Eligible Billionaires: Running From Love Part 14

Poppy closed her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "I suppose I am. "

"Dont beat yourself up over it. I did the same thing, maybe we all do. I ran from Ryan because I was convinced my relations.h.i.+p with Ryan would turn out the same way my relations.h.i.+p with Bertram did. Maybe its human nature to run away from the very things that can heal us." Charla smiled. "Heres the thing. Youre already in love and your heart is breaking, so why let someone who hurt you in the past dictate what kind of joy you get to feel in your future?" Charla refilled her champagne gla.s.s. "Letting people who harmed us control who we love and how we live? That not only doesnt make sense, but it just allows what they did to continue to hurt us for our entire lives."

Poppy nodded. She swallowed. She closed her eyes. Charla was right. She was absolutely one hundred percent right.

"I have to go," Poppy jumped up. "I have to ... I have to ... Charla, Im sorry, but right now, I just need some time to be alone."

"Youre sure?"

Poppy nodded. "Im not running away. I just need some air."

"You wont run away before the wedding? Promise me that you wont."

"I wont." Poppy smiled through her tears. "I just ... I have ... I need some time, a moment to process."

Charla nodded. "Okay. I have to meet Ryan at the ballroom to go over seating with the coordinator. Im going to get dressed and walk to the main building." She lifted her phone. "Im just a text away."

"Thanks." Poppy pressed her fingers under her eyes and rushed out of the sliders that led to the deck and down to the beach. She needed fresh air. She needed s.p.a.ce. The warm sand ma.s.saged her bare feet. A warm breeze blew against her face and dried her tears. Charla was right. Poppys heart warmed with the knowledge that this was her choice, to free herself from her past, to face her future, to embrace the people she loved.

The waves rolled in and out. The rhythm was hypnotic and peaceful. She walked to where the sand met the water. She lifted her arms to the sky and breathed deep. With a long exhale all the tension in her body released.

d.a.m.n Therese. d.a.m.n her hold on Poppys past and future. Poppy was smarter than this. Shed learned too much to turn her back on love. She didnt have to walk the same path as Therese, she didnt have to keep running. She could make a choice, make a commitment, live the life she wanted no matter what had happened in the past.

She wanted a life with Trevor. Who knew if he would take her now ... how much heartache had she caused? How much pain had he endured? How could he ever trust her to stay? Even if she knew her own truth, how could she convince Trevor? Shed been running from his love for so long and fled so many times.

She pressed her fingertips to her lips. What had she done? What had she given up? Her heart split. Pain catapulted through her body with the idea that shed lost Trevor for the rest of her life. "No, no, no," she mumbled. She had to call him, she had to see him, she had to ...

"Poppy?"

She turned. Her heart hammered ... Trevor stood behind her on the sh.o.r.e.

"I cant do this without you," Trevor said. Her face was streaked with tears and her hair was wild in the wind, but Trevor saw only beauty. Beauty, pure and fierce and independent. Not a woman he wanted to capture and keep, but a woman he want to love and walk with through life. A shared life of joy. "Ive tried to live without you and I cant. I love you. With all that I am and everything that I will ever be, Poppy, I love you and I know you love me."

He walked toward Poppy, one slow step at a time. His body thrummed with the need to pull her close, to embrace her, to press his lips to hers and make love to her, but instead he walked ever so slowly toward her. Her tears had stopped, but her chest still heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

"Im sorry," she hiccupped.

His heart broke. He stopped walking. His gaze dropped to the ground. She would say no. She would not come back to Los Angeles with him. She was sorry, but she didnt love him enough to commit.

"Im so sorry that I left."

Trevor looked up. His eyes widened. "Youll come back? Youll come back with me to L.A.?"

Poppy nodded and her bottom lip trembled. The distance between them disappeared as he embraced her. Poppy trembled in his arms.

"I love you, Trevor. Im still scared, but I love you and I want us to be together."

"Oh, Poppy, yes, G.o.d yes." He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. This moment that hed waited for, the moment when Poppy finally stopped running from love.

Epilogue.

"Are you ready?" Poppy glanced toward Trevor, who held his phone up toward her.

"Im so ready. Put her in, see what she does."

Poppy slowly walked down the stairs of the pool at Adeles house, cradling their daughter in her arms, and Mia kicked her chubby legs with their tiny rolls of fat. The babys feet touched the water and a squeal burst from her lips.

Adele, who was already in the water, moved toward her granddaughter. "She loves it!" Adele laughed and clasped her hands together. "Look at that little angel, she absolutely loves it."

"Did you get all that, Dad?" Poppy called to Trevor.

"Im getting it all, Mama," Trevor called back.

Poppy swirled Mia in the water, pausing and waving toward Trevor. Mia mimicked the wave and then her gaze latched onto the water again. "Do you want to take her?" Poppy approached her mother-in-law.

"Do I? Oh my, I thought youd never ask."

Poppy dropped her head back and laughed. Adele was a spectacular grandmother and mother-in-law. She was so nonjudgmental of Poppys decisions, so helpful, so kind, so respectful, and yet always there to lend a hand. Really, Adele was perfection in the family department. Not only that, shed become a surrogate grandmother for Poppys two nieces Laura and Hazel, and was looking forward to adding another to the brood, with Mimi soon to have her and Daniels first son.

"Sorry were late," Mimi called from the back patio door. She walked to the nearest lounger, sat, and put up her feet. She was nearly ready to pop, and her ankles had been swelling for the last three months. This heat wasnt helping her any. Laura and Hazel bounded toward the water, Hazel already in her water wings. Laura, having mastered her strokes, leapt into the pool with a gargantuan splash. Another squeal of delight from Mia sliced through the air. Poppy backed toward the pool stairs as both Laura and Hazel paddled toward their cousin and Adele.

