Page 83 of Falling for the CEO

"How did it go?" she asked.

I frowned. "She said that work's slowed down and she doesn't get as many gigs as before."

"What does she do?"

"She's a photographer. Anyway, she asked me to pay for some clothes she ordered for Ben. I don’t mind. Then I asked if she'd visit Ben more because she hinted that she doesn't have as much to do after those gigs end. She said I'm doing such a great job that it wouldn't make sense." My head was pounding. I felt like a vein was about to burst. I couldn’t believe how little she cared about Ben.

"I'm sorry," she said.

“It is what it is.”

Ben woke up, and I took him in my arms at once.

He immediately moved his head toward my neck, and I secured him in his favorite spot. I held him close to me. His mother might not want to spend time with him, but I’d be here for him no matter what, forever. I’d give him everything he wanted and needed.

"Can I hold him?" Penny asked.

"Sure." Parting with Ben was always difficult for me, but for some reason, not when Penny wanted to hold him. I liked seeing them together. He immediately moved his head, and I knew what he was searching for. I tapped a point at the side of her neck and said, "Put him here. He'll love it."

She readjusted him, and he let out a cute sigh, resting his nose there. "Oh my god, this is truly, truly adorable."

"You both are," I said.

I went over to the wine fridge. It was mostly for Ben’s sake that I was disappointed. I couldn’t care less if I ever saw Naomi again. But our son needed that relationship and should have it. I knew what it was like growing up with a parent who didn’t want to be around you.

But seeing how affectionate Penny was with him meant the world to me.

"Do you want red or white wine? I forgot to take out a bottle earlier."

"White."

I grabbed a bottle from the wine fridge and poured two glasses.

"I can feel you slipping into your grumpy self," she said.

"What?"

“When I first met you at the store, I kind of thought you might be a grump, and now I can see those frown lines deepening."

She came to me, touching my cheek. I so needed that.

"I don't understand why she doesn't want to be more involved. My own mom didn't have a choice. She couldn't stick around—she was sick."

"Oh my God," she murmured. "I never thought about it like that."

"I know it's not the same thing. I just need to get it out of my head."

She put one hand at the side of my neck. "What do you need? Tell me."

I put one hand over hers, setting down my glass. "You. Just you."

She came closer, rising up on her toes and feathering her lips down my neck. "I'm all yours, Spencer. All yours."

Being here with Penny and Ben was everything I needed. After the way things ended with Naomi, I never thought I’d trust anyone. But this was more than trust. I cared about Penny on a level I'd never done about anyone before.

"Is your offer of spending the night here still on?”

She smiled up at me. “Oh yeah.”

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