Page 42 of Petting Penelope
Awe-inspiring.
That’s what it was.
It made Penelope realize how small and insignificant she really was in the grand scheme of things, and rather than that scaring her, it comforted her. These mountains had been here for centuries before her, and they’d be here centuries after she was long gone.
They’d outlast them all.
Some noise from inside the suite her turning around to see Rachel and a tall man with a brown beard that was going a little salt and pepper, carrying the mattress out toward the balcony.
She jumped up and started moving things back, making space, when the two of them paused at the door, and placed the mattress back down.
“It’s going to be too big,” said Rachel. “Huh.”
“Well, yeah,” said Penelope. “It’s a king-sized bed! There’s no way it’s going to fit out on this balcony. You might just about get a double mattress out here.”
“You’re right,” said the man. “I think we might just about squeeze in a double. Let me call down and see if Dax can give us a hand with one of those. I’m Derek, by the way, Derek Hawkins. I believe you met my wife, Sadie?”
“At the pool party yesterday, yes. She’s delightful,” said Penelope.
“And she said much the same about the two of you. It’s nice to meet you.”
Penny took the hand he offered her and shook it. “And you. This is very kind of you, but we really can just sleep inside.”
“But when you saw the stars,” Rachel interjected, “your entire face lit up. Are you telling me you don’t want to sleep under them—if I find a proper mattress for you?”
“I’m not sayingthat,” said Penelope, grinning.
“Well then,” said Rachel. “Our quest is set!”
“Let me go give Dax a call,” said the owner of Rawhide Ranch.
“He’s very nice,” said Penny, whispering to Rachel when Derek headed inside. “He didn’t have to do this himself.”
“I know,” said Rachel, her voice dropping to mirror Penelope’s. “They’re all so nice here.”
Somehow, between Derek and Dax, they managed to find a double mattress that would fit on the balcony, and Dax had also had the forethought to bring a groundsheet and a ton of extra blankets. How he’d managed to get all of it up to their room in one trip, Penny would never know.
But soon they’d managed to set up a romantic bed for two on the balcony and put up privacy screens as well, so it felt as if it were just Penelope and Rachel on their own beneath the big sky of Montana.
The extra blankets were welcome, and both Rachel and Penelope put on more layers than they would have done if theywere sleeping in a normal bed, but it was worth it to lie beneath a blanket of stars and fall asleep.
CHAPTER 36
Rachel
Waking up with Penelope in her arms would never get old. The other woman was snuffling away, her head atop Rachel’s chest, and Rachel felt like she was queen of the world.
When the rising sun blinked over the balcony, rousing Penny, she leaned up to kiss Rachel sleepily. “You were right, this was an excellent idea.”
Rachel would have replied, but she was far too busy kissing Penelope back, her mouth desperate to swallow the moans that the other woman would inevitably make. The sun was peeking at them, rising over the mountains, and it was all making her feel very alive indeed.
“We’re outside,” said Penny, “we can’t.”
“We absolutely can,” said Rachel. “There are privacy screens up, nothing but forest in front of us, and as long assomeoneremains quiet, there’s a lot that could be done on this balcony.”
Penelope’s eyes rounded as Rachel palmed her breast through her top. “First things first though,” Rachel said. “We need to get rid of these layers. I want to feel your skin against mine, sweetness.”
She tugged at Penny’s top, and silently Penny helped her with it, and then pulled at Rachel’s. Undressing each other, giggling quietly, they really did feel like they were in a world all their own.
