Penelope
Jay reclined against the pillows on her bed. They’d spent the night at his place so he could keep an eye on Gramps, but when she’d insisted on going home this morning, he’d volunteered to drive. She’d let him because a night like theirs wasn’t one she wanted to end.
“You spend the nights at my place anyway. You could just stay with me.”
Penelope loved when he asked—which he did every day—but it was way too soon for him to see her in her weekly charcoal mask or see her laundry-day underwear or make room in a cabinet for her year’s supply of tampons.
“Lori is having hip surgery, so she won’t be visiting for a while. She said I could just rent the place from her. And since my uncle”—the darling man that he was—“made my telecommuting job permanent, I kind of want to give living on my own a try.”
Jay twisted his lips to the side. “How often do you have to travel?”
She shrugged. They hadn’t worked everything out with her new position. “The big trade shows are three times a year. He might send me to a couple small ones, but those would just be the ones on the East Coast.” There would be times she had to travel to a couple job sites if the job was big enough to merit an on-site consultation, but she would have plenty of time to get to know Maple Falls.
Jay tossed a rubber ball against the wall and caught it while Penelope unpacked the bag she’d spent almost two hours packing to head home to New York that Saturday with Charlie. It felt like forever ago. Since she’d decided to stay, she’d spent so much time at his house, she’d been living out of the damned thing and now, all her shirts were wrinkled.
“Just saying, it would be more convenient. Havoc has room to run. Gramps likes you.” He caught her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. “I more than like you.” His eyes flickered with desire and sitting on his lap was not the place to be if she had any hope of getting her clothes hung in the closet.
She kissed his cheek. “I have to unpack, and you are screwing with my progress.” His fingers slithered under the hem of her shirt and inched up her stomach. Every touch was a tingle, every tingle a spark, every spark a fire under her skin.
No way could she concentrate on unpacking with his lips teasing, then soothing the back of her neck. “I would rather screw with something else.” To emphasize his point, he slid his hand up her ribs to cup her breast. In a move swift and confident, he pulled her back onto the bed and kissed her belly just above her waistband.
She’d planned to tell him about the safety program’s new sponsor on Tuesday when they went back to work, since Nick didn’t even know about it yet, but if she didn’t do something they would end up back in bed and—not that she minded more than what merited a token protest—she needed to get things done.
“Jay...” And that was as much as she could manage.
He slid her shorts and panties down. Her hand trailed down the dusty line of hair arrowing from his belly to his cock. She fisted it and moved her hand back and forth. Penelope could do that all day without getting bored. Admiring his body. Learning what gave him pleasure.
“Penelope,” he groaned, pulling her hand away and rolling on a condom before sliding on top of her.
Jay entered her in one smooth stroke and Penelope moaned at the sensation of being so full, both physically and emotionally. Something in their lovemaking had changed. He held her gaze with his own when he entered her. She felt claimed. Cherished. Whole. It was more than sex. It was true connection.
A forever-I’ve-got-you kind of sharing. It gave their lovemaking a whole new dimension.
Her back arched when Jay started thrusting. This was everything she wanted. And when his movements became jerky, she quivered around him.
“Pen, I’m gonna come. Come with me.”
She nodded and let go. They came in each other’s arms, with him moaning her name and Penelope whimpering when his cock drilled into her one last time.
God, she loved this man. And she was never gonna let go.
“Haven’t we gotten enough exercise for the week?” Jay grumbled as he pulled his truck into a spot at the park. “Now you want to go for a run?”
“We have, but Havoc has been cooped up in the house a lot lately. He needs to expend his pent-up energy, too.”
Jay leaned in and tangled his fingers in her hair to draw her close enough for a kiss. Something about this man made her want to forget the run and crawl onto his lap. Again. “Fine. But I’m probably already dehydrated from our earlier...exertions. If I keel over because you made me come out here to run, just know I loved you.”
“Oh, my goodness, you big baby. We won’t run. We’ll just walk.” To be honest, she was plenty tired herself with all their late-night lovemaking. Walking would be okay. And they could talk—one of her two favorite things to do with him.
They hopped out of the truck and when they met at the front, Jay laced his fingers with hers. “Have I told you how glad I am you decided to stay?”
Several times. But she never tired of hearing it. “You might have mentioned it.”
“I should probably send your uncle a big bottle of whatever he likes to drink.”
Oh, if only he knew. “Maybe.”
It was right there on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to tell him her big secret, but something like this deserved a big reveal, maybe even balloons or a parade. And this was a secret that definitely wouldn’t blow up in her face like the last time.
