Page 51 of A Magnolia Move-In
He turned to face me, his eyebrows knitting together. “Rosalie,” he said. His voice was full of love, and it took me aback.
The look in his eyes and the depth of his voice stirred something deep inside me. A longing that a man would look at me like that again. That I could find someone to love me like Spencer seemed to still love this Rosalie.
“It’s Penny. Not Rosalie,” I said softly as I leaned over him to unbuckle his seatbelt.
Suddenly, Spencer’s arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me onto his lap. He tightened his grip on me as he nuzzled my neck. “I’ve missed you so much.”
My heart was pounding now. Even though I was enjoying the feeling of his arms around me and his warm breath on my skin, I knew I needed to pull away. This was a moment between Spencer and Rosalie. Not Penny and Spencer. My attraction to the man had grown, but I doubted it was returned. Instead, he was holding onto this woman from his past who I was fairly certain was the woman whose picture he had in his bathroom.
I waited for a few seconds before I pressed on Spencer’s shoulders and pushed back. He glanced up, and I could see the pain in his gaze. I wanted to take it away. He looked so broken, and I wished there was a way that I could help him. But I knew pretending to be the woman he loved wasn’t the path I should take.
If I wanted to help him, I needed him to wake up.
“It’s not Rosalie. It’s Penny.”
He furrowed his brow. “Penny?” He raked his gaze over my face.
“Yes. And we need to get you into the house.”
He glanced around and then back at me. “Penny?” he asked again.
“That’s right. And we’re here at your house.” I shifted off his lap until I was standing on the ground next to him. “I need you to walk into the house. Can you do that?”
He nodded and turned his body. He used the dashboard and the side of his chair to push himself out of my car. I helped stabilize him until he was standing, and then we started walking.
He leaned some of his weight on me, but the drive home must have sobered him up enough to keep upright. We made our way up the sidewalk and into the house. I helped guide him to his room, and when we got there, I led him over to his bed and he sat down.
I crouched down and started removing his shoes.
“Penny?” he asked.
I glanced up at him and smiled as I wiggled his left foot out of his shoe. “Yeah?”
He studied me. I felt his confusion as he tried to understand what was happening. “Why did you come get me?” he asked.
I chuckled as I took off his shoe and set it next to his nightstand. Then I started on his right shoe. “You called me.”
“I did?”
I nodded. “Yeah. And the bartender as well.”
“Huh.”
I wiggled off his right shoe and then lined it up next tothe left one. His room was very neat, and I wanted to make sure that I respected his space. “Do you not remember that?” I asked as I moved to stand.
Spencer shook his head. Then a moment later, he brought his hand to his forehead and leaned forward. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t know if it would bother him. I waited for a few seconds before I tossed aside my fears and moved to sit next to him. He didn’t move away from me, which I took as a good sign.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I still wasn’t sure how to handle this situation, but I wanted him to know that I was here for him if he needed it. He was fully in control of this situation.
He was quiet. I feared that I’d pushed him too hard. I wanted to take back my words and go back to our relationship before I discovered the woman in his bathroom. Back when I was just the renter, and he was my landlord.
Now, I was so invested in this that I feared I wasn’t going to be able to pull myself away.
He sighed and straightened. He glanced down at me, and that was when I realized that I was centimeters from his face. All I needed to do was slightly lean in, and I could brush my lips against his. I didn’t realize until I was facing this option that I wanted it.
Badly.
