"I know I'm a coward," he sighed. "I shouldn't have put all of this on you. I'm not very good at facing up to my screwed up family."
"Are you kidding?" I asked. "I haven't seen you shy away from a single thing. I wish I had the courage you do. I mean, you just got terrible news and it hasn't stopped you from moving forward. Most people would still be curled up in a ball trying to process it."
Penn shrugged and didn't release my hand. "Moving forward is what I do best, except my mother calls it running away."
"Is it bad that I loved the way her jaw dropped when I said 'done?' It felt really good to beat her at her own game," I admitted.
His laugh warmed me from the inside out. "You know what you are? A sleeper. Everyone thinks you're one way, the prim and proper and good girl image you've got. Then, wham! You hit him with that voice of yours. It's like a super power. Alice had no idea you had that in you. Did you see how she stepped back before you were even done with the first note? That was amazing."
I slipped my hand from his. "I shouldn't have done that. It was petty to show her up. I wish I was more like you and didn't care what people thought of me. Then I wouldn't have let Alice get under my skin."
"I care what people think about me," Penn confessed. "Not everyone, but you're a different story."
I sighed. "I don't want to be different."
Penn slipped both hands around my waist. "You're different because I care what you think about me. I care more than you think."
I wasn't prepared for the kiss, but even if I had seen it coming, I wouldn't have known what to do. Penn's lips were as hot as a candle flame and they ignited me. I reached up on my tiptoes to answer his urgent press and our breath tangled over breathless sighs. I couldn't subdue the fiery moan that escaped me when his tongue traced my bottom lip.
His arms encircled me tighter, lifted me from the ground, and I slipped my arms around his neck. If I didn't hold on, I was sure I would fly off into the night sky like smoke.
For one, soft moment, Penn pulled back so his dark eyes could search mine. I saw the golden flecks glowing in his look and I had no other answer than to pull him into another searing kiss.
My body molded to his, every hard contour of his muscles melting me against him. He felt like hard-packed earth warmed in the sun, and his kiss tasted of fresh air and campfire. I tasted him, devoured him, and felt his jagged breath as my teeth nipped his wide lower lip.
"We're not strangers," Penn murmured against my insistent mouth.
I pulled back and gave him a wicked grin. "But this is our first time."
He groaned and tangled one strong hand in my hair. Penn pulled my head back and dove into a deep kiss that left me breathless and melted against him. When he bent over and let my toes touch the ground again, I pulled him with me. We stumbled onto the soft grass, and I saw the stars spin above us.
Then Penn's hands were on my body and everything faded under the heat of his touch. I arched my back up as his hands skimmed the thin sundress and found my breasts pressing against the low neckline. One thumb brushed over my already aching nipple, causing me to cry out with the startling pleasure. Penn caught my cries in deeper kisses, and I tangled both hands in his shaggy hair.
His beard brushed against the bare skin of my neck, driving me wild with each new caress. The soft friction of it over the heavy press of Penn's strong body sent waves of pleasure over me. I spilled back onto the grass and felt myself opening to him.
His hot hand traced the hem of my sundress and again I lifted my body against him. The rough caress of his fingers lingered on my thigh until I shuddered with desire. I pulled his head to me and deepened our kiss with one, aching word.
"Please."
A low, sexual growl escaped his lips as Penn paused to look down at me. "Corsica," he whispered with a graveled voice.
Abruptly, another voice broke into our tangled world. Penn's mother was calling him.
I shoved his shoulders and sat up, scrambling to pull my sundress back into place. "Your mother is coming," I said.
Penn groaned and dug his hands into the ground. Then, he hefted himself to his feet, brushed his palms on his jeans, and helped me up.
Alice circled closer, speaking to Xavier in too loud of a
voice. "Don't you think it's strange that she hasn't mentioned one thing about his birthday? Does she expect him to plan it as well as pay for it?"
"I don't think that's it," Xavier said in my defense.
Alice snorted. "I'd think you, of all people, would recognize the signs of a gold-digger."
"Gold-digger?" I whispered to Penn, horrified.
"Don't listen to her."