THEO

 

Hell yeah, I just fucked your fiancée.

 

I wanted to say it to Dex. I wanted him to know what it felt like to feel that sort of pain. He didn’t really care for Penny. That was a fact. When I heard him order her the scampi, I knew right then. And then the fucker didn't care she didn't want it. As long as he had his big ass basket of heart attack then everything was right in his world. I looked over at Penny, and she smiled at me as she popped a coconut shrimp in her mouth.

Fucking her in the bathroom was hot as hell, and I wanted more than anything to reach across the table and pull her on my lap as I told her all of my dreams and secrets.

My mother kept shooting me odd glances, and I was probably in for some sort of ‘talk’ later.

My eyes couldn’t stay off Penny, no matter how hard I tried.

Why couldn’t she just tell her father to kick rocks? This charade of an engagement needed to stop.

At the end of the meal, Dex turned to Penny. “I’ll take you home and stay the night.”

My anger flared as I tried to think of anything to help her out of the situation. “Penny, we have to go over profits and losses early. Did you want to meet at the Lopa around five in the morning?”

Her eyes met mine, and I winked to her.

“Sure,” she agreed. “Listen, Dex,” she turned to face him, “I’m still feeling under the weather, and I really just need to get some sleep before tomorrow.”

Dex frowned, making the ugliest face ever, and I wanted to punch him. My fist balled, ready to take him out.

He rose from the table. “Fine.” A look of relief crossed Penny’s face. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Night, Dex.” I nodded and he nodded back. Asshole.

I thanked everyone and kissed my mother goodbye. My eyes met with Penny’s before I headed to my car and started the journey back to my condo.

I threw my keys on the table by the front entrance and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Twisting the cap off, I took a long pull and threw the top against the fridge and listened as it clanked to the floor. I hated this. Was this my future to come? Sneaking away for one solid moment with Penny just to send her home to Dex?

I had to do something.

Xavier would be called tomorrow. I moved through the hallway and into the bathroom, turning the shower on.

Once I got out of the shower, I heard a knock at my front door. Grabbing my phone, I checked the caller ID to see if people still called before they just showed up on your front porch steps. Apparently, they didn’t.

I peered through the peephole and saw her.

Swinging the door open, I had her in my arms in record time. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

She smelled so good, and my cock jutted forward. Her skin felt so soft under my fingertips. I wanted to touch every part of her.

My body was on fire as I held her tight against me. Would this feeling of urgency when she was near ever go away?

“It was Dex,” she started. I ran my hands along her back, trying my hardest not to get turned on during this serious moment with her, but, come on, I’m a guy. It’s in our DNA to take the opportunity to feel up the woman we love whenever we can.

My grip hardened, and before I knew it all of my senses honed in on the one spot I needed to sink my face into.

Wait. What? I leaned back, gazing into her worried eyes. “Did he hurt you?” Heat made my skin burn more, but in a different way. Like I was the sun or a volcano ready to erupt if he laid one finger on her.

“No, he’s becoming so possessive.”

Moving her to the couch, I sat her down and kneeled before her with my hands on each thigh. “Tell me, what did he do?”

She ran her hand over my beard. The tears in her eyes made the anger intensify by a million. I fucking hated him.

He almost touched her. That was enough evidence in my book to bring down the wrath of God on his ass. And I would too. I would make sure he never had fingers to touch anyone ever again.

“He noticed the way I looked at you tonight. He said I have feelings for you, and he said no bride of his will disrespect him in public like that.”

“Penny, did he hurt you? Did he touch you?” I was dying to know. I needed to like my last meal before execution. Because I promise you, if he did, I’d be on death row in a heartbeat for her.

“No,” she shook her head, “but, Theo, I know it’s coming. The rage in his eyes. The way he speaks to me. I know it’s coming. He’s so different from when we first met. He’s changed, transformed into a monster.”

“Well, he’s always been a selfish little shit. And he’s never grown out of it.” I told Penny the story of how Dex had slept with Blair while she was pregnant with Lucy. Penny was shocked to say the least, but the more I told her stories of Dex, the more repulsed she became.

“I can’t believe your mother still puts up with him,” she whispered after I finished.

“She doesn’t know any of it. It would break her heart. So, I just pretend.”

“I’m sorry, Theo. I just feel like your brother is getting out of control. Like one day it won’t be him just getting mad and yelling. I’m afraid one day he’ll act on his anger.”

