Page 38 of Tempting Miles
“I have a feeling we’re going to be here a while. The story sounds promising. Let me grab us fresh coffee and some biscuits. Do you like biscuits?”
“Thank you. I was starting to worry my stomach would stage a protest.”
I head to the kitchen and grab enough to hold us over until I make a proper meal.
By the time I sit back down across from her, Penny has curled her legs beneath her on the couch, looking real comfortable in my house.
“My mom has three sisters. All of them still live in Colombia,” she says after taking a sip of coffee. “They all have multiple kids. I have eight cousins, and even though I’m the only one living in the US and my Spanish is so-so, we get along pretty well. I talk to them all the time.”
“That’s cool. We don’t have any cousins.” I pause for a second. “Now that I think about it, maybe that’s why my parents wanted so many kids—they were both only children.”
“That’s so interesting,” she says.
I frown at her. “What is?”
“Well, Granny is larger than life. She has so much love to give, it’s just interesting that she and your grandfather didn’t have more kids.”
I nod slowly. “Yeah, I’ve never asked her why they only had my dad. But I bet it was hard taking over the family farm right after getting married.”
Bringing these memories up makes me feel like shit. How the hell have I gone through my life without really asking Granny about hers? She’s such a character that I’ve never stopped to think about the woman underneath it all.
I need to change that.
“Are you close to your Colombian family? Besides your cousins, I mean,” I ask, settling deeper into the recliner.
Some people might say this feels like the twenty questions game people play on a first date, but to me, I’m just getting to know my friend—and boss—on a deeper level.
“Oh yes. Mami and I used to visit all the time when I was little. I don’t go as often now, but I still make time to check on everyone. I’m even the godmother to a couple of my cousins’ kids.”
I nod, understanding what she means. “I think what you have with your cousins is probably similar to what I have with my siblings. I can’t imagine my life without them. We’re all so different, and you know how loud and chaotic we can get when we’re together. But I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
“Yeah, my family’s loud too. But I love them something fierce.”
A crumb falls from the corner of her mouth after she takes a bite of her biscuit. Without thinking, I lean across the coffee table and brush it away with my thumb.
At that same moment, Penny tries to lick it off. Her tongue slides over my thumb, and that simple action sets me off.
One second, I’m sitting across from her with a coffee mug in hand. The next, I’m setting it down somewhere and kissing her like I’ve been starving for it.
Her legs uncurl beneath her as she sinks back against the couch.
I follow her down, my body fitting naturally against hers.
“I’ve missed these lips,” I murmur as I let myself rejoice in our bodies reconnecting.
“Only my lips?” she asks against my mouth.
“Fuck, no.”
My hands slide up her body until I find her breasts, giving them a slow squeeze. I bite back a groan. “I’ve missed these too.”
Penny wiggles beneath me.
I lean back enough to give her space.
Then she pulls off the shirt I left in her room for pajamas.
She’s completely naked.
