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Sitting with her on our way back in the car, there was a flicker of doubt in my mind when I leaned in close to her. A little surge of desire. I wanted to kiss her. For a brief, fleeting moment, I did want it. And that stupid brief, fleeting moment was all I could think about since I got back to my hotel room. Almost two whole hours went by, I was nearly done getting ready for dinner and yet somehow, it was still all I could think about. 

I kept picturing it, her lips against mine, my arms around her, her body pressing into mine. It was driving me insane. I was much better off when I used to stay away from Poppy Valentine. And the thought of having dinner with her tonight, possibly sitting beside her at that restaurant, walking back with her, sharing the elevator with her? Oh, dear God, no. 

I put my cologne on the bathroom counter before huffing and flicking the lights off, grabbing my shoes as I sat on the foot of the bed, and then pulled them on. I pocketed my phone and wallet once I tucked the room key into it and then opened the door. I wasn't waiting on Poppy tonight, absolutely not. As I shut the door firmly and spun around to head towards the elevator, another door opened and my jaw clenched. 

Fuck me. 

I stopped, spinning around to face her. She shut the door before throwing her hair over her shoulders, faltering when she noticed I was there. She took in a shaky breath and flashed me a small, forced smile. 

I hate that it was forced. 

"Hi," she said. She blinked and then her brows knitted together in confusion. "Were you going downstairs?" 

"Yeah," I nodded, pocketing my hands to hide my fists. 

"Without me?" 

"Yes," I answered. Maybe if she felt a little bad about it, she'd also increase the distance between us. 

She sighed, almost in relief. "Oh, I was going to do that too but I felt kind of bad. I guess I don't have to now," she snickered and then started walking ahead of me. When she realized I wasn't keeping up, she stopped and spun on her heels, staring at me. "You coming?" 

I scoffed softly before catching up to her. "You were going to leave without me?" 

"What do you mean? You were going to do the same thing as me," she laughed softly. 

"So? That doesn't mean you have to do it. Why would you leave without me?" 

"Josh," she stared at me incredulously. "Why do you think so?" 

I lifted a brow at her as we reached the elevators and I pressed the button, both of us waiting. 

"I felt a little... weird, I guess," she mumbled in admission. "I kept..." She shook her head and cleared her throat. "I kept thinking about it." 

"What?" 

"I kept replaying what almost—" Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "You know what, you're not entitled to ask me these questions and I don't owe you any answers. I didn't want to go downstairs with you and I have my reasons, that's all you need to know," she huffed. "What about you?" 

"If you don't have to answer me, then I don't have to answer you." 

"All right then." 

"All right." 

"Okay." 

"Okay," I repeated as the elevator opened with a ding. We looked away from each other and stepped inside together. We stood in silence as the doors closed and my eyes trained only on the countdown as the numbers decreased the closer we got to the lobby. 

"I didn't mean it," she said under her breath. "I wasn't going to leave without you." 

"Yes, you were," I deadpanned, turning to her. 

She hesitated. "Yeah, I was." 

I shook my head at her, that's really all I could do. 

"I wanted to," she whined a bit. "But I felt really bad, unlike somebody," she spat, glaring at me. "It's just..." She shook her head and waved a dismissive hand. "Forget about it. Agree to never bring it up again?" 

I nodded. "Agreed." 

She nodded as well before the elevator opened and we stepped out together. As we made it towards the sitting area, we realized that Valerie and Jamieson weren't here yet, so we both settled down on the couches since we all agreed earlier to walk to dinner together. 

As it turns out, they're dumber than we are, and last night, they got lost again when they were looking for the restaurant I told Jamieson to meet us at. 

Now, I'm not dumb... but my brain does go a little numb around little Ms. Poppy here. 

While she took a look around, searching for them, I let my eyes rake over her once. She wasn't wearing a dress today, actually. She had on a pair of black fitted jeans with a black belt holding it at her waist and on top of that, she had on a rose gold satin triangle top with the straps meeting at the back of her neck. Her hair was also left down and she had little gold hoops in her ears. 

She tucked her hair behind her ear absentmindedly while gazing around before her eyes landed on me again. Lifting her brows at me, she tilted her chin up, almost daring me to say something and argue about anything and everything with her. 

I shook my head, a smile twitching at my lips as I looked away from her. Still feeling her eyes on me, I knew she was staring at me, maybe checking me out. I spotted Jamie and Valerie and began to stand up, turning to Poppy to tell her we should leave now, but when I looked at her, she had her brows slightly lifted, her lips a little pursed, as her eyes traveled up and down my body. I pocketed my hands, tilting my head to one side, and waited until her gaze met mine again. 

