Read Online Stranded by J. C. Valentine - Free Book Online

childish, but she couldn’t seem to make herself look at him without feeling like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. It didn’t make any sense, but did anything anymore?
                  Felix was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “My ride should be here soon.” 
                  Poppy simply tore open a packet of Earl Grey and began pouring the hot water over it. She felt him at her back and stiffened. Reaching around her, Felix lifted a mug from the shelf and placed it on the counter next to hers.
                  “I think I’ll have a cup too if you don’t mind.”
                  The heat rolling off his bare chest seeped through the material of her nightgown and shivers rolled down her spine as her mind served up pictures of the two of them together, entwined in her bed, touching and kissing and savoring. She wanted to return to those moments, to never get out of bed, but knew it was impossible. The bubble had burst; it was time to get back to reality.
    He stepped away all too soon, snapping Poppy back into harsh reality.
                  Without a word, she began preparing his drink. She took longer than was necessary, excessively dipping the bag into the water again and again, adding a little milk to cool it down a bit, anything to prolong having to confront the elephant in the room. Finally, when she knew she had to face him, she gathered the cups and turned.
                  Seated at the small dinette in the corner, Felix looked like a giant. His large frame overpowered the thin metal legs of the chairs and the arm he had draped over the tabletop ate up more than half the surface. Poppy seared the picture of him, sitting just like that, his dark, penetrating gaze following her every move, his long, tapered legs extended out before him, into her brain so that when he was gone, she could pull from her memories and reminisce on the night she had met an amazing man and experienced untold passion under his expert hands.
                 
     
    He wanted badly to reach out and tug her into his lap and reassure her that everything was good between them, but that would just be making a bad situation worse. He had to restrain himself from grabbing her up when she handed over the steaming cup of tea. Instead, he lifted his cup to his lips and took a tentative sip.
    He didn’t actually like tea. He was more o f a coffee man, really, but it seemed like a good opportunity to break through the death shroud that had descended on what should have been a good end to a great evening. How had everything gotten so messed up?
    Oh, yeah. He had gone and screwed with a heart he had no business screwing with.
    The night had been one disaster after another. Though, if he was being completely honest with himself, his encounter with Poppy had been the best experience he’d had in a while. Everything about her screamed wholesome and honest and just genuinely nice. You didn’t meet someone like her every day. People like this were a rare breed , especially in the city. She was nothing like the women he would normally chose for himself, and it ate at him that he was treating her like just another nameless, faceless body.
    She was anything but that. Felix had a sneaking suspicion that, long after they went their separate ways, Poppy would remain with him.
    He was a fool for even thinking about walking out that door, but when the sound of a car horn ripped through the silence, Felix rose from his seat and headed for the door.
    Poppy followed, her dog Bo tagging along quietly behind her, while he finished dressing in his still damp clothes. By the time he allowed himself to look at her again, he was met with vacant eyes. He had seen that look before, and it was usually the look he got right after shutting down one of his dates who expected more than he was willing to give.
    Poppy was different, though.
    She hadn’t said one word about him