‘I think there’s probably about twenty of us, including some spouses and partners.’ She matched his smile. Not too friendly. ‘I’m sure the regular menu will be fine.’
Good, no need to spend any more time with her than necessary. ‘Great. I’ll see you later. Some time. I’m kind of busy at the bar so I might not be around much.’
Way to go—Poppy’s whole demeanour seemed to brighten. ‘Oh—okay.’
‘Wait. Isaac?’ Izzy interrupted and his optimism floundered. ‘Maybe Poppy and I should come over this afternoon. I’d love to see your new bar. I’m scouting out places for the wedding reception. And Poppy? How can you organise a party without checking out the venue first?’
‘Oh, I trust Isaac,’ she said in a voice that conveyed the opposite. ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine.’
Izzy looked at her friend with growing incredulity. ‘It’s a cocktail bar, right? And you’re on a day off?’
Poppy gave a weak shrug. ‘Yes. Actually, just for a change I have some time off. And I was hanging out for a coffee. You know Marco makes a mean espresso.’
‘Forget the coffee. What are we waiting for? Blue awaits. Come on, bride-to-be’s prerogative.’ Blissfully ignorant of the awkwardness in the room as she rode her fluffy happy wedding cloud, Izzy smiled. ‘A cocktail will be fun. Happy hour for mates, okay, Isaac?’
Looked as if he had no choice.
Looked as if none of them had a choice. The bride-to-be certainly did hold all the cards.
Poppy shook her head as she wiggled out of Izzy’s hold and held up her hands. ‘No, I’m sorry, not today, we can go to Blue some other time. Come along with us on Friday if you want—there’ll be quite a crowd. But as from today I’m officially on the wagon. I’m never drinking again.’
‘Why ever not?’ Izzy asked. ‘It’s Christmas time. We have to drink and be merry. It’s the rule.’
‘I had too much last night. You know me, I’m a very cheap date and rubbish at holding my booze.’
As Isaac well knew, to the detriment of a sane mind and a decent night’s sleep. And that kiss that made his mouth water for more. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Poppy, I’m sure we can rustle you up a virgin margarita. Or even—’ he made sure he had her full attention ‘—an almost-virgin one.’
‘Why do you keep …?’ Her cheeks blazed and she looked down at her boots. When she lifted her chin again realisation flamed in her eyes. ‘Oh, my God. I didn’t …?’
‘Didn’t what?’ Izzy’s eyebrows formed a V. She looked first at Poppy and then at Isaac. ‘What are you two talking about? What didn’t you do?’
Isaac saw the pain on Poppy’s face and knew he’d stepped too far. She did sarcasm like a pro, but had also relied on him to hold her secrets close to his chest, and he’d never been tempted to share them so he wasn’t going to start now. Although sometimes she was a little too damned serious for her own good. Honestly, she didn’t need to repent for ever. Everyone had at least one thing in their past they regretted. And being sexually inexperienced wasn’t exactly a crime. Some man would be very lucky indeed to reintroduce Poppy to the dating scene. Isaac only hoped it wouldn’t be a jerk like the last one.
And why did the thought of Poppy with another man make his blood pressure hike? Things weren’t making sense today. ‘Didn’t … get to sort out the rest of the tree decorations. Right, Poppy? Maybe you and Izzy could finish them this afternoon.’ And stay out of my way.
Izzy picked up her bags and shook her head. ‘Rubbish. We’ll come with you to set the traps. I’m so glad you’ve chosen the humane ones—I’d hate to see anything get hurt. We can be The Three Mouseketeers, releasing the mice into their true habitat outdoors. You must call me if you catch any. I’d love to see them. Then we’ll tag along and see what an amazing bar you’ve created, Isaac. I’ve heard so much about it.’ She turned to Poppy. ‘Come on, please? I don’t get the chance to do this very often. I feel like living dangerously. Okay?’
‘Oh, okay. Just a quick drink, but I’m on water.’ Poppy sighed.
And for just a second he was back in that bed watching as she fell asleep. How many times had he shared his bed? Too many to count. And no woman sleeping had made his heart squeeze as she had last night, as if he’d wanted to protect her, to stop her feeling as rotten as she clearly felt. To stop her needing to outright ask for a sexual experience. The accidental glimpse of a woman’s nipples hadn’t ever before made him feel so aroused.
No woman had looked so damned hot with a hangover either.
His groin tightened as he watched her. Goddamn—he needed a bit of distance, not to give her a guided tour of his bar.
Catching Isaac’s eye, she frowned and shook her head minutely, but just enough for him to understand. He got the message loud and clear. Don’t mention it, don’t think about it and definitely don’t ever consider spending another night in my bed.
Which was one hundred per cent fine by him.
Blue lived up to the hype. Even through foggy hangover vision Poppy could see why Isaac had won the Best New Bar Award this year. Decorated in vivid midnight blue with a wall of cascading turquoise water in the centre of what used to be a bank it was startling, edgy and yet a very comfortable place to be with soft, plump easy chairs she sank into.
Or would have been comfortable if she hadn’t been in direct eye line of Isaac all afternoon, on tenterhooks wondering what the heck he was going to say and how she was going to answer. He’d always had slick one-liners, been far too cocky for his own good and she was so out of her league here—tongue-tied with embarrassment.
As it was mid-afternoon the place was quiet with just a couple of other customers sitting up at the long mahogany bar reading the extensive cocktail menu. Izzy tapped her martini glass against Poppy’s sparkling water. ‘Cheers. I’m very impressed—no wonder he’s doing so well if all his bars are like this. He’s a bit of a mystery, though, isn’t he? Flitting in and out of the country … He’s sort of been vaguely around the edge of our group on and off for years, then he’s suddenly rich and successful and renting a room at yours.’
Poppy nodded. ‘Believe me, the renting’s only temporary. He wouldn’t have been my first choice of flatmate. But when Alex offered him your old room I couldn’t exactly say no. I guess Alex thought he was doing us both a favour.’
Izzy winced. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you in a mess.’
‘Ah, look, I’m a landlady, I have to expect these things to happen. Funny, though, we were so settled for all those years, just you, me and Tori in our lovely flat.’
‘Your lovely flat.’
‘Yes, well, I always thought of it as ours really—you helped me find it and decorate it. I just bankrolled it. But then in the space of two months everything’s changed so much I can barely keep up. Tori moved out to be with Mark, and you moved out to live with Harry. Alex moved in, Tori moved back into the box room, Isaac took your old room. And just to spice things up a bit, we had Matt for a month. I’m getting a bit dizzy. It’s like the place has a revolving door at the moment.’ If only Isaac could see fit to revolve out permanently instead of staying over for a few nights here and there … usually unannounced. Still, paying full rent in advance meant his contribution to the mortgage was a big relief to her money worries. In the short term. ‘Besides, with his job he’s hardly around.’ Until recently. Now it felt as if he was around rather too much for her liking.
‘And he hasn’t got a girlfriend? Or at least no woman