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Penny
The look on Jaxson’s face was priceless. The look on the hussy’s in his bed, even more so.
Had Penny not overheard the conversation, she might have misread the situation. But she had heard it, and her heart remained intact.
“Penny. What are you doing here?” Jaxson asked in stunned disbelief. Whether it was good disbelief or bad disbelief was impossible to tell.
“Looking for you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Cherise, who was quite naked and didn’t seem to care that the sheet was pooled around her hips. “Would you mind covering those up, please?”
“Jax, are you going to let her talk to me like that?”
Penny held her breath and waited to see what Jaxson would do. She knew she had taken a huge risk in showing up at his doorstep, unannounced, especially when he hadn’t even bothered to say good-bye, but when it came to Jaxson Adams, she was willing to take a few risks.
Jaxson’s eyes locked on hers; his lips curled slowly into a smile. Without looking at Cherise, he said, “You heard the woman, Cherise. Get dressed and get out.”
“But, Jax—”
“Now.”
Cherise shot Penny a look of pure loathing. Penny wasn’t too fond of her at that moment either.
In a move that was no doubt meant to be insulting, Cherise turned her back to Penny and bent over to pick up her clothes.
“You might want to see someone about that,” Penny said lightly. “Rashes can get nasty if left untreated.”
Jaxson, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Penny since she’d walked into the room, coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
After following the shameless hussy down the stairs and ensuring the door was closed and locked behind her, Penny turned around to see Jaxson watching her from the stairs. He didn’t say anything. It was hard to figure out what he was thinking based on his expression alone, but he looked amused and pensive and ... hungover. But those eyes. She felt them in her soul.
“I don’t know about you, but I could use a cup of coffee. Got some?”
He nodded.
“Great.”
Penny moved into the kitchen and started rummaging around. It didn’t take long to find what she needed. The cupboards were mostly empty, except for some canned goods of questionable age. She wondered when the last time was he’d had a decent meal. First chance she got, she was getting the fixings for pancakes. Assuming he didn’t send her packing before then, that was.
“So, are you going to tell me what you’re doing here?” he asked, leaning against the doorjamb.
“I told you. Looking for you.”
“Why?”
Because I needed to see you. Because I need to know that I’m not crazy and that Sam is right and that you meant what you just told the naked woman in your bed.
She didn’t say any of those things. Instead, she filled the old-fashioned percolator with water from the tap, and then she scooped grounds into the basket and plugged the unit into the wall. Only then did she turn around and answer his question.
“You left without saying good-bye.” She tried to keep the hurt from her voice but wasn’t wholly successful.
“I thought it would be easier that way.”
“Easier for who?”
He didn’t answer.
The percolator made a grinding noise that sounded more like a garbage disposal than a coffeemaker, but the kitchen soon filled with the aroma of brewing coffee, so she figured she’d done something right.
“It was an impulsive decision on my part,” Penny explained. “Well, maybe not that impulsive. I’d been thinking about something Sam said. And I did wait a whole week to see if anything changed, and it didn’t, so I left after dinner, and here I am.”
His brow furrowed. “That’s a nine-hour drive. You drove all night?”
She slipped her hands into her pockets and shrugged. “Ten, because I drank too much iced tea and had to keep stopping, but yeah, pretty much. I told you, I don’t sleep much. Anyway, it was late when I got here. Or early, depending on how you look at it. I planned to sleep in the car, but your door was open, so I let myself in. Don’t you lock your doors around here? You know, any kind of riffraff could just walk in. Obviously.”
His lips quirked. “Obviously.”
He pushed off the frame and moved toward the table. Closer to her. Her heart beat a little faster.
“Well, I guess I fell asleep on the couch. I didn’t hear you come in, but I did hear your friend. She’s kind of heavy-footed.”
The twitch became a grin as he took another step.
“Anyway, I followed her up the stairs and saw her get undressed and climb into bed with you. I figured I’d made a big mistake, and I was going to just leave quietly. Then, I heard what you said. Did you mean it? Or were you just saying that to get that heifer to leave?”
“Heifer?” he said on a laugh. “Penny Hoffmeier, did you just call someone a bad name?”
“I’m sorry. That was mean, but seeing her with you, it just ... it just ...”
“It just what?” he prompted.
“Pushed me over the edge. And that’s the thing, Jaxson. I don’t go over the edge. Ever. But that’s what you do to me. That’s why I’m here. So, did you? Mean what you said?”
“Come here,” Jaxson commanded, his voice deep and low.
She obeyed, closing the final two-foot gap between them.
“Look at me.”
She raised her eyes to meet his. Just that quickly, those tingles erupted in her belly and spread throughout her body.
“Yes,” he said. “I meant it. You did something to me, too.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. She tilted her head upward and touched her lips to his while wrapping her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss until she felt it all the way down to her soul.
“So, what are we going to do about this?” Penny whispered when she finally pulled away.
