Page 5 of Loved

"Do you think this is okay?" Penny asked.

I turned around. The tightness in my chest immediately eased. It was hard to be stressed out when she was smiling up at me. She’d changed into a pair of jeans, a tank top, and a cardigan. She looked like a student that wouldn’t fuck her professor.

"I'm not sure if he's going to be paying attention to what you're wearing,” I said. “But you look beautiful."

She looked so nervous despite my words.

I gave her a quick kiss.It’s going to be okay.We just had to take today one step at a time. I grabbed her hand and led her out to the kitchen to meet Ellen.

Ellen was standing at the stove. As soon as she heard the door open, she turned toward us. She had a huge smile on her face. I knew she’d been looking forward to this.

"You must be Penny,” she said. “Oh dear, aren't you pretty. James didn't exaggerate."

Penny blushed again.

"Penny, this is Ellen," I said. It was weird, but now I suddenly felt nervous. I wanted them to get along. Ellen was the closest thing I had to a loving mother. But she’d like Penny. Honestly, she’d probably love anyone who wasn’t Isabella.

Penny smiled. "It's so nice to meet you."

"I've heard so much about you, dear."

Why did she keep saying stuff like that?Stop it, Ellen. Be cool.

Penny smiled up at me.

Well…Ellen wasn’t lying. I talked about Penny all the time. I just never expected Ellen to talk about that fact so much. All I could do was shrug.

"And how do you prefer your eggs?" Ellen asked and turned back to the stove.

"Scrambled,” Penny said. “Do you need help with anything?"

Ellen laughed. "I like you already. But no. Sit, sit."

Penny and I both sat down at the kitchen island. There were two newspapers on the counter. The Wall Street Journal and the Delaware Post. I always got the Wall Street Journal, but I’d requested for Ian to grab me this shit local paper too because of the article it contained.

I put my elbow on the counter and rested my chin in my palm. And then I turned my attention to Penny. Because I’d much rather look at her than read those papers.

"You look sexy in glasses," she whispered to me.

"Is that why you're looking at me like that?" I whispered back.

"Like what?"

She knew exactlylike what.I leaned forward until my lips were against her ear. "Like you want me right here, right now."

Her body tensed.

As much fun as the distraction would be…I knew Penny liked the idea of almost being caught. Not the idea of actually fucking in front of someone else.

I really did need to tell her about the security cameras. And Ian…

But that could wait. I turned back to the papers on the counter. "Have you read it?" I asked Ellen.

Ellen sighed. "The things people say. If they could see how happy you are, you'd think they'd leave well enough alone. My husband is ten years older than me and no one ever gave me a hard time for it. Love is love. Circumstances be damned."

What she’d said was really sweet. But my mind stuck on that one line. My husbandis.

Ellen’s face fell, realizing her slip up too.

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