Page 49 of Love, Untangled

He wanted Penelope desperately. He had from the beginning, but they needed to know each other better.

“You, Penelope Davis, are true temptation.”

She giggled against his neck and he smiled. He loved that sound.

He pulled back a little and took her hand. “I left my stuff at your place. I can sleep on the couch—”

“I have a guest room,” she said. “Or, um, there’s my…”

He opened the gate for her and they walked through. Her fingers trembled.

“I want to be in your room, in your bed, Sunshine. But I think it would be best for both of us if we took this slow.”

“Okay.” She said it in a small voice, as if she’d expected to be rejected.

That caused his chest to ache. “Have you been in a long-term relationship before?”

She shook her head, which remained bowed. As if she had something to be embarrassed by.

“Well, I’ve only been in one,” he said, keeping his tone pragmatic. He squeezed her fingers a little, hoping to lighten the mood, to see her smile. “Before that, just casual dating. Can I tell you what I learned?”

Pen lifted her head and met his gaze. “Yes, please.”

“That intimacy matters.” At her confusion, he continued, “Not just sex, which should bring us closer together—if we care about each other.”

They’d stepped onto her porch, so he turned and lifted her hand, finding her other one so that he could kiss the back of both, each knuckle.

“I care about you very much,” he said, his voice husky. “I’m so attracted to you. I know, when we come together, it’s going to be amazing.”

Her brown eyes grew wider and her lips parted, her breath coming in soft pants. He smirked, enjoying her body’s response to his touch and words.

“But I meant talking, connecting. Really getting to know you and having you know me—that’s where real intimacy is. In the being vulnerable together.”

Penelope tilted her head and studied him. “I think I get what you’re saying.”

“Good.”

“Mainly that we’re not ready to be physically intimate.”

He took her wrist and slid her palm down his chest. “Do you want to feel how much I want you?”

“O-okay.”

He let her palm graze his belly and settle over his crotch. He groaned, the sweet agony of her warmth, touching him there, nearly too much.

“Oh.” Her gaze flew to his. “I…”

“I won’t ever pressure you.”

Her smile was slow to spread but dazzling because it was so open, so trusting. “I get it. Thank you, Carlo.” She let her hand drop even as she rose to press a kiss on his cheek. “Let me show you to your room.”

* * *

“What…?” Warm breath slithered across his arm followed by something cool and wet. Carlo jerked, flailing as he came awake slowly. “Nasty!”

The alpaca’s cool, wet nose nudged him. Right. Penelope had let him inside, stating he liked to sleep in her studio. That didn’t explain why he was upstairs, now, in his bedroom.

“What do you want?” Carlo grumbled. “Why are you in here?” The alpaca seemed to dance. He nudged Carlo again. “Do you…do you have to go?”

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