There was silence behind me, and I felt a pang in my chest knowing I’d confused her, at the very least, and probably hurt her. There was a covered dish sitting on the island, and I sighed. My sweet girl had left me dinner again. I swore to myself that once she was mine to take, I’d make up for every bit of hurt I’d caused while I’d struggled to keep her at arm’s length.
* * *
My phone buzzed on the end table, but the soft knock I heard on my front door had me glancing at my watch in surprise. It was almost eleven at night. Who would be at my door at this hour? Luckily, they hadn’t rung the bell and woken my son, or I’d have been kicking someone’s ass up and down my street. My phone buzzed again, but I ignored it. I’d just finished feeding Tucker and was about to take him upstairs, so I cradled him in one arm and padded down the hall to the front door. I looked through the peephole, and my breath caught when I saw Penelope standing on the other side. The moonlight was bouncing off her auburn hair, making it even more red. It floated around her shoulders when she turned to glance back toward her house. She was wearing a thin, faded T-shirt, some kind of tight, stretchy pants, and pink flip-flops on her feet. She looked comfortable yet so sexy, I wanted to slowly peel every article of clothing from her body and feast on what was underneath. The train of my thoughts had me cursing softly, then glancing down at Tucker guiltily. “Sorry, little man,” I whispered.
With a deep breath, I steeled myself against her allure and opened the door. A quick, closer visual inspection made me realize she wasn’t wearing a bra. It looked as though she’d just rolled out of bed. I frowned and looked around to make sure no one else was seeing my girl in a way that should be for me alone. When my eyes landed on her face, my frown deepened. She looked…uneasy…and the smile on her lips was forced.
She spotted Tucker sleeping in the crook of my arm and sighed. “Oh good, I didn’t wake him. I’m so sorry to bother you. Especially this late.”
“You’re never a bother, angel,” I declared, and her smile became slightly more genuine.
“Hey, Penny!” A male voice had my head whipping to the side. “Where’d you go, babe? I found a bottle of wine.”
The owner of the voice was standing on the porch of Mallory’s brownstone, looking around until he spotted Penelope. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but from the expression on Penelope’s face, it was clear that this asshole made her uncomfortable. If it hadn’t been for Tucker and Penelope, I’d have marched over there and broken his nose, but my son and my love would always come first. “Inside,” I commanded as I stepped away from the door.
“Penny…”
I almost slammed the door but caught it at the last second and shut it quietly, cutting off whatever else that son of a bitch was going to say. Penelope shifted from foot to foot, chewing on her plump bottom lip. I both hated and loved when she did that. Loved it because she looked so fucking adorable. Hated it because I was ridiculously jealous of that lip. “Wait for me in the den,” I ordered. “I’m going to lay Tucker down, and then we’ll talk.”
Assuming she would do as she was told, I didn’t wait for an affirmation and jogged up the stairs. Tucker could sleep through a freight train in his room most of the time, so he didn’t stir in the slightest on the trip up or when I gently lowered him into his crib. I flipped on his noise machine on my way out the door and logged into the monitoring app on my phone as I descended the stairs.
As expected, Penelope was in the den waiting, curled up on one of the recliners. Forgoing any small talk, I began pacing in front of the fireplace and jumped right to the point. “Who was that?” I grumbled.
Penelope shrugged delicately and grimaced. “Some guy my sister was with once.”
I stopped wearing a path into my carpet and raised a brow as I faced her. “With once?”
She nodded and waved a hand carelessly in the direction of the wall shared between our townhomes. “You know Mallory. She doesn’t see guys often, but when she does, repeats are usually avoided.” Penelope dropped her hand, and her face twisted with disgust. “I don’t know what she saw in that guy. I think he’s kinda creepy.” My fists clenched at my sides, pissed as fuck that this motherfucker had made my girl uncomfortable. “He’s been trying to get back with Mallory, and tonight, he showed up just as I was about to go to bed, refusing to leave until he talked to her.”