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“Sort of?”
“We were…let’s say engaged to be engaged.”
Swallowing an irrational flare of jealousy, she lifted his head to look in his eyes. The pain she saw in them made her throat burn. “What happened?”
“She didn’t like where I got into med school. She’d been hoping for somewhere a little more exciting than Jackson, Mississippi.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged like it was all water under the bridge. Que será, será. “In retrospect, I dodged a bullet there.” His mouth dropped to Penny’s shoulder and she let her eyes fall closed as he kissed his way to her cleavage with intense concentration. “I thought about doing this, you know. Every day you came into the shop I thought about it. You have no idea.” His index finger trailed down her chest and settled in the crevice between her breasts. “But then you started flirting with that guy Kenneth.”
“Only because he flirted with me first. It could have been you.” She lifted a hand to Caleb’s face. “I would have preferred you.”
He leaned back and gazed at her with eyes that had turned to dark, inky pools. His pupils were so wide she could barely see the gold in his irises anymore. “And now it’s too late.”
“It’s not,” she said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.
“I’m trying to warn you off me, and you’re not making it easy.”
She clenched her thighs around his. “I like being on you.”
His eyes closed and he let out a low groan. “You know what I mean.”
She bent her head toward him, her lips just barely brushing against his. “You like it too.”
His eyes opened and locked with hers. “I do.” His hand dropped to her hip. Yes, she thought as it slid down the outside of her thigh. More of that. His fingers ceased their journey and tightened on her thigh. “That’s why I should go.”
Just like that, her happy bubble burst. Again. “No, you shouldn’t.”
“I have to.” His hands clenched around her waist and he moved her off him like she weighed nothing.
“Why?”
His eyes avoided hers. “I have somewhere I have to be tonight. I’m sorry. I can’t stay.” It sounded like a lie. He stood up, wincing as he adjusted his pants.
Serves you right, she thought vindictively. She hoped he ran into her elderly downstairs neighbor, Mrs. Jourgensen, on his way out.
“I’m sorry,” he said again as he put on his shoes.
Penny nodded and stared at the floor. The words please don’t go hovered on her tongue, but pride prevented her from saying them aloud.
When he had his shoes on, he came back to the couch and stood in front of her. “Penny.”
“What?” she said without looking up.
“Penelope.” He caught her hand and pulled her into his arms.
She lacked the fortitude to resist him. Her arms wrapped around his waist as she pressed her face into his chest, breathing him in. Change your mind, she thought fiercely. You don’t want to leave. Stay with me. Kiss me. Make love to me.
He held her tightly. Then he kissed the top of her head and gently extracted himself from her grasp. “I’ll see you Monday,” he said, and let himself out of her apartment.
Well, crud. She’d gotten close this time, but still no cigar.
And, man, did she want his cigar. She wanted it bad. She was starting to feel like Charlie Brown. Lying in the grass after Lucy had yanked the football away yet again, wondering why this kept happening.
Something was holding him back. But was it really just his fear of hurting her? Or something else?
She felt like she was wearing him down though. He’d wanted her. That much she was sure of. Maybe if she’d been a little more aggressive. Maybe if she’d come right out and asked him to stay…
