I knew what she was seeing because I wasn’t oblivious to my looks. Unruly blond hair that needed a cut, a long face with a hard jaw. Pale green eyes, framed with black lashes, a straight nose, and a round mouth. It was then that I remembered I was shirtless, and I was utterly speechless at the desire I felt to preen like a fucking peacock. I kept myself in shape, years of lifting and boxing made my biceps prominent, my abs were well defined, and I sported the cut V that women seemed to favor. Although I hadn’t used it in a very long time, I was also very well endowed, a detail that had not escaped my angel’s notice. In fact, she gasped when her eyes reached the bulge in my pants, and I almost laughed at how adorably innocent she looked. I didn’t bother to hide it either. I intended to get eleven inches deep in this woman eventually, so she might as well start getting acquainted with my size.
My mouth felt as though it was full of sand, but I cleared my throat and swallowed a few times, trying to reclaim some moisture. “What can I do for you, angel?” Better yet, what can I do to you?
“Um.” Her eyes dropped to the ground, and I immediately missed their beauty. Her round cheeks flushed with a pretty pink hue, and I didn’t know how I knew, but I was sure that I could make her whole body flush pink like that by sucking her nipples or eating her pussy. “I’m Penelope—Penny. My sister said you needed some help with your son?”
And just like that, my world came crashing down around me. Son of a fucking bitch.
Penny. As in, Mallory’s seventeen-year-old sister. Jailbait. Off-limits. In fact, I should be thrown in a cell simply for thinking about the filthy, depraved things I wanted to do to her.
I waited for reality to throw a cold bucket of ice water over my libido, but it never came. I mentally banged my head against a wall. Seriously? I asked my dick. You practically hibernate for years and then lust after a woman—no, a teenage girl—who is off-limits on so many levels. I was thirty-nine, for fuck’s sake. Over twenty years older than her!
An evil voice in my mind began to argue that she certainly had the body of a woman and would legally be one very soon. The rational part of me sternly reminded me that I needed to send her away. This was a powder keg that could burn the whole city down.
“Listen, Penelope,” I said hesitantly, wanting to let her down easy. “Tucker is asleep right now, so you’ll have to be quiet, but I’ll show you around and where everything is.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK!?!?!?!?
It was like a fucking out-of-body experience. I watched myself step aside and allow her to enter the lion’s den. The gentle sway of those perfect birthing hips drew my stare like a magnet and gave me an eye full of her sexy, luscious ass.
Okay, clearly, my body was in charge, so I figured I needed to accept that Penelope would be in my life, torturing me, and make sure my head had enough say to keep me from doing something incredibly stupid.
“Let me grab a shirt.” I jogged up the steps to the third floor where the master and nursery, plus another bedroom, were located. I snatched a clean shirt from my dresser and pulled it on over my head as I made my way back downstairs. Penelope obviously had no talent for acting because when she saw my T-shirt, disappointment was written all over her face.
I gritted my teeth and gestured for her to follow me. My house was over fifteen thousand square feet and five levels plus a cellar, so the tour took almost an hour. Even with me skipping the master bedroom completely. When we reached the nursery, I peeked inside and grinned to see Tucker awake and looking around, wide-eyed and curious. I opened the door all the way, and Penelope slipped past me, rushing up to the crib. She cooed at Tucker and fawned all over him. It was cute as hell. “Can I pick him up?” she asked sweetly.
I didn’t even think about it. “Of course.”
Penelope leaned over the railing, stretching her shorts across her biteable ass and forcing me to bite back a groan. She beamed as she lifted Tucker into her arms and watched him with absolute wonder and adoration.
That’s the moment I knew.
Seeing her holding my son.
Fuck it. There was no other option.
Penelope was mine.
Well, she would be.
Eventually.
It couldn’t be that far off, right? It was going to be hard as fuck, but I would wait. She would be worth it.
And once she turned eighteen, I would claim her.