Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 42745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
We say goodbye to everyone, and Penn keeps his hand on my lower back as we walk out of the restaurant. He opens the passenger door of the car and waits for me to slide in. He even reaches in and pulls the seatbelt around me.
I don’t stop him, but I do say, “I can do that, you know.”
He smiles and kisses my forehead. “I know you can, but I want to.”
I watch as he walks around the car. My husband is handsome in everything he wears, but there’s something about a dress shirt stretched across his broad chest that steals my breath. My body tingles just looking at him.
The ride home is quiet.
Penn keeps one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the console. I reach over and slide my fingers through his, and he holds on immediately.
I look at his profile in the dark car. He’s tense and exhausted, but he still showed up for me tonight. Even after losing a patient.
This doesn’t fix everything, but it shows me he’s trying. Maybe I can make him understand that all I need is him. The rest we can work out.
When we get inside the house, I set my purse on the entry table and turn to face him.
He locks the door, then stands there for a second like he doesn’t know what to do next.
So I step closer. “What do you need?”
He looks at me like the question catches him completely off guard. “What?”
I put my hands on his chest. “You lost someone today. You still showed up for me. Not once did you make me feel like you didn’t want to be there.”
He blows out a breath. “I did want to be there. I always want to be with you, Aria.”
“I know.” My voice softens. “But that still doesn’t answer my question.”
He doesn’t answer.
His shoulders lift in a small shrug, but it doesn’t fool me.
I slide my hands higher on his chest and look up at him. “Look at me, Penn, and tell me what you need.”
CHAPTER 19
PENN
I don’t answer right away because no one asks me that. I’m usually the one fixing things and making things right. I look into my wife’s eyes and know exactly what I need. It’s what I always need. “I need you,” I say.
Her eyes soften, and I take a step closer. “Not to talk. I know we need to, but tonight, I just need my wife.”
She reaches for me without hesitation.
Her arms go around my waist, and she holds me to her. “I’m here,” she whispers.
My eyes burn, and I close them hard. “I’m sorry.”
Her voice is muffled against my chest. “For your patient?”
“For all of it,” I confess.
She pulls back just enough to look at me. “Penn.”
I cup her face. “I know sorry isn’t enough.”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s not.” Then her hands slide up my chest. “But I’m here.”
I lower my mouth to hers.
The kiss starts soft, and she kisses me back without any hesitation.
I walk her backward toward the stairs, my mouth still on hers, my hands rubbing up and down her back.
At the bottom step, she pulls back. “Bedroom?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
She takes my hand and leads me upstairs.
In our room, she turns to me and unbuttons my shirt. She’s slow about it, and I stand here and let her take care of me.
She pushes my shirt open and presses her mouth to my skin, over my heart.
“I’ve got you,” she whispers.
Her words gut me because I don’t deserve them, but fuck, I need them. She pulls my pants and underwear off, and I help her out of her dress and underwear, and then she’s in my arms again. We move to the bed, and I pull her under me, careful with my weight even though she tries to tug me closer.
“I’m not going to break,” she says.
I look down at her. “I know.”
I search her eyes in the dimly lit room. “I know I don’t always show it, but I’m going to do better. I love you, Aria, and I don’t want to lose you.”
She puts her hand against my cheek. “And you’ll never say the word divorce to me again.”
I shake my head. “Never.”
She nods, and her hands go to my chest, pushing me onto my back. I go easily, and she sits astride me. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you, remember?”
My hands go to her hips, and my fingers dig into her soft skin, holding her to me. “We can take care of each other.”
Her eyes light up. “I like that.”
I nod. “Me too.”
Her hand slides down my abdomen, and my dick twitches. “You know, I need you too,” she says as she wraps her hand around my girth.
My hips jerk at her touch, and my eyes close as I try to gain control of myself. She strokes me from root to tip and then smears the precum along my length. Fuck. I groan.