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staying, nor had she become clingy or combative when she realized things weren’t going any farther between them—all things he had grown to expect. Instead, she quietly saw him to the door.
    When Felix stepped onto the porch it was to find that the rain had died down into a light mist, making his friend Tate’s car clearly visible from the street. He would have left right then, but his feet were glued to their spot. His stomach knotted at the idea of stepping off that porch and never looking back. His gut told him that if he didn’t say something now, he was going to regret it later, but fear rooted him in place, unable to leave or turn back.
    Tate blew the horn twice, impatient little bursts that called back his attention. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, Felix was just about to walk away when he decided to throw caution to the wind. He had always been taught to go with his gut, and his gut was telling him that a girl like Poppy didn’t come around often and he’d be a fool to pass her by.
    “Poppy, I—” His words died a quick death when he turned to find the door closed and Poppy gone. His eyes darted to the living room windows and was met with absolute darkness. What should he do? he wondered as he backed down the stairs and craned his neck to peer up at the second floor.
    A light mist coated his upturned face as he scanned the darkened windows. One minute passed, and then another, until finally, a light lit in the corner room. Felix was torn. Should he shout up to her like some hormonal teenager desperate for her attention, or bang down the door like some deranged psychopath until she called the police?
    He wasn’t sure how long he stood there considering his options, but when Tate’s commanding voice called out behind him, Felix finally made his decision.
    “What’s the hold up, man?” Tate shouted. “It’s late and I have to be up at the crack of dawn for another round of signings.”
    Pivoting on his heel, Felix cut through the maze of flower beds and tugged open the passenger door. Sliding Tate a dejected look, he sighed. “ Hey.”
    “Everything alright?” Tate asked as he positioned himself behind the wheel and began backing down the short drive.
    Felix glanced up at the house, his gaze landing on the dimly lit window. His stomach knotted with longing. “Just been a long day.” He never should have left, he thought solemnly. But he knew it was for the best. He just didn’t have anything to offer a woman like Poppy, and he wouldn’t waste her time with empty promises. She deserved better than that.
    One day, Poppy was going to make some lucky guy very happy.
    His gut twisted at the idea of Poppy being with another man. Annoyed with his body’s reaction, he told Tate to step on it. The sooner he got back to his reality, the better.
    Casting one last look at the house, Felix’s breath froze in his chest. There, with the curtains drawn back, stood Poppy. In that brief moment of time their eyes locked, and Felix had to fight the urge to leap from the moving vehicle and run back inside.
    How, in just a few hours, had this woman managed to get under his skin unlike any woman before her? Felix shook his head and forced himself to tear his eyes away. This was just a culmination of everything bad that had happened to him tonight. Emotionally charged atmospheres, especially after a life and death experience, were known to foster connections and feelings that otherwise would never have occurred.
    His emerging feelings for this woman , who had taken him in and cared for him in his time of need, were misleading and couldn’t be trusted.
    As the city lights emerged in the distance, Felix contented himself with the knowledge that, once he got home and back into his routine, everything would go back to normal. And Poppy, she would become a distant, pleasant memory surrounding a night that had gone horribly awry.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    8
     
    Two weeks had passed since that stormy night when