Page 118 of Positively, Penelope

Her gaze locked with his, all stormy and blue and tender.

“Aye,” he breathed, lowering his head nearer. “Iwantto kiss you, Penelope Edgewood.” Without one more hesitation, his mouth captured hers.

All worries shrank into nonexistence as soon as their lips made contact. Warm, controlled, and completely annihilating any former kissing practice in her history. The gentleness in his initial touch brought her forward. His hands slid back from her cheeks to brace her head, his lips taking firmer control. As if it were the most natural thing to do, her palms slipped around his waist to smooth up his back, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt shift as she did.

He kissed like he had all the time in the world to do so. Like he enjoyed every millisecond. Like amaninstead of the boys she’d dated in the past.

His lips moved with a controlled sort of passion, leaving her breathing shallow and her mind a little curious about what his uncontrolled passion might feel like. Her body tingled from the scalp southward. Have mercy!

This kiss was practically perfect in every way. Better than she’d imagined, but maybe that was because her heart understood more than it had before... and was ready for all of it. To try harder and love bigger and dream with more clarity about who she was and what shereallywanted most. What reallymatteredmost.

And she wouldn’t have known that until she found it in Matthias Gray.

The kissing lingered, intensified. They stumbled back together against the closet wall, her fingers fisting in his shirt and bringing him along with her. A pleasant rumble-like sound reverberated through his chest, and for a second the kiss took a deliciously dangerous turn, before he drew back.

Her breaths shuddered, her mind completely blank except for the utter delight of the memory of his lips on hers.

His thumb trailed over her cheek, his smile a little softer and his lips a lot more delightful than they’d been a moment ago. The feel of Matthias Gray’s kiss might be the best secret she’d ever uncovered in her whole life.

“I think you may have just calmed all my worries for the rest of my life.”

One of his brows rose, his gaze roaming her face as if he liked what he saw. No, more than liked. Something sweeter and more endearing than just “liked.” “Allyour worries?”

His touch slipped to her chin, causing her to have difficulty fully comprehending his question.

She shrugged and hoped her expression looked as innocent as she attempted to make it. “Well, maybe not all. I could do with some more help calming the pesky things.”

With a crook of his smile, he made a thorough attempt at calming her fears. In fact, when he’d finished kissing her, she felt pretty certain the theater would become a world-famous venue, Iris would perform as Glinda on Broadway, and worry lines were a thing of the past.

“Now, MissEdgewood.” He touched his forehead to hers. “I have an idea inspired by you.”

She blinked him back into focus and tried to remember any hint of a conversation they had prior to the moment his lips kissed away all her worries... and effectively had her planning their courtship, wedding, and house by the sea.

Okay, maybe not by the sea. But somewhere just as lovely.

“What do you mean?”

He tipped his head back, keeping her body close to his. “You’ve reminded me what a force of support we have in our community. How much the people love this theater and want to see it succeed. And I think we should honor that.”

“Yes, of course we should.” His hands rested against the top of her hips as if they already belonged together. In a comfortable “you’re mine” kind of way that she found almost as distracting as kissing him.

“Let’s promote our community theater troupe as much as possible in every venue we have. Celebrate them everywhere. We are Mountcaster’s theater. Fiacla’s theater. Let’s not only use the people from this place but also enlist businesses to share the news, touch base with all those who came to the ball, reach out to local businesses we could feature onstage somehow. Furniture from Craig’s, clothing from Marcia’s. Let’s make it thepeople’sproduction.”

“That’s brilliant.” She rested her palms against his chest. “I mean, we’ve already been building that connectivity over the last few months; now we can capitalize on it.”

She loved Matthias Gray. Repeating the thought brought another smile.

He listened to her, valued her ideas, and danced with her. With the additions of a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor, an adorable daughter, and the ability to kiss like a... well, like a perfect gentleman who reined in just enough passion for just the right time.

Her throat closed up for a second and her gaze dropped to his lips again.

“Audrey Hepburn has a fabulous quote for this moment.”

“Does she?” His words surfaced low, raspy.

“‘I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.’” Her voice dropped to a whisper as his lips drew closer again. “‘And I believe in miracles.’”

“Well, I’ll happily oblige the first one.” His lips trailed her cheek, slowly slipping closer to her mouth. “And we’ll work together to make the second one happen.”

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