Erik’s POV

She’s been avoiding me.

For the whole week after the ball, Poppy has been avoiding me. Dot would meet me for lunch in Poppy’s absence. Saying something about her being busy with her studies and at the clinic. Perhaps some of that was true, but I knew better than to think her extracurriculars devoured ALL her free time.

For a woman who was so bold with me in the dark, she was pretty shy in the light.

Lesser men would be put off by it. ...