Poppy sat on the step and a lump formed in her throat. How had this happened? This near-perfect life that she now inhabited? She took a long deep breath. Shed never thought that she could ever have this existence with family and friends and feel safe and comfortable, not as though she were drowning and gasping for air. But she did. She had all this, plus the man she desperately loved. Trevor placed his phone on the table and checked in with Mimi, who smiled and waved him away.

Poppy rubbed water onto her arms. Her two nieces danced around in the pool pretending to be a dolphin and a mermaid, to Mias complete delight.

"How you doing there?" Trevor sat on the step behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her ear. "Have I told you how s.e.xy my wife looks in her swimsuit?"

"Not yet," Poppy smiled. "Why dont you tell me now?"

"So d.a.m.n s.e.xy that if there werent so many people in this pool Id absolutely strip it off her body."

Poppy laughed and leaned back into Trevors chest and he tightened his arms around her. His lips pressed to her neck and a thrill pulsed through her body. This man. He excited her and loved her and made her happier than shed ever dared imagine she could be. Her life was complete. She couldnt imagine ever again running from love.

The End.

Want to read the next installment in the Eligible Billionaires series? Get ...

A Forever Love.

Read on for a preview of A Forever Love.

About this Series.

Thanks for reading Running from Love, the fifth book in the Eligible Billionaires Series. I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews help other readers find books and I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative. Please take a moment and write a review for Running from Love.

The next book in the series is A Forever Love, which is coming soon. Click if you'd like to read an excerpt from A Forever Love.

Books in the Eligible Billionaire Series:.

Cant Buy Me Love.

One Night for Love.

A Christmas Billionaire..

Last Call for Love Running from Love.

A Forever Love-coming soon.

A Billionaire for Christmas-coming soon.

Omnibus: Eligible Billionaires Books 1-3.

Would you like to know when my next book is available? You can sign up for my new release e-mail list at http://www.maggiemarr.net/about/newsletter.

Follow me on Twitter at : http://twitter.com/maggiemarr, or like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Marr-Books/168071873226783?ref=ts.

Visit my Website at http://www.maggiemarr.net.

You may also enjoy my Glamour Series.

Hard Glamour.

Broken Glamour Fast Glamour Easy Glamour Luxe Glamour.

Impossible Glamour coming soon.

Omnibus: The Glamour Series Books 1-3.

Also by Maggie Marr.

The Hollywood Girls Club Series.

Hollywood Girls Club Secrets of the Hollywood Girls Club Hollywood Hit Hollywood Girls Club the Series.

The Eligible Billionaires Series Cant Buy Me Love One Night for Love.

A Christmas Billionaire Last Call for Love Running from Love A Forever Love coming soon A Billionaire for Christmas coming soon.

Eligible Billionaires Books 1-3 The Powder Springs Series Courting Trouble.

The Christmas Wish The Christmas Promise coming soon The Glamour Series Hard Glamour Broken Glamour.

Fast Glamour Easy Glamour Luxe Glamour.

Impossible Glamour coming soon.

The Glamour Series Books 1-3.

About the Author.

Maggie Marr is an attorney, author, and producer. She began her career in the entertainment industry pus.h.i.+ng the mail cart but rose to the position of motion picture literary agent. She has written for TV, film, and celebrities. Maggie has been featured on KCRW's The Business and reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Romantic Times. She lives in LA with her family.

Maggie is eternally grateful for the graciousness and support of her readers.

Please visit her Website at: http://www.maggiemarr.net.

Acknowledgements.

Thank you to my readers, because I wouldnt have this amazing job without your support. Thank you to my agent Kristin Nelson and her entire team at NLA. Thank you to Lori Bennett, the NLA Digital guru who makes everything digital work. Thank you to Angie Hodapp, for her patience and interior design of all my paperbacks. Thank you to Kim Killion, for another great cover and the entire vision for the Eligible Billionaires Series covers. Thank you to Jennifer Brown my editor, for her awesome editorial skills. Sarah Altman, virtual a.s.sistant extraordinaire, thank you.

Thank you to RWA, LARA, and WFWA, who provide me with information, knowledge, and fabulous friends.

Thank you to an exceptional group of women readers who support my work and keep me motivated and moving forward: Lindsy Henderson, Melissa Lamoureaux, Rosemary Feil, Sheila Nolin Schwartz, Roxana Perez Hidalgo, Debra Knotts, Megan McCaule, Laura Akers Collins, Kimberly Dawn, Victoria Schultz, Denise Boyd, Mich.e.l.le Haxton, Amanda Weber, Christy McGlauchlen, and Kathy Church. I appreciate each of you and can never thank you enough for your kindness and support.

Thank you to my family and friends especially: Margaret L. Marr, Nancy Veskerna, Lauren Harrison, Gavin White, Nealie White, Linda and Bill Henderson, Lindsy and Mark Henderson, Eloise and Dixie Marr, Gayle Leftwich, Joyce and Tom Leahy, Paula and David Gla.s.sc.o.c.k, Garrett L. Marr, Amy and Brent Zacky, Victoria and Karl Makinen, Sheryl and Steven Ross, Peggy Cafferty, Maria Seager, Sylvie Fox, Beverly Diehl, Kady Ambrose, Rebekah Ganiere, Debbie Decker, Christine Ashworth, Cami Brite, Chandra Years, Sarah Vance-Tompkins, Julia Blake, Jane Porter, Megan Crane, and Bob.

To my husband and my children, the love and laughter you give me each day exceeds my wildest dreams and my every expectation. Thank you; I love you.