Page 41 of Just Business

He’s hesitant at first, but when his tongue sweeps across the seam of my lips, I open for him. It’s like a switch flips, and he deepens the kiss, causing a curl in my stomach and an ache to form between my legs. The kiss is rough and desperate, like a man starved for oxygen, like he’s been trudging through the desert and finally found an oasis. I gasp into his mouth as he walks us backward until my hips hit the edge of my kitchen counter.

Austin leans back to look at me, his eyes heated and more pupil than blue. Using the pad of his thumb, he traces my lower lip; then his mouth is back on mine. This time it's softer, like maybe we’re taking the time to explore something new between us. In the hazy recesses of my mind, I’m vaguely aware that this moment will be the demarcation line that separates the before and whatever comes next.

It was only a matter of time before the calls started back. My phone has been eerily silent since my arrival, but I should’ve known it was too good to be true. The one point in my favor today is that I sent him to voicemail with each call. After listening to the first one to make sure it wasn’t actually my mom, but a stream of familiar drunken words instead. I didn’t bother listening to the rest.

Still, the entire situation has me even more keyed up than I’ve already been this week, and it’s like the bourbon was staring at me, taunting me, from across the bar each time I stepped inside. With that second glass, I could feel Penny’s eyes on me. She was the steady presence I needed to find the strength to push it away and take her to the dance floor.

The only thing I’ve craved more than bourbon today is the woman standing before me. Thank the gods above that she let me inside. My desire for her has been building with each day, each hour, hell, each second we’ve spent together since the moment I laid eyes on her. But it's reached its tipping point, like a rolling boil threatening to spill over. Dancing with her tonight, having her close against me, made me realize that I couldn’t resist the pull of her much longer.

My lips move of their own accord, from Penny’s mouth and down her neck as she turns her head to give me better access. With the pad of my thumb, I lightly graze her peaked nipple through the fabric of her dress. A small gasp falls from her lips, and I do it again, gently pinching and then rubbing. She lets out a moan, and I spin her so her back is to me.

“Penny?” I don’t even recognize my own voice, filled with raw desperation.

“Hmm?” She drags the word out into two lazy syllables like she's drunk on emotions.

“That night I first saw you at the bar, I had no idea who you were, but that fire in your eyes intrigued me. I knew nothing about the studio I’d be recording in or that it was you who I’d see the next morning. But when you turned, your top dipped low in the back to reveal a peek of this ink, and all I knew when I saw the edge of that flower was that I wanted to get my mouth on it and kiss every inch of it.”

Resisting the urge to wrap her copper hair around my fist and have my way with her, I instead drape it over her shoulder exposing her neck and back to me. Her tattoo is a sunflower, but instead of a stem from the bottom, there’s a treble clef curling between her shoulder blades. She shivers when I graze my fingertip down her spine, just like I did earlier today. I lower my head, trailing kisses from the top to the bottom of her tattoo and goose flesh rises to freckle her arms. “This okay?” I question, making sure I’m reading her signals right.

“So okay,” she pants out.

Guiding her back around, I grip her round ass firmly and lift her onto the countertop, positioning myself so I’m standing between her open thighs. With my index finger, I lift her chin to see her gorgeous face properly.

“You are so magnificent.” I could fall at her feet and worship this woman. Right when I'm considering doing just that, a giant crack of lightning streaks across the sky, followed by a clap of thunder that rattles the windows. Honey darts past us and out the door I carelessly left cracked open in my rush to get inside.

“Honey!” Penny cries out, hopping down from the counter to chase her cat into the rain pelting down outside. “Austin, help me! I think she ran up the tree over there,” she calls.

I’m right on her heels, already soaked from head to toe, but I’ll be damned if I let something happen to the cat that she adores.

The tree has a good spot for climbing about three feet up. I hoist my foot to the notch in the branches, almost falling before I can make purchase with the slippery branch. The storm isn’t letting up, and I’m crossing my fingers and praying that I don’t get struck by lightning trying to rescue a spooked cat.

Honey has climbed about ten feet up, soaked to the bone and looking scared to death. Speaking soft nonsense, I gently coax her down to me, hoping my presence doesn’t spook her and cause her to climb even higher. Fortunately, she seems frozen in place, so I carefully make my way up, finding precarious footholds while also trying to make myself look as small as possible to her.

When I reach her, I quickly grab the scruff of her neck and pull her to me, razor-sharp claws digging into my chest. It hurts like a motherfucker, but I’m getting this cat back to Penny, come hell or high water. I inch my way back down, which is much more slippery than my way up. Finally, I'm back where I started and jump down the last few feet. Penny is instantly on me, her face flushed and wet with tears, and her hair plastered to her head from the rain. My torso is probably streaked with angry scratches from Honey’s claws, but I pull her to me, and she wraps her arms around my neck.

“Hey, we need to get inside and dry off.” She peels from me stiffly, like she’s suddenly aware of the storm around us, and I hand her cat over to her as we run back to her house.

When we get inside, she sets Honey down and the frightened cat takes off down the hallway. Poor thing. I feel bad for her, and I feel even worse that I'm the one who left the door open.

Penny turns to me, and just by her body language and the shuttered expression on her face, I instantly know the words she's about to say.

“That shouldn't have happened.”

I’ve only been around her for just shy of two weeks, but even I can spot when she’s lying to herself. It’s evident in the shake of her voice and the way her eyes won’t meet mine.

“I don’t do things like this. This is not who I am. I’m me, and you’re—well, you’re you.” Penny paces the length of her kitchen, chewing her nails. “If this gets out, my studio is screwed.” She stops and turns to face me. “When you leave, I’ll still be here, and this will all be one big disaster. Right?”

I put my hand up before she can continue her stream-of-conscious spiral. Also, if I’m being honest with myself, I can’t handle the rejection. Not tonight. It’s clear she's trying to redraw those boundary lines in the sand, and the least I can do is reach out and help her draw them.

“Say no more. You told me from the beginning how things would be. I’ll start keeping it that way.” My words come out more clipped than I intended—considering I brought this on myself—and I hate the look that streaks across her face. I spent my entire childhood seeing that look in those around me.There’s the pity. I knew it would come eventually. Penny feels sorry for me, and I have to get away from her as quickly as possible.

“Austin—” she starts, but I cut her off.

“It’s okay. Really, it is.” Turning away from where she stands, I start toward the door, but right as I’m gripping the doorknob, her words stop me in my tracks.

“I wish it could be different.” Penny’s words are quiet, forlorn.

I believe she really does wish things were different. Maybe, like me, she wishes we were two ordinary people who met at a bar, exchanged numbers, and started hanging out.

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