Three weeks. It had been three weeks, one day, six hours, and too many minutes to count since Jordan had seen Penny. Maybe it was Nathan’s punishment that had yet to materialize. He was almost back to full health now. Ribs had healed, leg was sore, but otherwise fine. The bruising and swelling around his nose had gone down. He wanted to see her, so badly that he’d stalked around town, looking for her, but he hadn’t been able to find her. He knew she was there. Bea had told him as much when he’d returned to town.
He set down a bowl of water and food for Ralph and then made his way back to his living room. The ache in his chest intensified as he remembered what they’d done on that couch, him and his Penny.
Not his Penny, he reminded himself. He’d given her up so she could live a somewhat normal life, free of the trauma he’d wrought on her.
He knew she’d moved back to Jubilee, so seeing her was going to happen at some point. It was a small town, after all. But he’d give her the wide berth she needed, the space to start her life over without him interfering in it.
Someone knocked on the door. Ralph barked, spraying food everywhere, but lost interest and went back to eating as Jordan headed for the door. His heart skipped a beat or two when he opened the door.
Sunlight bounced off Penny’s chestnut curls as they laid across her shoulders. She wore another one of those flowery sundresses, though this one was fitting just a tad snugger than it had before. The uncertainty in her expression was what killed him.
“I don’t know why I’m here,” she announced, playing with her thumb nail.
Hadn’t Scott told him the same thing a few weeks earlier as they sat in the holding cell in the lair?
He motioned for her to come in. She hesitated. “Don’t worry, love. I’m not jump you in my living room, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, it’s not that—” She stopped mid-sentence as she glanced around the place. As her gaze hit the couch. Did she remember that night as well? Her hair was down, falling around her bare shoulders. The dress she wore dipped low on her chest, giving him just a little view of the flesh he longed to touch. But that was always their problem, wasn’t it? Sex instead of talking.
“Are you well?” he asked.
“As much as I can be.”
“Do you want a drink?” he prompted. “Wine? Or whatever.”
“I don’t think drinking is a good idea when you’re pregnant. Or so I hear,” she said, crossing her arms over her stomach.
She still had the baby. He shouldn’t have been happy. But he was selfish enough to want something of his in her life, even if he couldn’t be there for her.
“Coffee? Tea? Water? Kool-Aid? Any of those all right to drink?” What did pregnant women drink anyway?
“Um… water’s fine.”
About then, Ralph ripped through the living room, his elation of seeing Penny outweighing his desire to eat. He jumped and ran circles around Penny until she knelt down to pet the poop maker.
“Little fucker,” Jordan mumbled as he went to the kitchen to get her a glass. It was a bit dumb to be jealous of a dog, but… there he was. He got a glass out and opened his freezer for ice. He didn’t use ice often, but he did keep it in there. It was good for aches and pains.
He took her water back to the living room. She’d rearranged herself, now on the couch instead of kneeling on the floor. As she scratched the back of Ralph’s ears, the dog looked back at him, like he was saying “I win” as he wagged his tail.
She had come to him, right? So, technically, he had done what she asked. He’d stayed away. All he knew was the last three weeks were hell, complete and utter hell. Because he couldn’t see her, couldn’t talk to her, couldn’t tell her that he loved her and beg her to stay with him. And now… she was here.
“Here,” he held out the glass to her as he sat down on the couch with her. She took the glass without a word, sipping from it like it might make her sick. “Nauseous?”
“Sort of,” she said. “Mostly because I want to ask you something and I’m not sure what you’re going to say.”
She set the glass down on the coffee table, absently scratching Ralph’s ears as she sat there.
“Penny, whatever you want from me, you have it,” he whispered hoarsely. “Money, my body, my life… It’s all yours. All you have to do is take it. Or tell me to get lost.”
“It seems I had a great uncle…” she frowned. “He left me a lot of money. Me. Not Tessa. Not my dad. Me, specifically.”
