Page 59 of The Show

Shelley looked at me before answering, “Are you going?”

I found myself back under Penn’s arm as he pulled me into him. “You wanna come, baby?”

A flash of him standing over me naked, while he leisurely stroked his thick, immensely hard cock shot through my brain the way a lone fork of lightening appears on an otherwise calm ocean. And I did, I did want to come.

What the fuck was going on with me? Seriously.

I tried to step away without it looking too obvious, before he smelled my arousal like a shark after blood.

I managed to smile through my reddening cheeks. “Actually,babe, I saw they have archives here and I’m really excited to keep learning, so thought I’d go and check it out.”

Man, I was terrible at acting. Luckily, neither Buck nor Shelley seemed to notice.

“Good job you’re already married, because she is a keeper!” winked Shelley.

Penn pulled me into him again, and it took all my energy not to bury my nose into his neck and inhale.

“She sure is.”

I was feeling decidedly uncomfortable under Shelley’s eager eye, which was currently moving between me and Penn.

“Okay, if you guys are ditching Mike and this tour, I’ll catch up with you later. I’m going shopping. Marla, sure I can’t persuade you to come with me? Us girls.”

“No, I’m good, thanks. I went shopping yesterday.”

Miraculously Penn’s mouth didn’t even twitch at my lame excuse, proving he was way better at this storytelling shit than I was. Bet he did it all the time.

“Okay,” I thumbed behind me, desperate to get away, “it was great to meet you both, hopefully we’ll see you again soon.”

“Uh, babe, don’t I get a little kiss goodbye?” Penn’s eyes twinkled mischievously again.

There was no way I was going to get out of this one.

If I hadn’t been swimming with nerves and my heart wasn’t racing like it was taking part in the New York City Marathon, I might have been able to think a little more clearly and come up with an excuse or witty retort. But right then, my mind was completely blank.

I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, trying to keep it as chaste as possible in front of our new friends, but that went out the window when he moved his head, and I planted right on his lips… His soft, soft, pillowy lips that were parted just enough for him to stealthily slip his tongue against mine with a moan. When he grabbed my ass, it wasn’t a moan that escaped me but more of a squeak, and it had Shelley laughing long and hard.

“Oh, you lovebirds!” She practically had hearts floating round her head. “I still love seeing couples with a spark, even after three kids. And you two have such spark.”

“Three kids?” asked Penn confused, flinching as I pinched him. “Oh yes, our three kids. Such angels, just like their mom, that’s why the spark won’t go away. Can you blame me?”

He looked down at me with so much heat I melted under his gaze, causing sweat to bead at the back of my neck.

“Okay, I’m going to see what I can find in the archives.” I smiled at the group. “Buck, Shelley, lovely to meet you.”

“I’ll come find you when we’re done,” Penn called after me, but I was already running.

* * *

The archives - an unmanned room reminiscent of my old college library, with rows and rows of dusty books, and walls covered in yellowing photographs from bygone eras - were housed not far from where Mike, the guide, had pointed to the old wall, with the door from England. Or more specifically, according to the book I was currently reading, the door carved from the heart of a two-hundred-year-old oak tree, cut in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

While learning about a really old door was great and all that, I had actually struck gold on several thick Lions digests and a dozen photo albums I’d found. Hundreds of impeccably preserved team photos through the decades, along with candid shots from each season, had provided me with a trove of ideas and a starting point for what needed to be done.

For Penn’s new team.

For Penn.

Penn.

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