Page 55 of On a Fault Line

Walking into the closet, I move the hanging clothes around and check behind the chest of drawers.

“Not in here,” I say confidently. “Now where should I look?”

I meander back into the bedroom and make a show of checking behind the pillows on the bed. Moving over to the curtains, I look behind them.

“Nope. Not behind there,” I comment. “Oh where, oh where can you be?”

Kneeling on the floor, I take a look under the bed. I discover the damp sea-green skirt in a rolled-up ball, but no Penny.

Enjoying this game of hide-and-seek, I move into the master bathroom and check the linen closet, the storage under the vanity, and the bathtub.

“Tick, tock, tick. I better find you quick!”

Giving up in the master suite, I walk out into the hall and hear a rattle coming from the kitchen, concluding she was clever enough to change hiding spots.

The adrenaline running through me mimics the levels I’ve had during military combat missions.

That’s what this girl does to me.

She gets me excited and dangles me off my own cliff of self-control.

It’s her actions that control mine.

I stalk very slowly into the kitchen and round the island. It’s the back of her little toes I spot first. Reaching down to grab her foot, I am blinded by the feel of something cold and creamy all over my face and the sound of Penny giggling.

Wiping the sweet taste from my eyes and mouth, I realize she sprayed me with a can of whipped cream.

It’s a blur of naked limbs as she takes off running down the hall again, with me hot on her trail.

Her feet slip, and I catch her before she falls, holding her to me as we both become sticky from the mess.

“Got you,” I say in victory.

Reaching over her shoulder, she hits the spray nozzle on the can I forgot she was holding, and an eruption of white fills my vision before I have time to react.

Moving my head down to hers, I smear the whipped topping onto the side of her face.

“You’re going to pay for this,” I say with an amused tone, taking her can and setting it on a stand.

“Thank the sex gods!”

Scooping her up, I carry a naked Penny to the bathroom, laughing the entire way there. I turn the water on for the shower and use my wrist to test the temperature before placing her inside. Then I go to work removing my own clothes.

The cascading water cleanses us of all the whipped cream residue.

Once our hair is washed and the soap is all rinsed from our bodies, I shut off the water and wrap us in an oversized towel.

Leaning her weight against me, Penny pulls me down with her to the floor, where we lie in a fluffy heap.

Our eyes connect, causing something to stir deep within my heart.

“Let’s cuddle,” she proposes.

“Right here?”

She nods, burrowing herself into my warmth. “There’s no time like the present.”

How can I argue with that?

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