Jordan sat back against the couch. This sounded like a Nathan deal, and if it was, at least Nathan had made good on his promise to take care of Penny. But what was the point of bringing it up? To tell him to take it and shove it up his ass?
“Never heard of this uncle, actually. But Joe—Sheriff Hannigan checked it out and it appears legit.”
He stayed silent because he wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“So, money isn’t a thing anymore, apparently,” she said carefully. “I’m going to have this baby. I understand if it’s not something you want. I’d like it to have a father, but I’m not going to force—”
Jordan sat up straight, the joy inside him nearly making his chest explode. “You mean it?”
“Well, yeah. If you want to, I want you to be part of the baby’s life.”
“I’m going to be a daddy?” He grinned, taking her hand in his. When she tensed, he frowned. “And what about you? What do you want?”
Her eyes shifted away from his then she seemed to find some sort of strength and met his gaze again. “I’ve missed you.”
He let out the breath he hadn’t been aware that he’d been holding. He kissed her fingers, one at a time. “Will his mother call me daddy too?”
She rolled her eyes. “I come here to ask you something serious and you’re joking with me.” She tried to pull her hand away, but he tightened his fingers, lacing them in hers. “What are you doing?”
He looked up at her. “I’m so goddamn sorry, Penny. I tricked you and I lied to you… There will be no more lies between us. I promise you.”
“We don’t…” her body shuddered as he bent down and kissed the back of her hand, then the inside of her forearm.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you’re have me.”
“That’s not… I mean,” she let out a shaky breath. “We can be parents without the relationship, Jordan.”
“But is that what you want?” he asked, snuggling against her neck. He couldn’t stop himself from touching her, from feeling her warmth against his skin. Inside, his heart was slowly freezing, shattering the more she appeared to resist him.
“What do you want?” she shot back, cocking an eyebrow at him.
He sat up, pulling away from her and searched her face. Did she really not realize it? How he felt, how much he wanted her, loved her? He wouldn’t ever want anyone but her. He couldn’t want anyone but her. It scared him to say it all out loud, but… he’d just promised no more lies. And even if he was total scum, he would keep his word to her. “You’re it for me, Penny. I love you. I want you with me. Forever. Always.”
She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. “Right answer, you big dummy.”
He chuckled, both with amusement and relief, as she pressed her soft body against his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap.
They sat like that together for what seemed like both an eternity and not long enough. Then her head rose, and those beautiful brown eyes met his. “Take me to bed.”
“Is it safe?” he asked.
She nodded. “It’s fine. I checked with my doctor.”
“As my lady commands then,” he said. He grinned and scooped her up into his arms, striding in just a few paces to the bedroom.
As Jordan laid her out like a precious package on the bed, Penny’s voice burst free of that lump in her throat. “I love you.”
The grin that lit up his face was wider than she’d ever seen. He lunged for her before she knew he’d moved. His hands cupped her cheeks and his lips closed on hers. Hard and demanding, like a man starved.
Ralph barked next to them, annoyed at being forgotten. Jordan broke the kiss and glared at the mutt. “She’s mine.” Then he ushered the dog out and shut the door.
She had a smart retort on the tip of her tongue, but lost it when, before she blinked, he was next to her, kissing her. Yes. This was exactly what she’d been missing. When she’d talked to Nathan three weeks ago, he’d told her he wouldn’t release Jordan just because of an unplanned baby. That wasn’t what she wanted, though and she’d told Jordan’s boss that.
All she wanted was Jordan.
It had taken a while to figure that out. Was what she hated about what he’d done because he was ordered to do it or that he’d done it anyway? Maybe a little of both, but they wouldn’t have met otherwise. And she wouldn’t have had the courage to come home, to make up with Tessa, to find Jordan again, if she hadn’t lost everything in the first place. She’d still be a little more than a cowering mouse in the corner of her world.
Jordan groaned as she slid her hand down to his chest. He tensed as she paused over the scars. “Why do you hate these so much?”
Jordan looked down at her, those beautiful clear tropical-colored eyes giving her nothing. He sighed and lowered his big body beside her, propping his head on the palm of his left hand while he covered hers with his other. His thumb idly smoothed over the back of her hand. “I hate who I was when I got them.”
