Chapter Eleven

POPPY"S THOUGHTS WEREa mess.

Again.

In not so many words, Heather had warned her against keeping her hopes up for no reason. But she had still ended up tossing and turning the whole night, with her mind tirelessly replaying the moment the billionaire had pulled her into his arms and tasted her mouth with his tongue.

And now this.

Her only thought this morning was to convince herself that what happened was an accident. Valerian was drunk, as his half-sister had taken pains to point out. "In vino, veritas" only applied to words, and the fact that the billionaire couldn"t even recall kissing her was proof of this.

Wasn"t it?

Poppy"s mind insisted that it was time to put an end to her one-sided crush. But her heart begged to differ. Poppy"s mind was desperate to protect her from more pain while her heart was willing to risk everything for the slightest possibility of something more.

But was there?

For eight painfully long months, Poppy"s heart had exiled itself of its own volition. Chained itself against the sinful urge to beat for a man who already belonged to someone else. Flogged itself again and again because of her inability to walk away.

She would've kept doing that, too...for as long as she deemed her feelings wrong.

But now that it was not?

Wasn't it time to listen to her heart and see where it would take her?

After getting one of the other junior stylists to cover for her, Poppy quickly stepped out through the back exit before texting the billionaire with shaking fingers.

Her phone rang almost immediately, and her heart threatened to leap out of her chest.

Please, God.

She didn"t know what she was allowed to pray for. All she knew was that she needed help.

"Hello?"

"I"m sorry, Poppy."

Poppy"s heart made another attempt to burst out of her. Her name on his lips still sounded so shockingly intimate, and she had a hard time concentrating on his words.

"I don"t want to lie to you. But I also don"t want you to take things the wrong way."

Poppy found herself nodding even if he couldn"t see her.

"It"s true that I don"t remember kissing you. But that can easily be rectified, yes?"

Oh. My. Gosh.

"And before anything else, I want to make it clear to you that Camelia and I had already broken up when I kissed you."

"I know. I f-figured as much."

"You did?" The skepticism in his tone was unmistakable.

"Heather. She told me you had a very rigid set of principles, and—-" Her voice trailed off, and Poppy grew uneasy as a sudden thought occurred to her.

"What is it?"

Poppy didn"t know whether to find his intuition unnerving or impressive. Maybe a bit of both?

"You can ask me anything. And you don"t have to pick your words with care either."

Poppy decided to take him by his word. "I just want to know how...you and..."

"You want to know why we broke up."

"Only if it"s alright—-"

"I found out she was only with me for my money."

Poppy didn"t know how to take this. "I"m so sorry—-"

"Don"t be."

Poppy was still trying to decide whether the flatness of his tone was something she should worry about when she heard him speak again.

"There"s something else I need to ask you about."

"Of c-course." Poppy didn"t know why she was suddenly stammering.

"Did I cross the line with you last night?" the billionaire asked abruptly. "Was the kiss something I forced on you?"

"Not...exactly?" Poppy started fanning her face. Why did she feel so hot all of a sudden?

"I need you to be clearer."

"I wasn"t expecting you to do that, but it wasn"t...unwelcomed?"

Poppy felt like melting by the time she finished choking the words out.

"I see."

If embarrassment could kill, Poppy would"ve already died several times over in the past minute alone.

"I have one last question."

Lucky her. Not!

"And I need you to be honest with me. Can you promise me that?"

Her brows furrowed. What could Valerian ask her that was so important? "I promise, I"ll be—-"

"Did you enjoy my kiss?"

Oh. My. Gosh.

She wished she could think of something more profound to express her shock, but the words were all her mind was presently capable of.

"Yes or no, Poppy.

Poppy cleared her throat.

Twice.

Thrice.

And finally, she managed to choke out, "Uh...huh."