Page 61 of On a Fault Line

She has shifted my focus—but in the best way possible.

When I return from the kitchen, I hand her the glass and then put my own down onto a coaster on the end table.

“Thanks,” she mutters. “I guess I should continue to hydrate after all of the alcohol I consumed over lunch. I think I went wrong at the third margarita. It was the turning point for sure. That tequila is a crazy bitch.”

“She can be,” I say with a smile. “Keep sipping that water.”

And she does, without her normal fight.

Penny is definitely more agreeable after orgasms. I’ve gathered enough anecdotal data to draw that conclusion. And as a man who loves science, I’ll be running more trials just to further test my theories.

“Thanks for always getting me the nicest things,” she says as she strokes her hand down the leg of her pajamas.

Her compliment warms me from the inside out. She is wearing a matching set of charcoal-gray pajamas that I forgot I even purchased until I was digging in the closet for something comfortable for her after shower number two.

“You are welcome. I enjoy spoiling you.”

Who would think that simple cotton pants and a shirt could look so good on someone?

But that’s the Penny Effect.

She has an understated beauty about her and makes even the most ordinary things sparkle.

It’s her softness that I’m attracted to, yet her fiery personality keeps me yearning for more. I know I shouldn’t want her to the extent I do, but I can’t help myself. The more days we spend together out of the one hundred allotted, the more I wish for time to slow down.

I am her bodyguard.

I am sixteen years older than she is.

And I’m going to end up in a hole in the ground if her brothers find out what I’ve done with their sister.

More time won’t fix this. The only thing it’ll do is cause our bond to become even stronger.

It is taking every ounce of willpower not to toss Penny on the couch and kiss the hell out of her. I want to be rough. I want to be all-consuming. Yet, she deserves better. Penny needs time for her body to heal from our last session.

I need to find a way to curb my appetite for wanting to be inside her all the time, and it’s selfish of me to justify and say that she can handle every fantasy my depraved mind conjures up.

Just the thought of tarnishing her sparkle in any way makes me nauseated inside. Yet, the way she is scowling over every channel she turns to, making a silly face before changing it again, is so cute.

She has already filled my apartment with more joy than it has ever experienced, and the thought of having her leave at the end of the one hundred days and go back to her place in the world sans me causes an unbearable pain at my core.

Pulling out of my self-loathing trance, Penny awakens me by wiggling her toes into my hands, beckoning me to rub them.

“Remind me to never wear stupid shoes again. I forever want to walk around the world barefoot.”

I laugh as my fingers rub circles into the bottoms of her soles. She doesn’t have socks on and her feet are on the cooler side. I watch her tremble as shivers run up her body.

“Feel good?”

Penny leans her head back onto a throw pillow. “You have no idea. It feels like my whole body is being rejuvenated.”

It seems like the alcohol finally has left her system too.

I typically wouldn’t have sex with any woman with anything impairing coursing through her system. Yet I can admit that the margaritas Penny inhaled during lunch had a positive impact on her ability to stop overthinking.

I’m definitely going to exercise better self-control in the future.

Well…I can at least try.

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