe of her ear with his tongue. “Swear to Christ, I won’t fuck this up. You’re nothin’ like my mother, baby. Nothin’. You scared the shit out of me, is all, and I used the comparison as a poor excuse to keep my distance.”
“I believe you,” she whispered. “I’ve had time to think and I realized you’ve already proven yourself to me. With Chase. Coming all the way out here to apologize. I don’t know another man who would go through that much trouble if his heart wasn’t pure.”
“Jesus,” Bo mumbled, tugging her hair back so he could see her face. Her eyes sparkled in the sun. Her sun, Bo thought. “Are you a dream?”
Her mouth pulled into a sexy grin. “Yes. I’m a figment of your imagination,” she teased.
“Then I never want to wake up,” Bo said low, pressing his forehead to hers.
“Tell me about your mother,” Sienna asked, running a cool hand down the side of his face. “She must have had some good qualities to produce a man like you.”
Bo squeezed his eyes shut. He never spoke about his mother. “I told you she had a voice like an angel,” he answered. “I remember she would sing while she tucked me into bed.”
“Do you remember the song?”
“‘Your Song’ by Elton John,” he said, thinking back on how his mother would softly sing as she tucked the covers around his body to make sure he felt safe. “It’s the only thing about her I can remember clearly. Her angelic voice.”
Sienna’s eyes softened, and her bottom lip began to tremble. He looked away to avoid seeing any pity she might feel, but he looked back when Sienna began to sing Elton John’s ballad in a broken voice. He couldn’t take the reminder of his past, so he crushed his mouth over hers, silencing the bitt
ersweet memory.
Sienna’s body began to tremble as he devoured her mouth, reminding him that the water was cold. “Let’s get you into dry clothes,” Bo muttered when she buried her face in his neck and held on tight.
“Tell me about Boris,” Sienna asked as he began swimming for the shore.
“He’s in ICU. He needs a heart bypass.”
She pulled her face out of his neck, turning worried eyes toward his. “Do you think he will live?”
“He’s got as good a chance as anyone,” Bo stated.
When he reached the bank, Sienna unwrapped her legs and slid down his body until she was standing in front of him. Her hands were braced on his chest, but her eyes were diverted over his shoulder. Bo grinned. His Wallflower was embarrassed to look at his naked body.
“Bo?” Sienna said, swallowing hard before continuing. “There’s somethin’ I need to tell you before we go any further.”
He could see a pink blush spreading across her face, so he raised his hand and tipped her head back until he had her eyes. “You can tell me anything,” he murmured, leaning down to brush a kiss across her mouth.
“I have towels!” Poppy shouted, interrupting them.
Bo looked over Sienna’s shoulder to find her walking toward them. Sienna gasped and turned in his arms, throwing her arms out to shield him from her friend. Bo chuckled low in his throat at Sienna’s reaction, which reminded him they needed to have a talk. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Bo pulled Sienna into his body and leaned down, whispering, “Love the color of your panties, baby, but so did the rest of the ranch. Keep your pants on unless you’re alone with me from now on.”
Sienna froze, then nodded. Poppy must have taken the action to mean come closer, because she kept moving toward them both.
“Stop!” Sienna shouted. “Drop them by his clothes and leave. He isn’t decent.”
Poppy threw her hands up and covered her eyes. “I thought he was jokin’ about the commando thing.”
“Well, he wasn’t.”
Poppy tossed a towel to Sienna and then turned her back. “Cover him. I want to know about Boris.”
