Chapter 3

The guest of honor hadn’t even arrived yet, and Poppi was already beginning to form an opinion about the entire evening.

She had spent the last hour making polite conversation, smiling when she was supposed to smile, and pretending she wasn’t wondering why everyone seemed so excited about a dinner for someone she had never even met. She knew this was supposed to be some sort of family gathering, but no one had bothered to give her many details.

She glanced toward her mother, who was standing near the patio doors, laughing with Fred and a few other people.

Poppi sighed.

Typical.

Apparently, everyone else knew exactly what was going on except her.

Then she heard the sound of tires crunching against the gravel driveway.

Everyone’s attention shifted toward the entrance.

A black Lexus slowly pulled into the driveway before turning around toward the side of the barn. The windows were darkly tinted, making it impossible to see who was inside.

“Oh, that must be him,” someone said excitedly.

Poppi straightened slightly.

Finally.

She watched as everyone began walking toward the vehicle to greet the guest of honor. She followed behind them, mostly out of curiosity.

The Lexus came to a stop.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the driver’s side door opened.

A dark-haired, blue-eyed, beautifully tanned young man stepped out.

Poppi froze.

Her entire body seemed to stop functioning.

His eyes immediately found hers.

And he froze, too.

Neither of them said a word.

They just stared at each other.

Poppi’s stomach dropped.

No.

There was absolutely no way.

She knew those eyes.

She knew that face.

She knew that smile.

Her heart began pounding so hard she was convinced everyone around her could hear it.

MJ.

Except MJ wasn’t just MJ.

He was Madden.

The boy from the market.

The boy she’d flirted with.

The boy she’d been shamelessly checking out between shelves.

The boy she’d teased and smiled at and deliberately tried to get the attention of.

Her stepbrother.

Oh my God.

Poppi felt every ounce of color drain from her face before rushing right back into it.

Mortifying didn’t even begin to describe it.

She had been flirting with her own stepbrother.

Her own stepbrother.

She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Madden continued staring at her, and she couldn’t tell what was going through his mind. His expression looked just as stunned as hers. His mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

Someone stepped forward and hugged him.

“MJ! You made it!”

Poppi barely heard them.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Madden finally looked away, greeting the people around him, but the moment was already burned into her memory.

She needed to get out of there.

Immediately.

“Excuse me,” she muttered, barely waiting for anyone to respond before turning toward the house.

She walked quickly through the large doors and into the kitchen, her heart still racing.

What was she going to do?

This was going to be the most awkward dinner of her entire life.

And she blamed Fred.

She blamed her mother.

She blamed both of them for never telling her anything useful about this family.

How had they kept this from her for so long?

How was she supposed to sit across from Madden at dinner and pretend she hadn’t spent the last time she’d seen him trying to flirt with him?

Poppi hurried into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

She stared at herself in the mirror.

Her cheeks were bright red.

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto her face.

This was fine.

It was completely fine.

Maybe he hadn’t realized she was flirting with him.

Maybe he’d thought she was just being friendly.

Maybe he hadn’t even remembered her.

She grabbed a towel and patted her face dry.

“It’s fine, Poppi,” she told her reflection. “Maybe he didn’t realize you were flirting. You didn’t even know who he was.”

She took a deep breath.

“You didn’t know.”

Another breath.

“So there is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

She stared at herself for another second.

Then she groaned.

“Except he’s insanely gorgeous.”

That was the problem.

She couldn’t even lie to herself.

Madden was gorgeous.

And now she knew exactly who he was.

Her stepbrother.

Fantastic.

Poppi took one last deep breath before walking back toward the large doors leading to the deck.

She couldn’t hide in the bathroom all night.

She pushed the doors open and stepped outside.

Almost immediately, she felt his eyes on her.

She looked up.

Their eyes met again.

And, despite everything she had just told herself, her heart skipped.

Because, God damn, was he gorgeous.