Page 65 of Loved

She tilted her head and kissed my chest. "I love you."

I stared down at her.

She kissed my chest again. "James."

I swallowed hard.

She kissed my collar bone. "Professor Hunter."

I stifled my groan.

She kissed the scruff under my chin. "C.E.O."

C.E.O.I was going to have to get used to that again. Maybe I could get her to come work for me. I did love fucking her against my desk…

She kissed my lips.

I grabbed the side of her face and deepened the kiss.

"Whatever you want to be,” she said. “You're mine." She smiled down at me.

I ran my palm along her cheek. "Yours." How the fuck did I get this lucky? I was hers and she was mine. Nothing else mattered. No matter what I did, she’d be beside me. And I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands to myself.

Chapter 18

Friday

Sweat dripped down my back as I increased the speed on the treadmill. I hated running indoors. But going outside right now wasn’t exactly a great option either. And I just needed this tension out of my body.

I rarely had nightmares since I rarely ever slept. But it was easy to fall asleep when Penny’s head was on my chest. Her light exhales soothed something inside of me. She didn’t follow me into my dreams last night though.

I’d felt Isabella’s fake nails digging into my back. I’d felt her pulling me closer. I’d woken up sweatier than I was right now, gasping for air.

I still didn’t know what had happened that night she drugged me. I didn’t know if the dream was a memory. Maybe I was finally getting pieces of that night back. But I didn’t believe I’d slept with her. I wouldn’t have. Or…had I? I cringed. No. It was just some new fucked up thing playing in my brain. Or the truth.Fucking hell.I had no idea what was real.

I shook my head. That wasn’t true. I knew what was real. Penny.

But I needed to get my shit together. I thought I was over this. What happened with Isabella didn’t matter. I already came clean to Penny about what possibly occurred. I just needed to put that night behind me. Penny needed me right now. I needed to be my best self for her. I could hide out in the gym all day, but she had to go to class. She had to face all this without me.

I’d left her a note asking her to text me so we could meet up for lunch. And telling her not to fall in love with her new Comm professor. But I hadn’t wanted her to see me after my nightmare. I never wanted her to see me like that. Weak.

I went to increase the speed again when my phone started buzzing.

I grabbed it and kept running. “What’s up, Ian?” I said.

“You have an appointment with Dr. Clark in an hour. Want me to drive you?”

“No, I’m good.”

“You sure? You sounded pretty shaky this morning.”

“I’m good,” I said again and started to decrease my pace. But he had a right to be worried. Calling him at 6 a.m. asking him to schedule an emergency session with Dr. Clark wasn’t exactly screaming that I was fine.

“If you say so.”

I kept slowing down until I was walking. I took a deep breath. “The workout helped actually.”

“So do you want me to cancel your appointment?”

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