Page 45 of Love, Untangled

Which was why she eased back, out from under his large, capable hands.

“I need to go,” she said. Her voice turned unsteady, her throat clogged with too many emotions.

His lovely eyes shadowed again a moment before a scowl tugged at his brows. “I’m sorry, Penelope. That didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean to—”

She held up her hand as she backpedaled from the space. It would forever hold the memory of her first kiss with Carlo—the best kiss of her life. But this moment would also hold his rejection of what she planned to offer him. Before she realized how different their emotional locations were, she would have offered him everything. He still might get both her body and her heart, but she wouldn’t be foolish enough to hand either over.

She told him goodbye and turned on her heel.

“Wait,” he called. He seemed frenzied.

But she wasn’t in the mood to placate or laugh off that kiss.

She was too raw, too exposed, and the last person she could discuss those emotions with was the man who caused them.

Chapter 20

Carlo

He tucked his hands into his pockets and watched Penelope hurry away. From him. From his words. Probably, too, from the hurt he’d unwittingly caused her. Or maybe it wasn’t so surprising.

This wasn’t the first time he’d stuck his foot in his mouth. He hated how her expression fell, how the pain seeped into her big brown eyes.

Typically, her gaze followed him, worship beaming from their depths. He liked that sensation, wanted to sink into her belief in his abilities. He wanted more of that—more of her. Yet he seemed to continue to sabotage his chances.

What was he doing?

He waited until she was inside her house, the door shut with a firm bang, before he headed back down the path toward his place.

His mind whirled with confusion while his feet seemed determined to walk him right back to Pen’s door. Carlo had made a promise to Cora—a promise to love her always. Sure, he’d made it when he grieved her, but that didn’t make the promise any less valid.

Except it did. The world continued to go on—he’d continued to go on, much though he hadn’t wanted to. And he’d found a lovely woman, one who cared for him and enjoyed spending time with him nearly as much as he enjoyed her company. So why was he pushing her away?

Being honest didn’t have to cause deep emotional cuts. But he wasn’t completely honest with Pen—or himself—and now they were both bleeding.

He was going to have to fix this.

And soon. He couldn’t stand the idea of Penelope upset, especially because of him.

But first he had a sleeping bag and air mattress to find. No way was he letting anything happen to his delightful ray of sunshine.

He gathered his equipment and headed back toward her place. He settled the bag full of stuff on the porch swing and took a deep breath, then he knocked. Sure, he could stay here without her knowledge, but he didn’t want to scare her later.

Chapter 21

Penelope

She was tired and jittery from her conversation with Carlo. She decided to take a soothing bath, hoping it would erase some of the day’s stress.

After washing her hair and dunking her head under to rinse out the suds, Pen rested against the lip of the porcelain. She sighed, enjoying the heat from the water. Exhaustion weighed heavily and pleasantly on her mind. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, the bathroom door flung open.

Carlo stood there, eyes wild, chest heaving.

“What are you doing?” Pen shrieked. She dropped her arm over her breasts, her other arm between her legs.

“You didn’t answer the door when I knocked and knocked. Why didn’t you answer when I called your name?”

Indignation and embarrassment made Pen bark, “So you decided to barge into my bathroom?”

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