Page 41 of Penn

“You really have thought about fucking me, haven’t you?”

Embarrassment fills me, but I push it away. What’s there to be embarrassed about? He just rocked my entire world. “Yeah. I told you that.”

“I meant what I said, Dixie.”

Lifting my head, I look down into his eyes, realizing for the first time that we did all of that with the lights on. “What did you say?”

“You’re mine. There’s no going back to sleeping in the guest room and pretending that this didn’t happen. I don’t do halfway.”

“I heard you,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And it’s the truth. I can’t believe how right it feels being here in his arms. His bed. With him.

Penn turns off the light and pulls the blanket up over our cooling bodies. And it strikes me as odd to realize that everything he’s given me is what Stephen used to promise.

We live under the same roof.

He provides for me—whether I like it or not.

He wants something with me.

And he can make me feel like I’ve lost every bone in my body with the bedroom skills he has.

But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that there’s no one I can truly depend on in this world. Not my parents. Not my exes. Not the father of my baby. And as much as I want to believe Penn is different, I don’t believe in fairy tales or exceptions.

I believe in reality.

Chapter 16

Penn

Iwake up before Dixie, and the light filters through the blinds in lines across the sheets. Dixie’s curves press against mine, warm and soft. Her breathing remains slow and even, and my arm rests over her waist, my palm flat on the swell of her belly. Princess shifts on the floor beside the bed, stretching and whimpering.

We didn’t let her out again before we fell asleep, and I’m impressed she didn’t have an accident on the floor. Easing my arm free from beneath Dixie, I sit up. She makes a small sound but doesn’t open her eyes as I pull on my sweats and decide against the shirt hanging on the chair.

Princess follows me down the hallway, and I let her out into the backyard where she barely takes two steps before squatting. Poor girl. “Sorry, baby,” I say. “But that’s a good girl.”

Her tail wags as she sniffs the ground, looking for the spot she deems fitting to take a shit. I smile at the little pup that’s already growing like a weed, and I imagine this is what it’ll be like when Dixie’s baby arrives. One day it’ll be this tiny little bundle, and before we know it, he or she will be clomping around the house, getting into everything.

That’s when I stop. Even though I want this family, I know I’m getting ahead of myself. I told Dixie that this means she’s mine. That I’m all in, and she agreed, but I know there’s so much that could still change. And whether I want to believe it or not, that baby she’s carrying isn’t mine. I don’t have a real claim to him or her.

“Guess we’ll just have to change her mind, huh, Princess?” I ask as the puppy scurries over to me, anxious to get back inside to Dixie.

I head back to the bedroom to find the room empty. Then I hear the shower from down the hall running. I don’t bother knocking as I step inside to see her under the showerhead, water falling around her glorious curves I got a close-up view of last night.

“You don’t even knock?” Dixie asks with a cheeky grin.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” I say. “Care for some company?”

“Come on in.”

Yeah, I don’t need any more incentive. I drop my sweatpants, already hard at the sight of her, and I step in behind her. She turns and rubs a hand over my stomach before inching lower, her fingers wrapping around me. She strokes once, slow and sure, before moving faster.

Leaning down to kiss her, I taste the mint from her toothpaste and wonder just how long I’d been outside with the dog. I almost protest when she pulls her face from mine until she sinks down onto her knees along the wet tile, her wet hair plastered against her neck, and takes me into her mouth.

The first pull of her lips drags a groan from deep in my throat. She works me with her tongue while her hand strokes where her mouth can’t reach, and I have to brace my hand on the wall. Her left hand grips my thigh, and her nails press into my flesh with just enough pressure to keep me steady.

But then she looks up at me through wet lashes, and I damn near lose it. Her brown eyes gaze into mine as she takes me deeper. She gags but doesn’t pull away, and I stay completely still. The last thing I want to do is rush her, even if it feels like I might combust. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a long-ass time.