Chapter 8

“Are you ready Poppi?” Madden asked.

His aviator glasses showed her reflection in them.

She thought he looked so incredibly sexy, but she had to shake that thought away.

“You have boots?” Poppi asked.

“Yeah, my dad owns a ranch in Maryland too. A few of the guys and I go riding quite often,” he said, nodding towards her car.

Her heart started racing. He rides? What else does this guy have up his sleeve?

As they drove to their first stop, the Moose Canter, she could feel him staring at her.

“What?” Poppi asked.

“Nothing. I’m just becoming more familiar with your face and you. It’s a technique that I use when I want to remember someone and build a relationship with them,” he said, looking out the window.

“Well stop, it makes me uncomfortable. Especially after…” she stopped herself.

“After what? We flirted at the grocery store? Come on Poppi. We didn’t know we were step siblings then and now we can recalibrate and change how we see one another,” he reassured her.

Those words hit Poppi like a ton of bricks. She was in this alone. She had an attraction to him and he didn’t feel the same. She was obviously being silly. She smiled to herself at the thought.

“You are right. I can’t help it if I’m super hot and you wanted me. That’s part of my charm,” she joked.

They both laughed and it broke the tension in the car.

At Moose Canters, there were all different types of vendors. They walked over to a woman that was selling homemade perfumes and colognes.

“Do you want to test some?” She asked, holding out testing strips.

They both nodded and took a few strips. They sprayed and sniffed all around the booth. They laughed and joked about some of the scents.

“Oh my gosh, this one smells so good,” Poppi said, wiping the strip on her wrist.

“Let me smell,” Madden said, grabbing her wrist and bringing it to his nose.

He inhaled deeply with his eyes closed. His touch on her wrist felt almost electric. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was right by her face and he instantly let go. Her breath caught in her throat. Something in her did not want him to let go.

“I’m sorry Poppi. I should have asked your permission to grab your wrist. That won’t happen again,” he said, gaining his composure.

“That scent is captivating, is it not? I think your boyfriend likes it honey. You should buy a bottle?” The vendor said.

“Oh, he is my brother. I will take a small bottle of it. It does smell so good,” Poppi agreed.

The lady looked at them both quizzically. It was as if she had sensed something more than a family connection.

“Oh my apologies. You two seem to have a connection, but that makes sense if you are siblings. Silly me,” she said, still looking doubtful.

As they made their way through the market, it began to be incredibly busy. The Fourth Of July was in a few weeks so this time of year was always packed with tourists and locals. Poppi looked down for a moment to check the time and she lost sight of Madden.

“Madden? Madden!” She yelled, looking around frantically.

She couldn’t see over the crowd. People were pushing. Her anxiety was starting to take over. She felt her face getting warm as tears began to form in her eyes. She realized she didn’t even have Madden’s phone number to call him. She took deep breaths to calm herself.

Then she felt someone grab her hand. It was Madden. He guided her out of the crowd and back to the parking lot. Even as the crowd dissipated, neither of them let go. His fingers were intertwined with hers as he led her back to her car. She felt safe.

“Madden?” She asked.

He turned his attention towards her.

“You can let go now,” she said, glancing down at their hands.

He relinquished her hand, but he still stood very close to her.

“I was genuinely scared that I had lost you. My dad would have killed me Poppi,” he said, touching her face gently with his fingertips.

“Thank you for coming back for me,” Poppi said, softly.

They both leaned towards one another. Their minds caught up in the moment of Madden’s kind gesture.

Don’t.

There was that word again. Don’t let him kiss you, was what Poppi’s mind was telling her. However, the moment was already happening. He slipped his hand around to her waist and pulled her gently towards him.

Poppi knew she should move.

That was the first thought that crossed her mind when Madden grabbed her waist.

The vendor market had started to thin out, the afternoon sun casting long shadows between the booths. The sounds of people talking and music drifting from a nearby stand faded into the background as Madden looked at her like he was trying to figure out the same thing she was.

“Poppi…” he said quietly.

She swallowed, forcing a small laugh. “Don’t say my name like that.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Like what?”

“Like you’re about to say something you shouldn’t.”

For a moment, neither of them moved. They both knew.

They knew the line they were standing on. They knew what everyone would say. They knew the label they were supposed to have of stepbrother and stepsister, even if they had only met as adults and their connection felt nothing like what it was supposed to feel like.

Madden glanced away, running a hand over the back of his neck. “This is a bad idea.”

“Yeah,” Poppi whispered.

But neither of them stepped back.

His hand brushed against hers, barely there, like he was giving her a chance to pull away. Instead, she looked up at him, caught between what she wanted and what she knew she couldn’t want.

“You’re making this really hard,” she admitted.

His expression softened, “You think you’re making it easy Poppi?”

The space between them disappeared.

Poppi’s breath caught as Madden leaned in, slow enough for her to stop him.

And she almost did.

Almost.

Then….

“Watch out!”

A small kid came running across the walkway chasing a bright yellow ball that bounced straight between them.

Madden reacted instantly, stepping back and catching it before it rolled into a display table.

The little boy skidded to a stop. “Sorry!”

Madden handed it back with a smile. “You’re good. Just be careful.”

The kid ran off, leaving Poppi and Madden standing there in awkward silence.

She let out a nervous laugh, covering her face for a second.

They looked at each other again, the moment gone but the tension still hanging between them.

“Maybe we should start heading back,” Poppi said.

Madden gave a small, sad smile, “Yeah, I think we should.”

How in the world were they supposed to go back to being “siblings” with an almost kiss hanging over their heads?