As I watched her cab speed off into the traffic, I pulled my phone from my purse. The voicemail came too soon for her not to have cut me off mid ring. I bit down on my lip to stop my tears starting up again. “Hi, Laurie, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I hurt you. Please call me back so we can talk about this. I love you.”
Iwas just getting into bed when Penn arrived at my place, more excited than I think I’d ever seen him. The Lions had gotten their first win in fifteen games, but then he’d taken one look at me, and his excitement had vanished.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling me into his arms and kissing me gently. “Didn’t you have fun with the girls?”
I pulled the pillow from under me, punched it a couple of times then placed it behind my head. “Yeah, I did. Sort of.”
He got up and stripped off on the way into the bathroom, his clothes scattered over the floor like breadcrumbs. “What doesthat mean? Did you tell them about us? What did Lauren say? Was she happy?”
“Not exactly.”
He reappeared in the bathroom doorway, toothbrush in one hand, paste in the other, but all I could see was the hard plains of his bare chest and heavily sculpted thighs. As with every time, I was momentarily hypnotized and my mind blanked.
“Lowe,” he waited until I met his amused gaze. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “She was pissed.”
“Hmmm.” He frowned, then turned round and went back into the bathroom. “She’ll get over it. Did you talk to your mom? What did she say?”
I heard the faucet running, then the shower. I scooched down in the bed and pulled the comforter over me, trying to ignore the aching in my chest. The mention of my mom also set off another tornado in my gut that had me curling my knees up. If I thought telling Lauren was bad, telling my mom would be worse in a much different way.
“What was Lauren pissed about?” Penn called after he’d finally turned the water off.
“She just…” I lifted my head off the pillow, then dropped it again. “Do you think we should cool it for a while?”
This time when he stood in the bathroom doorway he was rubbing his head with the towel, while his entirely naked body was glistening with the water droplets still dripping down his sculpted torso.
And his dick… his dick… sigh.
But his expression told me he’d heard exactly what I’d said; horrified would be the best way of describing it.
“No, I fucking don’t!”
“Penn, it’s been an intense few weeks. Let’s cool it and see how we feel in a month or so,” I argued from under the comforter, though it lacked in any actual fight.
He dropped the towel on the floor, and stormed over to the bed. His arms crossed over his chest. “Absolutely fucking not! I don’t need a fucking month to see how I feel. Do you?” He glared, waiting for me to answer. “Do you, Lowe?”
I sniffed, and he was by my side in less than a breath. “Lowe, what did Lauren say to you?” He turned me gently, his face softening as he took in my tear-stained cheeks. “Oh, baby. What happened?”
His thumbs brushed against my cheeks, wiping away the tears. “She said I’d lost all self-respect and that it was only because I’m the first woman to come along since you’d been hiding all summer. And that you’ll move on soon, because you only need to click your fingers and women drop their panties, and you’re working your way through the city.”
Penn’s mouth set in a hard line. “She said that?”
I nodded, the tears starting again. “She was really pissed. What if I’ve ruined our friendship? I feel like I’ve betrayed her.”
“You haven’t.” He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine, his tongue darting out to catch another tear. “Lauren will learn to deal with it. Lowe, I’m not working my way through the city.”
“I know.” I smiled weakly.
“No, you don’t.” He caught the ends of my hair in his fingers and twirled through them. “You are the first woman to come along, because I’ve never been in a relationship. And I’ve never been in a relationship because I didn’t think it was fair to give anyone false hope when my heart has only ever belonged to you. You have owned my heart since the first time I saw you, and even if the past few weeks had never happened, you would still own my heart for the rest of my life. I’m never letting you go, Lowe. Ilove you. I’ve loved you forever and I have no plans to stop. I will deal with Lauren.”
I tried to object, tried to tell him that no, I didn’t need him to fight my battles, but while he’d been talking, he’d moved under the comforter and his hot, still damp body was hovering right over me. And when his lips met mine, I forgot what I was objecting to.
Then he showed me exactly how much he loved me, and I forgot my own name too.
Chapter 59
“Why are we awake? It’s still dark,” Lowe mumbled into the pillow.
