How quickly I’ve stopped despising everything about her. What happened in the past—the photos, the accident—was all out of our control. I can’t keep blaming her for something she had no fault in. It was my decision to run wild. It was Garrett’s decision to defer college. Our choices. Not Penny’s.
Like she feels my gaze on her, she turns her head toward me and smiles. Damn if that smile doesn’t do funny things to my insides. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?” she asks.
We only managed a few hours, yet it was the best sleep I’ve had in this cabin in years. Usually I’m plagued by nightmares aboutthe car accident that caused Garrett’s death. “I’m sorry,” I say instead of answering her question.
Penny raises a querying eyebrow. “What are you sorry for?”
Sitting up, I swing my legs off the mattress. “For blaming Garrett’s death on you.”
Her shoulders sag and she comes and sits next to me on the bed. “If I hadn’t gotten you expelled—”
“Still not your fault,” I interrupt. “How I dealt with it were my choices. Garrett wanting to stick around was his choice. It was a freak accident.”
“Do you really mean it?” Her bottom lip trembles.
Cupping her cheek with my hand, I gently kiss her mouth. “Yes.”
With that one word, years of hate lifts off my chest, finally letting me breathe with ease again. The one person who I blamed for everything is the person who has helped me let it all go. I’ll never forget Garrett. But instead of rehashing the bad memories, I have so many good ones to remember.
“Thank you.” A glistering of tears shine from Penny’s eyes. I can tell it means a lot to her. “Yesterday, what I saw out on the ridge, that was about Garrett wasn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s the anniversary of his death. I come to the cabin every year and trek to that spot as a tribute to him.”
“He was lucky to have a friend like you.”
“I was pretty lucy too.” I shake of the melancholy. “Now, let’s go into town for breakfast,” I suggest. “I’m starving.”
“Bless your heart. I thought you weren’t going to feed me. I’m hankerin’ for a cream cheese bagel.”
I chuckle at the hint of an accent that peeked through. “I’d forgotten you’re from the south.”
“My accent slips out sometimes.” She giggles. “My mother and I practiced for years to tone it down. She thought it would help us fit in when we moved to New York City.”
I rise from the bed, hold onto Penny’s hand, and pull her to her feet and wrap my arms around her waist. “Well, if you want to bring out the southern belle within you, I’m sure it’s sexy as hell.”
Tapping me on the chest, she pulls a faux offended expression. “Why Mr. Alessi, I do believe you’re positively sinful.” Her voice rises slightly and has that southern twang.
Oh yeah. Sexy as fuck. “I have a lot of sinful things I want to do to you.” I tug her close.
She wiggles free from my grasp and takes two steps back. “Hold that thought. I plan for you to do every devilish thing you can think of to me. But it has to wait until we get back. I’m hungry.”
I pull clothes from the wardrobe and get dressed and swipe the car keys off the table. “The quicker I get you fed, the quicker I get you in bed.”
With a grin, she opens the door and races from the cabin.
On our drive into town, Penny stares out the passenger side window. She’s quiet, and I’m wondering what’s on her mind. “Are you ready to go home, or do you need a few more days at the cabin?” Normally, I’d be heading back by now, but staying with her is more appealing.
I navigate the car around a small tree that has fallen partially on the side of the road. Probably a casualty from last night’s storm. I inwardly shudder. How we didn’t get struck by lightning or crushed by a tree I’ll never know.
“Do you mind if we spend another day or two here?” she asks.
That shouldn’t make me as happy as it does. “Sure thing, Pixie.”
She turns to look at me. “Pixie?”
“That’s exactly what you looked like in the forest and in the photos. Like a pixie controlling the storm. Asexypixie.”
Covering her face with her hands, she laughs. “What was I thinking? That was so not me, yet it was the most amazing experience of my life. Claudia tried dragging me to an artist workshop once to get a nude painting done. Told me it would break me out of my comfort zone. I locked myself in my apartment and wouldn’t come out until she left me alone. Yet I succumbed to you so easily.”