Not if I had anything to do about it. What a fucked up situation, and I couldn’t believe this was real life. Some people luck out, and some of us have to work so damn hard for what we want. I didn’t mind the work. I had put in the extra hours and was ready to reap the rewards if ever we could get past this shit with her father.

“Penny? Have you talked to your father?” I’d have told the douchebag exactly where he could shove the Lopa. Right. Up. Dex’s. Ass.

She hesitated. My baby was nervous, and I knew there was something more at play. But, what? I lifted her chin, to stare directly into those gorgeous eyes and try to seek the answer. “Penny?”

Her eyes darted, not wanting to meet mine. What the actual fuck?

“Theo.” She rose from the couch. I stood, slowly, and watched her pace the tile floors. Confusion settled, ok maybe it rose, either way I was confused as hell.

“Penny, what is going on?” Didn’t I deserve this much? Didn’t she confess her love to me? Love means no secrets. Or, at least in my book it does, and I had none from Penny. I didn’t feel the same from her, though. Every time she passed by me on her trek through my living room, every time she let out a small breath of air, I felt the sting of something not quite right.

She stopped and faced me. “No, I don’t think it’s such a good idea. Because you worked hard for the Lopa, and you love it. We both do.”

Bullshit. Do I call her out on her lies? Hell yes I do.

“Penny, that’s crap, and you know it.”

She moved closer, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Theo just trust me, ok?”

I kissed her hair as I grabbed her, holding on tight. “I do trust you. Yes, it would suck to lose Lopa, but we could start over.”

“I don’t want you to lose it. Starting over would be too hard now. We’ve already invested so much.”

Why couldn’t she understand where I was coming from? It wasn’t hard to see my point of view. Tell her father to fuck off, we’d lose the Lopa, and move on. We’d be together. Didn’t she want that? She loved me, but maybe she loved the Lopa more. Maybe I’d been wrong, and she was in it for the Lopa.

Crazier things have happened in life, right? I mean, sure she loves me, but maybe she needs the security the Lopa can offer her. Fuck, I didn’t know which way was up or down, like looking through life out of foggy glasses, unable to see what was actually happening. Then it hit me. She told me once she loved the Lopa, and now it was clear the reason she wanted to marry Dex, and the reason she listened to her father. Security. It was the one thing they could offer her. And the one thing I couldn’t. Or so she thought. Never underestimate me because the thing was, I didn’t know how to fail. I didn’t know how to give up. If I wanted something—I usually went after it until it was mine.

So, I grabbed Penny. I slammed my lips to her, telling her with my tongue how she was the only one for me.

She moaned against my lips, and I swallowed it down to hold onto it forever. Everything about this woman made me want to be a better man. To live life fuller and more complete.

I’d fight until I had a way to keep both the Lopa and Penelope. Fight until I had everything I wanted. And the issue of security would never come up again.

But, the motherfucking clock always ticks. It always goes, goes, goes, and never stops. Time, one of life’s mysterious things no one can change. We want to rush it, slow it down, turn it back, and move it forward. Yet, all we can ever do is accept the fact that it is always ticking forward, and you shouldn’t waste a single second of it.

So, tonight, I’d spend every second, every fucking moment, worshipping Penny’s body. First thing tomorrow morning, Xavier would be hunted down, and the P.I. would tell me what the hell we had to go on.

I moved Penny back to my bedroom, shutting the door behind me. “I don’t want to waste one more minute away from you. I want to spend the little time we have together, being with you.”

“I love that idea.”

I kissed her, with everything I had, with all the love in my heart to try my damndest to stop the clock from counting down to her wedding.

We moved in unison to the bed as she tugged my shirt off. The electricity in my veins was palpable, zapping throughout my body with every touch of her fingers along my skin. Please give me a miracle. Let the moment with her never end. I prayed, I wished, and I dreamed of a life with her. And then, as if by magic, I was granted my heart’s desire. Penny sprawled on my bed, removing her clothes, and smiling up to me like an angel of mercy sent to rescue me.

I moved like wildfire to the bed. Taking my time, I ran my hand over her soft curves. Beginning with her ankles, gliding my hand up to her thigh. “You’re so perfect in everyway.” I had so much more to say, but my mind was a haze of love and desire.

She pulled my face to hers. “Theo, I love everything about you.”

“And I you.” I said the words right before I made sweet love to her all night long. Finding new ways to drive her wild and adding them to my own personal Penny list. A list designed just for her. I ticked them off in my head:

 

•     The spot behind her ear makes her moan
•     When I press her thighs with both hands, she yelps
•     When I run a finger between her breasts, her back arches
•     When I tell her I love her as she comes, her eyes well up