Since learning about Lily, he’d been convinced Poppy had somehow tricked him the way Faustina had, for her own nefarious ends.
That suspicion wasn’t playing as strongly now that he was here. Her home was unpretentious, dated and showing signs of age, but neat and well cared for. Her bond with her grandmother and daughter seemed genuine and from the reports he’d commissioned, she was this side of financially solvent. She didn’t even have a speeding ticket on her record.
He’d picked up two on his way here, but that was beside the point.
In the past, he had seen what he wanted to see. He couldn’t allow himself to be so credulous again.
He made himself take a cool moment to watch Lily’s concentrated effort to touch the end of her spoon into the soup and bring the taste to her mouth. She grinned as she succeeded, spoon caught between her tiny white teeth.
He had no proof, but he was convinced she was his. He had to claim her.
As for Poppy, he was still absorbing the impact she continued to have on him. He still reacted physically to her. One look at her in jeans and a loose pullover and his mouth had started to water. No makeup, hair gathered into a messy knot of kinks on her head, wariness like a halo around her, yet he’d had to restrain himself from reaching for her. Not to grab or take possession, but simply to touch. Fill his hands with the textures of her.
Was her skin as smooth and soft as his erotic dreams replayed? Would her nipples tighten if he licked then blew lightly again? Did her voice still break in orgasm and would that sound once again send pleasurable shivers down his back?
That chemistry was a weakness, one that warned him to keep his guard up, but it didn’t deter him from his plan one iota.
In fact, it stoked a fire of anticipation deep in the pit of his belly.
* * *
Poppy’s tension remained through dinner, even though Rico went on a charm offensive against her grandmother, breaking out levels even Poppy hadn’t realized he possessed, asking after her health and offering condolences over Gramps.
“I’m very sorry to hear you lost him. I remember Poppy saying he wasn’t well, just before she left Spain.”
Poppy released a subtle snort, suspecting he only recalled that detail because she had reminded him of it an hour ago.
He frowned with affront. “I asked you why you weren’t using the money you’d saved to see more of Eur
ope. You said your grandparents needed help moving into a care facility.”
For one second, she saw glints of blue and green in his irises, telling her he remembered everything about that day.
A spike of tingling heat drove sharp as a lance through her. She crossed her legs, bumping her foot against his shin in the process and sending a reverberation of deeper awareness through her whole body.
“We were talking about moving,” Gran said, forcing Rico to break their eye contact. “I couldn’t look after Bill myself, but having Poppy here bought us an extra year in our home.” Gran squeezed her hand over Poppy’s, the strength in her grip heart-wrenchingly faint. “He would have faded all the faster if we’d been forced to leave this house. I’ll always be grateful to her for giving us that. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t been here in the months since he’s been gone, either. She’s been our special blessing her whole life.”
“Gran.” Poppy teared up. She knew darned well she’d been more of a burden.
“And Lily is ever so precious, too.” Gran smiled at the baby. “But it’s time.”
“Time?” Poppy repeated with muted alarm.
“I’ll call your aunt Sheila in the morning,” she said of her sister, patting Poppy’s hand before she removed her touch. “I’m on the top of the list at that facility near her apartment. I’m sure I can stay with her until a room opens up.”
“Gran, no.”
“Poppy. We both know I shouldn’t have been here this winter, making more work for you on top of looking after the baby. You were shoveling the drive on your one day off to get me to the doctor’s office. I have no business near that ice by the front steps, either. You’re penning up Lily, worrying I’ll trip over her. I’m worried. No, I don’t want to hold you back from the life you ought to be leading.”
“This is the life I want to lead.” Poppy’s chin began to crinkle the way Lily’s did when she was coming down with a cold and Poppy had to leave her at day care.
“Oh, is your fancy man moving in with us, then?” Gran asked.
“I see where Poppy gets her spark.” A faint smile touched Rico’s lips. “Poppy and I have details to work out, but you’re right that my life is in Spain. I’m here to marry her and take Poppy and Lily home with me.”
After a brief, illogical spike of elation, Poppy’s heart fell with that bombshell news. Her mind exploded. He wasn’t wrenching their daughter from her arms, but she wasn’t relieved in the least. She immediately knew this wasn’t about her. He’d married for coldly practical reasons the first time. He might dazzle her grandmother with kindness and charisma, but it was a dispassionate move to get what he wanted by the quickest, most efficient means. She shouldn’t be shocked at all by his goal or his methods.
“My life is here with Gran,” Poppy insisted shakily. “She needs me nearby, even if she moves into assisted care.”