Lost

When Grammie Marigold tells Poppy Granger to run, to flee and be free, Poppy doesn’t hesitate.

Poppy only recognized the moment after Marigold put a spotlight on it. Freedom. She had a chance. A brief flicker of time to get out there and live in the real world.

If there was one thing Grammie Marigold believed in above everything else, it was love. Real love. True love. Love that didn’t care about her fortune. Didn’t care about status or society or opinion.

After what just happened at the altar during her sister’s wedding, Poppy is the scarlet woman. The outcast. The one everyone will whisper about.

Rather than sticking around to be sneered at, Poppy takes Grammie’s advice and ventures out into the world. The real world. The one far from the family name and expectation.

Poppy doesn’t believe she’ll find her Prince Charming on the city streets, all she wants to do is live. Life, as it turns out, has its own ideas and what’s supposed to be a simple apartment hunt turns into a reality she wasn’t expecting.

Warning: Contains explicit language and imagery. Suitable only for ages 18 and over.

“Damn, that voice,” he said, moistening his lips that were so close to hers she could almost feel the sweep of his tongue. “Do you know how hard it is to walk away from that voice?”

“About as hard as it is for me to keep my clothes on right now.” Bold was one thing, but brazen? That was new. But Poppy liked it and didn’t feel like she had to apologize, not with Turner. “You can walk away from my kiss… would it be so easy to walk away if I was naked?”

Like the prospect enticed him so much he was unable to resist, his hand jumped to her breast, squeezing her over her clothes, thrusting her back against the window.

Digging her nails into his shoulder, Poppy pulled herself higher, arching into the rough caress as her eyes closed.

“Shit, baby,” he groaned.

(C) Scarlett Finn