Chapter Ten

VALERIAN"S ALARM CLOCKwoke him up at four in the morning like usual. It was how his day typically began except for one thing: today was his first time waking with a hangover, and he found the experience immensely detestable.

His body felt heavier than it should be, and his mind seemed to be operating under a fog.

He remembered the exact issues he had to resolve with the Risto deal. He also had an unfortunately vivid recollection of his volatile exchange with Camelia before their breakup.

But anything else after that, Valerian was unable to recall.

He checked his phone, and over a hundred messages had landed in his inbox from the last hour alone. Heather"s name popped out as he kept scrolling, and Valerian frowned when he saw the timestamp next to her message.

Why the hell would Heather text him at midnight?

Valerian suddenly had a bad feeling as he tapped his screen.

Heather: I just got back. Poppy"s back in her apartment. Please don"t be a dick about this. Call her as soon as you"re up. I"ll handle everything at work.

Heather: I"m sorry about the Risto deal.

Reading her message was like getting sucker-punched in his guts. Floodgates that had held his memories back burst open, and Valerian whitened as forgotten fragments of last night started coming together.

Fuck.

An image seared his mind, of his hands cupping a woman"s face.

Fuck.

That woman was Poppy, and he had kissed her.

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK.

Valerian felt sick as he called the salon where Poppy worked. If she refused to talk to him, then that would mean the kiss had been unwelcomed, and he had forced it on her. She had every right to sue her if so, and he would plead guilty. It was the least he could do, for abusing someone who had been nothing but innocent in her every encounter with him.

But if she didn"t refuse to talk to him, and the kiss was something she didn"t find unwelcome?

"Bonjour, this is Salon Joyieux. How may I help you?"

A mixture of frustration and relief struck him as his call connected. He was not in the habit of leaving any question unanswered in his mind. But after having only Camelia in his life for so long, being involved with another girl, and especially one like Poppy, was just too new and strange to him, and so Valerian decided to take things one step at a time.

First things first, Valerian thought, and that was to see if Poppy wanted to talk to him.

The person who answered the phone was someone named Giovanni, and the latter"s shock was evident when he realized who he was speaking to.

"Hang on—-I mean, p-please give me, umm, I"ll, umm..."

Giovanni seemed to give up trying to be coherent because the next thing Valerian heard was the other man frantically yelling for Poppy.

It"s Mr. Rossfield, Poppy, hurry, Valerian heard the man whisper frantically after a moment.

An unexpected silence followed, and his jaw clenched as another unwanted possibility crossed his mind.

He had thought he knew Camelia in and out. But instead, his ex had him fooled for eight years. Why would he even consider trusting another woman after that?

Poppy had acted like she was crushing on him all this time, but what if she was also pretending?

"Did you really say "Mr. Rossfield"?"

The unmistakable sound of Poppy"s voice cut into Valerian"s thoughts. She had squeaked each word out as well, but instead of finding this amusing, Valerian was stunned to feel his heart pound instead.

What the hell was happening?

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Valerian heard Giovanni groan. "It really is him, so will you hurry up and get to the phone? Joy will kill us both if she finds out how long we"ve made him wait! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Valerian heard Poppy taking audible gulps of breath before coming to the line, but with Camelia"s deception still too damn fresh in his mind, he would be an idiot to make a big deal out of this.

"Mr. R-Rossfield, good morning."

Her breathless tone suggested she was nervous, but that didn"t have to mean anything either.

Just play it cool, he told himself, and see where you stand with her.

If it turned out he had kissed her against his will, then he would apologize and bear the consequences for his drunken mistake.

But if that kiss was not unwelcome?

Stop getting ahead of yourself, dammit.

Valerian took a deep breath.

Play it cool.

But when he finally spoke, the words that came out were the fucking opposite.

"I think I asked you to call me something else already."

Poppy gasped at this while Valerian was already up on his feet and literally slamming his head against the wall.

What the hell, Rossfield?

It was unlike him at all to think one thing and do something entirely different the next. Was this because he was concurrently dealing with a hangover while talking to Poppy?

"I"m...I"m afraid that"s not possible, sir."

Poppy"s awkward tone spoke volumes. "You"re not alone, are you?"

"No, sir."

"So you can"t say what"s on your mind?"

"That"s correct, Mr. Rossfield."

"But if no one else was listening...would you call me what I asked you to?"

Poppy gasped again, and if he had been the type to gasp, he would"ve done so as well. Why the hell had he asked her—-

"Yes."

His brain completely shut down at the speed of her reply.

I think I"m losing my mind.

Was it exhilaration or adrenaline that was suddenly making his heart race?

The last time he felt like this was when he had gone skydiving.

He had to be involved in something wildly risky and out of control—-

And Poppy was that, Valerian realized.

To consider dating her was a risk of unimaginable proportions, the variables too many to count. They were so damn different, he couldn"t even picture how things would work between them.

And that was what made her perfect.

"Can I ask you something, Poppy?"

He had always called her "Ms. Cortez" in the past, and Poppy"s gasp made it clear this wasn"t lost on her either.

"Y-Yes?"

"Did I do something last night that I have to apologize for?"

Valerian could easily imagine Poppy saying "yes" or "no". But just when he was starting to feel confident about either answer being a good thing—-

"Mr. Rossfield? I can"t hear you. Sir? Sir?"

The line suddenly went dead, but before he could figure out what the hell had happened, a text from an unsaved number landed in his inbox.

You don"t remember anything about last night.

It was as if someone had pulled the rug under him, and Valerian suddenly found himself in unfamiliar territory as he grappled for something to say. To lie wasn"t even an option. But to tell the truth was even worse.

Poppy: It"s true. Isn"t it?

Valerian spent one full second cursing and groaning in his mind before succumbing to the inevitable.

Valerian: Can I call you again?