She watched Havoc run ahead, stopping to sniff flowers and leaves that lined the trail. Anything to keep from spilling her guts. Plus this was the kind of thing she’d always dreamed of doing with a man. A leisurely stroll while Havoc did his version of frolicking through nature.
This was such a perfect day, with her perfect dog and the perfect boyfriend. A slight breeze whipped around them, and she adjusted her cap to shield her eyes from the bright, shining sun. “New York might have some five-star restaurants, but it sure doesn’t have a view like this.” The canopy of trees overhead, the wildflowers, and natural landscape only reinforced what she’d already decided. She loved Maple Falls, Vermont.
“Nick is going to let me work the check station for the turkey hunt.” Apparently, every year, the state sponsored a turkey hunt in time for Thanksgiving. As soon as Nick told her about it, she volunteered to work it. Not only did she want to be a part of Jay’s world, she wanted to become a full-fledged member of the Maple Falls townsfolk.
“Oh, yeah?” He used their clasped hands to direct her away from a rock sticking through the dirt on her side of the path. “Well, I, too, am working the check station for the turkey hunt.” He wiggled his eyebrows and brought her hand to his mouth to press a soft kiss against her knuckles.
“Quality time.” Nothing she liked better these days.
Jay nodded. “And Mrs. Clover always delivers food for whoever works the turkey hunt.” They came to a split in the trail. Left went up and around while the right side went down in a curve toward the office. “Let’s go toward the river.”
Penelope grinned. He thought he could stump her, but she’d show him. She pulled him left. “You got a fishing pole in your back pocket?”
She whistled for Havoc, who loped back toward them. Jay reached his free hand to scratch Havoc between the ears. “Don’t be talking dirty to me in front of the d-o-g.” He widened his eyes and pointed to Havoc. When she cocked an eyebrow, he chuckled. “You’re the one asking about the pole in my pants.”
“Fishing pole. For the river.” She loved his sense of humor. His smile. The way he seemed to be falling as much in love with Havoc as he was with her. So far, she hadn’t found anything about Jay not to love.
“There’s a little waterfall about a half mile down from the low crossing.”
A waterfall. The state of Vermont was full of natural wonders. And seeing this place with Jay would make it all the more wonderful.
“Penelope, you’re dripping all over the lawn.” Charlie looked out her front door, laughing.
“I fell in the river.” Jay followed behind, probably laughing quietly, smirking, at least.
“Tell her why you fell in the river.”
She shot him a glare. Telling the story wouldn’t make her feel more adequate or coordinated. “Shut up.”
“She was all bent over trying to show me how a real woman could catch fish with her bare hands. But she leaned a little too far and went in head over booted heels.” He waved his arms in a windmill motion. “Took a couple minutes of splashing and flailing before she figured out she could stand.”
Charlie hid her smirk behind a twitching mouth and furrowed forehead. “Did you get the fish?”
“Shut up, both of you.” She stomped into the foyer and stood on the small tile cutout to strip down. Before she could even grab the throw from the back of the sofa, Jay popped open the screen door and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I’m covered in river water.”
Jay laughed and the sound tickled Penelope’s stomach. “I wouldn’t care if you were covered in swamp water. If you’re getting naked, I’m all over it.”
His tone, his hands on her stomach, his warm breath on her skin stoked all the feelings she’d been experiencing for the last week, all the desire, the love, the need. “If you wouldn’t have laughed at me, I would have invited you to join me in the shower. But...you had a little bit too much fun at my expense.”
He turned her in his arms so that her chest bumped against his. Nowhere else she would have preferred to be than wrapped up in Jay.
“What if I apologize?” His eyes darkened, made promises his body would keep, if she let him. Which, of course, she would. She hadn’t quite figured out how to say no to him yet.
“It’s going to have to be a really good apology.” Her voice came in husky breaths. “I mean, I could have died.” If she didn’t know how to swim. And if he hadn’t been there to pull her out. And if she hadn’t been able to stand on the bottom and have everything from the knee up out of the water. “The current could have carried me away.” The slow current would have been lucky to carry a fallen leaf downstream. But such things happened. She’d seen pictures.
He kissed her, a soft, toe-curling touch she took a second to savor before she opened her eyes.
“The best apologies are the slow, soapy ones.”
“It better be if I let you in my shower, big boy.”
Jay picked her up and kicked the door shut in the same motion. And for the tenth time in the last week, carried her through the house. This was one ride she could get very used to.