She blinked and stood up quickly, dusting her pants. "Nothing happened," she mumbled, standing beside me. 

"Mm-hmm, sure," I nodded. "You weren't checking me out." 

"No, I wasn't, Nilsen." 

"No, you weren't, Valentine." 

"Nope." 

"Sure," I chuckled, both of us heading out when Valerie and Jamieson were close enough to tail us. We began walking side by side, our arms brushing every once in a while and I stole another look at her when we walked under a streetlamp and then another. And then another. And then I was staring at her every few seconds. 

God, what is wrong with me?! 

I wanted to smack myself. Literally. We reached a different restaurant from last night and got a table for four. "Sit with me," I demanded. 

She glanced at me over her shoulder while walking ahead of me. "Why? Valerie isn't a good dinner buddy?" she asked, laughing softly. 

"No," I answered bluntly. "She's really not. She likes to dig elbows into people and bump arms with them and make people drop their forks and spill their drinks." 

She stared at me, stopping and pulling a chair out for herself. "Half of that stuff didn't happen to you last night," she drawled. 

"And half of it did," I retorted, pulling out the chair next to hers and sitting down. 

She stared at me, hanging her purse on the back of the chair before facing me. "Do you really not like her that much? Or have you really started to like me that much?" 

I shrugged, shaking my head softly. "I don't know, actually, I can't tell." 

She bit the inside of her cheek, still watching me. "Okay. Do with that what you will." 

As the other two took the seats across from us, we got menus and then placed our orders. 

Throughout dinner, Poppy and I watched as Valerie made Jamie spill his drink. Twice. Drop his fork. Once. And made him curse after knocking his elbow off the table too many times to count. Jamieson forced out a laugh, cutting Valerie's story about Barbados short. "Valerie, Valerie, listen," he chuckled, facing her. 

Poppy and I glanced at each other, both of us biting down grins before looking at them again. 

"Breathe," Jamieson told her. 

She blinked in confusion. "What?" 

Jamieson laughed again. "Breathe more, talk less. Please." 

"But—" 

"Please," he groaned. 

I heard Poppy snicker softly as she picked up her drink, sipping out of the straw, struggling to hold in her laughter. She put it down as Valerie continued arguing with Jamieson, asking what the hell he was going on about. 

I stared at my empty plate while Poppy stirred the ice that was still left in her glass. I turned to her, leaning back in my seat and resting my hands on my thighs before nudging her knee with mine under the table. 

She faced me, brows raised. I lifted a hand, gesturing for her to come closer as I beckoned her with two fingers. She suspiciously leaned in closer, bringing her ear to my lips. I shifted forward a bit and heard her suck in a shaky breath as my lips brushed against her skin. Her grip tightened on the chair and she stiffened as I found myself smirking. 

"Do you want to get out of here?" 

She turned to me, both of us pausing and staring at each other, stunned at the proximity. Our noses almost touched. 

I could kiss her right now. 

"Where?" she whispered. 

"Nowhere," I shrugged. "To wander around." 

She smiled and it was genuine. "Is Joshua Nilsen asking me to wander around New Orleans with him?" 

"Yes, he is. Are you in?" 

She hesitated. "And we don't have to pay the bill," I mumbled. 

"I'm in," she said. 

I smiled, "How... God, you're stingy." 

She frowned, "I bought the cheapest meal, I shouldn't be paying as much as you guys, and you'll make me if we split the bill. That's cheating," she frowned, grabbing her purse. 

"All right, Valentine. Let's go then." We both stood up silently and slipped past our table while Valerie and Jamieson continued arguing. I knew Jamieson saw us, but he didn't say anything. I opened the door for Poppy and she walked through, walking backward as she faced me. 

"Let's go to a bar tonight." 

"A bar?" I asked, lifting my brows at her. 

"Yeah. I want to get a little tipsy. Do you?" 

"With you? No," I shook my head, flashing her a sarcastic smile. "I don't trust myself around you. Don't ask." 

She shrugged, "Fine. Just make sure I don't do something stupid, please?" 

"What was that? Did you just say please? Wow," I snickered. 

She grinned, "Please?" drawing out the word. 

I nodded begrudgingly. "All right. I'll make sure you don't do something stupid tonight." 

"Great. Then you'll take care of me," she said before spinning around and walking in front of me. 

"I'll take care of you," I whispered under my breath.

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