Page 55 of The Complete Truth Duet
“I got a little put away. Worked my ass off for it too. That means I get to spend it however I see fit. Like on a bed for a good woman who deserves a decent night of sleep more than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Stunned into silence, I could do nothing but stare at him.
He thought I was a good woman.
I mean, I was. I knew that to the core of my soul. But hearing it again after all those years? That hit me deep. It was a gift all of its own.
“You…” I shook my head, unable to trust my voice.
“And, now, she’s in shock,” he mumbled, rolling to his back, taking me down with him. “Two weeks ago, I wasn’t sure I existed, either. Two days ago, I was struggling with how I felt about you. Though it seems we got that figured out.” He kissed the top of my head. “Two minutes ago, you told me I could rip out the carpet in your bedroom because you recognized that it was important to me. You gave me that, Cora. No questions asked. No explanation needed. This is me giving something back to you. And dry up the tears, because it’s not exactly a grand act of heroism like saving the population of humpback whales. I’m simply helping you get a bed that isn’t on the floor.” He groaned and shifted to the left. “And one that doesn’t have a broken spring in the middle of it.”
Note to self: Hide my accounting textbook somewhere else.
With my heart soaring, the strangest feeling took up root inside me. I couldn’t pinpoint it. But I thought it might have been akin to the feeling of a massive boulder being lifted off my shoulders. Whatever it was, with one hundred percent certainty, Penn had been the one to take it from me.
Sniffling, I cuddled into his side, allowing my tense body to relax as I curled around him. “Have you given a lot of thought to saving humpback whales?”
“Not for a second. Though, if you find it on your list of needs, I’ll give it a little more.”
The tears came back, but for once in my life, they weren’t because I was sad, or overwhelmed, or trapped in a life I so desperately wanted to escape.
For the first time in, well, forever, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
Smiling, I squeezed him tight and tangled our legs together. “If you keep this up, I’m going to go broke cooking you thank-you dinners.”
He chuckled but said no more.
Eventually, I fell asleep—not staring up at Nic’s stars, but rather tracing the black ink on Penn’s forearm and listening to the strong and steady rhythm of his heart.
Some hours later, he woke me with peppered kisses over my face and asked me to lock the door behind him.
Then the girls started calling to check in—chaos finding me all over again.
But for those hours wrapped safe in his arms, the calm had been intoxicating.
One I could easily get addicted to, whether he wanted me to or not.
And, lucky for me, Penn didn’t seem to heed his own advice about not getting used to being with me, either. Because, after the night of Maury Poppins and Toolbox Thai food, there weren’t many nights where Penn wasn’t in my bed.
Cora
“Mmm,” I purred as he kissed down my chest. “Take it off.”
We were on week two of Penn ignoring my sexual pleas—and I was going insane.
Every night, we made out like teenagers. But like the good teenagers with good parents who filled their heads with fears about getting pregnant from oral sex.
Penn never went below the belt, which was nice a week ago. Now, it was obnoxious.
“Slow, Cora,” he murmured.
“One of these days, I’m going to spontaneously combust.”
“Far as I know, that has never actually happened to a person.”
I arched off the bed. “Then I guess you’ll have the privilege of witnessing a scientific phenomenon. Congratulations.”
He chuckled, palming my breast, kneading as he continued kissing down to my stomach. It felt so incredible that I couldn’t bring myself to complain anymore.
Well, that is until he got to the elastic waistband of my sleep shorts. His tongue trailed a wet path, making me desperate all over again.
Lifting my hips off the mattress, I pleaded, “Okay, then, take those off.”
I felt his smile, and then his teeth grazed over the sensitive flesh above my hip.
“Oh God,” I cried as a burst of pain morphed into pleasure and then radiated between my legs. “Please.”
“I gotta get back to work, baby,” he murmured, kissing his way back up my stomach. “And you gotta get back to talking.”
I threw my head back against the pillow. “You are such a tease.”
“Don’t act like you’re the only one suffering here.” He rolled his hips, his hard length finding purchase against my thigh.