His eyes took on a wicked gleam. “Right now, I’d like to take you upstairs and show you how glad I am to see you.”
Her body lit up from the inside out. “Now, that’s a good plan. But first, we need to change your sheets.”
He chuckled and then turned her body toward the table, so her back was to his chest. She felt his heat soak into her. Felt the hard ridge pressing suggestively into her lower back.
He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down close to her ear. “I don’t think I can wait that long.”
A thrill ran through her, starting in her core and radiating outward to her extremities. Fingers. Toes. Nipples. “So, don’t.”
He kissed behind her ear. Trailed more down the curve of her neck. “Penny Hoffmeier, you are a bad, bad girl.”
“Only around you,” she said breathlessly, only to have her breath stolen completely as his hands found the clasp of her jeans.
“Good answer.”
He wasted no time in undoing her pants and slipping his hand into her panties. He moaned when he found her wet, but after those kisses and the feel of his hardness against her, she didn’t know what else he’d expected.
Moments later, her jeans and panties were around her ankles, and his hand was on her upper back, gently pushing her torso toward the table. A shiver of pleasure went through her as she felt his blunt tip stroking along her entrance.
“Did you bring condoms with you?” he asked.
“Yes, but they’re in my bag out in my car.”
“Fuck.”
“It’s okay. I trust you.”
“Okay?” he whispered softly.
“More than,” she replied.
Penny closed her eyes and savored the feel of him pushing into her, filling and stretching until it was impossible to tell where she left off and he began. His strokes were gentle at first but quickly gained in intensity until the kitchen was filled with the sounds of his hips slapping her backside and her desperate pleas for more.
The moment she cried his name, he cursed and pulled out. She felt pulses of hot warmth on her backside and lower back.
“Now that we’ve taken the edge off, let’s see about getting a shower and changing those sheets.”
* * *
Much later, they lay atop the covers, momentarily sated. A breeze blew in from the open windows, not cool, but it felt good, skimming over their sweaty, naked bodies. She couldn’t have asked for a better reception.
“Tell me about these,” Penny said, tracing the scars along his side with the tip of her finger.
Some were relatively straight and precise, like those from a surgical procedure. Others were irregular and puckered.
“Not much to tell,” he answered quietly. Unlike the first couple of times she’d tried to touch them, he didn’t move her hand away or try to distract her. “I got called out to fix a vehicle. It was booby-trapped. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital, unsure if I’d ever walk again.” His voice was detached. Unemotional. As if he were talking about some random stranger instead of himself.
“Was anyone else hurt?”
“Just me.”
“How long were you in the hospital?”
“Months.”
“And then?”
“Then, a bunch of doctors determined I was no longer fit for active service and sent me home.” His voice took on a bitter edge.
“You didn’t want to come home?”
“I had nothing to come home to,” he told her. “My father was gone, and with him, my reason to return. Everyone else had moved on.”
“And now?”
He was quiet for a long time. “Now, I feel like there’s hope again.”
She crawled up his body and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “Good. Now, tell me about that woman who was in your bed.”
“Ancient history.”
“I like history. Especially ancient history.” If for no other reason than to make sure it wasn’t repeated.
“What are the chances of you letting this go?”
She grinned. “Slim and none. I need to know what I’m up against.”
He laughed and caressed her backside. “The only thing you’re up against is me.”
“I like being against you,” she whispered. When she felt him beginning to harden again, she reached down between them, stroked him to full staff, and then slowly impaled herself on him. “But I like having you inside me even more.”
* * *
Jaxson
Sex with Penny was fantastic. Sex without a condom with Penny was fucking heaven.
But also risky. He paused, waiting for something like panic or regret to take hold. It didn’t. Those images he’d had in the bar that night of Penny radiant and round with his child returned, filling him with an entirely different feeling.
Penny was bustling around the kitchen, chattering on about something while she pulled ingredients together for dinner. He liked listening to the sound of her voice. She’d strong-armed him into making a trip to the grocery store, saying that if he was going to be sexing her up, they needed something more than outdated canned goods.
Now, there he was, sitting at the table and prepping salad fixings while she busied herself at the stove. He didn’t know what she was making, but it smelled fantastic.
“I like Campbell’s Junction. The people are nice.”
He chuckled. Word had spread within five minutes of them stepping into the grocery store, and half the hollow had decided they were running low on food, too. Penny had charmed them all.
Well, not Cherise. The memory of their earlier showdown made him smile. His woman was fierce, in her own way.
“I’m still surprised you managed to find this place in the dark.”
“It wasn’t easy, but I was highly motivated, and you know how determined I can be when I want something.”
That he did, although he wasn’t clear on what her motivation was. He knew what he hoped it was.
“Remind me again. What was your motivation?”
She turned and smiled. “I missed you.”
His heart swelled. This was more than a one-time thing. He felt it in his soul. Buck was wrong. Penny saw him as more than a walk on the wild side.
