We piled into my car, and I headed North on the interstate. The music, at max volume, blared out a tune, and Penny danced in her seat. I smiled to her as the sun shone through the windows. It felt good to have her all to myself. Road trips were something I enjoyed. That’s how you can tell if you get along. Nobody wants to be stuck in a car with someone with a stick up their ass. I reached my hand across the seat and grabbed hers. Intertwining our fingers, I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her soft skin.
She grabbed her phone with her other hand and sat staring at her screen. Her laughter filled the car, and I let go of her hand as she swiped at her screen.
“What are you giggling about over there?”
She dropped the phone in her lap. “Oh, sorry. I’m reading a book.”
“Oh yeah? One of your smut books?” I teased.
“No, not one of my smut books. This one is funny. It’s called Date Me.”
“Sounds dumb.”
She gasped as she tried to hold back her laughter. “It’s not dumb. It’s wonderful.”
“Really, Penny? Wonderful?” I arched a brow as I shot her a look of disbelief.
“Yes. It’s about a pilot who needs to find a date to his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. Well, he ends up in a big mess of a situation. It’s written by a new male author.”
I’ll admit it. I was jealous. “Sounds stupid.”
“Oh, but cartoon books are top of the line reading? Please. Maybe you should give a romance book a try.” She pulled her feet into the seat with her as she leaned closer to me.
“Not a chance in hell. I’ll stick to comics.”
“Suit yourself, but you’re missing out. The lead, Erik in the book, he reminds me of you.”
“Oh yeah, why?”
“He has a really dirty mouth, too.”
I kissed her hand as she went back to reading about weddings and smut. Weddings. I finally asked the question I had been putting off all morning.
“What happened with Dex this morning?” I wanted to know.
“He stopped by this morning. Said he wanted to talk,” she said as her hand ran through my beard.
“About?”
Her smile dropped from her face. “Wedding stuff. They want this wedding as soon as possible.” She turned from me to stare out the window.
“Ouch, did he say why? Scratch that, I know why.” If Penny were mine, I’d make sure I married her immediately too.
Whoa.
A cold sweat broke out on my forehead. That was the third time I thought of Penny and a wedding. Usually imagining weddings meant you were in lo… Fuck. I dropped her hand as I continued driving. She kept her stare fixed on the passing scenery. An awkward silence loomed between us. I was afraid to say anything for fear of confessing some undying love to her. Although, the way I felt, the grey area of “I really like you.” no longer applied. What if she didn’t feel the same? Yeah, she liked me. But this wasn’t one of her romance novels where people fell in love after a great fuck. Although, how could she not fall in love with the way I fucked her? It was that damn good.
Trying to push away the feelings and thoughts of love and marriage, I saw the exit for Blue Heron Blvd and turned off.
“Where are we going? Singer Island?”
“Yeah, I know a spot just under the bridge. Figured we could go swimming.”
“Oh ok, sounds fun.”
I parked the car, and we pulled out all the snorkeling equipment I packed. Heading a way down the road, we stepped onto the sandy area leading into the Intercoastal Waterway.
“I figured we would swim in the waterway instead of the ocean,” I said as I lifted my shirt over my head. Her eyes trailed over my abs.