Page 108 of Penalty Shot

“Enough!” Gordon interrupts. He grabs his phone.

“You got the gist of it. Now drop it.”

“Drop what?” Beatrice asks, emerging from the room and going straight into Logan’s arms like they’re magnets clicking together.

“Gordon’s having girlfriend issues,” Logan says before pressing a kiss to her temple.

Watching them makes me miss Elise something crazy.

“She was never my girlfriend,” Gordon says.

“Tell your dick that,” I tease and regret the comment immediately because Gordon is clearly not in the mood for our usual ball bashing.

“We’re here for you when you’re ready to talk,” Beatrice says with a kind smile. “In the meantime, are you ready to see Elise’s office?” she asks me.

“Can’t wait.”

Biggest understatement of the year.

“You’re so on edge. Is everything OK?” Elise asks me as we climb the three steps leading to the front door. I picked her up at her house after she and Geraldine rolled into Columbus.

“Everything is more than OK now that you’re back,” I answer honestly, unlocking the deadbolt and gesturing for her to enter in front of me.

“I have something for you.” She skips inside excitedly, and it makes my own heart skip. Seeing Elise happy does that. I follow in with her overnight bag.

“Yeah?” I mumble absentmindedly, mesmerized by Elise bending over and getting something in her purse. She’s wearing shorts with cute flowers on them. I see the outline of her thong. The sight turns my half-hard cock into a steel pipe.

“Your present!” She pulls out a wide-rimmed, lightweight hat and a book about fishing in Lake Michigan.

“I figured if you ever miss your fishing village hometown, you could fish closer to Columbus. It’s only a few hours’ drive and you’d love it.”

I take the gifts with one hand and pull her in with another.

“Consider it a date. We’re fishing there next summer.”

I kiss her the way I wanted to since she arrived with Geraldine. Hungry and demanding and rough. She matches the greedy sweep of my tongue with her own passionate plunges.

“Wa-ait,” she says while our lips are still connected. “There’s something else.”

From her pocket she pulls out a bag with “Great Lakes Gummy Fish” in bold letters.

“Till next year, you can survive on gummy fish. Sorry I opened it already, though. Got hungry during the drive,” she explains apologetically.

She pulls out one fish-shaped candy and holds it out for me to chomp. I wrap my lips around her fingers and tug at the treat, making sure to graze my tongue on her skin. Elise’s eyes darken with awareness of my arousal thickening.

“Take me to bed, Randall,” she rasps.

Obviously, I want to. But the surprise needs to happen. It needs to happen right now before my brain cells disintegrate and my body takes over.

Not being with Elise for days gave me time to prepare a speech.

Not being inside Elise for days means I can’t remember a thing.

“First, I have something to show you.”

I get behind her and cover her eyes. Guiding Elise forward, I indulge in the press of her back against my chest and the tickle of her hair against my nose.

We get to the door of the office at which point my throat has closed. All I can do is release her from my hold and step back.