Page 90 of Falling for the CEO

"I do. It was just an instinctive reaction. I can't explain it."

"Well, it pissed me off."

"You've got every right to be mad," I replied in a measured tone. Why the hell had I jumped to that conclusion? She hadn't done anything to make me distrustful.

"I'm going to wash this off my face. I feel ridiculous. But you're not off the hook," she repeated.

She disappeared into the bathroom next to the entrance and resurfaced a few minutes later, fresh-faced.

"I'll take the coffee now," she said. She grabbed it from the umbrella stand.

I needed to make this right. How had I managed to fuck it up so bad?

I gave Cade shit whenever he messed up with Meredith. And this was karma coming back for me.

“Penny, I don't have an explanation, okay? I don't know why I jumped the gun. Maybe because I’m afraid of losing you to someone else.”

She turned around, mouth parted and eyes wide. "Spencer." Her voice was soft. Finally!

I hadn’t even been aware of that fear before I said it, but it was 100 percent true.

"I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” I stepped closer to her. I caressed the corner of her lip, then drew my thumb around her mouth.

She fidgeted in her spot. "Good. And thanks for the coffee."

“I figured it would brighten up your day. I know it's your afternoon treat."

The corners of her mouth tilted up. "Yeah, it is. Although I already had one. And by the way, I got you something too... and Ben as well."

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"I went shopping this afternoon."

"What did you buy yourself?"

"The coffee."

I frowned. "You went shopping for me and Ben?"

"I’ve been spying on this cute trio of onesies for a while. He likes the color yellow. I was lucky that it was on sale. I already washed and dried them on the twenty-minute turbo speed setting. And you'll see your present soon enough too."

She’d bought Ben something? Damn, and I didn’t think I could fall for her even more.

She motioned for me to move into the sitting area. There were two bags there. She reached for the smaller one, taking out a tie. "I know you have a lot of ties, but..."

"I love it," I exclaimed. "I'll think about you every time I wear it."

"That’s just what I wanted to hear." She sighed. Her body language alerted me that she had something on her mind.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You're still upset about earlier?"

"No. Don't remind me of it again. But I wanted to tell you something."

Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Her body was tense; her shoulders were up to her ears.

I put the tie down and cupped her face. "Tell me."

"Taylor called today. There's bad weather in Italy, so she's returning earlier."

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