She turned back to the stove. “And I have a message from Sam. I guess you haven’t been checking your phone, huh?”
Considering his phone was still in the drawer upstairs where he’d tossed it, no. “What message?”
“She said to tell you that Cage and Ian were able to piece together what had happened.”
“That was quick.”
“I get the impression they have some really good connections.”
He’d had the same impression. Jaxson didn’t know the details, but from what he’d picked up from the discussions at Sanctuary, the Callaghans were good men to have on their side.
“What did they find out?”
“I don’t know,” Penny said with a shrug. “And before you ask, neither does Sam. She said she wanted you to hear it together. There should be a secure video-chat link in her text. She also wanted me to tell you that if you don’t want to know, she’s fine with that, too.”
* * *
The next couple of days were some of the best of his life, certainly the best in recent memory. They spent hours pleasing each other. Prepared and ate meals together. Went on long motorcycle rides and picked berries in the woods. He took her out to the garage and showed her the Nova. Told her stories about his father and his childhood.
What they didn’t do: talk about what would happen when Penny left.
He hurt less when she was around. And all that talking helped. It was cathartic. She listened—really listened—and when things got difficult, her touch carried him through.
The time passed far too quickly. Before he knew it, an entire week had gone by, and it was their last night together. Penny was making the drive back to Sumneyville the next day. He didn’t want her to go.
“I guess I should start packing,” Penny said, languidly draped across his chest, not sounding any happier about it than he was.
He’d become so accustomed to her warm weight; she was like his own personal security blanket. He wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep without her. She kept the nightmares at bay and massaged away the cramps and spasms that sometimes seized him.
Nor was he looking forward to waking up hard and aching and not being able to slide into her with a slight shift in position. He’d become quite spoiled in that regard. But mostly, it was her sunshine he’d miss most. Her smile. Her laugh. The way she made him feel, just by being around.
“You can’t stay for a couple more days?”
“I wish I could, but I can’t. Community Days is right around the corner.”
He slid his hands behind his head to keep from reaching for her. He vaguely remembered seeing signs posted around Sumneyville, but he hadn’t cared enough to pay attention. “What’s that?”
“Sumneyville’s big summer celebration. Carnival rides, games, food stands out the wazoo, live bands, pig races. We provide all the plants and flowers, and believe me, it’s a lot of work. But it’s a lot of fun, too.”
Fun was relative, although he could see just about anything being enjoyable if Penny were by his side. She kissed him, then slipped out of bed and started gathering her things.
Ask her to stay.
He remained silent. He wasn’t going to put her in a situation where she had to choose between everything she knew and loved and him.
Give her a reason not to go.
Like what? What could he offer her that she didn’t already have—besides himself?
He almost laughed at that. She already had him even if she didn’t know it. But that might prove to be more of a burden than a blessing.
So, go with her. Grab your balls and man up.
He blinked slowly, watching as she snuck one of his shirts into her bag.
Why not? There was no reason for him to stay in Campbell’s Junction. He had family in Sumneyville now, too, and Matt Winston had told him he had a place to stay whenever we wanted.
He cleared his throat. “Want some company?”
Her eyes lit up, as if she’d been hoping he’d ask. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Why not?” he said, trying to sound casual, though his heart was pounding loudly against the walls of his chest. “It’s a long drive. Might be nice to have someone along.”
“That depends on who that someone is.”
True enough.
“How will you get back?”
“I’ll figure something out.” In fact, the wheels were already turning. “I need to see Sam anyway about some estate stuff and have her sign a few things. Plus, I have a feeling whatever Cage and his friend have to tell us, it’d be better done in person.”
“You’ve decided you want to know?”
“At the moment, yes. Ask me again in an hour and the answer might be different.”
Penny stopped packing and returned to the bed, sitting down next to him. “It’s okay if you don’t want to know.”
“Is it? Or will I always wonder?”
She looked down at her hands. “Wondering isn’t so bad. It’s like dreaming. You can envision the way you want things to work out just as easily as the way you don’t, and if you don’t know, then either is as likely as the other.”
Jaxson had a feeling they weren’t talking about the circumstances surrounding his and Sam’s birth anymore.
“And really,” she continued softly, “what difference does it make? It was thirty years ago, and your parents are gone. What’s wrong with appreciating what you have right here, right now?”
“Nothing,” he answered. “Nothing at all. But I don’t believe my father knew about Sam, and I need that confirmation.”
“I can understand that.”
She kissed him on the cheek, but that wasn’t good enough. He cupped her face and coaxed her into the one he needed. Kissing her, touching her—those had become the things that centered him most.
“What was that for?” she asked when he finally released her.
“Just living in the moment, like you said.”
“Hmm. I like the way you live in the moment.”
He did, too, but only if he could do it with her. “So, what do you say?”
“I say, let’s hit the road.”