_____
Brett surfaced to the sensation of breath and skin and warmth. He grinned as he realized Penny was draped over him exactly as she had been in the tent the other night, except this time he wasn’t worried about her waking up and realizing where her hands were.
Last night had been the best night of his life, hands down. Hands everywhere, really. He and Penny hadn’t come up for air until midnight, when both of them realized they hadn’t eaten since lunch and were in danger of collapsing from a calorie deficit. Which was how they ended up roasting a spatchcocked chicken at one o’clock in the morning, then staying up until two thirty with renewed vigor after refuelling.
Penny stirred, her fingers brushing over his navel. He drew a deep breath and spread lazy fingers through her hair.
“Morning,” she hummed. Brett kissed her forehead as she lifted her chin.
“Morning.” He smiled down at her as she pushed herself higher in the bed and rested her head on his shoulder. The sheets were soft against his bare skin, but Penny’s body was straight velvet. She glanced at the clock, and her eyes widened. “Don’t you have work?”
Brett smoothed her dark hair from her forehead. “I let Dominic know I’d be working from home today. The first time this surgery has proven convenient.”
Penny grinned. “So I get you all to myself today?”
“Well, you have to share with my computer.” She scoffed and pinched his waist. Brett caught her hand before she could get any other ideas. Penny already knew he was ticklish. “Do you have appointments today?”
She freed her hand and ran her nails over his stubble. “I cleared my schedule because I thought Andrea was going to be here, remember?”
Brett chuckled. “Right. When you ruined my camping trip.” Penny’s eyes widened, and he laughed, hugging her into his chest. “Kidding.”
“Rude!” she mumbled against his shoulder. She pushed back, and they settled in next to each other, their legs intertwined. Brett rolled to his side so he could see her better.
He ran a hand over her shoulder and rested it on her ribs under the sheets. “We should’ve been doing this from the day you moved in. No, sooner. The second you showed up at the door.”
Penny laughed. “I don’t think either of us wanted that.”
“I did. I definitely did.” That wasn’t a lie. He’d thought about her every day since the moment he’d caught a glimpse of her through the broken blinds not knocking on his door. But then he’d been so worried about the consequences—worried about his own capacities—he hadn’t let himself move.
As if reading his thoughts, Penny’s expression sobered. She ran her fingers over his clavicle.
Brett exhaled. “What is this for you, Penny?”
She met his gaze, her eyes dark chocolate pools. “I don’t know.” Her teeth teased over her lower lip, and Brett’s stomach twisted. “It’s not that I don’t know about you, Brett. You’re . . .” she trailed off and rolled to her back, lifting her arm over her head as she stared up at the ceiling. “Incredible. Kind. Funny.”
“Amazing in bed.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “Definitely that.”
“I don’t even care if you’re padding my ego.”
She laughed, but her smile didn’t last long enough. “Every second I’m not with you, I’m trying to find a way to remedy that.” Brett twirled his fingers in circles over her soft stomach. “But I’ve never been on my own. For the last few weeks, I tried so hard to fight this. To try and be my own person because I don’t know how to do that. I feel so lost that I glom onto the first guy who wants me and end up changing my shape to fit into whatever mould they build for me.”
“I don’t have a mould for you, Penny.”
She nodded but didn’t drop her eyes. “I know. I think I know that.”
“Are you still thinking you’ll move back to Vancouver in five weeks?” he asked. Penny turned her head, and she didn’t need to answer for him to know what her answer was. He exhaled, trying to hide the panic creeping up his spine.
“What about you?” she asked.
“What about me?”
“You flirted with my sister more than you flirted with me.”
Brett’s eyes widened. “Again, self-preservation.”
“Did you get her number?”
