“I’ve missed you,” he whispered. He threaded his fingers through my hair as he owned my mouth, making me remember just how badly I’d missed him, too.
When he finally pulled away from me, a few of the guests clapped.
“Can the two of you get the hell out of here now?” The curator groaned. “I have real estate to sell.”
We laughed and Hayden clasped my hand, pulling me out of the room. He led me onto the elevator, pressing his mouth against mine all over again as the car went down.
When we made it downstairs, he pushed me against a wall and kissed me so deeply that I silently promised to never go that long without kissing him again.
“My place or yours?” he asked.
“Yours.”
“Good choice.” He wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me down the street and toward his car. He held me tighter when the first photog stepped in front of us.
He kissed my forehead as two more started flashing their invasive cameras.
“No umbrellas in this rain?” “Are you two an item now?” “Any comment on Hayden’s letter, Penelope?”
Hayden opened the passenger door and helped me inside without saying a word to them.
He moved to the driver’s side and sped onto the street.
Holding my hand behind the gear shift, he looked over as we approached a red light. “What exactly did you have to talk to me about next week?”
“A communication schedule.”
“What?” He scoffed. “You honestly think I would follow something like that just to talk to you?”
“It was for co-parenting,” I said, pausing. “I’m pregnant.”
He put the car in park and looked over at me.
“Before you ask, there’s no need for a paternity test.”
“I wasn’t planning to ask that at all.” He glanced at my stomach. “How far along are you?”
“Thirteen weeks,” I said. “Are you scared?”
“Terrified.” He leaned over and kissed me, ignoring the honking cars behind us once the light turned green.
“Tell me something, then,” he said. “A communication schedule for a friendship would be one thing, but why did you think something like that would work once I found out that you were carrying my child?”
“I was willing to include a few no-strings attached sex provisions if you kept up your end of the deal.”
His lips curved into a smile. “A few would never be enough.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “I’m looking forward to a true new beginning with you, Penelope, but I want to make sure that I’m never in the way of your dreams.”
“I understand that.”
“Good,” he said. “I also want to make sure that you remain open with me and always tell me what you want, so I can give it to you.”
“In the bedroom?”
“That’s a given, but no.” He shook his head. “I mean in everything. Tell me.”
“What about letting me drive your car?”
“Don’t fucking push it.” He laughed, kissing me again. “I’ll have to take you to a parking lot this week and test that out first. What do you really want?”
Fifty
A few months later
Penelope
I ran my fingers across a spool of red ribbon, letting out a breath as I read the words that were embedded in the trim.
[The Perfect Feather: Ice Skating Pavilion ]
The grand opening of my rink wasn’t scheduled until months from now, but I’d made it my personal mission to oversee all of the custom details for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
My mother’s collection of medals and awards would soon have a new home on the far-left wall, right next to mine.
In between ours, I’d leave spaces for other women to show off their accomplishments. I already knew that the skaters who’d signed on to work with me in the spring had high chances of developing long-term careers on the ice.
I also knew that I could still possibly train someone who could help me get to “twenty-eight,” via the Olympics coaching rule someday, but it was far better to have twenty-eight students and counting instead.
Smiling, I walked over to a pair of skates on the bench, resisting the urge to put them on.
“I could’ve sworn we agreed that you wouldn’t come here until after our son was born.” Hayden’s deep voice made me turn around.
“Since you know me, you should’ve known that was a lie.”
“I did.” He smiled, kissing my forehead. “I also knew to fly home early if I wanted to know what you’re truly doing. This doesn’t look like hanging out with Tatiana.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to sit through hours of anime with a super-fan.” I shook my head. “How’d your meeting with Sarah and Lawrence go?”
“Good.” He wrapped his arms around my waist. “They’re happy to move to the next level. Speaking of which, on a scale of one to ten, how happy are you with me?”
“Eight.”
“Only eight?” He raised his eyebrow.
“It would be a ten if you could get the tabloids to stop printing their daily, ‘How long will Penelope Carter last with Hayden Hunter?’ game. They run multiple versions of that story a week.”