“No, I’ll be good. I think I’m going to go take a quick bath, my shoulders are tense, and then I’ll get dressed.”
“Okay. If you need me to rub your shoulders, just let me know.”
His hands all over my body is the last freaking thing I need. I can only imagine my reaction to that.
Panting.
Sweating.
Moaning.
No, thank you.
Do not come near me unless you plan to do so naked.
“I’m good,” I say as I slip by him. “Uh, smells good in here, by the way. Real magical.”
His brow creases. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Quite right, quite right,” I reply in a British accent, which only causes his brows to rise higher.
I don’t blame him.
I’m just as confused as he is.
And there is absolutely no use in explaining any of this to him because I wouldn’t know where to begin, so instead, I turn toward the hallway and leave the confused man behind me.
Just take a bath and walk it off, Penny. You have to get it together for dinner tonight.
ChapterTwenty-Two
PENNY
“Wow, that’s, uh . . . that’s a dress,” Eli says as he moves his hand over his mouth, surveying me.
“If I ever learned anything from Rachel Green, it’s that I have to wear things that I won’t be able to wear when my pregnant belly gets too big.” I smooth my hands down my skintight black dress. Yes, it might be too much for dinner with my parents, but when I slipped out of the bathtub, I was feeling really sexy, and I wanted to keep that feeling. So I slipped on this little number.
“Well, you look, uh . . . really good,” he says, his voice breaking.
I smile and squeeze his forearm. “Thank you.”
While in the bathtub, I relaxed, took care of business—if you know what I mean . . . with the showerhead—and then spent a very long time lotioning my body so I smelled like heaven.
His eyes are still scanning me when he asks, “Is there anything I need to know about your parents?”
“You’ve met them before. No need to be nervous.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t meet them under these circumstances.”
I adjust the straps of my dress and grumble, “These boobs of mine are making things difficult. I think they get bigger by the minute.”
Eli clears his throat just as there’s a knock on the door. “Do you want me to get that?”
“No, I got it,” I say while shifting my boobs one last time. I give Eli a quick smile and then open the door to reveal my parents. My mom has chosen one of her many floral vest-turtleneck combos, while Dad is wearing the classic Agitators polo that Pacey gave him one year for Christmas. He now has four and rotates through them whenever he’s in town.
“Oh my, look at you,” Mom says, pulling me into a hug. “You look fantastic.”
“I feel fantastic,” I say, speaking the truth. The nausea has disappeared for the first time in a while, and I actually feel like I’m glowing. I know people say that about pregnant women, but I actually feel that now.
