Page 11 of Your Last First Kiss

A lone guitarist steps forward on the stage, playing a slow melody that’s tied directly to my heart.

Penny gasps against my chest as I pull her in. “Did you do this?”

I can’t speak as “Fade Into You” begins, so I shake my head slowly instead.

Even with her heels, she has to tilt her head back to look at me. Her heart beats rapidly against my lower ribs, so I sweep my hand across her back in a soothing motion.

Fuck me. My palm hits bare skin, and my eyes nearly roll out of my head.

The back of her dress is completely open. I follow the column of her spine, fighting to keep my hand from trembling, as her breaths become as shallow as mine.

“This isn’t a holiday song,” she rasps.

This woman has always kept me at bay, but now I feel how her body betrays her. All I can do is thank my lucky stars that I’m not alone in this desperation that overtakes me when I touch her.

I lift my head to stare at the ceiling.

Get your shit together, man.

My throat is dry and scratchy as I say, “Do you ever get the feeling that everyone in your life is a meddling nuisance?” Penny peels her head away from my shoulder, and I count to three before I make eye contact. “I think Tilly’s been meddling.”

She turns her head to the right, and I follow. Tilly and Lochlan snap their gazes away from us like a yo-yo that hit the end of its string.

“My kids,” she whispers.

“Are your whole world. I know, Pen.”

“I haven’t been able to date, Dillon. Not after what their father put us through.”

I wrap my hands tighter around her middle. In the past, she’s always turned me down because of how that bastard treated her boys. It’s the first time she’s acknowledged she’s been hurt, too. A rush of protective feelings I’ve never experienced before make my head want to explode.

“I like you, Penny. I can be patient.” My words are a whispered promise. With my chin resting on the top of her head, I close my eyes for the inevitable letdown. The “just friends” speech.

But it doesn’t come. Instead, I’m floored by her confession.

“You make me want to try though. With you, I want to try for more.”

I swallow hard, taking those seconds to steady my voice. “I promise, if you give me a chance, you’ll never regret it.”

We search each other’s eyes as our faces drift closer. Her sweet scent of peonies fills my nostrils, and her warm breath sears my body through my clothes. I inch closer. The desire to kiss her consumes me with a kinetic need. We’re a breath apart when I realize it isn’t my body vibrating but her phone.

I pull it from my pants pocket with a shaky hand and see Ashton’s name. Her eyes widen, and my gut tells me our night is over before it’s begun.

Penny places one hand in the center of my chest and takes her phone with the other. She taps her fingers against my lapel, tattooing her beat to my heart.

“I— This— Ashton wouldn’t be the one to call unless something was wrong.” Her face contorts with pain only a loving mother could ever know. It’s a concerned expression I’ve seen in Ashton’s mother many times over the years.

“I know. Come with me,” I demand, taking her hand and leading her away from the dance floor. “I’ll get you somewhere quiet.”

She may not hear me because she pulls her hand from mine to plug her free ear. “Ash? What’s wrong?”

I usher her ahead of me and then guide her through the crowd with a hand on her bare lower back.

Penny moves gracefully, but there’s tension in the knotted muscles around her spine. Her head is down as she tries to hear our friend on the other end of the phone. She allows me to maneuver us out of the party and into a smaller conference room down the hall.

We slip inside, and I close the door, carefully giving her space as she paces beside a conference table.

“Is he okay? Did Eddy leave? What did Coach Remy say?”