“You want to ask me something.”
“Again with the no-small-talk thing,” Penelope said with a smile. “I love that. And yes, I guess I do.”
I twisted on the sofa to face her, careful not to rub my stitches against the plush cushions. “Well, what is it?”
Were her cheeks a little pink? She was definitely fiddling with her phone. “Did you have someone else? You know, before you came here?”
“Are you worried you stole me away?” I grinned at her, and I knew she was surprised because a soft giggle left her. My heart skittered. That noise… Fuck, that noise. I wanted to hear it a hundred times a day.
Penelope blinked rapidly, looking down at her phone. “I guess I was a little. We’ve been consuming so much of your time. If there’s someone else, we need to make sure they know you’re okay. I would be so worried if…”
“There’s no one else. There hasn’t been for years.”
I could feel the couch cushions dip as Penelope moved towards me. Her voice was soft when she continued. “You had a wife, though?”
“She died, a little over five years ago now.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. I didn’t think I’d ever find someone; we married later in life. But…” I hesitated, unsure how much information to give out. “I loved her more than she loved me. Or perhaps I loved the idea of her. I was obsessed with the idea of getting married, having a family. It clouded my perspective.”
Penelope snorted a soft laugh. “I can understand that. It’s a powerful motivator.” She curled her feet on the cushion, pulling herself into a tighter ball. Before I thought too much of it, I tugged a blanket off the arm of the sofa nearest to me and tossed it over her, letting my arms gather her close.
Pleasure surged through me as she let me touch her, tucking her in close until her feet were pressed against my thigh, her shoulder tucked under mine.
“You’re warm.”
“My finest quality,” I said but let my lips curl a little as she settled against me.
She hummed, her petite body fitting against mine with an ease that made my cock throb. I hadn’t felt this way towards anyone in so long. But what she was doing to me… I needed to get control over it. In a few minutes, I promised myself. In a few minutes, I would push her away. But for now, I would allow myself this tiny pleasure.
An hour later, I had her delicate little foot in my hand as I gently massaged the arch. “Why do you wear them if they make your feet so sore?”
“Because they look pretty, Neal.”
I chuckled, releasing her foot. “The fact that you limped across the room is enough reason to burn them all to ashes.”
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “No one other than you is worried about how my ankles are doing.”
My body heated as she bit into her bottom lip. I was desperate to soothe that little habit with my thumb, or better yet my mouth. It would be so easy, so simple to tug it above her, to find the other and hold them together so that she was completely under my control. When we kissed, she could curl her fingers with mine, but what I held, what I wanted to touch, it would be mine for the taking.
Fuck me. I nearly flinched as my thoughts ran away with me. I needed to get distance between us but still couldn’t make myself move away from her. Penelope was proving to be the ultimate temptation—brains, beauty, and a laugh that made me want to hold her in my arms and never let her go.
“Someone should look after you.”
Penelope's half-turned pretty face was bemused as she regarded me. “I have a company full of people who look after me.”
“No, I mean really look after you.” I brushed a hand over her thigh. The pajama pants she’d thrown on were so thin I could feel the warmth of her skin right through them. Her muscles trembled, and I felt her breath rush out.
“Neal…”
“Someone who knows what you need, want you really want,” I murmured, my fingers tracing designs against her inner thighs. She parted them with a rattling sigh.
“No one will want to do that for me.”
I groaned, turning my head so that my nose pressed against her hair. “I would sell my soul to the devil himself for the chance to take care of you.”
She shivered against me. “You want that? What would you do?”