“You tried to cover them?”
He shook his head. “No. Not cover. Highlight. So I’d never forget. But… I did. Everything I did with you… I thought I was doing what had to be done. I’m not a free man, you know. But… this life… it was my choice. Unlike the life where I got these scars, I chose this life.”
“Jordan…” she stopped, her gaze sliding over the scars for an instant before she met his again. “You had to be that man to become this one.”
He swallowed hard, looking away. “But… I hurt a lot of people.”
“Do you love me?”
His gaze snapped to her. “Yes.”
“Stop hating what you were. Because if you hadn’t done those things, they wouldn’t have led you to Nathan, which wouldn’t have led you to me.”
He lifted his torso up and leaned in toward her. “You… how do you know Nathan’s name?”
She smiled. “He and I had a little chat about a week ago.” God above, his face turned snow white.
“You… talked… to Nathan?”
“Yes. Nice guy, very charming. A bit sad inside, if you ask me.” She was well aware of Jordan’s surprise, how his gaze was glued to her. And maybe she was a little bit of a bitch for enjoying it. “Anyway, he was very informative about a lot of stuff, and quite clear that releasing your contract wasn’t going to happen. But… he agreed he wouldn’t keep you from your family if that’s what you want.”
As she waited for him to process what she’d said, she swallowed hard. Would he understand what that entailed?
“My… family?” he said slowly, like he was testing out the words. “I don’t understand.”
“Yes,” she said. “Family. That is what we’re going to be. You and me. And baby makes three.”
“Family,” he whispered, awe-struck. He kissed her, smashing his mouth against hers so hard his beard scratched her chin. She pushed him down to the mattress and straddled his hips, never releasing his lips. He went willingly, rolling onto his back.
His hands slid up her thighs under they disappeared under her skirt. Then he groaned against her mouth as his fingers grazed her wet flesh.
“You’re not wearing any underwear,” he groaned. “Dirty, dirty girl.”
She pressed her hips down, trapping his fingers between them as she pulled back from his lips slightly. “We have all the time in the world to talk, Jordan. I want to show you how much I love you right now.”
“You came to seduce me, evil woman,” he muttered as his fingers slid along her wet slit. Then two fingers pressed into her, pumping in and out of her body.
She unzipped the dress and flung it off, leaving her completely bare to him. He stared up at her in awe, like maybe he thought she might be a dream that would melt away. “Too many clothes, Jordan.”
When he didn’t move immediately, she unbuttoned his pants, and tried to slide them off. But he was too heavy.
“Jordan.”
He blinked and then he was on board, shucking away his clothes.
Then they were skin to skin, chest to chest, and she hooked her leg over his, like she could pull him closer to her than they were already.
“You’re so goddamn beautiful,” he purred. His erection was hot against her stomach.
“Fuck me,” she whispered against his ear.
It didn’t take much to angle his cock into her and she was wet enough that entering her wasn’t even the slightest bit uncomfortable.
“Greedy little pussy,” he said. “Taking all of me like that.”
“I need you,” she said, pressing against him so he slid deeper into her.
He grabbed both her thighs, holding them joined as he pressed her against the mattress. As he rocked against her, she moaned, unable to stop the heat of arousal bursting from within her.
“I fucking missed you,” he panted as he thrust into her. “So. Fucking. Much.”
His hand slid over her clit, rubbing as he fucked her. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t make a sound. All she could do was feel as his cock and his fingers lifted her into euphoria.
“I love you,” he said, finally. “More than life, I love you.” His movements became more erratic as he fucked her. He looked down at her, his eyes darkening into deep sapphires. “I’m going to come.”
“Yes,” she moaned. “Fuck, yes.”
“You first,” he said, strumming her clit. “Give me that brilliant scream of yours first.”
It didn’t take a minute to have her tumbling over the edge, calling his name out. Seconds later, he followed her over, her name on his lips.