Intoxicating by Heather Heyford

Author:Heather Heyford [Heyford, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-28T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Poppy threw back the covers in a panic.

The room, attractive as it was with its soft gray upholstery in the pale morning light, was strange to her.

Outside the wall of glass across from the bed, a light blanket of snow coated the soft firs, the naked maple and oak branches.

What time is it?

She felt for her phone.

Seven fifteen!

Heath lay on his stomach, his face half-buried in his pillow. Now she knew a whole different side of him—and he, of her.

Passionate scenes came back to her like fast-forwarding through a movie. Never again would she see a boy when she looked at him. He was all man.

She swept her clothes up from the carpet, revealing a threadbare stuffed dog lying beneath them. Wasting valuable seconds, she bent and picked it up, passing a fingertip over its sole button eye. It was very old. It must have been perched on Heath’s bed before they wrecked it in their—what had he called it? Bonding mechanism?

Smiling softly with the memory, she brought the well-loved toy to her nose. The green woods down by Chehalem Creek immediately sprang to mind, followed by a trace of Heath’s worn leather jacket with a whiff of the same laundry soap used on his sheets.

Nostalgia filled her to bursting. She pressed the dog to her heart and looked back at Heath’s sleeping face.

Years of fond memories flashed through her mind.

She stood on the threshold of a brand-new life. If she was successful, it would mean walking away from all of this.

Stealing was wrong. That lesson had been learned early, the couple of times customers had ducked out on their bills at the café, to her parents’ dismay.

Before her better judgment kicked in she bundled Heath’s special dog into her balled-up clothes and tiptoed down the stairs.

She was exiting the powder room when Heath appeared at the top of the steps.

She jumped. “Morning!” she called, trying to sound as normal as possible, although nothing about this morning was normal.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got at least an hour’s drive ahead of me.” She grabbed her bag from the ottoman, then her eyes scanned the living room. “Where’s my coat?”

His hand was on her arm before she realized he had descended the stairs. “You’re still going?”

The little vertical lines between his brows were deeper than ever.

“Why wouldn’t I be? This is what I’ve been working so hard for for the past three months.”

Spying her coat on a hook by the back door, she strode over and snatched it herself while his hand drifted in slow motion back down to his side. “But—what about last night?”

“Last night was amazing.” She bussed his slack lips as she worked her arms into her coat sleeves and headed for the door. “I’ll never forget it. I’ll call you,” she said, fumbling with the latch.

“But—can’t I just tell you something?”

Despite her urgency, she turned back around.

He’d known her all his life. He’d picked now to open up? Today?

“I have an idea.”

The sight of him standing in

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